Daily Independent (Lagos)
4 July 2009
Lagos — Apparently, Michael Jackson's death has unleashed selective amnesia of a pandemic proportion around the globe. Some people remember him for the wonderful music, breathtaking dance steps, enchanting videos and philanthropy. Others see him more as the freak who bleached his skin and chiseled his nose; who slept with young boys and couldn't keep a marriage. There are those whose last image of him were the pictures taken during his rehearsals for his sold-out 'This Is It' London concerts as there are who will go to their grave with pictures of him in oxygen mask after he reportedly stopped breathing.
Jackson had a lot of bad press while alive and the trend didn't particularly stop with his death. There were reports during the week that he was so hooked on prescription drugs that he used names like Omar Arnold and Jack London to get them. Authorities in the U.S. are said to be on the trail of the owners of the names as well as any other.
He reportedly took anesthesia whenever he couldn't sleep or has any minor medical problem. Dozens of injection sites reportedly dotted his body by the time he died on Thursday, June 25 of cardiac arrest at the age of 50.
There are also not too palatable stories about the real status of his children, failed marriages and a will, which deliberately left out his second wife, Debbie Rowe. But even his harshest critics cannot deny the fact that he was a cultural icon who influenced everything from music to video and fashion to religion.
The history of pop music changed forever in 1964, when Michael and Marlon joined their other brothers Jackie, Tito and Jermaine in the Jackson Brothers to form Jackson 5. With the 1969 release of their debut album titled 'Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5' on Motown label, Michael was soon on his way to global superstardom. That album bettered what Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers did with their 1956 single 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love'.
Michael left nobody in doubt right from the beginning that he was the star of the show. Rolling Stone magazine said of the Jackson 5's first album: "A surprising sidelight of the number comes when Michael defies 20 years of jazz-blues-rock propriety and puts the EEEE back in 'baby.' Doesn't he know that it's pronounced 'Bay bay'? His 'Ooo Ooo Bay Bee' is brash to the point of subversion."
He defied the norm from that moment on till he released Thriller 25 about two years ago to mark the quarter of a century of his record setting 1982 album, Thriller.
Jackson released four solo albums - Got To Be There, Ben, Music and Me and Forever Michael between 1972 and 1975. But it was Off the Wall, produced by Quincy Jones and released in 1979 that confirmed him as a pop monarch. With songs like 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough,' 'Rock With You', 'She's Out of My Life' and the title track, the album eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.
In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts. That year, he also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.' But he felt the album should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release. And he did just that.
The story of 1982's Thriller has been told countless times it will be a waste of time recounting it. Suffice to say it had sold well over 65 million copies by 2007 and won eight Grammys in 1984. No other recording has achieved that feat in history.
Michael soon became both a beneficiary and victim of his own success. At that point, he had nobody to beat but himself. 1987's Bad has sold about 30 million copies as of 2008. The Bad World Tour began on September 12, 1987, and finished on January 14, 1989. In Japan alone, the tour had 14 sellouts and drew 570,000 people, nearly tripling the previous record of 200,000 in a single tour. Jackson broke a Guinness World Record when 504,000 people attended seven sold-out shows at Wembley Stadium. He performed a total of 123 concerts to a total audience of 4.4 million people, and gained a further Guinness World Record when the tour grossed him $125 million.
Jackson released his eighth album Dangerous in 1991. As of 2008, Dangerous had sold seven million copies in the U.S. and has sold 32 million copies worldwide. It is the most successful new jack swing album of all time. His collaboration with Teddy Riley and other members of the new school pushed the envelop of pop and R&B.
There have also been albums like HiStory, Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible. None came close to the success of Thriller, but even his least selling album is a huge success by music standards.
Haunted by a less than humble background and society that saw Blacks as inferior to the Whites, Jackson had to do a lot extra to conquer his field. Even white boy Donny Osmond could not keep up with him. Jackson's 'Beat It' video set MTV on the path of universal acceptance.
Jackson knew the power of his act and the media, so he played some mind games of his own. In 1986, the National Enquirer published a series of photographs of him lying in an oxygen chamber, claiming that he slept in it to slow the aging process. The photographs were genuine, but the claims were not. The singer was promoting his upcoming film Captain EO and wanted to promote a science fiction image of himself
Later, it was reported that he bought the bones of The Elephant Man. Although untrue, it was a story that Jackson again disseminated to the tabloid press. At a point, he claimed his chimp, Bubbles, slept on his bed and shared his toilet. The media fed on all the stories and he became known as Wacko Jacko.
He soon stopped leaking stories to the media, but because of the huge profit from any story about The Gloved One, the press went into overdrive to dig up any dirt on him. Getting something nasty to write about him was not difficult. His sexual abuse cases, failed marriages, bankruptcy, problem with labels and show promoters and ill health were enough fuel for the media. Between appearing in court to answer questions on child sexual abuse and waving his baby, nicknamed Blanket, from the balcony of an hotel in Germany in 2005, Jackson cut the picture of a fallen star who had taken a moon walk out of reality.
As the controversy surrounding his death continues, his true fans are happy for the joy and moments of sheer brightness he brought to their lives. They will remember the moonwalk and the vocal range that reached octaves other tenors could not attain with their natural voice.
Most importantly, they will never see him as King of Flop.
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