Do you believe Micheal Jackson mollested childreen?

Sam Cooke is the godfather of soul. He's the pioneer for people like Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. And Marvin Gaye is my personal favorite- for the album What's Going On, for the personalized nature of his albums, and for his overall vulnerability that made his music enriching. However, if we're talking about number of classic albums, musical talent, lyrics, and longevity, I think you have to give it to Stevie Wonder.

 

brittney spears sold an assload too....she ain't nearly as influential musically as ticket sales alone would indicate.

 

i adopt this post in its entirety. agree completely.

 

I figured you missed that part. I didn't even know Monica had a song titled that.

 

Where are the Beatles being played all the time, everyday except for specialty stations? I guarantee you, even before Michael's death, if you tuned into an 80s station, pop station, oldies R&B, etc. you would hear Michael regularly. I know I did.

As for the claim that there are not a slew of artists crediting Michael as their musical influence, read Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness and you'll find plenty there and that was released 5 years before his death when his popularity was probably at its lowest. Besides that book, I'm pretty sure I can find a slew of other artists crediting him as their influence before his death occurred.

 

Beatles are played on oldies station.

There's an 80's station here in town...they never play Mike.

There are R&B stations here in town...they never play Mike.

I don't "hear" Mike's music in R&B performers today....maybe there's sampling, but that's not what I mean. The closest I can get to a direct influence would be boy bands and Timberlake, directly. Neither of which advanced the art. Few of whom even wrote their own songs to begin with. Many of those guys might call Mike an influence...but what in the world does that really mean for people who aren't writing their own music?

David Bowie was sampled, that doesn't mean he's influential to rap artists...they're just looking for catchy tracks. That's different than being influential. PM Dawn sampled the Beatles....do you feel the Beatles are a big influence in rap music?

Mike was a one of a kind. Phenomenal performer and I was lucky enough to see him perform live. Great experience. Incredible showman. Incredibly popular worldwide....the showman sold tons of tickets and tons of records. I'm not taking any of that away from him.

I think the music comes up short in terms of longevity. Awesome in the 80's, though.


EDIT: by the way...all of what i wrote is subjective opinion....i'm not telliing you you need to accept this as fact. truthfully, i like you as a person far more than i care about this topic.

 

Well, we are listening to different radio stations so there may just be different cases where we are. Like I said, I heard him on a few stations before his death when I did listen to the radio. Maybe you didn't where you live and on the stations you listen to. I'd say that's fair enough.

I wasn't just talking about sampling. pgabs mentioned that one aspect and I gave him some examples. I know influence is not all about sampling and honestly, singers rarely come up with those beats, rhythms, and sounds entirely on their own. There are plenty of artists that do write their own songs an have listed him as an influence. To be honest, the R&B of today isn't really like that of yesteryear either. Many of the more popular R&B artists such as Usher, R. Kelly, Chris Brown, etc. list Michael Jackson as an influence. At the same time, I would not call their brand of R&B the same as Jill Scott, Maxwell, India.Arie, Angie Stone etc. who do not get the same airplay. There are some things I find reminiscent of Jackson in the first group but not so much in the latter.

Maybe you're right, I guess we'll agree to disagree, whatever that means.

I understand that too and I would never take it like that. We're just discussing the topic at hand, nothing more and nothing less.

 

I'm doing the moonwalk trying to keep track of all the arguments started in this thread since 4pm yesterday!

 

I don't know if this would be considered "influential," but I love the cover of Billie Jean by Chris Cornell and the cover of Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm.

I'd post the Youtube videos, but I'm too lazy.

 

To say michael jackson's music is not timeless is just idiotic.

 

Did MJ write his own music?

 

you are not alone

 

Maybe Yes. Maybe No.

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxfuxzekldfe

I was surprised. He wrote more than I thought he did.

 

A quick search shows he did write and produce a lot of his own music. Don't Stop til You Get Enough, Billie Jean, Bad, The Girl is Mine, Beat It, and many others were written by him.

 

The problem with Michael Jackson's musics is that is made particularly for his singing voice and style. You hardly hear a cover for his musics. Listening to his music is cool but try singing or covering for it isn't.

 

It looks to me like it has been covered frequently and is very popular in karaoke places.

 

Karaoke? Is that a joke?

 

Well, I know for a fact that a really good band (with an AMAZING drummer...) will be doing a Michael Jackson tribute (9-song medley) at Sullivans tomorrow night from 8:30 to 12:30. It's ladies night, no cover for the ladies.

 

http://www.iheartchaos.com/content/...taint-michael-jackson-impersonator-i-heart-tv

 

You said singing and covering it. Artists have covered his songs and people, regular people, have sung them. What exactly were you looking for, a singing gorilla?