Michael Jackson In Loving Memory 1958-2009 Part IV

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ko da tgk ke yt die...hehe...sedap x sore diorg...haha...oppss...x bek gelak kat org tau...haha...

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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspa ... /1224267823030.html[url][/url]

When Michael Jackson lived in Ireland for five months, it was in Paddy Dunning’s lodge in Westmeath. Now, his host unveils a model of the King of Pop and remembers his stay

‘I NEVER ASKED him to moondance, and I never asked him for a picture. Michael said that when he was leaving. He said, ‘Paddy, you’re the only person who I’ve met in my whole entire life who’s never asked me for a picture.”

Entrepreneur Paddy Dunning is talking about Michael Jackson, who, with his children, spent five months in 2006 living at Dunning’s recording studio complex at Grouse Lodge in Co Westmeath. The photograph that accompanies this article, and in which the two do finally appear together, is of a live Dunning and a brand-new waxwork of Jackson, which went on show yesterday at the National Wax Museum Plus; another of Dunning’s businesses.

Grouse Lodge is located some winding potholed miles from the village of Rosemount in Co Westmeath, among lovely countryside peppered with cairns and historic sites. It’s purposely unsigned, but that hasn’t stopped many famous names in the music industry finding it. Among those who have used the studios here, which opened in 2002, are Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, REM, Shirley Bassey, Stereophonics, Manic Street Preachers, The Thrills and Westlife.

The studio’s most famous resident to date, however, was undoubtedly Michael Jackson. After the 2005 trial in California, when Jackson was acquitted of charges of child sexual abuse allegations, he spent very little time in the US. Five months of 2006 were spent in rural Westmeath. Rumours leaked out at the time of Jackson being sighted in Moate, Kilbeggan or Horseleap; locations that all seemed surreally unlikely places for the Prince of Pop to be wandering around.

Paddy Dunning sits over coffee in one of the converted stableblocks at the secluded Grouse Lodge, reminiscing about Jackson’s time there, together with his children Prince Michael Junior, Paris and Blanket, and their nanny and tutor. There are two recording studios and comfortable, but modest, accommodation in a variety of converted stone buildings in the complex. The all-in price for renting the studios, accommodation and food used to be €1,500 a day; now it is a “recession-friendly” €850 a day.

Across the road from Grouse Lodge is Coolatore House, a beautiful late Victorian mansion, which can also be rented by artists or the public. Jackson lived in the Grouse Lodge complex for a month, and at Coolatore for four. Seamus Heaney has also stayed there for a period. The weekend before I arrive, 14 gardaí had rented the house for a hen party.

“Michael had heard about the place through an agent; he had lots of agents,” Dunning relates. Once the family arrived, the gates were closed and the Jackson children settled down to a routine of lessons in a small room off one of the studios, playing with Dunning’s two children in the afternoons. Jackson made his own porridge in the mornings, favoured grilled chicken, fish and rice for dinner, went for walks, and read The Irish Times daily.

“He was very interested in how this country worked, and the boom that was on here at the time. He was an avid reader of The Irish Times ; he read it every day from start to finish.”

At the time of his death last summer, Jackson was reported to be taking an extensive range of drugs on a regular basis. However, Dunning says he saw no evidence of this. “Not that I saw and he was here, or around, all the time. We’d go for walks, and he was fit. Michael could move really quickly; I’ve never seen anyone move so quickly. He was like a ballet dancer.”

The staff working at Grouse Lodge did not even tell their partners who the studio’s current resident was, although Dunning himself cracked. “I eventually told my mam,” he confesses. “And then my mam was saying prayers for Michael. And then Michael rang his mother and told her that my mother was saying prayers for him, and then she was saying prayers for my mother, so I went back to my mother and told her ‘Michael Jackson’s mother is saying prayers for you, Mam’. My mother is a small little lady up in Walkinstown and it’s just mad to think that Michael Jackson’s mother was saying prayers for her.”

Jackson, one of the world’s most recognisable faces, sometimes left the estate to explore other parts of Ireland, usually accompanied by Dunning. How was it that nobody in Ireland appeared to notice him?

“Sometimes they did,” Dunning replies simply. “Sometimes I’d drive him to Dublin and we’d pull up a red light and Michael would look out the window, because he’d be sitting up front with me, and a person would not believe their eyes. They would go into semi-shock at the sight, not knowing what to believe – is this Michael Jackson that’s pulled up alongside me on Dame Street or wherever?”

The pair of them sang in the car as they drove around the country. “Although I’m a crap musician, I can say I’ve played with Michael Jackson,” Dunning laughs. “I played drums with him. And I sang with Michael. We’d be singing in the car. We sang that song, The Girl Is Mine , that Michael recorded with Paul McCartney. He did Paul McCartney’s part, and I did Michael Jackson.”

One of the places that Dunning took Jackson was to the nearby Hill of Úisneach, a historic site associated with the High Kings of Ireland. “He loved history and mythology,” says Dunning, who is developing a Mayday festival around Úisneach – the Festival of the Fires – which will, he hopes, eventually radiate out across Ireland.
A fire will be lit on Úisneach on the evening of May 1st, where there will be music, craft, a market, and talks about the history and mythology of the area. Sharon Shannon, Mundy, Kíla and others are scheduled to play. Landowners with hills in surrounding areas are being invited to light their own hilltop fires at dusk, and gather their communities to celebrate Mayday.

Dunning’s dream is to develop it into a 32-county festival that will attract the diaspora back to their local regions, and bring in seasonal revenue. “We want to send a global invitation to all the diaspora to come back to their home county in May to celebrate the ancient festival of Bealtaine.” He doesn’t like talking about the possibility of rain on the evening.

Although staff, neighbours, the shopkeepers at Rosemount – and Dunning’s small children – kept quiet about the fact Michael Jackson was in residence, in the end, a US reporter eventually revealed his whereabouts. One Billy Bush, nephew of George Bush senior, first cousin of George Bush junior and presenter of Access Hollywood , a syndicated cable entertainment-news show, arrived to interview Jackson in Westmeath. He went into nearby Moate straight after filming and told the men, women, children and dogs in the street where Jackson was. “Stupid man,” Dunning says mournfully, but really, could any other result have been reasonably expected?

Jackson departed the midlands soon afterwards, to attend the funeral of soul icon, James Brown. He left the Dunnings his television; toys that had been bought for Prince Michael Junior, Paris and Blanket; various hats; a signed piece of wood (all visitors sign a slice of tree trunk); and a page of scrawled signature in the Visitors’ Book. “He was a very generous man,” says Dunning.

Jackson had agreed, in theory, to open Dunning’s Wax Museum last summer. “We’d told him about the museum. He was always interested in wax museums. He said, ‘If I’m around, I’ll launch it for you’. He was due to be in England at the time to do the shows at O2, and we were going to be going over to the shows and all of that. It was a massive shock when we heard he was dead.”

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Kilter Met Michael Jackson in 1975

(All of the news about Michael Jackson's death has jogged my memory into recalling how I met Jackson personally back in 1975. So here is the account, which I also posted to my Facebook page. The accompanying pic is exactly how he looked back then. Enjoy!)



MY CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH MICHAEL JACKSON

My first roommate from college lived in the Los Angeles area. In the summer after my sophomore year I visited him -- a good excuse to hit the west coast.

His summer job was at Disneyland. Yes, Walt Disney's original playground in Anaheim. I liked to kid him about his glamorous job. He worked the night shift as a cook at a Fantasyland restaurant.

On that particular day, June 20, 1975, I cruised in with him, getting into the park for free on one of his guest passes (naturally). The plan was for me to wander around the attractions, go on rides, etc.

Basically, I was “waiting for him to get off work.” Seeing how Disney provides nonstop stimulation, that was no problem.

In particular, I remember enjoying the evening's musical attraction -- The Four Tops. They sang their classic soul repertoire with lush harmonies and in tight dance formation.

Halfway through "Standing in the Shadows of Love," though, they got upstaged. A commotion rose from the front section of the crowd. Word spread: "It's the Jackson Five! . . . See? There's Michael!"

Through all the standing and screaming, I saw nothing. The group never came on stage. Truth be told, nor did I care much.

As a jaded, stubble-faced 21-year old, I considered the Jackson Five passé. Their career was in a lull. It had been a year since they scored with "Dancing Machine." Rumors abounded that Michael had lost his sweet falsetto now that he was stuck in his awkward teenage years. The group recently left Motown and signed with CBS. They even had to use a new name, "The Jacksons," because of a contract dispute.

The Jacksons stayed for several songs, then left. This prompted more commotion and screaming, though as I noted in my journal that night, it served only as a distraction to be shrugged off. After the show I moved on to more rides.

At 12:45 a.m. (the park didn't close until 1:30 a.m. back then) I was standing in line at the Matterhorn Bobsled ride. I had saved the biggest thrill for last. The rollercoaster lines wouldn't be so long now, and it was almost time to retrieve my friend.

Suddenly the same commotion ricocheted through the crowd – screaming girls leading an increased frenzy. "So where did the Jacksons resurface now?" I thought, and turned around.

Standing DIRECTLY behind me was Michael Jackson. Behind him was his younger brother, Randy. Behind both boys was their father, Joe.

They were going on the Matterhorn Bobsled ride. Same as me. And they were standing RIGHT behind me.

Suddenly, I forgot all about being a jaded 21 year-old. I forgot about being critical and negative. This was a close encounter of the first kind with the actual, real Michael Jackson. In fact, by the end of the night he converted me into a fan.

Quick -- What could I say to him? How much did I know?

Unfortunately, not much. He grew up in Gary, Indiana. One of nine brothers and sisters. My favorite rockers were "Mama's Pearl" and "Sugar Daddy." My favorite ballad was "Never Can Say Goodbye.” And can’t forget Michael already had two solo hits: "Ben" and "Got to Be There."

Even so, I couldn't think of a single thing to say. What do you say to an international star that's four years younger than yourself? What kind of chit-chat would his next door neighbor make?

How could I be cool without being a fool?

The girls pressed closer, sighing and gasping. Michael had gotten much taller since his Motown days. He was lean as a stringbean, sported a large Afro, wore silky clothes, and had ultra white teeth.

I remember being impressed with his behavior. Despite the spotlight being squarely on him, he bounced around good-naturedly, enduring all the photos, hand shakes, and autographs with a smile. He never once lost his sense of humor, nor his rapport with the crowd. He accommodated all -- right down to throwing his arm around a girl in a wheelchair.

I wrote in my journal later, perhaps cynically, "I think he enjoys being a 16 year-old star."

Michael's brother, Randy, three years younger, was the newest member of "The Jacksons," having replaced Jermaine who decided to stay at Motown. Randy patiently allowed himself to play second banana to his bro. I broke the conversation barrier with him.

"Did you guys come here tonight because of the Four Tops?" I asked, speaking loudly in order to capture his ear.

"Yeah, they're our friends," he said. He asked me to throw away his empty popcorn container into the trash can next to me.

I also made it a point to speak with the old man, Joe. "Did you hear the Tops play 'Bernadette'? Same quality vocals as ever," I said.

"Never gets old," he said. "Never gets old."

As for the Matterhorn ride, it was designed for two people per "sled." I couldn't believe it when the operator pointed to me and said, "Just one? Get up front here. Michael, get behind him."

Michael and I nodded, and got in the exact same car.

Quarters were tight in the fake bobsled which was welded to a track. The metal sides reached up to our necks as we sat down low, for safety, and got belted in. Michael could've hugged me. His legs straddled my torso. I could see both his shoes when I looked down.

Behind us, in the following car, Randy and Mr. Jackson climbed aboard. The girls were still screaming.

Don’t ask me what I remember about the ride itself. Were the twists and turns scary? Was it pitch black inside the mountain? I couldn’t tell you. My mind was only thinking, "I can't believe -- I'm on a ride -- at Disneyland -- with Michael Jackson."

The deboarding area was relatively free of fans as Michael and I got out. This was my now-or-never moment. I NEEDED to say something, to validate our meeting -- especially since I had no camera, no pen, no paper.

In my mind Michael and I were already buddies, yet had exchanged no words.

I said, "Hi Michael, how’s life? I might as well meet you, too. You're a great singer and I respect your talent. Keep pushing forward, man. I’ll be curious to see what you do next." I stuck out my hand. "My name is Ken."

We shook. He said shyly, "Ken. Okay. Hi.”

I said, "I wanted to say hello back there, but didn't want to get run over by Michael Mania."

He laughed. "Oh, they're good people. I don't mind. Fans are fans. I love each and every one of them."

By now his father and brother finished their ride and joined us. The four of us nodded goodbye. The Jacksons walked off into the night. They were more anonymous now that they were on the move instead of stationary.

I felt exhilaration, jealousy, astonishment . . . everything except proper appreciation for the experience. I wrote in my journal, "For a guy, his handshake was too dainty. Long fingers, awfully chapped . . . he's all bone and no muscle."

I think I figured Michael Jackson’s best days were behind him, that his star would soon begin to fall back to earth.

Little did my ken reveal!

My former roommate got off work and listened with bemused detachment to my excited news.

"So you met Michael Jackson? Famous people breeze through here all the time," he said. "Know who ate at our restaurant last week? Tiny Tim. C'mon, let's get some tacos."

So I guess back in 1975 it wasn't such a watershed event. But seeing how it has grown in stature over the years makes me glad I can still tell it now.

Thank you, Michael Jackson, for living life off the wall.

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The Michael Jackson I Knew

July 2, 2009
BY DARLENE DONLOE
CONTRIBUTING WRITER



Editor’s note: L.A. Watts Times writer Darlene Donloe met and worked with Michael Jackson in 1996. She shares her experience with readers.
I have never written about the brief relationship I had with Michael Jackson.
But, upon learning of his untimely death last week, I felt compelled to offer a different perspective on the Jackson I knew.
I don’t need to tell you he was a genius. I don’t need to tell you the impact he had on the music industry or that he was loved throughout the world.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I have nothing bad to say about Jackson. In fact, it’s just the opposite. He gave me some of the most unforgettable moments of my life. And, for that, I will be forever grateful.
It was the summer of 1996 when my friend, Bob Jones (now deceased), who happened to be Jackson’s publicist at Motown and then later with MJJ Productions, called me and asked what I was doing for the next six months.
He said: “How would you like to go out on tour with Michael? He needs a tour publicist.”
I held the phone in disbelief as Bob continued his spiel. What did he expect me to say? “Well, Bob, I’ll have to look at my schedule. Let me get back to you.” Why would I want to fly around first class on a private plane for a Michael Jackson tour, visit exotic places, meet officials, eat great food and stay in five star hotels? I said yes. Duh!
About three weeks later, I was on a plane that landed in Prague, Czech Republic, the first stop on MJ’s worldwide HIStory Tour.
It was a week into the tour before I officially met Jackson. Although I had accompanied him on many of his outings, no one had bothered to formally introduce us.
His handlers had warned me not to speak to the King of Pop unless he first spoke to me. Were they kidding? I played along — for about a week.
I decided the next time I accompanied him to either a hospital, orphanage or record store, I would make my ninja move. I figured the worse that could happen would be that I would get sent home.
As he perused the compact discs in the R&B section of a local record store, I started to walk toward him. The handlers were aghast. It was as if the air had quickly been sucked out of the room. Undeterred, I walked up to him and said, “Mr. Jackson, I’m Darlene. I’m your publicist on the tour.”
He turned and looked me straight in the eyes. “Oh, OK,” he said. “Are you going to do the whole tour?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Unless you know something I don’t.”
“OK,” he laughed and returned to looking through the CDs.
“Well,” I thought, “that was uneventful.” However, secretly, it was completely fulfilling.
I found out later he knew exactly who I was because he had asked, “who is the black girl?” Of course, as time went on he became more comfortable with my close proximity to him.
When fans asked the King of Pop whether they could get an autograph or take a picture with him, he’d occasionally say, “If it’s OK with her,” pointing to me.
It was always OK with me. Who was I to break a fan’s heart?
When news broke about MJ’s passing, all of the memories of the tour came flooding back. There was the night he married Debbie Rowe and I got no sleep for two days, due to endless media calls. I stuck to the party-line answer: “I have no comment on Mr. Jackson’s personal life.”
Being a part of Jackson’s entourage was fascinating and eye-opening. I got to see the inner workings of a superstar’s multifaceted, precision-like machine. I was always on call and had to be ready to accompany MJ at a moment’s notice — or I’d be left behind. That wouldn’t sit well.
It became clear, early on, that while he was sometimes soft-spoken, he was strong-willed and very direct when he wanted to make a point or have something done.
On concert nights, I’d watch as MJ walked from his car to a spot underneath the stage where a platform would eventually elevate him into position to make a powerful entrance.
The favorite part of my job was standing in the wings night after night, watching him hit every mark with precision and thinking how blessed I was to observe a master craftsman at work.
Because he had such a commanding presence, I think people forgot he was a man. He’s been elevated to superstar status for so long, it’s hard for some to look at him as a human being who puts his pants on one leg at a time.
I saw him in those pensive, quiet moments before going on stage. I witnessed him, sans television cameras, sitting, comforting and talking to a child in a hospital who was fighting a serious disease. This is the guy who, on Thanksgiving in Australia, thought it was important enough to come share a meal and celebrate with his staff and crew.
When it comes to Jackson, I can only speak my own truth. The Jackson I came to know was friendly and respectful to me. And, on those occasions when I caught his eye, he would give me that shy, childlike smile.
The following quote from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was read recently at a friend’s memorial. I think it’s more than appropriate for Jackson.
“And, when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of Heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.”
In gratitude, I say thank you, Michael Jackson. Thanks for the magic, the music and enough memories to hold me a lifetime. — Darlene (the black girl)

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Hey everyone Click the image to open in full size. Just found this article in a Swedish newspaper Hemhjälpen ger ny bild av Michael Jackson « Dagen.se, they have interviewed a woman who used to work as a maid at Neverland. Since it was in Swedish, I translated it for you, thought you might be interested to read Click the image to open in full size.

NOTE: It is not very common in Sweden to go and talk to tabloids like it is in the UK or US, so this is not that kind of interview, it is actually in a "normal" newspaper, so please don't hate and write things like 'she just wants to make money and bla bla bla', because in Sweden you don't really get anything for going public like this, I think she just wants to let people know what a good person Michael actually was Click the image to open in full size. Also, sorry for any grammar errors or spelling mistakes, English is not my first language Click the image to open in full size.
____________________

When Michael Jackson died in June last year he had for long stopped being a human being of flesh and blood in the world’s eyes. He had become a timid fantasy creature hiding at his ranch in Neverland and it was seen free to speculate about him and his life.

To meet Kiki Chambers is therefore a wakeup call. She is a woman who has washed his clothes, cleaned his house and watched him play with his children.

“I don’t want the world to remember him as a crazy person, because he wasn’t. I want him to be remembered as a human being who wanted to make the world a better place and as a father, because that’s the role I saw was most important for him,” she says.

She, who has watched a superstar from the inside, would also like to witness of how damaging fame and wealth can be.

“I’ve seen what price a person has to pay when the world worships you. We are meant to worship God, not His creations,” she says.

Kiki Chambers now lives in a small town in the west of Sweden. The contrasts are big from warm California and life at Neverland, the ranch which Michael Jackson built when trying to create a lost childhood.

She takes her laptop and shows us clips on Youtube from the inside of Michael Jackson’s home. She points at the place in the kitchen where there was always candy, the stairs where she once fell. She also points out other celebrities who she met.

”Elizabeth Taylor was always very nice when she came to visit, others were not,” she says.

Kiki Chambers worked at Neverland from 1991 to 2003. She got the job as a coincidence.

”I knew a man at a building company who worked at Neverland. I used to joke around with him, telling him that if they ever needed a maid they should call me. And they actually did.”

She was one of many maids who worked full time at the ranch. When she was hired, she was told not to look Michael Jackson in the eyes or take initiative to talk to him. Kiki Chamber’s is a very straight forward and talkative person though, so she had a hard time following the rules. She used to tell him jokes, and one time she thought that she had gone too far, but when others were fired, she was the one who always got to stay.

“One time he asked me why no one ever spoke to him. I then had to tell him that those were the rules we were given, but he didn’t understand why, he hadn’t actually made those rules,” she says.

She remembers the first years as happy and joyful. Michael Jackson used to love to play with the children who came to visit Neverland.

“He liked to laugh, he was open and happy,” she says.

But in 1993 Michael Jackson was accused of sexual molestation towards a boy named Jordy Chandler.

“After being accused, which I am sure he was not guilty of, it was like he changed. He wasn’t as happy anymore,” she says.

As time passed by, Kiki Chambers got a friendly relationship with Michael Jackson.

“He used to tell me that he could hear my laugh all the way across the house,” she says.

It sometimes happened that they, late at night, sat down in one of the rooms for longer conversations. He sometimes asked her for advice since there were so many people that wanted to be close to him and use his fame.

“He asked me if he could trust this person or this person. It was hard, it wasn’t my place to judge who he should be surrounding himself with,” she says.

It also started coming more and more doctors to visit Neverland. They gave Michael Jackson different kinds of prescripted medication. Kiki Chambers soon realized that something was very wrong. Michael Jackson could act normal one minute, just to be noticeable high on medication the next.

”It was hard. I was just a maid, but when was it my responsibility as a human being to do something? What could I do? I prayed to God: Why am I here?”

Everyone who was working close to Michael Jackson tried to keep this a secret since they knew what kind of scandal this would cause in the media. To Kiki Chambers, it was a hard thing to do.

“One night, one of my superiors told me that Michael Jackson had been given some medication. But something was very wrong, you could tell just by looking at him, and I got scared. After that, I told my superior that if this ever happens again, I will call 911, I don’t care what consequences it will give me. Because I knew that I could never live with not to have done anything if he died."

As a Christian she tried to affect Michael Jackson in a positive way. She gave him Christian books and wrote Biblical verses on the board in the kitchen, which he gave her credit for.

”I want people to know that Michael believed in God, it was no doubt about it,” she says.

One time, Michael Jackson and his crew went to do some errands down town, where Kiki Chambers’ Christian friend was working at a hotel She then asked Michael Jackson if he wanted to see him and he said yes.

”We started talking and when we were about to leave, my friend asked me if we could pray together. We all joined hands and he started to speak in tongues. In my mind I said to God: I really hope you know what you’re doing right now. When we left, a person from the crew asked about what had just happened, what language he was praying in. Michael then explained, completely natural, that my friend had been speaking in tongues, and then told them about what it means when you do that.”

When World Trade Center in New York was attacked, Michael Jackson got really shaken. He gathered all of the staff outside where they held hands.

”He asked me to pray to God. I was stunned, but he continued: Pray Kiki, do it. Inside, I prayed to God to help me and, now, I don’t even remember what I prayed.”

In the beginning of the years of 2000, Michael Jackson’s world started to fall more and more apart. Another boy, Gavin Arvizo, accused him of sexual molestation. Kiki Chambers is totally convinced that Michael Jackson is innocent to all the accusations and that the parents were after money.

”What parents leave their children for weeks and weeks at somebody else’s house? That was really irresponsible done of them. And the children got spoilt and manipulative. They asked us what it was going to be for dinner and then they demanded something else, just because. They made is work harder and harder and threatened us to get us fired if we didn’t serve them alcohol,” she say.

The following circus in the media made Michael Jackson depressed.

”He wondered why people called him Wacko Jackson, that made him really upset and it was painful to him.”

Kiki Chambers describes Michael Jackson as a very complex person. She means that he was a really good business man, but on the other hand he would literally throw money at his so called friends. He was timid and shy, but could at the same time make big statues of himself.

”He wanted so badly to love and to be loved,” she says.

What she considered was most important to him, was his three children. Kiki Chambers says that he was a good father, even though he was struggling with his addiction to painkillers and medication.

“He loved his children, he sacrificed himself for them. He never had a childhood of his own, therefore it was very important to him how his children were raised. And that’s why he used to cover them up and never show their faces when they went outside.”

In 2003, Kiki Chambers left Neverland. The last time she met Michael Jackson was during the trial in 2005 where she was a witness.

”Michael wondered how it went, and I said it went good. But he then got told that it was not permitted to speak with the witnesses.”

After that she didn’t have any contact with him, even though she had friends who were still working in his staff. During that time, she prayed and hoped for him, but in June last year, the call that she feared for, suddenly came.

“It still hurts so much to talk about and I haven’t even been able to start grieving. I see his face in the newspapers and I read so many lies about him. I don’t know how to cope with all the feelings I have, but I pray to God and I know that He’s got everything in His hands now.”

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Funny but Interseting article on the BIG three...

Love, Listen, Loathe 04.07.10: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, the Beatles
Posted by Chris Crowing on 04.07.2010

It’s Big Hitter Week as the King of Pop take on the Fab Four and King himself in a battle for supremacy, or at the very least my approval…


Last week I said I was out of inspiration, and I couldn't get any traction on any of your marvellous suggestions, so I decided to break with my usual habit of picking bands I quite like and thought about doing a pop week, maybe Backstreet Boys, nSync & Take That, or Enrique Iglesias, Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams or something similar but I just couldn't get traction on that either. I wanted to do something popular, given the generally alternative mode of my columns so far but I couldn't find myself to be constructive with the pop angle.

The it hit me – why not go for three of the biggest selling, most influential acts in music? That'll get some hits, spark some controversy and be a decent column until I think of something more personal, right? Well I hope so, so here it goes…

Week Two: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and the Beatles suggested by Providence


Elvis Presley

Of course, Elvis was (supposedly) dead before I was born, but it's next to impossible to escape the impact of the King as a fan of music, movies or pop culture in general. Being British, not a fan of manufactured pop music or cabaret, I was never exactly in the King's target market. He's just more than a bit too cheesy, too cynical in his reinventions and too watered down compared to the stuff I love from the same time period to be really impressed.

That said, you can't really dismiss an artist who still troubles the charts a full generation after their (supposed) death and two generations after their creative/commercial peak, who has a slew of moves and catchphrases well embedded in the popular lexicon (‘thank-you very much' (said with a sneer), Elvis has left the building, etc.) and who a significant number of people refuse to believe is dead.


I guess I need to do this in two parts – what's GOOD about Elvis, and what's BAD. First, the good…

Elvis is largely credited (by the masses at least, I guess there is no substitute for good marketing) as being a pioneer of rock and roll and for popularising the genre for mainstream (given the time period that means White) audiences. In the eyes of many, Elvis is the ultimate musical/cultural grandfather of acts as disparate as Justin Timberlake, Metallica and the Jonas Brothers.

Furthermore he is one of the arch-typical musical chameleons, changing his image and the nature of his work to better suit the zeitgeist of the time from his folksy cowboy look, through the black jumpsuit, the white suit, the black shirt, and finally the white & rhinestone superman look and each look's respective distinctive musical sound. In this way, his most telling successors would be like likes of David Bowie and Madonna.

Elvis' enduring legacy is arguably more tangible in the continuing commercial value of his estate, and there is still a considerable industry in Elvis merchandise and I'd imagine there are at least a few hundred (if not thousand) people who's daily income is reliant on ‘official' Elvis memorabilia and things like tours of Graceland and the continuing sales of his music. If you throw in ‘unofficial' merchandise, then the Estate of Elvis Aaron Presley probably has a higher GDP than a reasonably sized and well-run country. In this respect, Elvis legacy can bee seen best in those bands who have embraced the concept of putting their likeness/logo on every conceivable consumer good, such as KISS or Hannah Montana.


I think that covers the good, onto the bad…

I believe in credit where it's due, and while Elvis' runaway popularity may have popularised elements of rock ‘n roll to the idiot majority who only believe what the mainstream media tells them, he was NO pioneer and the very assertion that he was tends to make my blood boil. I believe, (and I'm sure even the staunchest Elvis fans must know deep down) that Elvis was a charismatic performer, who struck upon a sound which was a little bit MORE than what his white contemporaries were using by the sheer expedient of stealing it from more competent black musicians. At that point his management took over and riding the initial wave of controversy on his SHOCKING stage antics (yep, hip thrusts were on a par with ripping up Bibles and exposing yourself once upon a time) he became a cross-over star and that could have been it.

Instead he got drafted, sent to Germany for a tour, then came home as the clean-cut American hero for the next stage of his career. Then once that got tired, he moved to Vegas and became a parody of himself. Then he got really fat and died.

OR, he switched lives with an Elvis impersonator (who got fat & died) while the king himself ended up in a retirement home in Texas, fighting off zombies. The world would be a much funner place if the story of Bubba Ho Tep was true...

Anyways, Elvis DID NOT invent modern rock music. Indeed I regard his career to be a manufactured anachronism, with all the real work done by guys like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, BB King (and a host of their contemporaries) with credit also due to artists like Glenn Miller, Bill Halley and others.

The next step was taken by acts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, directly from the real pioneers, with Elvis career standing out between, but not truly linked to the main thrust of progress.

Hence, he's not a pioneer or in truth, that influential.

If I was being pithy, I would also blame Elvis, at least in part, for the decline of American country music from a worthy variation on the folk theme, to the rhinestoned up, super tacky, commercial cowboy nonsense we see today. You see I'm a HUGE fan of folk music, but it seems as soon as anyone approaches the country mainstream, they become so cheesy, neutered and frankly TASTELESS and I can't help but get the feeling that it was Elvis success which caused that shift.

It might sound that I'm pretty down on Elvis, but as a rule I have no great problem with the King, it only bugs me when people seem to want to big him up as a fantastic talent, as an innovative and influential musical figure.

Let's see what Elvis indisputably WAS. He was a charismatic performer, a competent musician and compelling (if not technically brilliant) singer. He WAS one of the artists to first forge the modern image of the pop/rock star, to create the synergy between music and style into PRODUCT, to see the advantage in creating hysteria, to see the value in the concept of image rights. Not all of these things are good, but they are all important, for the commercial viability of the music industry if not so much for it's soul.


I seem to have gone this whole bit without discussing Elvis' individual songs. The thing is, I don't have a massive opinion - almost everything he did was done well, but unspectacularly and to a shinier, yet less interesting than someone else had done before. There are a few Elvis songs I quite like, in a sing-a-long easy listening sort of way and they are the songs I've added videos of.

urockmyworld

sambungan.....

Michael Jackson

At the commencement, I have to make it clear I will not discuss any of Michael's controversies – just his music. Sorry to disappoint.

In my opinion, Michael Jackson is the greatest Pop icon of our time, and the only artist who can compare in longevity, quality of back catalogue or that (apparently laudable) chameleon-factor is Madonna - but I don't LIKE Madonna. ***** however, has been a guilty pleasure for a long time, as underneath my gnarly metal facade is a disco loving, groovesome, funk soul brother. And if you find that terminology offensive, take it up with Fatboy Slim.

Let's look at *****'s career. Starting out as the youngest, bestest member of the Jackson 5 at the age of SIX, he made his solo debut at the age of thirteen in 1971 and in the ensuing 38 years produced ten solo records, some of which go down as the most influential and certainly the best selling in modern music history.

While the Jackson 5 came storming out the gates, their momentum waned, and it took ***** separating himself from the familial group to find his own niche. Teaming up with long term producer Quincy Jones, not to mention a pantheon of top notch songwriters (Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder) he produced the Off The Wall record, which was actually his FIFTH solo record, but the first outside 'the Jacksons' franchise. A stunningly realised piece of disco-pop, it wasn't even a hint of what was to come...


*****'s next record was an oft-overlooked release called Thriller. I as only one year old when this album came out, but these songs became the background-radiation soundtrack to my youth, in a way I only appreciated when I was much older.

"Thriller" itself was arguably the single of the 80s, and solidified ***** as a cross-over star for mainstream (white) audiences and confirmed the pre-eminence of the music video as one of the prime media for popularising a musical artist - a medium which Michael would continue to excel in. Add to that Eddie Van Halen plays the guitar solo, it's got ZOMBIES in it and that's just a whole ice bath full of COOL.


That said, my personal favourites from the record are the 'other' singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" (Ok, there were four other hit singles from the album, but I think these three are enough to be going on with!) as they both rely on a solid musical groove and soulful singing and storytelling lyrics. They are the steak to Thriller's sizzle. This is shown in recent years as both of these songs have been covered more than a few times, while "Thriller" is kinda untouchable (unless it's by a formation dance team of Korean inmates...)

I seriously urge anyone to check out Chris Cornell's acoustic version of "Billie Jean", and the Fall Out Boy version of "Beat It is the best thing they've ever done. Which isn't saying much, mind...

*****'s career would never be the same again as this record catapulted him to a level of fame previously only shared by Elvis & the Beatles (that's why they are all together in this category.) Is it co-incidence that all the genuine controversy started around this time that he became the most famous, recognisable celebrity in the world? I don't think so.

Michael's next record produced less-sales, but is STILL one of the biggest selling records of all time, and has the distinction of having five singles top the Billboard 100 chart.

Unlike most modern popstars, who seem to have one decent single followed by two or three less-good ones, which rely on the fact that the artist is a star to sell them, the singles from Bad (and *****'s other records, in fairness) were wall to wall quality. Which modern popstar has released songs as good as "bad", "Smooth Criminal", "The Way You Make Me Feel", and "Leave Me Alone" all in a row?

Almost DESPITE it's memorable (for being fun, rather than especially good) cover by Alien Ant Farm, "Smoot Criminal" remains probably my personal favourite Jackson song...


I'm not such a big fan of the next stage in Jackson's career as his albums become longer, more impenetrable and somewhat self-indulgent. For all the critical and commercial acclaim, I do NOT like "Black or White" considering the song to be quite dull and the message to be too blunt - it preaches to the choir, and will change no-ones racist attitudes - and somewhat hypocritical given *****'s body dysmorphic issues. Indeed the song I like best from Dangerous is the title track, which I loved when it came out (when I was ten.)

The 'new' portion of HIStory was better, with "You Are Not Alone", "They Don't Care About Us" and "Scream" some of the best pop music released in the nineties. Passionate, musically impressive and emotive, these songs showed that despite the increasing mediocrity of the industry Jackson had helped to form, he could still evolve, still produce something special.


For similar reasons to my dislike of "Black & White", I'm not a fan of "Earth Song" - it's just not that interesting or compelling as a song and the lyrical content is overly preachy, guilt-trippy and for an artist who has benefited from mass-consumer culture, somewhat hypocritical. These are small concerns.

I'll round off *****'s career by saying the remix record Blood on the Dance Floor despite being one of Jackson's weaker efforts is better than most pop music these days and songs like "Blood on the Dance Floor", "Ghosts" and "Morphine" show that Jackson still had relevance and was still evolving as an artist even as court cases, illness and entropy overtook his career.

Michael Jackson is indisputably the biggest selling musician of all time, which is really saying something given the company I've placed him in this week. His influence from a musical perspective is oft overlooked, compared to his commercial and marketing achievements and especially his choreography but he should be considered one of the greatest composers and multi-instrumentalists of our time.

urockmyworld

the Beatles

I used to HATE the Beatles. Growing up as a teenager in the indie-obsessed UK of the 90s, the Beatles were venerated as the root of all which is good and awesome in music, by a slew of bands with a combined one tenth of their creativity.

This massive adulation and the general acceptance that the Fab Four were the best thing ever, REALLY put me off them once I broke away from indie mediocrity and started investigating louder, more interesting lands.

It took a LONG time for me to come back to the Beatles, and I can pinpoint the turning point.

The first episode of the the Radio One Rock Show which was instituted the corporation because of the increasing commercial success of alternative rock in the UK in the late 90s (by alternative I mean things like metal, nu-metal, grunge etc. because in the UK, things like indie confusingly tend to constitute mainstream rock) has as it's first guest appearance, the man, the myth, the legend - Lemmy. For the uninitiated, that's the moustachioed, be-warted frontman of Motorhead.

Now as a committed metalhead, a radio show committed to my kind of music became necessary listening (and the show was damned good for the first few years, and is enjoying a resurgence under Daniel P Carter at the moment) and the appearance of a living legend like Lemmy made it doubly so.

When asked for his choice of a song to play, Lemmy said (and I'll quote this as memory best serves)...

"I know you kids might think this is some tired old shit, but i remember hearing this and thinking 'what the kungfu, that's incredible' and it really inspired me to get into this music business. The bass-line is also some right impressive shit."

Lemmy swears like a trooper, but he means every word, and on the subject of credible rock, I (and many others) regard him as a bit of an authority. The song he had chosen was this...


So I decided to look closer at these indie deities I had so callously discarded...

It may come as a surprise to many, but the Beatles only existed as a recording, touring band for eight years.

Their education in the folk & rock bars of Hamburg and Liverpool notwithstanding, their first single, "Love Me Do" was released in 1962 and their last recordings were released in 1970. Given the depth and duration of their legacy, their continued critical and commercial success that is kungfu queen incredible.

In those eight years, they released twelve records, each a paragon of the style they chose to evoke at the time, and therein lies the greatest compliment I can pay the Beatles.

Their early records reflected their first influences, the 'rock' influences of Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and the 'pop' influences like Roy Orbison which dominated the charts at the time, produced well crafted sing-along pop songs with a credible rock edge. Effectively following Elvis' lead in merging pop hooks with rock drive, this period shot them from debut single, little-band-from-Liverpool to mega-selling transatlantic sensations.


However only a few years passed before the sound started to evolve, becoming noticeably 'heavier' than had gone before, but also tinkering with acoustic and folk music to liberally kick down the walls of what was expected from their (variously) skiffle, beat or Liverpool sound.

The Help! record, despite technically being a soundtrack to a rather awful film shows the increased weight of their repertoire with songs like "Ticket to Ride" combined with McCartney's sense of melody on the slightly out-of-place "Yesterday."

Rubber Soul incorporates folk rock influences from the likes of Bob Dylan and the Byrds - and is also partially credited with Dylan's retaliatory move onto electric guitar in the following years.

Revolver was another step forward, with changes in style which would come in the decade afterwards to be called 'progressive' (especially "Elanor Rigby"), with added political overtones ("Taxman") and the first hints of psychedelia ("Yellow Submarine".)

While Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential and best albums of all time, I'm not that much of a fan. This is because, I don't really like psychedila and that almost dreamy feel to the bulk of late 60s, early 70s music is kinda lost on me. That said, I recognise the album as a further evolution in the Beatles' sound, and a landmark record in popular music - it also has two of their most recognisable songs "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."

The Magical Mystery Tour is one of my favourite Beatles releases, merging the folk, hard rock and psychedilia to include a canon of awesome songs like "the Magical Mystery Tour", "The Fool on the Hill", "I am The walrus", "Hello, Goodbye", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "Penny Lane" and "All You Need is Love."

The White Album was regarded as something of a bible by my musically talented friends in high school and it is indeed an accomplished record - but for me the most telling songs are "Back in the USSR" which again shows the increasing pace of hard rock, so soon to become heavy metal, and George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which remains one of the most sublime things I've ever heard.


Abbey Road and Let it Be round out the Beatles catalogue on a strong note, despite the much-documented internal tensions in the band, songs like "Come Together", "Let it Be" and their last single, "the Long and Winding Road" are well worth their status as classics.


The Beatles can almost be seen as the symbol of the social revolution that was the 1960s, from their at-the-time shocking mop top haircuts and dangerous rock sound which looks/sounds positively tame by today's standards, their hair got longer, the songs got less conventional and heavier/more progressive and their fame did nothing but increase.

Massively successful and undeniably influential, I'd be pithy to mark them down because of my unreasoning despite for the indie scene in the UK.

Perhaps the best thing I can say about the Beatles is that they show that the distance between pop and rock isn't THAT far, one being merely another facet of the other. There are only twelve notes, a handful of chords and the limited range of the human voice to play with - can't we all just let it be?


The Reckoning

So, I LOVE Michael Jackson because when he was on, his music was SO MUCH FUN. End of story, I'm not saying he's BETTER than either of the acts below, just that I enjoy his work more and listen to it more.

I LISTEN to the Beatles because they are probably the most influential artists of the 20th century, and did it all in less time than it took me to learn to play the guitar. Respect is due, and I still find myself learning whenever the Beatles are on the stereo.

and I LOATHE Elvis Presley because for all his undoubted quality and success, he is more an icon to excess and to consumerism than to ay kind of musical, emotional or intellectual ideal.

miss_manja

yuhuuuu............

gud hapternun....

kasi upckit...

urockmyworld

gud apternun...

urockmyworld

kpd peminat Janet...selamat membaca!

urockmyworld

urockmyworld

Great 79'JET Mag interview with Michael on gay rumors, female fans, and race.
He recalled the nasty rumor that surfaced last year, falsely claiming that he had undergone a sex change. The rumor is not dead yet and he said his encounter with a love-crazed blonde at the aforementioned airport helps to revive it.

“This beautiful girl with blonde hair was trying her hardest to pull me into her to kiss her,” Michael remembers. “She said, ‘You’re so sexy, kiss me.’ When I showed no kind of interest in her, she said, ‘What’s wrong, you ***?’ and walked off.”

He laments that he still has to tell people:

“There’s a reason why I was created male. I’m not a girl. And what kills me the most and makes me want to break down in tears is when little kids, seven and eight, come to me asking me that. I say, no, and please tell all your other little friends it’s not true.”

What disturbs Michael more than the rumor is the kind of mail he receives from some of the bubble gum set.

“You wouldn’t believe the mail I get. I mean some of it gets real vulgar,” he revealed. To him, such mail is as shocking as seeing a priest at a movie house watching The Devil And Mrs. Jones or Deep Throat. “Some of the mail gets real funky, not polite at all,” he says. “They tell you the stuff they want to do to you and everything, and how they’re going to do it. I just read and go, ‘Oh my God, these girls.’ There’s not much charm in girls anymore, like the guy used to always pick up the phone and call the girl. She would never call the guy. She would sit there all day until the phone would ring for her. But now the girls bother you to death….You see girls today 11 years old with bags and lipstick and eyeliner and lashes as well. They feel they’re women and they’re not.”

Don’t get the impression that the soft-spoken singer is a saint or square. Looking like the cliché description—tall, dark, and handsome—Michael is very much aware that he can now do at age 20 what he used to sing about when he was 10. One well-known witness is Oscar-winning actress Tatum O’Neal, teenaged daughter of actor Ryan O’Neal.

A reporter for Modern People two years ago quoted Miss O’Neal as once saying she couldn’t wait to have her first affair. If she followed up the widely publicized comment with action involving manly Michael, he is not the kind to kiss and tell. He declined to discuss intimate details of dating Tatum, but was anxious to set the record straight about their romance. First, he readily admits the parallels in their lives: Both have protective parents. Tatum is a daddy’s girl and Michael is a mama’s boy. Both are attractive and wealthy. She rides in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce and millionaire Michael drives his own Rolls. Both are very shy. Michael is one of the brightest stars of the future and Tatum is, too.

“I want all those people who read JET to just know that we’re mainly good friends,” Michael assured. Admitting that there have been criticisms about their relations, Michael mused: “People take it to crazy means and crazy extents and I just tell them we’re really, really, really good friends. That’s all I say. They say, ‘Well how good friends are you? Is there any romance going on?’ I say, yes sometimes but not all the time.”



Reflecting upon America’s racial problems, he said:

“I wish I could borrow from other countries, say, like Venezuela or Trinidad, the real love and color-blind people and bring it to America. When you travel, you realize how different America is. God, I hate to say this but our people are brainwashed.”

Of all his travels, he says his most emotional and moving experiences came in travels in Dakar, Senegal.

“I’m going to raise my hand (to God) on this one,” he lit up like a light. “I always thought that Blacks, as far as artistry, were the most talented race on earth. But when I went to Africa, I was even more convinced. They do incredible things over there….They got the beats and the rhythm. I really see where drums come from. It makes you think that all Blacks have rhythm….I don’t want the Blacks to ever forget that this is where we come from and where our music comes from. And if we forget, it (Black history) would really get lost. I want us to remember.”

kelip_kertas

kelip_kertas

kelip_kertas

kelip_kertas

kelip_kertas

kelip_kertas

wow!!! amazing...

kelip_kertas

one more.....

so sapa2 yg berkenan.... boleh amik idea tuk decorate kete memasing