What was the last great michael jackson song

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i think scream, the urgency, the mad guitars, the broken glass sound effects, the pounding clastrophic chorus.

― anthony easton (anthony), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Your question implies that at some point in the past, there was a FIRST great Michael Jackson song....which, of course, is a myth.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:06 (twenty-three years ago)

alex fuck off and die. michael jackson was a brilliant pop god.

― anthony easton (anthony), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:08 (twenty-three years ago)

i don't remember anything after "bad". and only that song (barely) - i'm not familiar with the album at all.

uh, actually i guess i recall a video with macaulay culkin too but it wasn't much was it?

i'd like to hear about some songs that measures halfway up to the urgent tracks off "thriller" if you don't mind.

― brian badword (badwords), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:20 (twenty-three years ago)

"the way you make me feel"

― mike (ro)bott, Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:27 (twenty-three years ago)

'Black and White' - yes yes the lyrics are stoopid beyond belief, but it's a gd tune, even so.

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd say "Scream" was the last really good (maybe great) Michael Jackson song. But even that required a lot of help from Janet.

― paul cox (paul cox), Saturday, 28 September 2002 06:34 (twenty-three years ago)

ok, kazaa's refreshing my memory...

"remember the time" still sounds great. that's the real last thing i remember.

― brian badword (badwords), Saturday, 28 September 2002 07:04 (twenty-three years ago)

wanna be startin somethin

― ron (ron), Saturday, 28 September 2002 07:05 (twenty-three years ago)

just got "scream". don't remember this one but it sounds pretty good now.

― brian badword (badwords), Saturday, 28 September 2002 07:06 (twenty-three years ago)

'stranger in moscow'.

― piscesboy, Saturday, 28 September 2002 08:27 (twenty-three years ago)

"Remember the Time" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" are the only great Michael Jackson songs of the past fifteen years, "Man in the Mirror" is his best messiah song but it's not good. There was an album track on Dangerous I remember liking at the time. I seem to recall "Give In To Me" being decent as well, it's been a long time ("Scream" was decent; I thought "You Rock My World" was weak but there was a time I was drunk at a party and the dj played "You Rock My World" and I thought what is this song? it's not bad and it was "You Rock My World" and I thought maybe Christgau was right, maybe MJ hasn't fallen off sharply. I was drunk.)

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 08:32 (twenty-three years ago)

"Remember the Time" was after "Black and White", right? He lost it when he stopped hanging around with Slash. Like Axl Rose, really...

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Like David Bowie!

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:24 (twenty-three years ago)

"U Rock My World" was OK

― dave q, Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:31 (twenty-three years ago)

michael jackson - isnt he that child molester?

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:42 (twenty-three years ago)

no he's a 12ft lizard.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:51 (twenty-three years ago)

if i was going to rate mj 'sides being a freakish manchild peodophile - i would have to say - off the wall - because he had somethng to prove - otherwise it's all a bit dodgy after that, isnt it? watching his downfall is more entertaining -- he's a good trash celebrity hardly a musician.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:56 (twenty-three years ago)

quaint

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:59 (twenty-three years ago)

he's bettah than a musician. he's a 12ft lizard!!!

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:01 (twenty-three years ago)

michael jackson

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:08 (twenty-three years ago)

oops sorry i still haven't had any coffee

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:09 (twenty-three years ago)

no no your first ans was fine. he's 'fun' to have around, even if what he releases isn't much cop.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:10 (twenty-three years ago)

the last one i thought was good was 'Scream' - tcha, another case of the video strikes again eh?

― blueski, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:12 (twenty-three years ago)

the video was only good cause of Janet (with a J) - otherwise - who would he be screaming for? MacCauley?

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:16 (twenty-three years ago)

You're thinking of Sonick Youth.

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:19 (twenty-three years ago)

i like the posters going on in london right now with jackson's face - the old 40 year old double chin does not look well with the rest of the plastic surgery - you would think that he would go in for a bit of nip and tuck...!!

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:25 (twenty-three years ago)

good piece here on non-truth of paedophilia claims

i don't think you can claim he's a "non-musician", doomi, he's a fantastically able singer (also dancer: in 200 yrs time he will still be remembered for the dancing, maybe ONLY that): i agree the attention paid him these days isn't much to do with his music (haha none at all in alex in nyc's case)

and freakish manchild yes, plus the "turning white" thing, both these are way sad, like he's punishing himself for his own success => self-loathing drives a lot of performers, all colours, but i think MJ's is the worst dose of it evah (the documentary on him last night said he hated seeing his dad's face in the mirror: b4 this i'd heard that his brothers all bullied him — even aged five he was the most talented and popular in the family — and called him stuff like "liverlips" all the time, only instead of saying "fuck you i look fine", he said "ok i shall rebuild my looks"

thing is, his big money cocoon is all gone, so he *has* to find a way to come back at what he's good at, or go completely car-wreck

i tht the most recent single was boring rather than unbearable, i didn't hear the LP (haha they debuted some anti-MP3 technology w. it = no one has heard it!!): i think if he hooked up w.a collaborator who cd give him perspective on himself he cd make some of the greatest music EVAH (lyrically he already has perspective, sort of — he always wrote the darkest stuff in bubblegum — but i mean someone who can translate that EFFECTIVELY in the music, not just as stick-ons)

cf dave q's thread on triptychs: it's time for MJ's low-lodger/STC<->shot-of-love

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:32 (twenty-three years ago)

He needs to hook back up with Q

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:34 (twenty-three years ago)

that one about the elephants was strange and melodramatic (earth song wasn't it), when he says "what about the elephants" likes hes just thought of it, like the world going to pot, but then, oh no, ohmygod, what about the elephants? yes of course its silly etc etc, but theres something strangely jarring about the whole thing (yes yes ok, its MJ, everything is more than slightly jarring)

― gareth (gareth), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:34 (twenty-three years ago)

just had a thought: everyone says, "he thinks he's making himself beautiful, but he USED to be beautiful and now he's ugly, what gives?" but what if he actually decided all those years ago he would make himself UGLY? to punish the world etc etc

like a kind of deliberately confrontational modernist artwork?

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Like Marianne Faithfull?

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Do you reckon Jacko can now fit a Mars bar into his nose-socket?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:40 (twenty-three years ago)

taking pops at michael jackson = so so lame.

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Michael Jackson is crazy and he got plastic surgery and he pervert and he crazy.

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:44 (twenty-three years ago)

i mean, how topical! what insight! well done!

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:44 (twenty-three years ago)

He got monkey and elephant man and brother named Tito like the dictator. He crazy!

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:45 (twenty-three years ago)

how lame to dismiss - i said he was good for a trash celebrity - i have no interest in the man - but you know what ... so what - and may i add, a pointed fuck you to the proceedings.

he is more interesting to watch as he is car crashing a'la sunset boulevard.

and yeah - i do think he is crazy. and he is a trash celebrity. and yeah - i dig his crazy elvis '77 essentially freakiness.

his music?

bluargh.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:49 (twenty-three years ago)

and his interest faded in bubbles - poor bubbles sitting in that cage all day waiting for MJ to give him some of that special freaked out unconditional love.

bluargh.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:51 (twenty-three years ago)

i saw that documentary last night as well, Mark. If I were to say something positive about MJ - it would be that he is a good businessman.

Janet on the other hand - PHHHWWWOOOARRRR(and/or use in a topical sense - my o my by george, what about Janet and her influence on world economics and more importantly, September 11 - PHHWWOOARR?)

bluargh.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:55 (twenty-three years ago)

thanks for that, bobby gillespie. u so pop and trashy, u and yr fellow Heat-seeker "freaks"

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

but w.elvis too, it wd have FANTASTIC if instead of crashing, he found a way to step back and look at his career-as-crash, and make work abt that?

like syd barrett or someone but from the other end of the tunnel of success-and-disaster, if you see what i mean: sunset boulevard as if it had been written and directed by von stroheim, if not gloria s. herself!!) (as an intellectual comeback, if you like, rather than a straight celebrity comeback)

god i've had my coffee now and it really isn't helping, is it

i got spam last night which said DO YOU WORRY THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO CONVEY?

ans = YES I DO ALL THE TIME

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 10:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Mark S--your post/apologia for MJ is the most generous/interesting thing I've read this morning...

― Mary (Mary), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:02 (twenty-three years ago)

the documentary said his money had all run out, so presumably i. he stopped being a good businessman; or ii. he was never really in it for business's sake, and that was a bonus for a while

he is a cross between citizen kane and a scary stephen king clown

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:02 (twenty-three years ago)

but w.elvis too, it wd have FANTASTIC if instead of crashing, he found a way to step back and look at his career-as-crash, and make work abt that?

EXACTLY. if mj were to make a warped barrett/boards of canada art fuck record in tribute to his broken and obviously damaged antichrist psyche - than that would BE something.

thanks for that, bobby gillespie. u so pop and trashy, u and yr fellow Heat-seeker "freaks"

No, thank for you for your delighful academic and rather vivid chat on the essential use of the word, PHHWWOOARRWW, Janet Jackson and her impact on September 11. It has been most delightful.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

And thanks Mark - I have the most interesting imaginary MJ record happening in my head right now - that's not happened since I asked Kevin Shields (on a lark) when the new MBV record was coming out - and he told me it is already out - in your imagination.

Maybe MJ can use Uri's "powers" to beam the new record out. Hahaha.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Oops - I should not have mentioned the genius of URI - in your presence.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:09 (twenty-three years ago)

mj is obviously cacooned himself off from the world. probaly even more so since the molestation charges (good article by the way mark - it's always good to be informed). maybe it's fatherhood that is changing his savvy business like ways and softening him (errgh - just had a picture of him melting in my head).

I already have a petition - DARIO ARGENTINO TO DIRECT THE LATEST MJ VIDEO!

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:13 (twenty-three years ago)

i want to believe it mark s, but we all know that the unbearably sad subtext is the total lack of the selfawareness that would save him

but we have to watch all the same

(mythic bullshit this maybe)

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:22 (twenty-three years ago)

apart from the beatles backcatalogue, i don't think he was ever totally on tip of the business side. and even then it could have been to do with the LOVE in the beatles music as opposed to financial precognition. that neverland is worth more than he paid for it is i'm sure more luck than judgement. unless u mean to say he is an archbusinessman by playing off his purchases against his freakiness?

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:27 (twenty-three years ago)

AHEM.

he bought the beatles catalogue with the express interest in exploiting it - ala - revolution being used in the nike commercial plus he borrows off that back catalogue so much (financially) that he finally had to sell half of it back to sony.

so love ... maybe for money but it takes alot of keep a girl in plastic surgery and monkeys.

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:29 (twenty-three years ago)

(haha re URI i think he is a genius of audience-manipulation but not a genius of paranormal mind-powers) (actually i am more interested in the first than the second)

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Uri: I am now signalling MJ's new album out to the world. DO YOU HEAR IT NOW? AMAZING ... AMAZING (A joyful Uri takes pleasure in sending out MJ's new album telepathetically to the world).

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:37 (twenty-three years ago)

what wd be so boring abt telepathy and telekinesis is that everything would be too easy and instant:
"I climbed Everest!!"
"I know. So what!!"
"MJ has a new LP coming out!!"
"Yes I know, and I already know what's on it and what you and everyone else already think about it. Also why are you making all those noises with your mouth? Only animals do that."
etc

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:43 (twenty-three years ago)

"why are YOU asking questions? they no longer exist!! and now i'm doing it too — aaargh!!"

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 28 September 2002 11:58 (twenty-three years ago)

obviously this is a grim prophesy of the future as uri's powers continue to grow ... i must go now and stop it.

(ps - mj would be classic if he floated a huge statue of uri down the thames)

(pps - by the by - mj also screwed over 'close' friend paul mccartney during the time of the sale of the beatles back catalogue say say say - that can't be love, can it? more like business to me and pretty cut throat at that)

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 12:05 (twenty-three years ago)

classic - if mj re-recorded jeff wayne's war of the worlds with the boards of canada, bobby g and barrett - as the aliens chase mj - he would respond with a series of patented yelps and manic finger snaps. "gotta be getting outta here and startin somethin going on"...

― doomi, Saturday, 28 September 2002 12:08 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, ok i did say "could have been". it does seem pretty cutthroat but that's about it for the cold calculating argument. and even then, it's not like mj is balanced enough to see "backstabbing" like we do... you could put it down to naivety?

"why is paul angry at me? I love him and want to buy him"
(ans: cos he is bitter at his daughter being a talentless pigface)

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 12:13 (twenty-three years ago)

ahem. i'm bored and offtopic.

phoebe philo s/d?

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 12:15 (twenty-three years ago)

on topic: i ilked that "butterflies" tune

― bob zemko (bob), Saturday, 28 September 2002 12:17 (twenty-three years ago)

'Leave Me Alone' is the last CLASSIC jacko song

― blueski, Saturday, 28 September 2002 13:31 (twenty-three years ago)

I actually thought Butterflies was pretty good.

*ducks*

― Digable James Cobo, Sunday, 29 September 2002 20:15 (twenty-three years ago)

*throws stone*

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 29 September 2002 20:29 (twenty-three years ago)

so does the stone hit james as he's getting up or wizz past his back as he ducks?

― mitch lastnamewithheld (mitchlnw), Sunday, 29 September 2002 20:36 (twenty-three years ago)

i think neither as julio throws like a girl

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 29 September 2002 20:37 (twenty-three years ago)

well yeah you don't look so strong either mark.

Mitch: it hits him, of course it does.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 29 September 2002 20:48 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked "Earth Song". We were talking about it in the pub just the other night. I'd forgotten that "Have they lost their tusks?" was the lyric my brother made up rather than the actual one.

― Tom (Groke), Sunday, 29 September 2002 21:40 (twenty-three years ago)

RIGHT NOW the guys that watch the parking lot next to my apartment are blasting Michael Jackson, and for the last half hour it's all been pretty great, and no ballads yet... I yelled out to them "what album is this?" "Dangerous, why, you like it?" Yeah!" Of course he's a freak. When he keeps to the upbeat numbers he's also pretty fucking classic. I would never have said this a couple years ago. I would never have heard it a couple years ago.

― Sean (Sean), Monday, 30 September 2002 01:21 (twenty-three years ago)

"You Rock My World"

― A Nairn (moretap), Monday, 30 September 2002 02:19 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm with piscesboy re: "stranger in moscow".

― di smith (lucylurex), Monday, 30 September 2002 02:34 (twenty-three years ago)

haha "Like I Love You"

(why has nobody made this joke already?)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 30 September 2002 03:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I zealously await his long-overdue death.

― Motel Hell (vassifer), Monday, 30 September 2002 12:20 (twenty-three years ago)

Quaint.

― James Blount (James Blount), Monday, 30 September 2002 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I would say "Jam", although the menace of "They Don't Care About Us" almost makes it classic enough to get past the unfortunate lyrics.

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 30 September 2002 18:40 (twenty-three years ago)

I almost said that. Hearing the Timberlake again I really regretted that Michael Jackson didn't somehow get his hands on it first. It's a good enough single as is (Neptunes best teenpop production yet) but if it had had a great voice to go with it it'd be a classic.

― James Blount (James Blount), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 00:28 (twenty-three years ago)

i saw the vid to "give in to me" the other day and was shocked to notice that slash was rooollly attractive.

― di smith (lucylurex), Tuesday, 1 October 2002 01:16 (twenty-three years ago)

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