Sunday, December 26, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Cheer-Me-Up Music From Michael Jackson
Whenever I am feeling low, songs from Michael Jackson always makes me feel better. I'll start listening to his music from when he was a child, all the way to adulthood, and be amazed. To hear someone emote feelings and emotions that can inspire you, uplift you, make you want to dance, that is a gift. He truly loved to sing, and you can hear that love.
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Grammy Awards - 1984
If one takes a look at the history of the Grammys, it will reveal that Grammy winners are not always the true preeminent artists and recordings of their time. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences started the awards in the late fifties, to be music's equivalent to the Oscars. But many whom you would think have won in the past, never did.
Elvis Presley never won a Grammy for any of his major pop vocal performances, but he is considered to be at the time, the most influential pop vocal artist. Presley won three times for gospel recordings. Chuck Berry has been overlooked. The Beatles only received four Grammys, strange seeing that their music virtually changed pop music and culture. The Rolling Stones, Sly Stone, and Diana Ross have never received Grammy awards. The six or more thousand people who make up the Academy, are so conservative, the usually are not hip enough to recognize the importance of new artists.
It has been long rumored that the Grammy Awards are dominated by by major record companies, which in turn, has turned the award as a sham. Two powers in the record industry - WMG, which contains Warner Brothers, Elektra,Atlantic, and Rhino records, and the Columbia/ Epic group (CBS). It has been difficult for anyone outside of these companies to win. Motown artists, up to this point, with the exception of Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, and Smokey Robinson, were hardly ever in the running.
Now as far as Michael Jackson, the politics couldn't take over the fact that he could not be ignored. He was so popular, EVERYONE agreed he was the most important pop and rock hero. Plus he was a CBS artist. He had been nominated for twelve awards, the highest number for a single performer, up to that time, in Grammy history. Impressive to note, Thriller was up against the Police's Synchronicity, the Flashdance soundtrack, Billy Joel's An Innocent Man, and David Bowie's Let's Dance albums for album of the year.
His date for the evening was Brooke Shields. Michael apparently did not want to go with Brooke. She came by the Encino home expectantly to ask him if he would consider taking her to the show. It is not known if Brooke, who had been a friend of Michael's was genuinely interested in him, or if it was for public relations on her part.
However, he did ask LaToya and Janet what they thought of her request.
"I don't want to take her," LaToya remembered Michael saying. "I really, really don't."
Well then tell her, Michael," she instructed. "Tell her no if you don't want to take her."
"But I can't."
"Why not?" Janet wondered.
"Because I don't want to hurt her feelings, " Michael protested.
After agonizing over the situation, he came back a few minutes later. Decided to take her after all.
This was the famous Michael, Brooke, and Emmanuel Lewis appearance at the Grammys. Brooke protested, and heard saying to Michael "Let's get out of here. People are making fun of us."
It was definitely Michael's night. With the Pepsi commercials premering, he won eight awards.
Winning the Best Album award was particularly sweet, because Thriiler by that time , had sold 27 million albums, and was still number one on the Billboard charts.
Upon winning his seventh Grammy, he took off his sunglasses. Katherine Hepburn, "my dear friend," had told him to he should take off the glasses "for the girls in the balcony."
He accepted one award with the comment, "I have something very important to say... really," and paid tribute to legendary rhythm-blues star Jackie Wilson, who died recently.
Of course, he was the talk of Hollywood that night, and everyone who is everyone wanted everyone to know THEY knew Michael. However, Michael, who hosted a private party at the Rex restaurant in downtown L.A., was uncomfortable being around so many people. After recognizing guest that included Bob Dylan, Tony Curtis, Neil Diamond, Eddie Murphy, Cyndi Lauper, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others, he and Brooke ducked out and left about 11:30pm.
Michael accompanied Brooke and her mother back to the L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, where the women were staying.
Michael escorted them out of the white Rolls Royce, kissed Brooke on the cheek, shook Mrs. Shields' hand, and got back in the car. "Congratulations Michael, Brooke said with a sad smile. "Must you go?"
"Yeah, I do," he replied. He rolled up the window, and the driver drove off into the night.
My opinion about Michael and Brooke. I believe she was far more interested in him than she would let on, and he, after time , grew to like her back. But as far a romantic relationship, it depends on what Michael perceived as romantic. Remember, he did not have a history with women or girls, but, apparently, he made a great companion once you got to know him. Reflecting on her memorial speech, Brooke had a wonderful relationship with him, the kind any young woman would want with someone of Michael's stature. Perhaps, she, upon looking back, regretted denying publicly just how close they were. Not that it was anything to be embarrassed about, but she could have helped the public understand the kind of man he was better.
Thank you, J. Randy Taraborelli, "Michael Jackson - The Music and the Madness pg. 341-347
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
The Pepsi Commercial
There were two Pepsi commercials lined that Don King lined up as part of the contract with the soft drink company's endorsement of the "Victory" tour. Michael was not pleased with the endorsement. Quaker Oats offered 40 percent more than Pepsi offered, and though the contract was signed, John Branca tried to get Michael out of it. But his mother , Katherine, "talked some sense into him," and the deal was back on.
Michael was in complete control over the commercials. He had final word on EVERYTHING. His brothers, who were paid one million dollars each to do the commercials, would have no say, and that was fine with them.
Michael's experience was not a pleasant on with Pepsi-Cola. Paul McCartney and Jane Fonda thought that he would be "overexposed" by the commercials. In order to solve that problem, he decided that his face should be on camera for one close-up and only for a maximum of four seconds. He wanted his own cameo in his own commercial, and $5 million from Pepsi.
"Use my symbols. Shoot my shoes, my spats, my glove, my look- and then, at the end, reveal me." He even allowed the use of "Billie Jean," in which he would write new Pepsi-jingle lyrics. Michael was not trying to get out of the deal, just make it magical and spectacular. This drove the Pepsi executives crazy.
"I don't think this is going to work," said one executive. "I'm starting to have second thoughts about this Jackson guy and these commercials."
The feeling was mutual with Michael. "I still don't have a good feeling about this. In my heart, I feel it's wrong to endorse something you don't believe in. I think it's a bad omen." Michael shrugged his shoulders and added, "I just gotta make the best of it."
When Michael met with Roger Enrico, president and C.E.O of the Pepsi-Cols Company, he told him, "Roger, I'm going to make Coke wish they were Pepsi."
It was January 27,1984.
Three thousand people were in the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to simulate a live concert to film the Pepsi commercial. "You're a Whole New Generation" was performed by The Jacksons.
It had been a long day. Most of the group arrived at nine A.M. Tito acted as Michael's stand-in as Michael would not arrive for hours.
The taping began at 6:30pm. Michael began to descend from a podium by going down a staircase with brilliant illumination. His bothers were on the stage, playing. A smoke bomb and some pyrotechnics exploded,as planned, momentarily blocking Michael from view.
There was the famous silhouette. A magnesium flash bomb went off with a loud bang, just two feet from Michael's head. As Michael headed down the stairs, the smoke became too thick. Something seemed wrong.
Michael began to dance.
He did a turn. Then another. Then another.
He spun three times and stood up on his toes.
The audience gasped when Michael turned. The explosion had set his hair ablaze. But Michael continued to perform. He would remember feeling the heat, but attributed it to the hot stage lights. Then, he suddenly he felt the burning pain.
He pulled his jacket over his head and fell to the floor. "Tito! Tito!" he yelled.
The first to respond was Miko Brando, Marlon Brando's son and part of Michael's security team. "I ran out, hugged him, tackled him, and ran my hands through his hair," Brando said, who burned his fingers in the process.
Pandemonium filled the auditorium, as no one in the crowd knew exactly what happened. Some thought it was an assassination attempt.
Authorities wanted Michael to exit from the back, but Michael insisted on leaving where the crowds and photographers were so they could see him. He said he wanted to be able to wave to everyone to show that he was okay.
"No, leave the glove on," he told the ambulance attendants. Ever the showman.
As he was being rolled rolled out, he noticed several Pepsi executives huddled in a corner with worried looks on their faces. They must have realized that this accident could turn out to be one of the biggest lawsuits in history. Michael Jackson could actually own Pepsi once the smoke clears.
Michael had been fortunate. His face and body escaped injury in the accident. He suffered a palm-sized patch of second and third degree burns on the back of his head. There was a quarter sized spot that was a third- degree burn. Doctors said most of his hair would grow back.
Michael had actually visited the burn unit at the same hospital on New Years Day. He visited twenty-three year-old mechanic Keith Perry, who had suffered third-degree burns over 95 percent of his body.
On the day he left the hospital, Michael went from room to room at the unit , saying goodbye, taking photographs, and signing autographs for each of the ten other burn patients.
The nursing supervisor said, "They were really happy he took the time out to see them, despite the fact that he himself was burned. He was an inspiration to them," Michael didn't use it as a "Hi.Bye" visit. He spent ample time with the patients and reached out and touched each bedridden patient with his magic glove.
Thank you J. Randy Taraborrelli "Michael Jackson- The Magic and the Madness" pages 328-333.
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