Michael Jackson’s third album
Michael Jackson’s tenth album? Uh, he didn’t have one. (Prince is a year older than Michael)

Within hours of his death, I predicted over at my own wee place that the record company moguls would be rubbing their hands with glee at the spike in sales. 800,000 of them without a need to spend a penny or cent on marketing. A great revenue earner indeed.

I heard one hagiographer say that Michael Jackson was Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Sinatra and the Beatles all rolled into one. I’m so tired of hearing these kinds of bogus claims.

I’m with Sean, too, in that the clips I’ve seen of the memorial made me feel ill, especially the egging on of the daughter. To me, it looked like a desperate attempt to prove to the world that “they belong with us,” as a prep for, perhaps, a court battle. Of course her daddy was the best father! (And I’m sure she really has nobody to compare him to. Why would he not be, with nannies, cooks, etc., to do all of the real work? He had nothing but time for the kids, unlike most moms and dads who must work, then return home to care for the kids. But I digress.) I’m sure the kids all loved their daddy dearly, and will miss him every day. I feel so badly for them, and hope that they will not suffer long-term emotional difficulties.

I’m tired of the folks who keep saying, “He did such good,” as if writing “We Are The World” has somehow united us all forever, and now we’re all chummy in the world. The record raised millions, and it’s still argued that quite a bit less than that actually made it to Africa. No, that’s not Jackson’s fault, I know. I always say that a good message song is fine, and I love them, but, in the end, they really don’t solve anything. If people hear the message, take it to heart, and act, then the message isn’t wasted. If people just sing the song and move on, then the message is wasted, and you still have a good song!

Anyway, I saw one clip from the memorial with the picture of MJ with his arms out. There was a crowd on stage. It looked like a church, and Michael’s image was the “Jesus on the Cross.” Please.

So, thanks, Tarty Tart, for posting this. I was beginning to believe I was the only one who didn’t feel the love and adoration for this talented, but terribly flawed superstar.

He was also one hell of a performer, singer and dancer. Whether he wrote his own music has no effect on whether I appreciate the finished product. If the music is good, why the hell does it matter who wrote it? Doesn’t mean I don’t have great respect for singer/songwriters and folks who can play their instruments, but it doesn’t diminish MJ’s ability to command an audience. And the man really could command an audience. How much of his material he wrote or didn’t write is always going to be up in the air – after all, Quincey Jones isn’t exactly a modest fella himself, so how much he’s exaggerating his contributions is a matter of debate. At the end of the day, writing credits went to MJ alone on a great many of his songs (and almost the entirety of Bad is attributed to him as sole writer).

It’s sad he died due to that same unnecessary addiction to surgery/doctors/prescriptions, but part of me feels somewhat relieved, honestly. The guy had clearly suffered an unbearably painful childhood, decades of abuse from his father (whether physical or verbal) and a family that provided absolutely no emotional support system. He’s basically been living in exile for the last decade, could never go out in public and was millions in debt. He was either greeted as a messiah or a pariah. Who wants to live like that? Part of me thinks the guy had to have been looking for a way out.

The memorial was a disgusting circus and just another, very public demonstration of his family’s complete lack of decency or possession of real, genuine familial ties. There was no obligation to parade his coffin in public so that Magic Johnson could relate a funny anecdote or Mariah Carey could sing one of his songs. It was gross, gross, gross, and I regret even coming upon the few bits I’ve seen rebroadcast that showed the aforementioned moments. Those children are likely already screwed, but they should definitely be taken as far away from his mother or any other blood relative as soon humanly possible. Not that the mother that essentially sold them should really be placed in charge, either. Give them to Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, surely that can’t be any weirder a surroundings and they’ll probably feel right at home.

In the end, I think the public mourning is overstated and hyperbole is being thrown around like fact, but the reality is this man sold more records than anyone else, alive or dead. 3/4 of a billion. Think about that number. It’s insane. He just posthumously sold 800,000 albums last week. The man hadn’t had a hit in 15 years and he sold 2.6 million singles in one week! Right or wrong, flawed or god, people responded to his music. So while I might prefer Prince as much as you do, I still can’t claim Prince has had the influence on pop music that MJ has. But I’m definitely sick of him at the moment, as I would be with anyone if I had to hear about them nonstop for 2 weeks and was subjected to replays of their entire back catalog no matter where I tune into. And if I hear one more person say we should ‘only remember the good he did’ I’m going to puke all over them, slap them silly, then vomit again, for good measure.