Friday, June 26, 2009
NO, JUST BECAUSE WE WERE THE SAME AGE AND BORN IN THE SAME PLACE, I DIDN'T KNOW HIM.
The general reaction around the office yesterday to Michael Jackson's unexpected (I won't say untimely; come on, the guy was on borrowed time anyway) demise was one of generally detached shock; like, "wow! No shit? Okay, back to work."
That the guy was a sick freak is no secret. That he could sing like nobody's business (although I always thought Jermaine was the better singer) is unquestioned.
We moved out of Gary when I was 7, but we'd return regularly to visit relatives since we lived less than an hour away over in Mt. Prospect, closer to dad's job in Chicago. I can't tell you how many times on visits when I'd see posters tacked to telephone poles advertising live shows -- rock shows, soul shows, pop shows, etc -- featuring some headliner act and then scores of local acts. The Jackson Five were ALWAYS on those posters. Papa Joe would book these kids to play the opening of an envelope, and they'd deliver, apparently.
So when they made it, I certainly knew who they were.
If you ask me, and you won't so I'll tell you anyway, the J5's best song is their first single, "I Want You Back." Sure, the genius is in the arrangement, and the lyrics (it is a GREAT frikkin' song) but what makes it work is Michael's INCREDIBLE vocals; the soul of a 30-year-old man in a 10-year-old kid. His sudden transformation from little kid voice in the verses to the SOUL MONSTER in the chorus (HO, BABY GIMME ONE MO' CHAAAAAAAAAANCE...)is one of the most arresting moments in music.
That said, I was never that much of a Jackson Five fan. And I never really got into Michael the solo artist. I do own a copy of "Thriller" because somebody gave it to me. (I met Quincy Jones once, but we didn't talk about MJ. We talked about Dinah Washington. Long story.) However, I thought I would try to compile a list of five Jackson Five songs that I really like:
1. "I Want You Back." That's a given.
2. "Never Can Say Goodbye." Again, a great song, delivered with real class. (Written, incidentally, by Clifton Davis, the actor of "That's My Mama" and "Amen" fame.)
3. "Dancing Machine." Automatic. Systematic. Oooooh Bop diddy Bop.
4. "I Am Love." Same album as the song above; didn't get much airplay because it's like four hours long but it's a REALLY good song.
5. "Little Bitty Pretty One," a cover song for the Jacksons. I had to put a Jermaine song on here. (Jermaine did good covers. He had a solo hit with Shep and the Limelites' "Daddy's Home," and I dare say did it just a little better.)
I never much liked "I'll Be There;" "The Love You Save" was too whiny, "Maybe Tomorrow" was just a poor man's "Never Can Say Goodbye."
------
In the collegiate school year of 1976-77, there were easily several thousand men attending Northern Arizona University. In my memory, there were at least eight dormitories on campus to house the guys, including the co-ed dorm I was in that year.
And I can tell you that for every room housing a male person on that campus, indeed, for every MALE on campus, I'm sure you could have found at least two copies of the Farrah Fawcett poster. (Oddly enough, my dorm room was Farrah-devoid. I had a poster from "200 Motels" on my wall and my roommate had a poster of Secretariat.
------
Note to those of you who think you might want to be "a little famous": pick your death day carefully.
Sky Saxon died yesterday, too. Look him up. If you're a boomer, you'll know him immediately.
Oh hell, here. (And yes, that's Casey Casem at the beginning.)
Doncha love how Saxon appears incapable of pretending to sing and pretending to play the bass at the same time?
------
Tomorrow I am at the Flagstaff Folk Festival and the Coconino Arts Center on Fort Valley Road! I'm on the Pioneer Stage at 4:40! SHOW UP! Death is not an option! You're not getting out of it THAT easy...
TT
The general reaction around the office yesterday to Michael Jackson's unexpected (I won't say untimely; come on, the guy was on borrowed time anyway) demise was one of generally detached shock; like, "wow! No shit? Okay, back to work."
That the guy was a sick freak is no secret. That he could sing like nobody's business (although I always thought Jermaine was the better singer) is unquestioned.
We moved out of Gary when I was 7, but we'd return regularly to visit relatives since we lived less than an hour away over in Mt. Prospect, closer to dad's job in Chicago. I can't tell you how many times on visits when I'd see posters tacked to telephone poles advertising live shows -- rock shows, soul shows, pop shows, etc -- featuring some headliner act and then scores of local acts. The Jackson Five were ALWAYS on those posters. Papa Joe would book these kids to play the opening of an envelope, and they'd deliver, apparently.
So when they made it, I certainly knew who they were.
If you ask me, and you won't so I'll tell you anyway, the J5's best song is their first single, "I Want You Back." Sure, the genius is in the arrangement, and the lyrics (it is a GREAT frikkin' song) but what makes it work is Michael's INCREDIBLE vocals; the soul of a 30-year-old man in a 10-year-old kid. His sudden transformation from little kid voice in the verses to the SOUL MONSTER in the chorus (HO, BABY GIMME ONE MO' CHAAAAAAAAAANCE...)is one of the most arresting moments in music.
That said, I was never that much of a Jackson Five fan. And I never really got into Michael the solo artist. I do own a copy of "Thriller" because somebody gave it to me. (I met Quincy Jones once, but we didn't talk about MJ. We talked about Dinah Washington. Long story.) However, I thought I would try to compile a list of five Jackson Five songs that I really like:
1. "I Want You Back." That's a given.
2. "Never Can Say Goodbye." Again, a great song, delivered with real class. (Written, incidentally, by Clifton Davis, the actor of "That's My Mama" and "Amen" fame.)
3. "Dancing Machine." Automatic. Systematic. Oooooh Bop diddy Bop.
4. "I Am Love." Same album as the song above; didn't get much airplay because it's like four hours long but it's a REALLY good song.
5. "Little Bitty Pretty One," a cover song for the Jacksons. I had to put a Jermaine song on here. (Jermaine did good covers. He had a solo hit with Shep and the Limelites' "Daddy's Home," and I dare say did it just a little better.)
I never much liked "I'll Be There;" "The Love You Save" was too whiny, "Maybe Tomorrow" was just a poor man's "Never Can Say Goodbye."
------
In the collegiate school year of 1976-77, there were easily several thousand men attending Northern Arizona University. In my memory, there were at least eight dormitories on campus to house the guys, including the co-ed dorm I was in that year.
And I can tell you that for every room housing a male person on that campus, indeed, for every MALE on campus, I'm sure you could have found at least two copies of the Farrah Fawcett poster. (Oddly enough, my dorm room was Farrah-devoid. I had a poster from "200 Motels" on my wall and my roommate had a poster of Secretariat.
------
Note to those of you who think you might want to be "a little famous": pick your death day carefully.
Sky Saxon died yesterday, too. Look him up. If you're a boomer, you'll know him immediately.
Oh hell, here. (And yes, that's Casey Casem at the beginning.)
Doncha love how Saxon appears incapable of pretending to sing and pretending to play the bass at the same time?
------
Tomorrow I am at the Flagstaff Folk Festival and the Coconino Arts Center on Fort Valley Road! I'm on the Pioneer Stage at 4:40! SHOW UP! Death is not an option! You're not getting out of it THAT easy...
TT
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