Even though I may be too young to remember first hand when they released their first official album or still care when they released their last one, is it the end of REM as we know it?
By: Ringo Bones
When I first heard the “amicable” REM breakup announced on the BBC - on the morning 7:21 AM of September 22, 20011 local time here in the Philippines – I first thought that it was just a mere “publicity stunt” to improve the band’s somewhat sagging popularity. After all, I didn’t even knew that their last major label album was released in March of 2011.
In subsequent interviews, REM frontman Michael Stipe and the rest of the band reassured their loyal cadre of fans that the decision to disband, though not an easy one, is amicable. The band reached a unanimous decision of not wanting REM to become a self-parodying nostalgia act. In their 30-year long career that started back in 1981, it wasn’t until 1987 that REM started to gain mainstream success with the release of the album Document and the regular airplay of The One I Love and It’s the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) on mainstream FM. Even then, the band had to wait till the advent of th2e Seattle Grunge era of the early 1990s in order for REM to become truly synonymous with “alternative rock”.
Will REM’s retirement from the music scene eventually usher in a new generation of artist who are as good – if not better – than them? Sadly, after the multi-billion dollar global music industry was ruined by illegal file-sharing schemes like NAPSTER and its ilk in the very tail end of the 20th Century, it seems like “rock stars” that used to make millions of their musical talent is fast becoming an economic dinosaur. It may be the end of REM as we know it, but I’m still worried about the future of the global music industry and its ability to reward young and talented musicians who truly deserve fame and fortune.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Gary Moore 1952 – 2011
As one of the guitar hall of famers forever in his prime, the untimely passing of Gary Moore back in the 6th of February, 2011 while on holiday in Estepona, Spain had been a shock to all his fans around the world – including me. As one of the founding members of the now defunct legendary Irish group Thin Lizzy, the music world – especially his fans – are forever enthralled by Gary Moore’s guitar playing and song-writing skills.
Given my age, I only gained appreciation of Gary Moore’s post Thin Lizzy career with the regular airplay of Victims Of The Future in our local FM stations back in 1984. While Gary Moore’s much-deserved runaway mainstream success outside of the core of his dedicated fanbase only happened after the release of Still Got the Blues in 1990 and After Hours in 1992.
From my perspective, what could be considered the “Golden Age” of Gary Moore’s musical career – both artistically and financially – was during the mid-1990s during the release of a Peter Green tribute album titled Blues For Greeny in 1995. Gary Moore even managed to coax the music press shy original guitarist and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, the legendary Peter Green, to come out of his self-imposed musical exile and got every guitar enthusiast the world over who were too young to have heard Peter Green first-hand gained much needed appreciation of legendary early Fleetwood Mac songs like Albatross and Need Your Love So Bad.
Though Gary Moore went on to release still more albums during the rest of the 1990s – like his return to his rock roots album titled Dark Days In Paradise in 1997, the post Napster music biz environment had been unkind to Gary Moore’s career and still badly needed exposure for new fans. The only news that I can get of a new Gary Moore album release during the first decade of the 21st Century was via “word of mouth” by his on-line fanbase – very strange indeed?
Even though Gary Moore is no longer with us, his music will live on. Not only through the sizable discography of his Thin Lizzy era and solo music career, but also through guitar enthusiasts around the world playing their very own rendition of Gary Moore’s legendary guitar solos. As of late, friends of mine who are very skilled guitar enthusiasts had been doing their renditions of Gary Moore’s Victims of the Future through their 6550 tubed Marshall amps in a rather pensively poignant manner – though I prefer Gary Moore’s more blues-based works played on a Mullard EL34 equipped Marshalls or a very early KT66 equipped Marshall half-stack.
- Ringo Bones
Given my age, I only gained appreciation of Gary Moore’s post Thin Lizzy career with the regular airplay of Victims Of The Future in our local FM stations back in 1984. While Gary Moore’s much-deserved runaway mainstream success outside of the core of his dedicated fanbase only happened after the release of Still Got the Blues in 1990 and After Hours in 1992.
From my perspective, what could be considered the “Golden Age” of Gary Moore’s musical career – both artistically and financially – was during the mid-1990s during the release of a Peter Green tribute album titled Blues For Greeny in 1995. Gary Moore even managed to coax the music press shy original guitarist and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, the legendary Peter Green, to come out of his self-imposed musical exile and got every guitar enthusiast the world over who were too young to have heard Peter Green first-hand gained much needed appreciation of legendary early Fleetwood Mac songs like Albatross and Need Your Love So Bad.
Though Gary Moore went on to release still more albums during the rest of the 1990s – like his return to his rock roots album titled Dark Days In Paradise in 1997, the post Napster music biz environment had been unkind to Gary Moore’s career and still badly needed exposure for new fans. The only news that I can get of a new Gary Moore album release during the first decade of the 21st Century was via “word of mouth” by his on-line fanbase – very strange indeed?
Even though Gary Moore is no longer with us, his music will live on. Not only through the sizable discography of his Thin Lizzy era and solo music career, but also through guitar enthusiasts around the world playing their very own rendition of Gary Moore’s legendary guitar solos. As of late, friends of mine who are very skilled guitar enthusiasts had been doing their renditions of Gary Moore’s Victims of the Future through their 6550 tubed Marshall amps in a rather pensively poignant manner – though I prefer Gary Moore’s more blues-based works played on a Mullard EL34 equipped Marshalls or a very early KT66 equipped Marshall half-stack.
- Ringo Bones
Monday, November 22, 2010
The Untimely Passing of John Lennon: End of an Era?
To anyone too young to have experienced the Beatles first hand, does the brutal assassination of John Lennon back in December 10, 1980 forever deny them of the joys of Beatlemania?
By: Ringo Bones
To any music lover still a few years shy of 40, the 10th of December is somewhat of a contentious part of the year and it is not just because of the Christmas shopping rush. It always makes me feel that I’ve been cheated from experiencing first hand one of the defining cultural phenomena of the 20th Century – namely Beatlemania. This time of the year only reminds me that I’m only left with growing up with the cynicism of the 1980s – though Punk and Metal were very good, I do sometimes wonder how popular music today would look and sound if John Lennon is still alive.
Even though – like most sensible Beatle fans – I still harbour the perception that the “teen idol” aspects of early Beatlemania is as quaint and as namby-pamby as the present-day equivalent. It was only when John Lennon’s youthful cheekiness turned to harshness aspect of the Beatles that I finally notice that the Beatles is ultimately destined for greater things.
As John Lennon began examining openly his own inner turmoil and his growing social and political conscience, it ultimately led the Beatles in their experimentation with mind-altering drugs and Eastern Mysticism – especially Eastern Mysticism – and as the first one to make overt political statements by returning his Member of the Order of British Empire Award in protest of British policies like the Vietnam War. John Lennon inadvertently made the Beatles immortal.
Nonetheless, what John Lennon achieved at 40 – namely a sane and healthy maturity in spite of the fame and fortune that is now and since seen by Generation X and Generation Y folks with envy – is truly remarkable indeed. I and the rest of humanity will probably be forever saddened every time the anniversary of his brutal assassination rolls around again, but the testament of his views and beliefs that’s forever etched in his music still captures me and every veteran Beatlemaniac and the odd new fan or two. Imagine that indeed.
By: Ringo Bones
To any music lover still a few years shy of 40, the 10th of December is somewhat of a contentious part of the year and it is not just because of the Christmas shopping rush. It always makes me feel that I’ve been cheated from experiencing first hand one of the defining cultural phenomena of the 20th Century – namely Beatlemania. This time of the year only reminds me that I’m only left with growing up with the cynicism of the 1980s – though Punk and Metal were very good, I do sometimes wonder how popular music today would look and sound if John Lennon is still alive.
Even though – like most sensible Beatle fans – I still harbour the perception that the “teen idol” aspects of early Beatlemania is as quaint and as namby-pamby as the present-day equivalent. It was only when John Lennon’s youthful cheekiness turned to harshness aspect of the Beatles that I finally notice that the Beatles is ultimately destined for greater things.
As John Lennon began examining openly his own inner turmoil and his growing social and political conscience, it ultimately led the Beatles in their experimentation with mind-altering drugs and Eastern Mysticism – especially Eastern Mysticism – and as the first one to make overt political statements by returning his Member of the Order of British Empire Award in protest of British policies like the Vietnam War. John Lennon inadvertently made the Beatles immortal.
Nonetheless, what John Lennon achieved at 40 – namely a sane and healthy maturity in spite of the fame and fortune that is now and since seen by Generation X and Generation Y folks with envy – is truly remarkable indeed. I and the rest of humanity will probably be forever saddened every time the anniversary of his brutal assassination rolls around again, but the testament of his views and beliefs that’s forever etched in his music still captures me and every veteran Beatlemaniac and the odd new fan or two. Imagine that indeed.
Ronnie James Dio: Heavy Metal’s Man For All Seasons?
After keeping the post-Ozzy Black Sabbath alive and kicking and making Heavy Metal music eternally hip for a new generation of converts, is Ronnie James Dio heavy metal’s man for all seasons?
By: Ringo Bones
Even though I still mourn his untimely passing back in May 16, 2010 every time I scour every used LP and CD store in my neck of the woods for every LP, CD, cassette and the odd 8-Track or two that Ronnie James Dio appeared in, it seems only now that I realized that the metal world has lost one of its greatest founders. Given that it is more or less a consensus that 1969 is the accepted birth-year of Heavy Metal music, Dio already started his journey to fame and fortune with Blues-rockers Elf when they opened for Deep Purple. And it was probably his true love for performing that made his career endure.
Dio’s coruscating, partly operatic voice got the attention of Ritchie Blackmore when he hired him to front his post Deep Purple band, Rainbow, in 1975. Four years later Dio took over Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s vocalist and managed to revive the band’s rather waning fortunes with the 1980 release of Heaven & Hell. Dio also popularized – make that invented - the “devil’s horns” gesture – long since became a Metal staple. He then quit Sabbath after 1982’s Live Evil, then formed his own band Dio with drummer Vinnie Appice and recorded one of Heavy Metal’s most iconic tracks: “Holy Diver”.
Dio also managed yet again to revive Black Sabbath’s waning careers in the 1990s when he sang for Sabbath for their Dehumanizer album. Probably the album that paved the way for Ozzy reuniting with Black Sabbath near the end of the 1990s – and made Heavy Metal music hip yet again for the under-18s near the end of the 20th Century.
In 2006, Dio rejoined with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler in a reformed Black Sabbath dubbed Heaven & Hell. Due to his untimely passing, Glenn Hughes is to take Dio’s place in Heaven & Hell for a special tribute at the High Voltage festival at London’s Victoria Park back in July 24, 2010. The band used the event to raise funds for the Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout” Cancer Fund - committed to the early detection and prevention cancer.
As someone who’s been performing since the birth of Heavy Metal in 1969, Ronnie James Dio managed to carve himself a unique niche in the somewhat cynical Metal world since hijacked by the corporate-driven music biz. With a talent proving that he can not only write beautiful and catchy Metal tunes that sell like hotcakes but is also there to remind us not to be unduly jaded by the increasingly corporate dominion of the music biz on Heavy Metal music. Ronnie James Dio could indeed be Heavy Metal music’s Man for all Seasons.
By: Ringo Bones
Even though I still mourn his untimely passing back in May 16, 2010 every time I scour every used LP and CD store in my neck of the woods for every LP, CD, cassette and the odd 8-Track or two that Ronnie James Dio appeared in, it seems only now that I realized that the metal world has lost one of its greatest founders. Given that it is more or less a consensus that 1969 is the accepted birth-year of Heavy Metal music, Dio already started his journey to fame and fortune with Blues-rockers Elf when they opened for Deep Purple. And it was probably his true love for performing that made his career endure.
Dio’s coruscating, partly operatic voice got the attention of Ritchie Blackmore when he hired him to front his post Deep Purple band, Rainbow, in 1975. Four years later Dio took over Ozzy Osbourne as Black Sabbath’s vocalist and managed to revive the band’s rather waning fortunes with the 1980 release of Heaven & Hell. Dio also popularized – make that invented - the “devil’s horns” gesture – long since became a Metal staple. He then quit Sabbath after 1982’s Live Evil, then formed his own band Dio with drummer Vinnie Appice and recorded one of Heavy Metal’s most iconic tracks: “Holy Diver”.
Dio also managed yet again to revive Black Sabbath’s waning careers in the 1990s when he sang for Sabbath for their Dehumanizer album. Probably the album that paved the way for Ozzy reuniting with Black Sabbath near the end of the 1990s – and made Heavy Metal music hip yet again for the under-18s near the end of the 20th Century.
In 2006, Dio rejoined with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler in a reformed Black Sabbath dubbed Heaven & Hell. Due to his untimely passing, Glenn Hughes is to take Dio’s place in Heaven & Hell for a special tribute at the High Voltage festival at London’s Victoria Park back in July 24, 2010. The band used the event to raise funds for the Ronnie James Dio “Stand Up And Shout” Cancer Fund - committed to the early detection and prevention cancer.
As someone who’s been performing since the birth of Heavy Metal in 1969, Ronnie James Dio managed to carve himself a unique niche in the somewhat cynical Metal world since hijacked by the corporate-driven music biz. With a talent proving that he can not only write beautiful and catchy Metal tunes that sell like hotcakes but is also there to remind us not to be unduly jaded by the increasingly corporate dominion of the music biz on Heavy Metal music. Ronnie James Dio could indeed be Heavy Metal music’s Man for all Seasons.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The Post-Napster Music Industry: Still Economically Viable?
Given that stadium-filling rock concerts are still a reality, did the global music industry faired well since Napster made free downloading of music a reality?
By: Ringo Bones
If you want any proof that the global music industry have faired well against the Bolshevist Napsterization of how we get new music - as in free on the Internet - just look at Bruce Dickinson ferrying his Iron Maiden bandmates and gear via an Astraeus 757 designated as Ed Force One. And given that Iron Maiden and related fanbases has been designated by the multinational music industry fatcats as the scapegoat du jour for illegally downloading their copyrighted wares for over a decade, is this proof positive that the music industry have faired well against Napsterization?
Short of finding enough funds for Iron Maiden performing the first heavy metal rock concert in weightless conditions on board the International Space Station, the music industry fatcats had been showing us facts and figures on how Napster and its ilk had devastated their bottom line. But it did allow some deservingly talented acts access to a worldwide audience without going through the record industry fatcat middlemen. All you have to do now is to find these great stuff on the web - and its free. Copyright infringement be damned - though I just hope they can solve the perennial problem of not so pristine sound quality, someday.
By: Ringo Bones
If you want any proof that the global music industry have faired well against the Bolshevist Napsterization of how we get new music - as in free on the Internet - just look at Bruce Dickinson ferrying his Iron Maiden bandmates and gear via an Astraeus 757 designated as Ed Force One. And given that Iron Maiden and related fanbases has been designated by the multinational music industry fatcats as the scapegoat du jour for illegally downloading their copyrighted wares for over a decade, is this proof positive that the music industry have faired well against Napsterization?
Short of finding enough funds for Iron Maiden performing the first heavy metal rock concert in weightless conditions on board the International Space Station, the music industry fatcats had been showing us facts and figures on how Napster and its ilk had devastated their bottom line. But it did allow some deservingly talented acts access to a worldwide audience without going through the record industry fatcat middlemen. All you have to do now is to find these great stuff on the web - and its free. Copyright infringement be damned - though I just hope they can solve the perennial problem of not so pristine sound quality, someday.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Can Music Really Be Used to Torture People?
As “reliable sources” recently bared that works by prominent American Rock musicians are being used as “instruments of torture” in Gitmo, one wonders can music be used to torture people?
By: Ringo Bones
As an art form, music really has the ability to shock. Just as I was shocked to learn back in the 1980s that Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser Festmarsch was routinely played in NAZI-era concentration camps as captive Jews were sent to the gas chambers. Fast forward George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” and we are once again witnessing history repeating itself.
Lately, prominent American Rock musicians had been recently demanding accountability via the Freedom of Information Act that the Bush Administration and the US Central Intelligence Agency should reveal whether or not their musical works are being used to torture terror suspect detainees in the now notorious Guantànamo Bay Prison. Ah yes, Guantànamo Bay, a US Navy and Marine base at the eastern end of Cuba. Affectionately named Gitmo, it had unfortunately become the 21st Century’s version of an American toned-down version of Auswichz.
One of those prominent American Rock musicians demanding accountability from the Bush Administration on the use of their music as a torture device is Metallica lead singer James Hetfield. Hetfield was somewhat divided over the use of Metallica’s music as a torture device when played at sound pressure levels above 120dB to “torture” terror suspects / detainees. Hetfield says that he’s proud to do his “patriotic” duty – i.e. his music being used against America’s enemies – but not to the point of violating the Geneva Convention (or maybe alienating long-time principled fans?).
Another prominent American Rock musician concerned over the use of his music as a torture device in Gitmo is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. An artist whose musical works gained notoriety for containing ridiculous amounts of low frequency information sufficient to damage loudspeakers not designed to play it at high decibel levels. Reliable informants revealed that terror suspects were held in stress positions reminiscent that of Apartheid-era South African political prisoners making them unable to protect their ears against the sonic onslaught.
As of late, Pearl Jam, REM and The Roots are forming a coalition to investigate on the use of music as a torture device at Gitmo. While Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine plan to sue the Bush Administration and the US Central Intelligence Agency for misuse of product liability reasons. While a recently released Gunatànamo Bay Prison detainee on interview stated that the music often used to torture terror suspects to cause sleep deprivation was Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen. While Roseanne Cash – daughter of the legendary country singer the late, great Johnny Cash – is also leading a coalition to close Gitmo. Which everyone can check out at www.closegitmonow.org.
Most forms of art really have a funny way of protesting against unnecessary wars. Even something as inanimate as the tapestry replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica was draped by UN staff when then US Secretary of State Colin Powell asked the United Nation’s Security Council to invade Iraq to destroy Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction back in 2003. Even Richard Wagner’s estate had since allowed prominent Jewish conductors to perform the great Classical composer’s works in order to distance his legacy from anti-Semitism and Adolph Hitler. Making Bayreuth even friendlier than George W. Bush-era America.
Using music to torture people to me at least is a form of a cruel and unusual punishment. Which – according to most civilized countries – is against the law. Even the Geneva Convention has a proviso against cruel and unusual punishment against enemy combatants. This is why you’ll never see Judge Judy play Tori Amos songs at dangerously high decibels at convicted rapist - even if she has been probably tempted many times in the past. Or do the same to paedophiles and child molesters using the music of Avril Lavigne and / or The Veronicas. Not to mention Aloha From Hell.
By: Ringo Bones
As an art form, music really has the ability to shock. Just as I was shocked to learn back in the 1980s that Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser Festmarsch was routinely played in NAZI-era concentration camps as captive Jews were sent to the gas chambers. Fast forward George W. Bush’s “War on Terror” and we are once again witnessing history repeating itself.
Lately, prominent American Rock musicians had been recently demanding accountability via the Freedom of Information Act that the Bush Administration and the US Central Intelligence Agency should reveal whether or not their musical works are being used to torture terror suspect detainees in the now notorious Guantànamo Bay Prison. Ah yes, Guantànamo Bay, a US Navy and Marine base at the eastern end of Cuba. Affectionately named Gitmo, it had unfortunately become the 21st Century’s version of an American toned-down version of Auswichz.
One of those prominent American Rock musicians demanding accountability from the Bush Administration on the use of their music as a torture device is Metallica lead singer James Hetfield. Hetfield was somewhat divided over the use of Metallica’s music as a torture device when played at sound pressure levels above 120dB to “torture” terror suspects / detainees. Hetfield says that he’s proud to do his “patriotic” duty – i.e. his music being used against America’s enemies – but not to the point of violating the Geneva Convention (or maybe alienating long-time principled fans?).
Another prominent American Rock musician concerned over the use of his music as a torture device in Gitmo is Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. An artist whose musical works gained notoriety for containing ridiculous amounts of low frequency information sufficient to damage loudspeakers not designed to play it at high decibel levels. Reliable informants revealed that terror suspects were held in stress positions reminiscent that of Apartheid-era South African political prisoners making them unable to protect their ears against the sonic onslaught.
As of late, Pearl Jam, REM and The Roots are forming a coalition to investigate on the use of music as a torture device at Gitmo. While Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine plan to sue the Bush Administration and the US Central Intelligence Agency for misuse of product liability reasons. While a recently released Gunatànamo Bay Prison detainee on interview stated that the music often used to torture terror suspects to cause sleep deprivation was Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen. While Roseanne Cash – daughter of the legendary country singer the late, great Johnny Cash – is also leading a coalition to close Gitmo. Which everyone can check out at www.closegitmonow.org.
Most forms of art really have a funny way of protesting against unnecessary wars. Even something as inanimate as the tapestry replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica was draped by UN staff when then US Secretary of State Colin Powell asked the United Nation’s Security Council to invade Iraq to destroy Saddam Hussein’s alleged weapons of mass destruction back in 2003. Even Richard Wagner’s estate had since allowed prominent Jewish conductors to perform the great Classical composer’s works in order to distance his legacy from anti-Semitism and Adolph Hitler. Making Bayreuth even friendlier than George W. Bush-era America.
Using music to torture people to me at least is a form of a cruel and unusual punishment. Which – according to most civilized countries – is against the law. Even the Geneva Convention has a proviso against cruel and unusual punishment against enemy combatants. This is why you’ll never see Judge Judy play Tori Amos songs at dangerously high decibels at convicted rapist - even if she has been probably tempted many times in the past. Or do the same to paedophiles and child molesters using the music of Avril Lavigne and / or The Veronicas. Not to mention Aloha From Hell.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Remembering Michael Jackson
As the undisputed “King of Pop”, will Michael Jackson be remembered for his very remarkable music career that funded his humanitarian contributions, or by his dubious lifestyle excesses?
By: Ringo Bones
One of the few saving graces of being part of the older generation is being able to witness and appreciate first hand Michael Jackson’s musical prowess before he was unfair treatment by the court of public opinion. But ever since the King of Pop’s untimely passing back in June 25, 2009, everyone – including me - had come to agree with the Reverend Al Sharpton on remembering Michael Jackson for his musical genius and humanitarian contributions. Not to mention Jackson being an inspiration for a lot of people the world over. The most unlikely ones being the "notorious" prison exercise regime - a You Tube viewing staple back in 2007 - when inmates of the CPDRC in the Philippines made their own rendition of the Thriller video choreography as a program for the inmates to stay out of trouble.
Even though I wasn’t yet born during Michael Jackson’s stint as a child prodigy with the extremely youthful Jackson 5 back in the 1960s, I experienced first hand his four best solo albums – to me at least – Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. What I like about Off The Wall is that Michael Jackson – through judicious choosing of session musicians – probably raised the late 1970s LA Studio scene to mythical proportions, not to mention allowing very talented guitarists like Larry Carlton an escape from relative obscurity. Working with Toto’s Steve Lukather and Eddie Van Halen also allowed Michael Jackson to reach out to folks who are fans of cutting-edge guitar playing who usually don’t give Billboard chart-topping pop music a second thought.
The financial success of Thriller – not to mention the fame - probably allowed Michael Jackson to fulfill his humanitarian goals during the mid-1980s. By underwriting USA for Africa and the We Are the World single as the American leg of the then concerted effort by the affluent West to help the famine-stricken citizens of Ethiopia. Michael Jackson has for all intents and purposes made himself not only the best loved musical artist of the world, but also one of the world’s most beloved humanitarian. Which fostered scores of music-based humanitarianism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jackson’s decision to make Bad a Heavy Metal guitar-leaning album probably allowed him a marketing share of the late-1980s Heavy Metal Music renaissance. Not to mention the cut Man in the Mirror that probably hastened the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the nuclear armed Cold War confrontation between the East-Bloc countries and the West. The political yearning for a change for the better also influenced some of the songs on the album Dangerous, which Michael Jackson’s choice of hiring then Guns N’ Roses axe-man Slash only highlights his yearning for unity between disparate musical camps.
The scandals that plagued the King of Pop during the 1990s – plus the rise of other previously ignored music genres and scenes – seemed to steer Michael Jackson’s musical career into apparent obscurity. While making his private life into a sordid media circus. Though Jackson was never proven guilty in court, many of his fans are turned-off after the September 14, 1993 summons. Back then, it seems as though his humanitarianism during the mid-1980s was forgotten.
Even though I still find it irreverent to suggest that dying is the best career move a musician – or other artist – can make, our paparazzi-run 24-hour media tends to reinforce such viewpoints. But it is still safe to say that Michael Jackson’s contribution to American pop music will live much longer than his lifestyle excesses. Maybe witnessing the King of Pop first-hand during his heyday in the 1980s is probably one of the best perks of belonging to the older generation.
By: Ringo Bones
One of the few saving graces of being part of the older generation is being able to witness and appreciate first hand Michael Jackson’s musical prowess before he was unfair treatment by the court of public opinion. But ever since the King of Pop’s untimely passing back in June 25, 2009, everyone – including me - had come to agree with the Reverend Al Sharpton on remembering Michael Jackson for his musical genius and humanitarian contributions. Not to mention Jackson being an inspiration for a lot of people the world over. The most unlikely ones being the "notorious" prison exercise regime - a You Tube viewing staple back in 2007 - when inmates of the CPDRC in the Philippines made their own rendition of the Thriller video choreography as a program for the inmates to stay out of trouble.
Even though I wasn’t yet born during Michael Jackson’s stint as a child prodigy with the extremely youthful Jackson 5 back in the 1960s, I experienced first hand his four best solo albums – to me at least – Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous. What I like about Off The Wall is that Michael Jackson – through judicious choosing of session musicians – probably raised the late 1970s LA Studio scene to mythical proportions, not to mention allowing very talented guitarists like Larry Carlton an escape from relative obscurity. Working with Toto’s Steve Lukather and Eddie Van Halen also allowed Michael Jackson to reach out to folks who are fans of cutting-edge guitar playing who usually don’t give Billboard chart-topping pop music a second thought.
The financial success of Thriller – not to mention the fame - probably allowed Michael Jackson to fulfill his humanitarian goals during the mid-1980s. By underwriting USA for Africa and the We Are the World single as the American leg of the then concerted effort by the affluent West to help the famine-stricken citizens of Ethiopia. Michael Jackson has for all intents and purposes made himself not only the best loved musical artist of the world, but also one of the world’s most beloved humanitarian. Which fostered scores of music-based humanitarianism on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jackson’s decision to make Bad a Heavy Metal guitar-leaning album probably allowed him a marketing share of the late-1980s Heavy Metal Music renaissance. Not to mention the cut Man in the Mirror that probably hastened the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the nuclear armed Cold War confrontation between the East-Bloc countries and the West. The political yearning for a change for the better also influenced some of the songs on the album Dangerous, which Michael Jackson’s choice of hiring then Guns N’ Roses axe-man Slash only highlights his yearning for unity between disparate musical camps.
The scandals that plagued the King of Pop during the 1990s – plus the rise of other previously ignored music genres and scenes – seemed to steer Michael Jackson’s musical career into apparent obscurity. While making his private life into a sordid media circus. Though Jackson was never proven guilty in court, many of his fans are turned-off after the September 14, 1993 summons. Back then, it seems as though his humanitarianism during the mid-1980s was forgotten.
Even though I still find it irreverent to suggest that dying is the best career move a musician – or other artist – can make, our paparazzi-run 24-hour media tends to reinforce such viewpoints. But it is still safe to say that Michael Jackson’s contribution to American pop music will live much longer than his lifestyle excesses. Maybe witnessing the King of Pop first-hand during his heyday in the 1980s is probably one of the best perks of belonging to the older generation.
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