A tribute to 'the king of pop'

On 25^th June 2009, a star which blazed the sky of music for over three decades disappeared in space. The day marked the saddest one for the music world. Michael Jackson, who entertained, enthralled audience all over the world breathed his last.

            Michael Jackson, without any doubt was a musical genius, highly original, innovative....the list is unending! MJ redefined the music in recent times. In other words, music could not remain the same after the entry of MJ to the scene. There was a clear distinction between pre & post era of MJ.

            MJ’s talent was not only limited to singing & dancing but he donned many other roles like songwriting, composing, choreography, stage setting, directing, producing, acting etc. It was said that he could play more than ten musical instruments. He’d had huge success in most of them.

            His songwriting and music made sense unlike some of the modern day musicians who write some trash and just shout rhythmically and think it as music. He wrote many meaningful and concerned songs about many issues like love, nature, racism, peace, humanity etc.

            The main competence that made him world famous was his ability to dance. It was fresh, a never-done-before type. In the field of dance, MJ can only be equaled by MJ. Any choreographer after the 80’s can’t be unaware of the works of this genius. His form of dance perhaps became a genre in itself.

One feature that makes MJ completely different from all is that his music had no boundaries whatsoever. It had crossed all the borders like nation, race and even language. Even those people who did not understand English could connect with his music. His name is known even in the country side in countries like ours. No other musician has achieved this feat. He had penetrated to all corners of the globe.

He changed the music which used to be just an audio experience to an audio-visual spectacle. After his arrival the way music was made changed forever. Describing his famous number ‘beat it’, the magazine Rolling Stones quoted that the song changed music once and for all. Such was his influence.

The concern he’d for nature and humanity reflected in many of his songs like ‘we are the world’, ‘man in the mirror’, ‘heal the world’, ‘Earth song’ etc. He, with 20 odd famous musicians of that time in the 80’s performed for the song ‘we are the world’ and donated all the money collected to the welfare of African countries. Besides, he’d made record donations on his own.

The sad part of MJ’s life is that his personal life was not well. It was full of turmoil. A part of it was because of his lifestyle. He was away from normal in many ways and adhered to falsehood (like Neverland Raunch). Many allegations shattered him completely. Perhaps, he was the most misunderstood man by the media. His difficult childhood had left an indelible scar on his life.

He had had many records and achievements in his name. A few of them: sold over 750 million copies of albums (the first and the only individual entertainer to do so), 18 Grammy awards, 13 Guinness records, made the highest selling album in the history(Thriller, sales-over 100 million), many more..

MJ’s stardom was at peak at the 80s. At the time when there was no ipods, internet the reach of music speaks volumes about the quality of music that he made. He was aptly called ‘The King of Pop’. He was unarguably the greatest entertainer of the 80s and one of the greatest of all time.

Keeping his personal life aside, even his hardest critic can’t help but to admire the sheer talent of this musical whiz. There can be another singer like MJ, there can be another song writer like MJ but the amalgamation of all attributes that MJ possessed can not be equaled by any other person ever. He was a perfect package of entertainment. People of MJ’s caliber can happen only once in a century or once in a millennium.

My heart felt salutes to him….

My Books Review: Mar '11

1) The Stranger: This novel is written by Nobel Prize winning writer Albert Camus. The story is of a person who has murdered and facing death penalty. The whole story is narrated by the person himself. It explores the condition of the person who is emotionless, dispassionate and an aberration from the normal lot. The story doesn’t excite for the people who have watched the movie Shawshank Redemption. There, everything is more vivid. I had seen the movie. So, this book felt nothing great.

 

2) Moonwalk: Autobiography of the best entertainer of our times Michael Jackson is a wonderful read, especially if you are a fan of him. It talks about his personal and professional life (probably in his case, the demarcation line was very thin!), his humble beginnings from his group Jacksons 5, his stay in Motown, his versatility, the albums: off the wall, thriller, bad, nurturing of his talents by many especially Quincy Jones, his convictions and believes, his love for children and mankind as a whole and lot more.

                        Being a star right from a tender age is a difficult thing, he says fame comes with a price and it is heavy. There will be no privacy left. His experiences with the press, the distorted image that they always portrayed always troubled him. The background and the stories behind many of his songs like beat it, Billie jean, don’t stop till you get enough, she’s out of my life are discussed. As I am his die-hard fan, I enjoyed thoroughly reading this book with his own songs being played in the system!!