To wake up and hear that Michael Jackson had died yesterday, was both a surprise and at the same time was something that I had expected to hear. It was an odd mix of emotions, but it is not up to me to speculate on health issues of somebody I don’t know. What I did want to start questioning is, will we ever see musicians like this in the future?
Will we see artists “create” a new sound, new move, new style, new act that single handily captures the entire world?
Growing up no matter your age, most people liked or at least respected Jackson’s talent. I was born the year Thriller came out, I know my parents played that record so no doubt my infant ears were exposed to its sounds. In my household growing up I remember the days of everybody in the car from me (the youngest at 6) to my Dad (the oldest of 36 at the time) wanting to listen to Bad – it was the first CD my family purchased – the future was then! My brother and I would mimic the dance moves, shout SHAMON! on the top of our lungs. It was pure fun pop music and will always be the clearest form of that genre.
It was yesterday while listening through my iTunes at work I began to question ‘who is left in this elite group of artists’. Im not just talking about your big name acts of now, Im referring to those artists like The Beatles, Elvis, Madonna, David Bowie, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, u2 and Michael Jackson to name a few. These acts changed music, created new sounds, spawned millions of “copy cats” and are still as popular today. To look at this list it is pretty clear to see though, they are all getting older. In decades to come these artists (that are still alive) will stop touring, stop recording and while they’ll still be in the eyes of popular culture – it will never be the same.
The generation below me won’t know what is is like to grow up and have an artist like Michael Jackson part of your childhood, creating that soundtrack that you remember that everybody listened too. An artist who appears in movies you watch, TV shows you love and even the great computer games like Moonwalker. If any artist did that now they would be deemed a SELL OUT! Why would anybody bother taking that risk, just to kill their career. There are those artists that try to do this now, but never with the same impact as the previously mentions acts.
The naive love of pop culture has changed, we have become more judgmental about new artists or even elder acts too. If anybody takes a risk, change their look and changes their sound – every man and his blog is updated with an opinion. (Yes, I see the irony of posting this on my blog). I remember an interview with David Bowie few years ago where he said that ‘if the internet was around when he was starting out, he wouldn’t have taken half the risks he did’. I always felt that was an interesting statement.
No matter what our industry we always want to know what others think of us and if you’re a skinny white guy in the 70′s who might drop a hint on his blog that he is saying goodbye to the folk music sound of his earlier work in favour of recording a disco album … you’d expect a public out cry. Just stop and think if Coldplay came out and said their next album was going to be a complete reggae album. Viva La Steel Drums!
Yet all of this is about something bigger, with this critical nature within society we will never let an artist blossom to their full potential. The money makers will take their cut, the artist will be cautious about taking risks that might end their career and most importantly you’ll find it hard to find an artist that is going to be popular and loved by people of all walks of life. Im not saying we’ll never hear good music again, there will always be new and exciting sounds coming out. Yet, they will never be as widely accepted or loved as the music from Jackson, The Beatles or Elvis.
I sat yesterday with some of my wife (@_pants_) and tried to think of a list of ‘current’ artists who eventually could make into the ‘elite’ lifetime list. While we had a few, we realised they’ve done nothing but continue on the path of their predecessors. An artist like Pink or Britney who has stayed popular for many years now, is just following the path of Madonna in the late 80′s/early 90′s. Radiohead and Coldplay are following along the lines of u2, they are popular to a certain level but they don’t transcend genres or generations. Even the “music visionaries” of Kayne West will never make the same impact, personally I don’t see the mass appeal with him anyway. Close friends of mine will expect me to say that artists like the Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam or Nirvana would be in this list, but when you look at the comparison to some of these main acts – they’ve hardly made a dent into the wider popular culture. While these ‘new’ acts have influenced, have sold million, have provided the soundtrack for a generation … they’ll never reach that same mass appeal level.
Yesterday the news of Michael Jackson’s passing reminded me we should take life, or our icons, for granted. It is sad to look back at the public scrutiny he was put under for the past 15 years, you can’t help but think that perhaps the timing was right. Leave now, just before the upcoming 50 concert tour and be remembered for the amazing work he created in the music world.
So to typically finish this off with a song, I’ll sign off with Michael Jackson and Michael Jordon with Jam. Song was pure awesome, my love of music and love of basketball came together as a kid.
-Sunky
