Michael Jackson - King of Pop 01 (Jun 09 - Dec 11)

[kennynah]

Out of consideration for K and MM, I replaced my Ma-Ma bear avatar

thanks L... you are very nice but really, you know i like all of your avatars...bears and MJs...all cantik cantik....

[LenaHuat]

Taped conversation with movie director, Ratner :-

BRETT RATNER: Do you have a mentor or someone who inspired you?

MICHAEL JACKSON: Yeah, I do: Berry Gordy, Diana Ross, Thomas Edison, Walt Disney, James Brown, Jackie Wilson.

BR: And what did you learn from them?

MJ: I learned a lot from them--about how to be a visionary, how to be creative, how to be persistent, how to be determined, how to have a will of iron and to never give up no matter what. You know?

And here was Prince Al Waleed and Michael Jackson's vision of a Neverland complete with Big Ben, the British Parliament House, Kensington Gardens. The blueprint and sketches are amazing :-
Peter Pan's Neverland that was never to be

Here's an awesome beautiful high quality video :-
Billie Jean - Motown Original Video + London Symphony Orchestra

[millionairemind]

Thanks Lena for updating this thread constantly.. it's amazing that there is so much about MJ we do not know of.

Is his fascination with Neverland and Peter Pan a consequence of his abusive childhood when he was belted constantly by his father?? Perhaps it offers a form of mental escape for him that Peter Pan offers to children?

[LenaHuat]

Hi MM
You are welcome. It's a joy to share what I know abt MJ with another fan

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, an orthodox rabbi, has released some of his taped conversations with MJ on American TV and also published a book based on the tapes. The tapes were made ard 2000/2001.
Although I have some reservations abt this Rabbi's intentions, his past at Oxford university and the timing of the book, I watched the program and bought the rabbi's book because I wanted to hear directly from Jackson.

Voices of a tortured soul. Here are the links. I give the first 2 links. Altogether there are 6 videos:
(a) Part 1
(b) Part 2

IMHO, some of the weighty American press gunned for Jackson because of racism and secondly jealousy, just mad envy. Watch the 4th video abt Jackson's thoughts on racism : How white men got mad and couldn't believe that a black African American could afford to drive a Rolls Royce.
Jackon and I are contemporaries. From my first hand experience with Americans, racism 's ugly manifestations during the 1980's and 1990's are much more painful then than now.

To lighten the tone here, I am posting Jackon's immortal work "Smooth Criminal" by a violin virtuoso. These 2 vidoes are awesome :
(a) David Garrett : Stereo recording
(b) David Garrett on German TV Live

[LenaHuat]

Recipe 4 : Be a visionary. (Jackson's exact words) Lena's addition : "Immortalize" oneself.

Taped conversation with movie director, Brett Ratner:

BR: What elements of your job make you want to go to work every day?

MJ: I want to work every day--just the idea of creating worlds. It's like taking a canvas, an empty canvas, you know, a clean slate. They give you paint, and we just color and paint and create worlds. I just love that idea. And having people see it and be awe-inspired whenever they see it.

Jackson wanted to work every day In 2001, he released "Visionary", a collection of single videos.
Look at this:



Why did he spell "A" and "0" the way he did? Any forumers wanna proffer an answer?

During my early schooling years, I had compulsory 'music appreciation' classes of almost all of the following classical music he loved too:-

BR: What are some of your favorite albums?

MJ: My favorite albums would be Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, Claude Debussy's greatest hits, which is, you know, "Claire de Lune" and "Arabesque" and The Afternoon of a Faun. I love Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, James Brown's Live at the Apollo, The Sound of Music [soundtrack]. I love Rodgers and Hammerstein. I love the great show-tune writers very much, and I love Holland-Dozier-Holland from Motown--they were geniuses. So many great writers. So many great ones.

Do enjoy this masterful piece. This piece reminds me of the handsome Brad Pitts in
"7 years in Tibet". I chose this video intentionally of a 'thuggish' looking violin virtuoso who could play beautiful and delicate music. Never judge a book by its cover :-
"Claire de Lune"

[kennynah]

Why did he spell "A" and "0" the way he did? Any forumers wanna proffer an answer?

Alpha and Omega - The Beginning and The End

[LenaHuat]

Hi K
A very gallant attempt by you

I don't have a ready answer but I don't think it's alpha and omega. It could be that he just liked a stylized A and O, like most arty-fuddy artists.
IMHO, they are "Lambda" and "Phi".
I would give you my ventured guess later....juz to keep the guesses coming from other forumers

Here's another quiz for forumers:-


Why did he tape his fingers?
Why didn't he tape his middle fingers? (Forget abt vulgarities, his mother had ensured that he minded his language)

In several interviews, Jackson spoke about his insomia. He would take deadnite walks around Neverland or sit on top of a ferris wheel and ponder the moon. He complained about a constant throb in his head and only played classical music in his bedroom. Of course, he watched alot of cartoons, especially the Walt Disney ones.

I'm very fond of Debussy's "Clair de Lune" too. It's based on Paul Verlaine's poem :

Moonlight
Your soul is like a landscape fantasy,
Where masks and Bergamasks, in charming wise,
Strum lutes and dance, just a bit sad to be
Hidden beneath their fanciful disguise.

Singing in minor mode of life's largesse
And all-victorious love, they yet seem quite
Reluctant to believe their happiness,
And their song mingles with the pale moonlight,

The calm, pale moonlight, whose sad beauty, beaming,
Sets the birds softly dreaming in the trees,
And makes the marbled fountains, gushing, streaming--
Slender jet-fountains--sob their ecstasies.

Here are 2 excellent videos :-
(a) Walt Disney's Fantasia : Clair de Lune
(b) Video based on MJ's poem "Scarred of the Moon"

"Scarred of the Moon" is, IMHO, a children's song. There is much speculation that he wrote a treasure trove of children's songs.

[LenaHuat]

I've edited my video link of "Scared of the Moon". Picked the wrong link earlier on.

[helios]

Why did he tape his fingers?
Why didn't he tape his middle fingers?

Was wondering about this question too.

Was it because he has to strum instruments? Or to have a better grip of the mike??

[LenaHuat]

Hi SanSan
Great attempt

Earlier on, I had proposed to movie goers of "This Is It" to stay in their seats when the credits show up.
After the credits, the screen blanks out and a surprise encore follows.
If you have watched it, you will know why Michael did not tape his middle finger
Watch it here again. What did Jackson do after speaking "I take my own time to come in. Unbotton my shirt, jacket. Button it. Look around a little bit...(what did he do)............BAM

Why didn't Michael tape his middle finger?

Jackson told movie director, Brett Ratner, that one of his fav album was Debussy's "Afternoon of a Faun".
Watch this and you will understand why. The beginning begs your intense attention. The middle sags a little.
But the sensual, overtly sexual ending (around 6:15 onwards) outraged the French when it was first performed in 1912. You can discern its influence on a number of MJ's dance numbers.

Afternoon of a Faun

I''ll end 2day's post with Jackson's Poem:
Enough for Today

I'll save "Lambda" and "Phi" for another day