The Michael Jackson Mania That Came Too Late

In lieu of the hypocritical post-humous celebration of the legend that was Michael Jackson, I have to sheepily raise my hand and say that I am part of the masses who is now a huge huge huge huge huge fan.

Almost everyone is a Michael Jackson fan now that the man is dead. I shall embrace my role as one of the many hypocritics before I continue with this post. My mother even bought some of his concert dvds. My MOTHER! Whose last brush with celeb fanaticism was some old guy who sang the song Patches and performed in Genting Highlands a while back. To my amusement, she even told me that our part time cleaner is also an MJ fan. That got me into stitches. My aunty cleaner who doesn’t even speak english but nags all day as she cleans our house.

And today she sent my brother out to the bookshop to buy magazines with Michael Jackson’s stories in it. 🙂

I keep telling her to learn how to use the internet, emails are supposed to be replied immediately not four months later. She’s totally missing out on a lot now that she wants to know so much about MJ and the internet is like spilling with everything that would be interesting!

Over the past two weeks, I’ve been googling and googling about all things pertaining to Michael Jackson. Of course, the stories surrounding his death are rather sensational (children not his, debts, drugs etc) but I’m not particularly intrigued by that. In fact, I find it boring. Especially the drugs. Ho-hum. What’s the big deal? Every other celeb death is assumed to be linked to it.

If you’re on my facebook, you would be bombarded by links to MJ stories and videos. So I thought it’d be a good idea to put it all up here and share it – something that I enjoy doing. When I like/get obsessed with something, all I want to do is share. Friends may remember the Moffatts obsession, the Douglas Lim craziness, Homecoming (chinese show) and maybe Lady Gaga for awhile. I try to like her.. but I only like a few songs. Welcome to the Michael Jackson mania, people. *bows*

Some people might find it annoying and I am just cowering waiting for some fierce person to ask me to stfu already. You know the type. Those who deem themselves to be anti-establishment, those who shun anything mainstream. Those who appear to be cool just because they are different.

It’s okay to embrace your own interests and I’m doing exactly that! All I can say is you guys should be grateful that I am no religious zealot, I would probably be the world’s most annoying evangelist EVAR.

Lie Yuen comes into my room less now coz she’s afraid I’ll trap her here over an hour torturing her with countless videos and photos of his children.

Because of his death, I finally bothered to listen to more of his songs and viewed his performances on youtube. I daresay that this is my first time, actually, watching Michael Jackson perform. All the while I only see him in the papers with his bizarre scandals and on tabloids. I didn’t grow up in the 80s. I still listened to nursery rhymes way into the 90s until 1998, when the boyband fever engulfed all little girls in that era. I thought the video to You Rock My World in 2002 was uber boring. I still do. But I love that song! But I loved Sophie Ellis Beaxtor, Shakira and Mariah Carey more at that time. How was I to appreciate the magic of Michael Jackson if I was not exposed to it enough? Advertisements in 1996 of his HIStory tour just didn’t cut it for me, neither did his face on my pepsi water tumbler which I carried during recess times under my armpits as a no nonsense school prefect.

So seeing him perform in the late 80s to early 90s.. I’m. blown. away. How can those legs move like that? Those crazy spins! Won’t his toes break?!

Scream more, Michael! Scream more! Oh how I love to hear him hoot and howl. I can’t copy any of that without sounding like a sick dog.

I’m sure every fan would have a favourite Michael era. For all his flak about the skin bleaching and the plastic surgery, I actually think that he benefited A LOT from a certain amount of plastic surgery. I like him best from Thriller to the times he appeared on stage for his HIStory tour.. that man is SMOKING HOT. A little black eyeliner is actually a good idea on male celebrities, not normal people. PLEASE. Think Adam Lambert. Thought he was a poofy wannabe from the pictures in the papers but saw him on youtube, quite delicious. So yeah, John Travolta style chin clefts don’t really cut it for me. He really should have stopped there, in the early 1990s.

Then I sit back and think, damn. This man is only one year younger than my father. Even my mother is a couple of years younger than Michael Jackson. Can’t imagine Michael Jackson nagging me to clean my room and not to come home so late. But I sure as hell am salivating over his svelte bod circa Black or White. Which is very wrong again.

Before I launch into the torrent of links and videos, let me wax lyrical a little about some of my favourite MJ songs.

The Girl Is MIne – a duet with Paul McCartney.

A lot of people have said they forgive Michael for a poor collaboration but I thought this was one of the nicest songs ever! The dragged out tunes, well controlled vocals and harmony.. I could listen to it a hundred times and not get sick of it. Maybe I’ll get sick of it at 105 but it’s still a really really really nice song. So easy to listen, so cute. I especially like the part where the instruments end on a little cliff hanger sort and MJ goes, “Don’t waste your time…~”. I twittered about how Paul McCartney really sounds like the Beatles in this song. Which is stupid, coz he is part of the Beatles. But you know, it’s different when you take him out of the comfort zone. It’s a nice touch. 🙂

Scream – a duet with Janet Jackson.

LOL Why do I love his duets so much? His screams here are so goddamn sexxxxyyyy. ARGGGggggghHhhhh. Sort of like a surround sound effect that goes from the left speaker to the right. Instead of the ‘hee-hees!’ that he is famous for, he gives a sort of hoot. Very different from his usual style. The lyrics are just so in your face. They say that the HIStory album is very auobiographical, chronicling his child molestation accusations and the effect that the media had on him.

The music video – most expensive ever at 7million bucks given the technology utilized for the video in 1995 – is quite entertaining too though he looks very feminine here. Some men can pull off the feminine look very well. But please, my call to society, don’t attempt if you’re straight as a rod. Straight guys look hot as they are. Gay men are hot in the sense that they make girls weep because they are off limits. But drag-like..not a good idea if you still wanna pick up the ladies.

Janet’s really ..um.. spunky (sounds like a 90s word) in this. So full of charisma with that fierce factor going on. Very angry and very raw. I likee. And you get to hear the siblings say Fuck too in this video! Read somewhere that Michael Jackson NEVER curses. If Michael never died, I would have continued to be a bigger Janet Jackson fan. I still have Someone To Call My Lover on loop.

Beat It

Probably my favourite for his group dance moves. Weird part was the mouth breathing part at the pool table. I like the tune to “No one wants to be defeated.” I always find myself drawn to lyrics that are pronounced poorly. In the song it sounds like, “no-en wants oo- bee- defea-eh..”. Couldn’t wrap my head around the lyrics for the longest time before I managed to google it.
Oh and those hips swinging in sync with them finger snaps. Good lord. Tried it in front of the mirror, ended up a fool.

Billie Jean

I like his shouty songs and this is one of it! Furthermore, this is intermingled with his ballad voice. Overplayed everywhere, my ipod included, but this is where the world was first introduced to the moonwalk. And did I mention those crazy legs? Ultimate crazy legs in this one!

I Just Can’t Stop.. Loving You – A Duet with Siddah Garrett.

He initially wanted Barbara Streisand or Whitney Houston to do the female vocals but they had obligations and so he ended up doing it with Siddah Garrett, the lady who wrote his song Man In The Mirror. This is a beautiful ballad. Every song that I like and am drawn to is due to the uniqueness of the tune. A little something that sets it apart from other melodies. And this song’s defining moment is the part where they duet, “I just can’t stop.. *beautiful pause*.. loving you.”

Thriller

Yes, yes. Overplayed. I first heard it in 13 Going on 30. I loved that movie so much, cried to it more than a few times. LOL. Made me have more faith in the everlasting love of childhood sweethearts. Does high school sweetheart count? 😛 After watching Jennifer Garner perform the thriller dance with Mark Ruffalo, I was like, “What is this awesome song?” This was before Youtube was famous. The year was 2004 and I only had Ares.

Why I love Thriller? The opening line is good, “It’s close to miiiiiidnight.. *ah*”. But the unique part of this song for me is “No ghoul would ever dare try”. Of all my years of listening to this song, I never bothered to look up the lyrics. I’m always like, “Wha? What does no goo goo wud ever dare whyy means?” Though parents always put emphasis on pronunciations, but artists need to mispronounce to sell a song.

I also loved watching the making of Thriller! The make-up process is awesome… as best as they could possibly do in the early 80s. Michael’s smile was the most beautiful during those years. There’s also the rehearsal scenes where the zombies are in leotards .. as normal people.. and with Michael leading the group they practiced and practiced. I thought that was pretty interesting. And also the purple Mickey Mouse sweater he wore when rehearsing his scenes with Ola, the girl who played his girlfriend. Among the many funny comments for that video there was one that said, “WORK THAT SWEATER!!!” He was very childlike in these videos. Running around like a monkey and all. Oh and I also thought that it was super cute that the director, John Landis, would call out to the zombie, “OKAY KEVIN, COME ON OUT!” and the coffin would slide open and the ghastly dancer would emerge.

We Are The World

I know. Another overplayed song, but gosh. If you listen to him doing the recording in this video, it’s really really really breathtaking. Without the added parts of the other celebs, just Michael on his own. The melody sticks in your head, in Michael Jackson’s voice. Not the poorly harmonized versions my school mates, year after year, have butchered to nothingness but a memory of a bunch of Malaysian school kids performing for charity.

As my classmate Narjit commented on the facebook link, his smile is so beautiful here. Unique point is “We are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s start giving”. There’s just a certain bounce to this part of the melody.

Human Nature

I’ve never heard of this song before till after his death. I can’t find the video now, but it was one of the announcements of his death made by a big broadcasting network. The camera was sweeping over Times Square where LED displays were announcing his death and the chorus, “Why, why, tell them that is human nature” was playing in the background. The song itself has always been slightly haunting with the echo-ey effects. Plus the meaning of the lyrics and the way it sounded and the purpose of the video announcing his death, was really very creepy. And I loved it!

Unique point is the chorus, no doubt and also the part before the first chorus: “If this town is just an apple, then let me take a bite.”

-can’t embed video. Click here to go directly to the video–
Black or White

First of all, the intro was unnecessary. Yes, Macaulay Culkin is cute and all that, but I wish it was cut out because it would take me a long time to get to my favourite part which is when he would sing, “I took my baby on a saturday bang.” That would be the unique part of the song. Then he had to spoil it by inviting some rapper on board. The screaming part, is okay… but I wish the softer parts of the song could have gone on longer.

By the way, does anyone know what a Saturday Bang means? Couldn’t find any lyric deciphering websites for answers.

Because of all the obstacles I had to face to get to my fav parts, I just listen to Adam Lambert doing Black or White for my fix.

Ben

I’ve always loved this song. Even before he died. One of the most overplayed songs on my ipod. It’s one of those songs that I can really belt out in the toilet, ahem. Much to my neighbours chagrin. So much soul, so much pain! I had tears in my eyes when I read that he dedicated it to a boy dying of cancer. The tears disappeared when I learned that it was originally for a rat. -_- Beautiful song, none the less.

You Rock MY World

Chris Tucker spoiled the song!! Why was he asked on board to retardadize the intro?! If you watch the video, you’d notice that there’s always a pattern to his music videos. He is particularly taken to gangs and mafias. Like Beat It, Dangerous, this was no different. He could have done better though. Not enough dancing in this one, not enough shamones, not enough howls and hoots. It’s pretty clear that I truly adored the michael of the 90s. But I loved the song! Favourite part would be the beginning: “Oh.. My life..will never be the same….”

Childhood

He mentioned in an interview that it is one of his most autobiographical songs ever. A little too direct for my liking but I lingered on because of my love for disney songs. Yes, it sounds very much like something Aladdin would sing while staring at the moon. But I’m also pretty intrigued by it because in an article (one of the better articles) I read, the journalist was taken on a tour of Neverland ranch by his best friend Elizabeth Taylor. He mentioned that he saw the carousel in the themepark going round and round with nary a soul on board, and the song “Childhood” echoes through the lonely park. A cartoon of two quacking characters were projected onto a screen, no one watching. Freaky shit.

The video is quite haunting too but it really underlines his fondness for Peter Pan. There are even those floating boats that the lost boys sat in in their journey back home.

Other notables are Strangers In Moscow and Dangerous. Dangerous was only interesting because of the super synchronized dance moves and the chorus which was done in the form of choral speaking by grown men.

For those who have not bothered or done enough of MJ-stalking, you might like to see the infamous documentary “Living With Michael Jackson”. It was said that MJ was ruined after the bastard Martin Bashir won his trust and twisted everything he said.

This is only Part 1. The rest will be on Youtube. I don’t need to teach you how to use Youtube right?

Then check out MJ’s retaliation:

I don’t know which part it was but there’s a scene where MJ talks about Bubbles, his pet chimp. I don’t know which was cuter. The seriousness on MJ’s face or the fact that his chimp used his toilet, eats with his fork and spoon coz he’s really polite! He could even do the moonwalk too! Bubbles is so cute, Brenda wants to buy one too when she has money. LOL. Poor Bubbles is now in a sanctuary with other abandoned chimpanzees and orang utans. He has a best friend called Sam and he is really sweet to the infant chimps there. He would stand one side when he hears them coming to the fountain. 🙂 Apparently he was not told of Michael’s death.

Alright, done watching the two documentaries? Okay, now watch the spoof. Rowan Atkinson looks EXACTLY like Bashir!

Now for the links that I wanted to share. Yeah, those are the preliminary ones. Heh.

There’s this ‘investigative journalist’ who wrote rather interestingly about how he expected Michael Jackson to die.
Read: How Michael Jackson Predicted His Death 6 Months Ago.

Some of Michael’s homevideos. It shows that he is very human, a little peculiar, but still fun to peek into his life. There are many more on youtube. This was particularly interesting as it had Macaulay Culkin in it. At this point, I have not read up on all those child molestation allegations made against him. Plenty around the web if you do a bit of searching. Most recent thing to surface would be a video of him being interrogated by a bunch of lawyers.

As most of you probably saw, a video of him in full dress rehearsal days before he died:

This was particularly sad. The dancers all looked so hopeful.

Another aspect of MJ that everyone can’t seem to get enough of (me, me especially me!) and that is of him as a father:

Watch the video here. Can’t seem to embed this one.

As many conspiracies there are out there, this was particularly interesting. Don’t know how true it is, but it’s definitely worth a read.

This one is an account by the paparazzo who snapped that extremely lucrative photo of MJ’s final moments. Sounds disgusting right? But the paparazzo had a good heart. Read on. You’ll also see how extremely generous and nice MJ was to his fans. It’s almost unbelievable. He was even pals with this paparazzi guy.

If you’re like me, particularly fascinated by the children that he raised, you might like looking at these pics from the memorial. Blanket is sooooo cute! I don’t know why people are making such a big deal if those are kids or not. He was the one who loved them and clothed them. But if anything, Blanket is 100% MJ’s son. The resemblance is very obvious. I want a Blanket too. Where can I get one?

Again, if you’re like me, and can’t get enough of MJ’s humanized side, check this out: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=98326918727 . It’s a facebook group set up by the wife of Al Manik, MJ’s millionaire lawyer friend, with personal photos of Michael, his children and their friends. She did this because she was sick of the tabloids stealing her photos and making money from it.

But of course, this is by far the saddest video clip from the memorial:

It would only be sad if you watch it the first time. Trust the media to thrust it in your face until you get sick of it. Sat in the car this morning and within 10 minutes, they played the clip twice. NEED OR NOT AH FLY FM.

Okay, I’m done. :\