As a kid born in the early 80s, a young black man, and DJ, when I heard that Michael Jackson died I was floored. It’s really hard to put into words what his run in 80s meant to me and other kids like me. As a DJ, Michael was the ultimate back door, a key that would fit every locked dance floor, to be reached for only in emergencies and handled with great care. As a dancer, when Fred Astaire calls you his heir, there’s not much left to say. What he did with his feet seemed impossible. Sometimes it was.
Never more mystifying was his impossible lean from the Smooth Criminal video (@ approx. 7:15). At first I thought that it was camera tricks, but then I heard that he did it live at shows – no wires, no cables. Just lean. How does a man defy gravity like that live on stage? In the posthumous craze, one of the more interesting bits of information that shook loose was the innovation that made that possible:
Michael invented and patented a special shoe and rig. Google Patent Search provides the details.
Richard has often talked about his interest in music as a “fruit-fly” industry. That is to say that the the study of the music industry is analogous to the scientific study of fruit flies to better understand more complex biological systems. Through studying music we can understand how innovations flow through other creative industries. Musical creatives don’t just innovate musically, but they’re often linked to technological innovation. This is true about individual innovations, from Jimi Hendrix to Grand Master Flash, as well as system wide innovations, as was evidenced by the MP3 revolution. This is just another example of the same from arguably the greatest of all time.
R.I.P. Mike.
July 15th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I don’t think “the younger generation” appreciates just how big MJ was back in the day. I remember when “Off the Wall” came out, I was in elementary school, and it was just huge. I don’t know if MJ or Reggie Jackson was larger in our twisted little minds, but they were both huge.
I don’t think that kids today have that sense of shared experience. The media is so fractured. It’s not like when EVERYBODY was listening to the same music, watching the same sports, seeing the same movies, or especially watching the same TV shows.
Then, of course, MTV came along a little later, and MJ just totally dominated that. I don’t think MJ was the King of Pop. He was King of MTV.
Kwende, you’d appreciate this story: WBLS in NYC used to do a lot of remixes back in the early ’80s. It got to the point where you’d never hear the same song the same way twice. Those DJs worked hard!
The remix that absolutely blew my mind was two MJ songs played at the same time. Maybe that trick is more common now, but I’m pretty sure that that was the first time it was done back then. Can’t remember exactly what songs they were.
July 16th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Hey Buzz,
The passing of Michael has actually caused me to reflect on the state of media a lot. Mass culture has become so diffuse! In the 80’s global media networks were so nascent, and analogue and somewhat primitive. We experienced things in a more visceral way as a result I think. There’s something about the cognitive experience of analogue/pre-digital culture that was unifying in a way that digital culture is not, despite the fact that digital culture does form much of our world’s connective tissue now. The state of media made MJ’s impact upon us so deep. There needs to be an index accounting for that when we talk about culture. In the 100/150 year period that radio and television were invented and disseminated, before it all became 0’s and 1’s, is one of the most important eras of human history in my opinion. MJ was one of the most important artists of that period, hands down.
I’m gonna have to do some experiments re: the MJ layering. That would be some kinda magic trick to pull in a party. When I figure it out, I’ll post it up.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
Is “analogue” the British spelling of analog?
I don’t think so.
Sorry, we engineers are sort of sensitive to that stuff.
“Analogue” IS the name of A-Ha’s 2005 album!
Didn’t even know they HAD an album in ‘05.
The Jackson 5’s cartoon was something we ran home from school to catch in reruns every afternoon. You want to talk about a huge show back then.
July 16th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Hahaha – In Canada and other nations with British substrates, when in doubt, we add u’s. See our spelling of neighbour, and colour for further examples. Correct spelling noted though.
The cartoon missed me – before my time. When the DVD series is inevitably released, my inner child will be sated.