I certainly could not--with any sincerity--serenade the dude with a chorus of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" , as MJ is a pitiable melange of sick and sad that is miiiiles away from "jolly good" And yet, on the other hand, I still am glad the guy oozed outta Momma Jackson on this day 1/2 a century ago. I LOVE MJ's early stuff--anything pre-nineties. Sketchy character or no, there's many an exquisite jam that I am grateful to Michael for. And let's not forget the MOONWALK
In fact, this b-day of his happens to coincide with an MJ kick I've been on. Well, it's really half a kick, to be precise. Lately, I'm only in the mood to hear some Beastie Boys or some Michael Jackson. I have both on my iPod, but it's just my habit to leave the thing shuffling through my whole music library and I'll just skip any songs I can't bear to hear. Therefore, I hadn't been indulging this kick until tonight, when I listened to MJ--at top volume--all the way home. Es muy bueno.
This is all the Michael Jackson on my iPod--
DON'T STOP 'TIL YA GET ENOUGH--That " OOoo!"--great opening. I cannot stop my bum from wiggling when I hear this song. I suppose that makes it " bum-wigglin' good",yes?
ROCK WITH YOU-- raaaad.
BILLIE JEAN-- As much as I dig this song, it mildly perturbs me that all versions of this song's lyrics transcribe that line as "the kid is not my son" When he CLEARLY says "chid". CLEARLY. Why not be faithful to what he actually sings, eh? So what if "chid" isn't an actual, bona fide word??
BEAT IT-- Ok, a "Beat It" memory from the not-too-distant past... I was blasting this out on the deck at the tail end of this year's July 4th party and my sister and I cut the deck lighting and had a lightsabre fight to this song. So I know--from actual firsthand experience--that it's a great song for choreographing your light sabre battles to. I lament the fact that it wasn't out in time to make it into Star Wars or Empire or Jedi. Sure, it coulda been used in one of the later prequels, but I do NOT lament its omission from those, as I don't really care for those flicks. The only reason I ever sat through any of them was to ogle Ewen MacGregor. The fact that he retains his appeal when sporting that space-mullet and ratty bathrobe is quite a testament to his mighty, mighty hotness, methinks. But I have veered off topic. In summation: Beat It is an awesome song, whether being used for choreographed combat or not. A good half of its awesomeness..maybe even 3/4 of its awesomeness I attribute to Eddie VanHalen and that killer guitar accompaniment. Oh, and Laura and I didn't really have light sabers...we were whipping each other with these necklaces--
..opened up for fighting..just like the ones Skeletor here is holding. Looks like he lost his makeshift light saber battle, eh??
THRILLER-- another case of MJ making a KICK ASS guest star choice. The song is overall good, but without a doubt, the reason I wanna hear it every dang October is the wonderful Vincent Price soliloquy at the end. And the maniacal laugh. God love Vincent Price and his crazy-ass cackling!! Have I mentioned previously how much I dig Vinny Price? I feel like I must have, at some point. I know I posted a Microsoft Paint masterpiece with him in it..
I JUST CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU-- Err..actually, I can't say why I put this one on here. I'm not all that keen on it.
BAD-- It's okay. Acceptable to use in choreographed combat if you're burnt out on "Beat It" My fave thing about the tune in how it's peppered with continual "Shamm-moah"s. Like it's some involuntary verbal tic. Makes me think of the incredible Sham-wow space age technology chamois (which any of my sweet readers are welcome to purchase for me)
SMOOTH CRIMINAL-- love this one. I also have the very good Alien Ant Farm remake.
DIRTY DIANA-- that very cool & space-agey opening reminds me a bit of "Beat It" (although this one winds up being too slow paced for glo-necklace fights) Also it's kinda similar to Thriller in that the final verse gets kind of nightmarish. I mean, he's fleeing to the phone, she's wrenching the phone away from him. Something about it is very dramatic. He makes ol' Di seem like a predatory monster and not the mere horny groupie that she is. It seems a bit hypberbolic to me, but possibly MJ really would be that terrified in a situation like that (with a woman)
BLACK OR WHITE--Meehhh. 'Sokay. See comments on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You". Ditto that.
PYT-- EXCELLENT jam. I was astonished that this wasn't on my Greatest Hits CD (where I'd ripped the bulk of this MJ stuff from). Well I guess that's because the one I have is Number Ones and so I presume that somehow PYT didn't quite reach that high in the charts. But that's confounding. There's a lot of MJ's shittier stuff on here--ie: "Man In the Mirror" or eww, friggen' "You Are Not Alone" that snoozer where he's all half-nakey & recreating Maxfield Parrish art in the video with then-wife Lisa Marie. *Shudder* It makes no sense--the tastes of the masses.
Featuring Michael Jackson--
SAY, SAY, SAY-- Excellent. And even though I judge this to be superior to the other McCartney -Jacko collab- "The Girl is Mine" I still kinda wanna get "The Girl is Mine" on the iPod.
I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE SOMEBODY'S WATCHING ME--(THIS link is a *must-follow* ) I adore this song. I like how Rockwell isn't all "Colt 45 smooooth" like many of his Jheri-curl contemporaries. (yikesies..was that racist? A smidgen? I think it mighta been...) and was actually a black nerd (like Cameo or Urkel)
STATE OF SHOCK (Jackson 5 w/ Mick Jagger)-- excellent song. The breathy part at the very end has always skeeved me out a little, but aside from that I heartily enjoy this one.
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