Comments on: Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:52:51 +0000

To me, Michael Jackson’s life was far sadder than his death. After his most recent rounds of “trouble”, I remember telling someone that I wished he would die. I wasn’t entirely serious of course, but it was just too much. Luckily he did step way out of the spotlight for a few years and it really was a relief. Constantly hearing about his ****ed up life and seeing his completely horrifying face had become a media burden.

The things that were disturbing about him were disturbing on the surface, but also because they strongly suggested a truly awful inner life, something easily imagined after hearing stories about his youth. It was really a depressing thing to consider, how spectacularly unhappy and twisted this man must have been.

He hadn’t made music that breathed in ages. His singing and dancing which were once so wonderful had long ago become somewhat ugly checklists of stylistic tics. Watching MTV’s parade of Jackson videos yesterday really made this clearer than ever – contrasting “Jam” with “Beat It”, or what have you. (Kriss Kross and Heavy D didn’t help the former monstrosity at all, nor did featuring Michael Jordan, who looks like an African-American adonis compared to Michael’s manipulated kabuki face – and that was before Jackson got really weird-looking! It’s all relative, I suppose.)

A few days ago, for the first time I saw a picture of Michael Jackson’s kids. They were obviously not blood relatives of his in any way. Just a completely bizarre sight, and now when I think about those children, and I hope this doesn’t come off as callous, I can’t help but believe they’ll be better off in the long run.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:47:54 +0000

Nice post, Alex.

By: The Mick536

The Mick536 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:39:34 +0000

Not a tear for Jackson. No water for any of them since Lennon. Sat on the bed at the Imagine exhibit in Montreal. Sharon sat at the piano. As an adult, Micheal gave me the shakes. He won’t open for Mingus when he gets to wherever he is going. No sure whom I would like to hear speak about him more, Lisa Marie or Liz. He did have a stable of friends, didn’t he. Last time he was original was in the early 80′s. That is a long time sitting on laurels. I saw Jackie Wilson and James Brown in the 60′s. Thought Michael stole their acts, ablbeit and combined them. Used to take the train from Stamford to see Murray the K’s show. Lonely teardrops, if any, for MJ.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:57:42 +0000

I keep thinking it was MJ the little kid, the prodigy, who died. Well, I guess it was. But now that he’s dead I’m going to have trouble thinking of him as a 50 year old.

Thelarmis, your deed was a mitzvah. I know Ms. Oct will understand!

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:51:48 +0000

[22] If there’s a bad Mingus album out there, I have never heard it..

Have a good one man, chat again next week. Go Yanks!!

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:22:16 +0000

[21] my fave Mingus is: Let My Children Hear Music. with that title, he HAS to listen to it! : )

ah well, i’ll get the Mouzon and see. it’s just another BN for my collection! i’m sure there’s some good drumming on there. but knowing me, i’ll have to go buy the other Mouzon that’s on BN. : ~

i hope to sleep well tonight. didn’t at all last night. if i do, i’ve gotta chart a ton of tunes tomorrow for work and then practice. i get all that done and i’ll “reward” myself with beer! ah, who the hell am i kidding – i’m drinkin’ tomorrow, no matter what!!! : )

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:10:28 +0000

[18] I only vouch for “Funky Snakefoot”, nothing with vocals on it!

man, 3pm here and really quiet at the office..looking forward to a beer after work and some jazz at home this evening. Recently been trying to get my son to dance to Charles Mingus with me, but he prefers “Jimmy crack-corn and I don’t care…” on a kids cd..but the jazz will sink in!

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:09:57 +0000

i’m just starting to read the game thread. i remember that Cody shot early on. i thought it was totally foul. least it looked that way from where i was sitting. sounds like it was clearly fair. perhaps i was wrong on the botched popup, also…

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:06:16 +0000

Check this out http://tinyurl.com/kre7ao
Can you believe they pay Steve Lyons to “analyze” baseball??? Almost makes me think this is fake..

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:05:20 +0000

[17] i’m not a big fan of a lot of the 70′s material. i’m branching out more recently and am finding hits & misses. this is definitely a HIT! i’m hoping the alphonze mouzon is, as well. that one’s on you, my friend! ; )

some of the BN material gets a bit iffy around ’68/’69 and definitely takes a left turn by the decade change. just like there’s hits/misses, in the mid-80′s, when the label came back into being…

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 06:02:16 +0000

[16] Will have to check out some previous concert footage, YouTube ahoy!

Jeremy Steig..I only know him from a BN compliation disk of famous samples, in his case by the Beastie Boys..but as you know, you can’t go wrong with almost anything from BN up to the late 70s!.

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:56:29 +0000

[15] i saw them in Mexico, on the beach, for FREE a year and a half ago! : ) in fact, i saw ‘em twice, since i watched the soundcheck during the day, which essentially was the entire show. unfortunately, Garibaldi wasn’t on that one gig, for some reason. i’m still disappointed.

as much as i love old ToP, it’s definitely NOT worth $100. watch a dvd, or better yet, just spin In The Slot from 1975! : )

this Jeremy Steig disc is freaking great! who knew…

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:50:57 +0000

[14] Nice! Tower of Power play here almost every year at the Blue Note, at nearly $100 a ticket..awesome band but that’s too steep for me to go to one gig..unless it’s Keith Jarrett

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:49:22 +0000

[13] oh, cool. Garibaldi was the original drummer with Tower of Power.

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:47:21 +0000

[10] oops, I didn’t mean to capitalize that, I just meant an album featuring Juju style guitar & talking drum..but will check out the Garibaldi on your recommendation!

oh, check out this clip, am going to see him play here in town on July 5th, local based organ player from Philly, really funky! http://tinyurl.com/nlls27

By: Bobtaco

Bobtaco — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:47:12 +0000

“He was Norma Desmond, but played larger; he was his own Captain Ahab, seeking to find and murder himself. But goddamnit, he was brilliant too, a nuclear force of music, and no matter how his own soul failed him, that much cannot be denied. Hearing his young voice once again, touching each note flawlessly and effortlessly and with such weight, is nearly shocking.”

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/25/746950/-A-Dismembered-Soul

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:44:22 +0000

[9] Oh man, I can picture that scene perfectly..isn’t it crazy to think that 10,000 miles away people here are having the exact same conversations?? A couple local guys here told me they remember getting Thiller on vinyl when they were in their early teens..as you said, for all the crap that came later, there was no one bigger in the 80s..

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:26:34 +0000

[8] thanks for reading, buddy! i hope the others see the posts, also – even though that thread is dead.

well, i sure hope to keep in touch with that family! but it isn’t up to me. the last thing i wanted to do, was burden them with feeling that they had to contact me – pretty much a complete stranger – with such deep and personal issues, simply ‘coz i gave the kid a ball.

but the mom seemed eager to keep me apprised of the situation. she’s been keeping sooo much in the last few days and hadn’t slept. it was cathartic for her to talk to me about it and not get too emotional. i gave her my card and she has the option of texting and/or emailing me. i hope to hear from her next week, and i sure hope it’s GREAT news!!!

Talking Drum – is that with David Garibaldi?! i LOVE that guy. complete freaking genius and i DON’T throw that word around lightly…

By: yankee23

yankee23 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:21:57 +0000

In Baltimore it was perfectly cool out tonight, just a beautiful summer evening. I had a few errands to run, but decided to take the long way so I could keep the windows down and enjoy the weather. The local hip-hop station, 92Q was playing everything Michael, even some remixes of classics. But what really made this moment sink in was that every time I pulled up next to another car with the windows down and the music up, it was inevitably MJ spilling out into the night.

I know that for me, this will always be remembered as the summer Michael Jackson died.

It’s not really important that his career petered out or that he turned into a rather ridiculous spectacle, but just how many people in their 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond all grew up listening to him. The Michael we first heard is the one who matters, even if he’s been gone for a while already. I think many held out hope that he would be back, that he was just holding out on us until the next great song.

Seemingly at every turn in the supermarket and bookstore tonight I heard stories, always following the same basic pattern: “Oh, when I was , I listened to over and over–I wore that thing out!”

“…and when the groove is dead and gone, yeah,
you know that love survives so we can rock forever on…”

By: Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO

Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:20:38 +0000

[7] Man, just read your posts from the game thread..you’re a real star, that kid will never forget getting that ball! Will you keep in touch with them? Having a little one myself..I can’t imagine any worse horror than him being ill…

Sounds like overall you had an amazing game experience! One day (maybe in the offseason) I’ll put up a long post about attending a game here.

Slow friday, had some NIgerian Juju guitar & Talking Drum on the iPod, it suits the summer heat that just arrived!