Okay, BAD was a huge album but in the US Mj was outsold by George Michael's Faith.

But apart from the sales and singles, what was the atmosphere? Was George Michael more popoluar, more featured in the media? In a less freaky way as Mj was?
Who's tour got more attention?

graecophilos said:

Michael Jackson

You really had to ask?

Timmy84 said:

yeah Timmy. You know, I love Michael (Jackson). But i adore George. But obviously the non-prince.orgers are TOTALLY crazy over MJ. I mean, just look how many clicks Mj threads get. So I can see the answer will be MJ, but is it true? From what I know is, that Mj was considered a complete wacko in 1988. He had still a huge fanbase, that made him big... But George was respected for his talent, girls adored him.. He was said to be gay (which was conidered bad!) but no public joke.

And what I dislike is, that in the harts of MJ fans, MJ ALWAYS is and was big. I mean, they wouldn't even admit that in 2008 Madonna was bigger, because Madonna is not MJ and MJ is GOD. You see what I mean?

i still want a well argumented answer from someone who was alive back then. (and is objective)

Well if you want my opinion: Mike had the bigger tour of the year, George had the bigger album of the year.

I think they were equally big in their own right.

Timmy84 said:

and what did people think? You know, people were more used to Mj allready GM was fresher, especially the new Faith-GM and I wonder if GM was considered just cooler by the media and general public?

George Michael

I'm just now finding out on this board that Bad was a huge seller. I certainly don't remember that being the case in 1988. It was all about George Michael back then for me.

graecophilos said:

People considered George Michael a bigger deal than Michael in 1988 so George Michael.

PurpleCharm said:

Really? Was it like all your friends talked about him at school and stuff? And did your parents have an opinion on him (which is always an achievement of any pop star)??? And did the media feature him more than MJ?

Lol stop smoking funny stuff!

MJ was bigger 15 to 1. George who???

If you think otherwise you are tripping. Bad was the biggest tour in history at that time.
MTV was promoting all MJ Videos like crazy.He was in the media all the time.
No one was bigger.1988 Michael Jackson was the most famous person on earth the biggest megastar not only in music but the biggest star of them all!Bigger than the beatles it was Michaelmania everywhere in the world!
When the Bad video hit TV it was the biggest video.
The Bad singels were all huge. How many singles from bad went to number one on billboard? An how many Faith singles?

So stop fooling yourself.Noone can be so blind....
But no wonder everyone was waiting for Michael after the biggest album off alltime.
[Edited 12/20/08 17:32pm]
[Edited 12/20/08 17:33pm]

IMHO...

GM

Both were huge but I think George was bigger. MJ's album had hit after hit but there were still many who compared it unfavorably to the success of Thriller. Yes there was excitement as each video and single was released but George was a freaking MONSTER that year. The controversy over the "I Want Your Sex" video, the 2000 butt shots in the "Faith Video", the angry brooding George in "Father Figure" video...hell even "Monkey" was huge and damn was there anything more in that song that Mr. Michael singing "Do you want your monkey or do you want me". "Kissing a Fool" made the R and B charts, the girls on "Full House" had a poster of George on their wall, 1988 was George's year. MJ had a mega-hit but George was 1988's icon.

GottaLetitgo said:

Yeah Mike was at a disadvantage though both albums were hot that year.

graecophilos said:

I don't recall my parents expressing an opinion one way or the other about Michael or George.

I was a sophomore in college at the time. I recall there being more talk about George Michael.
[Edited 12/20/08 20:23pm]

GottaLetitgo said:

Thank you!

One More Try was also all over the radio.

Hard Day was even getting some love, although I don't thik it was officially released.

I sorta remember George having a hipper vibe/following that year... TV and radio over-saturated us with MJ during his Bad era, and he just seemed kinda played out... That Euro concert special of his was played a zillion times and the dorky monster/fantasy mini-films he was cranking out back then didn't help either... Anyway, George Michael tracks like "Hard Day" and "I Want Your Sex" were funkier than ANY Jackson record... Plus he was FINE... So George gets my vote for the coolness factor.

PurpleCharm said:

#25 on the R&B chart. I remembered the song was played on R&B radio for a minute.

Timmy84 said:

Hard Day is just an awesome record and a true fan fave... When he sang it live in San Jose last year only a handful in the crowd recognized it but those who did went freaking NUTS!

monk76 said:

Exactly. WTF are people smokin' on?! George Michael never was & never will be as big as MJ is/was in the USA. And that is a fact. Period. Thread closed.

Bishop31 said:

Bishop31 said:

Faith and Bad were pretty much equal in 1987-88

both had at least 5 #1 hits
both went triple platinum
and both had videos that were in HEAVY rotation
and the Bad Tour and Faith World Tour were huge shows

I know I had a George Michael poster in prime spot on my bedroom wall in '88...

George Michael was huge in '88 and Faith as a massive record. I remember thinking, if he plays it right, his next album could be as big as Thriller. But he did the opposite with Listen Without Prejudice. I mean just the title is Don't get me wrong, I like it but he didn't tour, wasn't gonna do videos...I thought it was kind of a shame because very very few artists ever have the opportunity to be that huge. I think his ambition was to be a huge star and then when he got there he realised it wasn't what he wanted at all.

mynameisnotsusan said:

In his documentary, he felt that the image he potrayed with the Faith project from the leather jacket, the 5 o'clock shadow, the whole thing, he felt had been complete overkill. He wasn't really happy that the album had been TOO associated with the videos and image that he felt that the next album, he wanted to be more about the music.

It was the same reason why he broke Wham! up

bboy87 said:

He also said it had to do with the fact he doesn't like too look at himself and his homosexuality. He was right: The moment he stopped appearing in videos or whereever the press didn't bother him that much anymore and he was able to life a privat life in LA!

Bishop31 said:

That's this stupid MF-fan trash. "MJ always was, IS and will ever be the biggest star. No matter what".
That's pretty ignorant. In fact the only people who think of him as being still a super star nowadays are his hardcore fans. 2008 had bigger stars than MJ. Remember, an artist should prove his craft every now and then in orther to justify his status.

I remember the song Bad was huge, and I remember Faith was huge around the same time in late 1987, it had to be cause it was around the time I started kindergarten. I remember hearing George on the radio and there's an old tape of my parents and their friends at a party in 1988 and they were playing George Michael and dancing like dorks and in their late 20's and early 30's at the time, but I remember hearing Bad on people's radios and at talent shows as well. Also Father Figure was playing in the background in another home video at my cousin's birthday party. I'm guessing George Michael appealed to teens and adults way more and got way more radio airplay than mj at the time, although MJ's fanbase appealed to everyone, especially little kids cause he wanted a younger audience with the album in addition to the Thriller audience. The only Bad singles I hear on the radio nowadays are The Way You Make Me Feel, and I only hear Bad if it's a DJ spinning old school. I still hear a lot of George Michael from the 80's and early 90's.

I remember full house with all the george michael references too, and how stephanie was scared of his poster one time cause she thought he was the wolf man heheh


I want your sex sounds very mj too I think.
[Edited 12/21/08 6:11am]

graecophilos said:

So you mean Prince, Elvis or Stevie Wonder are not superstars anymore, don't you?
/

speeddemon said:

okay, you got me.
But at least Prince and Stevie Wonder are justifying their status once in a while.

About 6 sold-out Wembley-shows during the BAD-tour, which none other artist ever accomplished.
Pretty much tells me how big MJ was back then.

graecophilos said:

MJ is ranked among the top 20 best selling album artists of the year in the US without realising anything, probably higher on a worldwide level. That's superstar status to me.
Now, if you mean active superstar, I agree with you.But don't spoil the word Superstar to the one who probably is most synonymous with. There have never been any bigger superstar than Michael Jackson and there certainly never will be.
/