GirlBrother said:

I am a thirty-something too. But I have no "grief" at all. My thoughts go to his family and friends only, not myself. Why should they? I didn't know him.

Any sadness that I could find justifiable would be that perhaps I would not get any more music from him, or any shows. But seeing as neither was at all likely, even that is not due cause. And even if it was, it would be an ultimately selfish response.

Prince : 1 / MJ : 0

Classy!

LondonStyle said:[quote]

razor said:

Which is more human? Those who understand this is a terrible time for family and friends and not for themselves? Or those who wish to get a slice of the action and generate sympathy for themselves in the process?

razor said:

Nicely put.

I dont buy the recreational grief thing. People are mourning because moments like this bring us face to face with the harsh realities of life and our own mortality. when even those we put on a pedestal like Diana & MJ can be brought down, we realise we all can be too. People should be allowed to feel whatever grief they like about it - no one is in a place to tell anybody what they should be feeling.

MJs music has touched more people than would care to admit it - and is the soundtrack to not one, but several generations.

While his work hasn't resonated with me for some time, one listen to any of his classic material takes me straight back to memories from my own life - and the sheer exuberance of his earlier work will live forever.

Its sad that his life became somewhat tortured. No one will ever know the whole truth about MJ, but we can know for sure his fame has ultimately killed him - chipping away at him year on year, and if the rumours about his prescription drug addiction are to be believed, its sad that his death resulted from something so ultimately avoidable.

Itll take a long time to come to terms with this - but hopefully his legacy will be one of joy and peace rather than specualtion and negativity - as has been the case for the last 15 years.

Gone Too Soon

I just can't believe the nerve of some people in here telling others how much they should mourn or why they are feeling a certain way. I would never think to judge others for being sad over someone's death regardless as to if I was a fan or not. Those articles posted did nothing for me personally anyway. I don't need an article to tell me why i'm feeling sad about Michael or any celeb dying. It has nothing to do with those reasons stated in the article. All i have to say is that unless you grew up listening to Michael or were touched by his music or life in some way, then you just wouldn't understand, period. Just because he hasn't impacted your life, doesn't mean he hasn't impacted other people's. Live and let live I say.

razor said:[quote]

LondonStyle said:

Razor: nice try everyone has sympathy and feel for the jackson family and his kids at this time this has been expressed many time here on the org.

Music is both a shared and self for filling hence the reason you post on the org ....

Become human again

Love God

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson – An Obituary

You know how your parents say “Oh, I remember what I was doing when we heard Elvis / John Lennon etc. had died…” and all that? The closest thing to that most of our generation have is, I suppose, Princess bloody Diana.

I found out about MJ’s demise in quite an odd situation, sitting on a coach back from the a West End production of Oliver!, but I received no texts myself – I still haven’t replaced my mobile! It says more about the world we live in now, that I didn’t quite believe it cos I didn’t get it from one of my many music-obsessed friends via the wonderful invention of text message. I felt quite left-out actually! At least when James Brown died it was through a barrage of mobile-bleeps on Christmas Day morning.

But hey, what to say about it all? Well, let me be one of the first to put this down in writing, as I for one think he deserves something or other.

God rest his fractured, freaky, tormented soul.

The biggest thing for me is the suspicion that he will be remembered more for the tabloid stuff of the last 15 years of his incredible life, which is what made me want to write this. I for one feel this would be a travesty, no matter where you stand on the whole thing. As someone that has loved much of his music for the best part of 35 years, I feel a genuine sadness, not just that he’s died, but because his true worth just might be over-shadowed by everything else.

I suppose this goes back to Elvis. That fat, karate-kicking bloke living out his autumn years in Vegas dressed a white jumpsuit is – let’s face it - an enduring image. But luckily he left a legacy of music behind that more than erases the feeling that he was over-rated. In my view, Elvis was NEVER over-rated, simply because no-one can deny his profound impact on popular culture. Turning naïve white folk all over the world onto black roots music could never be a bad thing. No Elvis? No Sex Pistols, Clash, no nothing.

So why the comparison? Jacko suffered the same problem, albeit on a much grander scale. Maybe this is the point to get back to what he DID give us. The music. OK, yes - the morbid fascination. The freaked-out, pasty-faced, chimp-befriending craziness. But please, the music has to be the thing we remember him for.

My introduction to him was, like most people growing up in the 80’s, Thriller, Bad and so on. But like a lot of people, that only led me back to the really great stuff: this guy was a product of the greatest popular music-making machine ever: Motown Records. And golly, did he do something with the opportunity.

For those people who have wasted hours on You-tube watching his baby-dangling antics, try this instead: look up the Jackson 5’s early 70’s performances of ‘ABC’, ‘I Want You Back’ and the like. Like any ‘lost’ footage from that golden era of music, it’s sheer musical brilliance. Fact. Personally I’m a much bigger Stevie Wonder fan, but Michael’s early years even out-do Little Stevie’s formative years in my book.

As we all know, the years rolled by and he became much bigger than the Jacksons could handle, and his dad’s relentless coaching of the group led to Michael striking out way ahead of his brothers, never really looking back. He probably didn’t even have the time to. But good for him. If he had done, he might not have gone on to grace 1980’s turntables with Thriller, Bad, and dare I say it – yes I will - Dangerous.

I’m sure everyone has had the conversation: is he mad? Is he a paedo? My answer was always “probably”. He’s been routinely fucked-up as a human being for quite obvious reasons, and now as a result he’s inevitably fucked-UP his career. But let’s face it, in any discussion on the subject, people always end up talking about the music. Who hasn’t done the drunken-zombie Thriller dance at a party? And I’ll wager there isn’t a single person reading this who hasn’t made a crass attempt at the moonwalk.

Now, I don’t subscribe to elevating stars to a level not befitting them and get quite irritated when people go crazy over somebody with no real substance to what they do.
But I saw him in concert just once, in 1996 at Wembley Stadium. And never, ever, either before or since – have I seen a reaction to a human being walking on stage (well, actually he ‘arrived’ in a computer-generated spacecraft). He stood there, silent and motionless for about 3 minutes, like a freaky gold-leather statue, as 72,000 people cried, screamed, passed-out and held their hands over their mouths in wonder. Star power? It’s got nothing to do with it – it was more like the Second coming.

Now THAT’S cultural significance.

But like Jacko’s last album Invincible, I’m droning on. If nothing else, I’ve got it off my chest. Please let’s remember him for what he was: a great entertainer, a peerless contributor to pop music and one hell of a dancer.

I’ll leave you with this. A few things to look-up and check out in his honour, if you still have a small place your heart for his music, and if indeed you haven’t already:

· The Jackson’s covers of Stevie Wonder’s I Was Made To Love Her.
· The live version of The Jackson’s Shake Your Body Down.
· Rockin’ Robin. Michael’s second single as a solo artist. Play at full-volume at a party and watch everyone’s reaction!
· The 12” version of PYT (Thriller, 1982). Much over-looked 80’s dancefloor classic.
· His early demo of Billie Jean. You’ll find it on the special edition CD release of Thriller. Eerily impressive actually.

- or just go on Youtube and search 'Jackson moonwalk'. Watch it, and put it in context (think about what else was going on in music at the time). It really is still breath-taking.

I could go on. But I won’t.

Maybe it’ll take a few years and no doubt a good helping of bad taste yet still-hilarious jokes, for the recognition to kick-in again, but I for one would like to see it happen.

Right, gonna go and take my off my trainers and try that move once more on the parquet office floor….

… just for old-times sake.

Craig Brooks
26th June 2009.

Cinnamon234 said:

I did grow up listening to MJ. His music was and is a part of my life. He wasn't. But I still have the music, whereas his passing simply means I have lost something I never had. So, in summary, I have lost nothing. Unlike his actual family. I will leave the mourning to those who have genuine reason to mourn..

LondonStyle said:

Music is yes, but people arn't. Mourn the loss of his (theoretical) future music by all means. Have the decency not to pretend you have suffered personal loss. You haven't.

I'm still in the WTF mode...

While MJ died musically during the mid-to-late 90's (at least, for me) I gotta admit that he was one of those individuals which, as many of you have already said, seemed, well, immortal...



It's so sad because he was far too young for a death like this, and because of the now cancelled 50 shows at the O2. And I'm sure he would have released a fine new album in 2010. Maybe the combination of the O2 shows + the new album would have been the true comeback that MJ needed since 1997. But now, sadly, it doesn't matter anymore

That said, I'm sure that now that he's dead, his music (specially the 68-83 era) would be rediscovered, exactly as it happened with Elvis.

Anyway, and while I'm not a huge MJ fan, I think this is truly the end of an era in pop music.

RIP, Michael; wherever you are, I hope you're fine. Your beautiful music will stay with us, forever.
[Edited 6/26/09 5:17am]

Here's a cautionary article that caused me to pause and reflect on my own mortality:
Michael Jackson’s Death: Why Cardiac Arrest is Deadlier Than Heart Attack!!
June 26
Link


Iconic pop star Michael Jackson reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and died on Thursday at the age of 50. While details of his death have not yet been released, a cardiac arrest is generally much more dangerous than a heart attack.

During cardiac arrest, the heart actually stops beating and quivers with uncoordinated contractions. Unless a defibrillator is used to shock the heart back into a normal rhythm, death is inevitable. Someone experiencing a cardiac arrest generally collapses, loses consciousness, and stops breathing.

Despite dramatic TV portrayals of patients being revived from cardiac arrests, the chances of survival in real life are slim. If a bystander performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the heart can be shocked back into a normal rhythm, the chances of survival are much better.

About 95% of people who experience a cardiac arrest die before reaching the hospital.

A heart attack, on the other hand, is a reduction in blood flow to the heart—which can cause a crushing chest pain known as angina, along with sweating, nausea, and a sense of impending doom. In contrast to cardiac arrest, heart attack patients may not lose consciousness. If they get rapid medical treatment, the prognosis is generally better.

Heart attacks are more common in those with heart disease, high blood pressure, people who are obese, and those with diabetes. Cardiac arrest, on the other hand, can be caused by a wide variety of factors, including heart disease, drowning, electrocution, choking, and traumatic injury.

The American Heart Association recommends that people know the warning signs of cardiac arrest (loss of consciousness, lack of pulse), call 911, and perform CPR until help arrives.

i don't know about a cardiac arrest all i know is my heart is broken

i love you michael



the most beautiful boy in the world

poor babies . i they never even saw it coming. i hope blanket doesn't forget mj. he's only 7 and most people can't remember much about their life at those early ages

razor said:

You are trying to create rules, so you can play MJ's music but not have any personal connection to him? His music is "soul" so he's speaking about himself so you build a relationship with an artist over time, if that said artist dies your not to feel a personal loss ?

his music spands 45 or his 50 years on earth...!

How can you play music and not have it effect your soul?

Become human again

Love God

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Cinnamon234 said:

Some people an unfuckingbelievable.

I was 12 when Thriller was released and had the hugest crush on him, not to mention his music touched my life during some of the most formative years of my life. I've always liked his music and dancing and no one can deny him that or take that away.
I expected him to live to be an old man. He will be sorely missed.

LondonStyle said:

Sure. But none of that justifies the modern phenomena of hysterical outpourings of public grief. Quite simply its an insult to those who have genuinely suffered personal loss. Being human means having dignity, and feelings for others, not trying to grab the sympathy for ones self.

LondonStyle said:

perhaps this will lighten up the mood some and i am guessing it was stress related heart failure (debt, the big tour coming up, etc.)
[Edited 6/26/09 5:56am]

razor said:

public grief is not modern, grief like music is personal it affects people based on a number of factors, yes there are fake people but you get that at private family events just as you get it at public events ...

MJ music is personal it creates the relationship, it forms a bond over many years , you feel it , it's soul, he passed away and yes i have tears for him and his family and my own personal relationship to his music.

Are my tears fake? no they are real, am i hurt yes, i'm sad ..will life go on yes it will it always does but grief stays around for awhile days/ months /years ... grief is the memory of personal connection a special bond that can't be replaced that can never be again...it has passed.

Alot of people feel this today

Become human again

Love God

R.I.P MJ

Cinnamon234 said:

beautifully said, thank you!

hard to feel right now .. just that numb lost sense, the sadness l come later .. cant blieve it. I dont wanna blieve it. F(#&K !!!! .. gonna hug my child a lil tighter tonight.
[Edited 6/26/09 6:02am]

razor said:

[/quote]

Sure. But none of that justifies the modern phenomena of hysterical outpourings of public grief. Quite simply its an insult to those who have genuinely suffered personal loss. Being human means having dignity, and feelings for others, not trying to grab the sympathy for ones self.[/quote]

i agree

then again, the media loves MJ and pretty much created the MJ frenzy and meanwhile innocent lives are being taken in Iran
[Edited 6/26/09 6:00am]
[Edited 6/26/09 6:01am]

japanrocks said:

Sure. But none of that justifies the modern phenomena of hysterical outpourings of public grief. Quite simply its an insult to those who have genuinely suffered personal loss. Being human means having dignity, and feelings for others, not trying to grab the sympathy for ones self.[/quote]

i agree

then again, the media loves MJ and pretty much created the MJ frenzy and meanwhile innocent lives are being taken in Iran
[Edited 6/26/09 6:00am]
[Edited 6/26/09 6:01am]
[/quote]


Correction MJ created the frenzy the media reported it!
innocent lives are being taken 100 miles from your door ...you don't have to go to iran to find it...
Both points have nothing to do with the sad passing of MJ

R.I.P

today 50% of music died! rip mj!

...



I remember going to see the Jackson 5 back in '73. I was pretty young then, but even at the time, I was thinking, "Man, he was born to be on the stage.." Having said that, though, I've always found it sad that he had to give up so much, at such a young age, and gave so much of his life for the sake of entertainment....

I wanted to just give Thanks, Love and Respect for someone who devoted so much life and energy, blood, sweat and tears to bring smiles to so many in the world.

Rest in Peace, Mike.








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