it is a testament to mj's character that he was able to forgive latoya. he probably understood how difficult it must have been to live in his shadow, and he thought that he should be magnanimous.

however, i think she's just as odious as joe. she can blame jack gordon for her behavior all she wants, after all he's not here to defend himself. but she knew what she was doing then...and she knows what she's doing now.

Michael Jackson's Bad and Thriller Albums
How the King of Pop's Music Dominated the 1980s Pop Charts

© Alex Hoffman
Jun 27, 2009

Michael Jackson's two albums of the 80s worked for two reasons: his unquestioned talent and the musicians who made hit after hit such unforgettable classics.

Tributes to the late Michael Jackson continue to dominate the 24-hour news cycle, the VH-1 Classic rotation and even this site. And while most outlets will choose to cover the tabloid elements of his life, ask questions with no definitive answer and rehash his periodically irresponsible behavior, let's examine what made him an international superstar in the first place.

The songs from 1982's Thriller, which remains the best-selling album ever, and 1987's Bad are impeccable time capsules of the decade, expertly crafted pieces of pop history with monstrous hooks and exceptional arrangements. Due credit goes to Quincy Jones' production, which is fresher than ever thanks to the number of remasterings of the albums. But let's be real: Jackson's songwriting ability, which flies under the radar more than anything else in his over-scrutinized 50 years, is ridiculously strong in these records.

Just take Thriller on its own. None of his contributions are alike: the edgy, hard-rocking "Beat It," with one of the great cameo guitar solos by Eddie Van Halen; the slick yet overpowering R&B of "Billie Jean"; the dance-floor grooving of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; and really the only case of saccharine fluff, "The Girl is Mine," the first of two duets with Paul McCartney (the other one, "Say Say Say," was featured on McCartney's 1983 release Pipes of Peace and is infinitely better).

Then there's "Human Nature," the haunting ballad with the shimmering modulated synthesizer harmonies, which is one of the best cuts if not for the stratospheric hits that preceded it. Steve Porcaro of the rock group Toto co-wrote it and provided the tasteful synth programming, which more often than not in the 80s was a contradiction in terms.
Putting the sound together: The musicians behind the albums

Jackson surrounded himself with a who's-who of the industry, the most readily identifiable people in their respective genres. Need someone to sit in on keyboards in Thriller? Mega-producer David Foster will sure do. Need a killer guitar solo? As mentioned, Van Halen had that covered. Need someone to duet? Along with McCartney, Stevie Wonder might be available for a filler track, "Just Good Friends," on Bad. How about some ghoulish spoken-word for Thriller? Vincent Price is on speed dial.
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Jackson also managed to assemble a dream team of session musicians. The combined number of credits with these guys is staggering.

* Jerry Hey was in charge of horn arrangements for both albums. He also worked on Rod Stewart's Camouflage (1984), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Southern Accents (1985) and the St. Elmo's Fire (1985) soundtrack, among hundreds.
* Nathan East played bass on Bad, and his list of credits includes Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down (1983), Donna Summer's She Works Hard for the Money (1983) and Eric Clapton's albums of the mid to late 80s (Behind the Sun, August, Journeyman).
* Paulinho da Costa, percussionist extraordinaire, contributed to both records and with what seems like ten million other artists, from Herbie Hancock to Neil Diamond to Chicago.
* John Robinson was the drummer in some of Bad's best tracks, including the title song, "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Dirty Diana." He most famously gave the beats to Steve Winwood's breakthrough albums Back in the High Life (1986) and Roll with It (1988), and showed up on Chaka Khan's I Feel for You (1984), Peter Cetera's One More Story (1988) and countless others. Although he wasn't a part of Thriller, he did appear in Jackson's Off the Wall album.
* All-purpose keyboardist Greg Phillinganes was a Jackson staple, and helped with albums by Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks and Mick Jagger along with Thriller and Bad.

It's no wonder the music sounds good. Not just good, spectacular. What a formula: Take Jackson's songwriting chops (in total, 12 of the 19 on the two records), add the services of high-caliber musicians and polish it off with Jones' superlative production values, and magic was made in the recording studio.

Significance of Thriller and Bad on the pop charts

With that, pop music was never the same. How could it be? A whopping 14 of the 19 songs from Thriller and Bad charted, seven from each album. That's unheard of. The majority of them not only charted, but were slam-dunk, worldwide smashes.

Thriller has outsold everybody and everything, yet Bad had more songs go to number one on the U.S. chart, beating its predecessor 5-2 ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana"). For good measure, he brought together every important artist at the prime of their lives with the charity anthem "We Are the World." It nearly lived at number one, for weeks on end, in 1985.

This is the best way to remember Michael Jackson. Not the personal demons, not the physical deterioration, not any of the other stuff. Remember him when he was on top of the world in the 1980s, and the music that catapulted him there.

Sources:

allmusic.com

tunecaster.com

Thriller and Bad album liner notes

The copyright of the article Michael Jackson's Bad and Thriller Albums in 80s Pop Music is owned by Alex Hoffman. Permission to republish Michael Jackson's Bad and Thriller Albums in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Read more: http://80s-pop-music.suit...LIlfxDHQ&C

kibbles said:

I don't know, Latoya gives me the vibe of being a very easily manipulated person.

Arnotts said:

True. But I've always sensed jealously from Latoya and she always seems to tell too much in interviews where as Joe is defensive no matter the circumstances
[Edited 7/14/09 22:18pm]

ABC (Channel 7 in Los Angeles) is showing a special on MJ right now called, "Primetime Family Secrets". They're showing clips of a reality show that Joe and Kat were working on a few years back. Showing video clips of the other grandkids. Joe is talking about how much Michael would help anyone if they asked. They're talking about how Joe showed up with someone who just paid Joe $300,000 to set up an interview with MJ and MJ didnt wanna see him because MJ was busy with the kids.

nvm , i see you all saw it ..
[Edited 7/14/09 22:23pm]

Michael Jackson Sells 1.1 Million Albums In One Week
July 15, 2009 12:21 AM ET
Keith Caulfield, L.A.
The King of Pop dominates the Nielsen SoundScan and Billboard charts yet again.

Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, Michael Jackson's catalog of solo albums sold a mighty 1.1 million copies in the U.S. in the tracking week that ended at the close of business on Sunday (July 12).

That's a jump of 37% stacked next to the previous week, when his combined albums sold just shy of 800,000. In just the past two and a half weeks, American consumers have purchased more than 2.3 million Jackson albums.

Record label sources have suggested that sales of Jackson's albums were particularly strong last week because of publicity surrounding his memorial service on Tuesday July 7. Additionally, a wider selection of his albums were re-stocked by key retailers, in addition to key hits compilations like "Number Ones" and "The Essential Michael Jackson" and of course, "Thriller."

When Nielsen SoundScan's charts are released in the morning on Wednesday, July 15, Jackson's "Number Ones" collection will be the top selling album in the United States for the third week in a row, with 349,000 copies sold (an increase of 3%).

His "Thriller" moved 264,000 (up 41%) while "Essential" powered through another 149,000 (up 18%). Some older Jackson titles also saw great gains, likely owed to the one-two punch of re-stocking by brick-and-mortar retailers and the publicity generated by the memorial service.

"Off the Wall" sold 107,000 (up 108%), "Bad" did 97,000 (up 332%) and "Dangerous" blew through 67,000 (up 157%).

In turn, Jackson is still the King of the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. It tallies albums that are more than 18 months old, have fallen below No. 100 on the Billboard 200 and don't have a current radio single. Catalog albums are ineligible to appear on the Billboard 200 chart though they can chart on the Top Comprehensive Albums chart.

This week, the entire top 12 albums are all Jackson-related. The singer specifically has the titles at Nos. 1-6 and 9-12, while two Jackson 5 compilations hold down the fort at Nos. 7 and 8.

Top Pop Catalog Albums Chart (Week Ending 7/12/2009)
1) Michael Jackson "Number Ones"
2) Michael Jackson "The Essential Michael Jackson"
3) Michael Jackson "Thriller"
4) Michael Jackson "Off The Wall"
5) Michael Jackson "Bad"
6) Michael Jackson "Dangerous"
7) Jackson 5 "The Ultimate Collection"
8) Jackson 5 "The Best of Jackson 5: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection"
9) Michael Jackson "Greatest Hits: HIStory -- Volume 1"
10) Michael Jackson "HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book 1"
11) Michael Jackson "Invincible"
12) Michael Jackson "The Ultimate Collection"

Jackson's digital track sales have leveled off in the past tracking week, but still totaled 2.5 million in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

So every time reality starts poking its head in this thread people start youtubing and throwing up articles bout sells and such? interesting.

lazycrockett said:

Just posting. Besides half the topics are rumors anyway. You seen Copycat's posts be focusing more on tributes than other stories. I did post about the pending toxicology reports and some other gossip.
[Edited 7/14/09 22:32pm]

Timmy84 said:

okay, maybe it's a little too soon to call it, but i'm going to do it anyway.


i think this kid Michael Jackson could be a phenomenon!

ViintageJunkiie said:

well,of course he did. the thing that always made me shake my head at people who claimed he didn't was the absolute profound ignorance they would spout.

skin color is *genetically* determined. it constantly renews, sloughing off dead cells to make way for new ones. that is why fair skinned people who tan do not stay tanned. similarly, in so far as a dark person can 'bleach' his skin, the top layer of the skin is constantly renewing so how are you going make your skin whiter if the cells underneath are genetically prediposed to a darker skin tone...unless the underlying cells themselves are altering of their own accord?

it reminded me of that story about the native american who saw some slave with his slave owner, and kept trying to bathe him because the n.a. thought he was just dirty and that the black would just rub off. but everyone seems to think black people can just 'bleach' and whiten their skin at will, with a snap of their fingers. utterly ridiculous.
[Edited 7/14/09 22:41pm]

It seems Latoya wants some attention...
She needs a group hug, poor girl has lived a sheltered life.

From MTV
Jul 14 2009 10:42 AM EDT
LaToya Jackson Was Paid For Interview Claiming Michael Was 'Murdered'
Reporter for London Daily Mail says MJ's sister was 'very candid.'

By Gil Kaufman

Just days after a British tabloid published a story in which Michael Jackson's older sister LaToya Jackson alleged that the 50-year-old singer was murdered for his money by unnamed members of a "shadowy entourage," CNN has reported that LaToya was paid for her interview.

A common practice in tabloid journalism, Jackson's payment for the interview was confirmed for CNN by an unnamed source said to be close to the Jackson family and "another source familiar with the interview arrangements." It was not disclosed how much money LaToya was paid, but Caroline Graham, the reporter for the Daily Mail who conducted the interview last Thursday, said Jackson was "very candid" throughout the four-hour sit-down, which took place in Los Angeles just two days after her brother's public memorial.

LaToya, 53, a onetime Playboy model who was estranged from the rest of the Jackson family for a time in the early 1990s after she claimed her brother acted inappropriately with children, did not give any proof to back up her murder claim. She told the Mail that the family has received the results of a private autopsy it ordered, but she declined to reveal the findings of those tests.

"I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start," the Mail quoted LaToya as saying over the weekend. "Not just one person was involved; rather it was a conspiracy of people."

Reporter Graham said the choice of words from LaToya "stopped me dead in my tracks," prompting her to ask, "Are you sure the word 'murder' is what you want to use?" Jackson responded that she purposely chose that word. "He was surrounded by a bad circle," LaToya said in the interview. "Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who weren't always on his side."

A cause of death has not yet been announced pending the results of toxicology tests. The tests were ordered after the initial coroner's autopsy could not determine what triggered the cardiac arrest that is believed to have felled the singer just weeks before he was to begin a 50-show residency at the O2 Arena in London.

While at press time the family had not commented on LaToya's interview, Jackson's father, Joseph Jackson, has also suggested in several interviews that he believes foul play was involved in Michael Jackson's death, though he too has not revealed what evidence he has to support those claims. Los Angeles' assistant chief coroner told CNN that the autopsy report on Jackson could be released within a week, and several media outlets reported on Tuesday (July 14) that the results of the toxicology tests could also be available within the week.

Oh BTW in the Prince forum there is a link to the Montreux website that has a newly recorded version of 'In a Large Room With No Light'. Very nice.

I wonder why Man in the Mirror is the song of choice over Billie Jean or Thriller?

Timmy84 said:

Eww! She's so vile!
This is why I love Janet
She's so sincere and doesn't do things like this!

dreamfactory313 said:

wow, i never knew that was the first one? is that really where that tour started??? i was at that show my ticket says...

arrowhead stadium, kansas city, mo
section 339 row 5 seat 6 friday july 6th, 1984 upper level $28.00

wow, never really paid attention before, then it says...

Pepsi Presents a Don King/Joseph & Katherine Jackson Event
The Jacksons Victory Tour
Premoted by stadium management corporation produced by the jacksons entertainment corporation in association with larry larson



i remember when i went to that concert, you had to buy 4 tickets at a time. my dad bought them for my brother and i, and i took 2 girlfriends. the special part was that my dad rented a limo and we went to dinner on the plaza first and then to the concert. no way would i allow my kids to do that shit some stranger watching out after us during the victory tour!!! guess times have changed since then, damn, 28 dollars to go to that concert, i damn sure think they have changed!! i was 14 years old at the time and i had no idea until i was reading these threads that kansas city was the first place it started... thats kinda cool!!! thanks dad

i remember the victory tour, too. i lived in san fran and they didn't play there. there was wall to wall media coverage of mj and the jacksons. he was on the cover of time, and newsweek a couple of times. there was an enormous backlash, because you had to buy 4 tix and it was more expensive than concerts generally were at the time. of course, mj bore the brunt of the criticism, even though he wound up giving his portion of the money to charity. and of course the burned scalp during the pepsi commercial and the rush to the hospital.

it was a circus. and 25 years later, it's still a circus.

Timmy84 said:

N ABC paid old Joe $200,000.00 for the footage they aired of the never made reality show.

New post on TMZ:

http://www.tmz.com/2009/0...-propofol/

Multiple law enforcement sources tell TMZ the LAPD is already treating Michael Jackson's death as a homicide, and they are focusing on Dr. Conrad Murray.



Law enforcement sources tell us the evidence points to the anesthesia Propofol as the primary cause of Jackson's death. As we first reported, vials of Propofol were found in Jackson's home after he died.

Law enforcement sources say there is already "plenty of powerful evidence" linking Dr. Murray as the person who administered the drug to Jackson. The evidence includes various items found in Jackson's house, including the Propofol, an IV stand and oxygen tank.

Dr. Murray's lawyer would neither confirm nor deny if his client administered the Propofol.

And we've learned the LAPD has had "multiple conversations" with the L.A. County District Attorney's office, although the case has not been formally presented to the D.A.

Dude, Dr Murray will be killed within a week if he's found guilty.

purplesweat said:

If he even lasts long enough for a trial!

Serena said:

I agree he will have to spend his life's saving's on security to protect his every move

Crazy shit, I hate how the news goes up down and sideways with their stories, just makes me think they don't know what they are talking about. Remember when the Doctor was cleared on the very day Michael died? Everyone seems so damned incompetent it's ridiculous. The doc is black too? Ohh he's done, if the justice system doesn't make an example out of him someone will. I mean the whole thing reeked to high heaven from the git go. Who in hell waits a hour or whatever it was to call an ambulance for a dead man? It all sounds like a very panicked individual. Michael probably requested the shit, the doc went against ethics and gave it to him and michael died, sounds simple enough. I doubt if it's anything more conspiratorial than that.

Michael probably requested the shit, the doc went against ethics and gave it to him and michael died, sounds simple enough. I doubt if it's anything more conspiratorial than that.

I was waiting for someone to say that because, that same thought popped up in my head as well! Michael had mounting problems!

So the lesson here?

SAY NO!

I don't give a shit if you get fired or you lose your precious pay cheque. Now because he may have "gone against ethics" three children are without a father.