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Reply #600 posted 06/10/11 6:07am

GettOffMyLand

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I was joking with the backlash. Just read that back and it sounded serious lol

‘You don’t understand — if I’m not there to receive these ideas, God might give them to Prince.’ 
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Reply #601 posted 06/10/11 6:07am

Unholyalliance

GettOffMyLand said:

Whats with the backlash on MJ's dancing?

Nostalgia.

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Reply #602 posted 06/10/11 6:10am

Swa

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Unholyalliance said:

GettOffMyLand said:

Whats with the backlash on MJ's dancing?

Nostalgia.

Preference.

"I'm not human I'm a dove, I'm ur conscience. I am love"
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Reply #603 posted 06/10/11 6:58am

NaughtyKitty

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Michael Jackson's Dad Smells Bad in MJ Perfume War

A company that owns the rights to license all things Michael Jackson is going after MJ's dad, Joe -- indirectly -- claiming he's involved in a business deal that shamelessly exploits his dead son.


TMZ broke the story ... Joe Jackson was pushing the new "Jackson" scent line at the Cannes Film Festival last month on behalf of a company called Julian Rouas Paris. But according to a new lawsuit, J.R.P. never obtained permission to use Michael's name and image in connection with the product.

Now, Bravado International is asking a federal court in Los Angeles to force Julian Rouas Paris to immediately strip anything MJ-related from their smelly product line ASAP.

Bravado is also seeking $750 for each time MJ's name and likeness were used on a product PLUS three times the amount of profits they've made on the scents PLUS more than $150k in damages.

A rep for Bravado tells TMZ, "Michael Jackson's talent made his name one of the most valuable in the history of entertainment, and no person acting on behalf of the estate gave Mr. Rouas oral or written consent to exploit it."

http://www.tmz.com/2011/0...uas-paris/

FYI that's Deiter Wiesner sitting next to Joe.


[Edited 6/10/11 7:32am]

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Reply #604 posted 06/10/11 6:59am

sag10

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MOL said:

Unholyalliance said:

MJ is already on the level of people such as Marilyn Monroe, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Princess Diana, Elvis, and etc. He's a cultural icon. The kind of treatment that the Beatles get today in terms of being being respected, musically, will come with time, but what more do you want?

No, the goggles are just fine. Improvement? His improvement stopped with Thriller. That's when he adopted formula "Jackson": how to make an album go number 1 on the charts. Add a rock song, a ballad, etc...just like Thriller. His goals changed: now he wanted "to sell 100 millions" not to show talent. There was no space for musical improvement.

Exactly, I got too old to appreciate it. I'm no longer a teenybopper which means I can't mantain a straight face when watching/listening to the MJ post Thriller. You're right on this one.

He will never be as respected musically because most of his post Thriller work is teenybopper-cheesy-rubbish. Jesus, Jackson's 30th annyversary concer wass ridiculous.

Have you watched "Living With Michael Jackson"? The guy would be, along with his entire family of freaks, in a mental ayslum if it was not for the billions. Watch the damn documentary. Oh, let me predict the answer: it was all Bashir's fault...

Shut the hell up! You are a walking contradiction from day one..

First Michael is the greatest, now he a freak... You can't even keep yourself straight

Michael is respected musically that is his legacy..and he will forever be loved.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect, it means you've decided to look beyond the imperfections... unknown
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Reply #605 posted 06/10/11 7:06am

NaughtyKitty

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It looks like Joe Jackson has his own Howard Mann in Julian Rouas. The following is an excerpt from a blog post on Julian Rouas. Its a very long article, to read it in its entirety, go here:

http://jacksontributefrag...paris.html

The Lowdown on Julian Rouas Paris

Jackson Tribute Fragrances – Perfumes Hall-of-Shame!!
The Perfume Business is starting to stink: Joe Jackson is launching a new line of fragrances – A way to show his true majesty or his callous greed? It reeks of bad news! I see a red flag go up and I can hear the rumblings of discontent all over the world already!! Beguiled by money and morally corrupt, Joe Jackson is getting into bed with a whoremaster, and ruthlessly pursues his own agenda to profit from his son’s death with the least bit of compunction - There is a transparency problem: Julian Franck Rouas’s finger in the pie is adding insult to injury, and I don’t think that all the facts were brought out.
Somewhat jaded by my career as a gynecologist I’m always on the lookout for the right opportunity to invest my money in. My first and last flirtation with the perfume business was nearly five years ago, I was breaking bread with Julian Rouas (in France he goes by “Franck”) at the time when his company Julian Rouas Paris was at its inception, traveling into the Fallopian tube to the uterus, so to speak. I was privy with inside information, Julian Rouas scrounged an awful lot of money off people, to put it mildly, and his new company was fraught with drama and controversy. Just so you know, Julian Rouas operates on a whole different frequency; there is no peace in it. He was always jumping around like a rooster in a state of perpetual anticipation of trouble. I had an easy rapport and sympathy with him, that is until my blood pressure hit the roof after he ripped me off - This “bon-vivant” came across as a warmhearted individual, his outward ease really concealed his true motives.
Paradoxically, I harbor a sort of grudging admiration for this scam-artist; Julian Rouas has proved himself a “Jack-of-all-trades” criminal entrepreneur. For someone who is semi-illiterate without a basic breadth of understanding and knowledge, and, who looks as if he was just coming off a bus from Ohio, Julian Rouas has managed to rip off countless individuals in countless ways with nothing but pure lies and deceit ( and came out of the situation physically unscathed).
Quite out of the blue, Julian Rouas has seemingly hit pay dirt. His newfound perfume bonanza and imminent success with the Jackson Juggernaut might be lauded as a tour-de-force, Julian Rouas didn’t try hard, he got it on the cheap. Although, this “bottom feeder” thinks he has Joe Jackson in his back pocket, reflectively and semi-comically, Joe Jackson certainly thinks he has Julian Rouas in his. A near-perfect match, and to punctuate this irony, as the French would say “Qui se ressemble s’assemble.” Predictably, Julian Rouas is licking the boots of his puppet master, the man he now pins his hopes on, however I can’t wait to see these two going at each others’ jugulars to split the loot. There is no honor among crooks!!
But right now, this is how the cookie crumbles, Julian Franck Rouas has grossly underestimated the advent of technology, his anonymity is now slipping by as he has been slammed by scathing reports over the internet. At best, he is just a self-deluded narcissist. At worst, he is a heartless career crook in constant needs of adulation. Julian Rouas certainly hasn’t repented; there is no cure for malignant narcissism. A reptile doesn’t change into anything else. It is always just a reptile. Julian Rouas is a reptile and I apologize to the reptiles for making the comparison.
A finished perfume is a product of a distillation. The art of distillation is to reduce everything to its essence, but let’s distill Julian Rouas Paris itself even farther. It’s unfair to talk seriously about Julian Rouas Paris without mentioning Pierre De Verchesney, Inc. - In 2005, Pierre De Verchesney, Inc. was an ambitious and up-and-coming perfume company that had established a foothold in sunny California while broadening its horizon. In short, this unsuspecting company made the fatal mistake of employing Julian Rouas, and entrusting him with managerial duties. As an added bonus, Pierre De Verchesney, Inc. provided a plush apartment for Julian Rouas’s convenience in the Miracle Mile district at 390 Hauser Blvd Apt 5a, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
In point of fact, the migraine-inducing Julian Rouas turned this address into a “hornet’s nest” as he was conspicuously using it as a springboard for his rogue company “Julian Rouas Paris”, all at Pierre De Verchesney’ s expense. Inevitably, he has sent Pierre De Verchesney Inc. into a financial tailspin. In a dramatic manner, due to Julian Rouas’ s destructive tendencies and psychological malady, this address was demonized by all parties involved; especially by the Leasing Office. At last, Julian Rouas was evicted from Pierre De Verchesney's apartment. Like the dumbest guy on two legs, he left behind a treasure trove of incriminating evidence; this low-down crook gives idiots a bad name. Pierre De Verchesney, Inc. just had to pick up the pieces, literally and figuratively (a good word of advice to Julian Rouas: buy a paper shredder!!)

Julian Rouas is a novice in the perfume business, and, he is notorious for using other people’s ideas and concepts as a springboard for his own. He went completely gaga over Pierre De Verchesney Inc.’s pet project, Swing. There is an intriguing new twist: massively in debt and unsatisfied with being simply a cog in someone’s wheel, this fashion pirate was simultaneously nurturing an incestuous relationship with the equally corrupt Joseph Rubino, whom was also working at that time for Pierre De Verchesney as a “Nose”, a “Nose” with two faces, I might add! In a parallel universe this seemingly docile and innocuous “Nose” could be Julian Rouas’ s brother. In an unblushing manner, they drew a cunning plan to steal the Swing Perfume Brand from its original creator, (his name won’t be revealed for the time being), a man with a rock solid integrity and a code of ethics and business conduct, who regarded Julian Rouas as a son, and personally helped him for over 15 years while trusting him implicitly. That story turns my stomach!! That man was pushed to the brink of humiliation and bankruptcy.
Thus far, Julian Rouas was clinging to that man as his only means of support, he would have disappeared in the gutter had it not been for that man, whom is just now coming to grips with the long term cascading effect. On the rebound from the Rouas’ ordeal, this man is trying to assert himself in the south of France, and bring this unpleasant state of affairs to its overdue conclusion.
Languishing in a kind of limbo while dealing with the sluggish French justice system this man has proven himself to be a man of infinite patience, and, he soon will throw a “surprise party” where Julian Rouas will be the “guest of (dis)honor”; a lawsuit for, Swindle, Forgery, and Abuse of Trust, is now underway in France. I do know with certainty that overwhelming evidence are stacked against Julian Rouas, and that he will be dealt with severely. This is like a Polaroid that is about to be developed and it could be the death nail for Julian Rouas Paris. In recent years, Julian Rouas has come to fear this man for obvious reason.
Now unhindered by his former employer and free to do as he pleases, the scam-savvy Julian Rouas began his murky business dealings with the support of his accomplice Joseph Rubino. Attracted to people with money like a shark to blood, Julian Rouas Paris was in full swing, raking in the cash hand over fist by systematically ripping off investors with merciless efficiency; Julian Rouas would chew them out and spit them out! Like a Ponzi scheme, one fraud begot another! In June 2009, Julian Rouas got sued by a very prominent businessman who fell victim to his scam. Fait accompli: there is a court order in force; Julian Rouas must pay back the money by 02/28/2012, Click on the following link, enter the name Rouas Julian, then enter the case number: 485438 in the case number search box (click on the image icon on the lower-right-corner to see the whole complaint)http://www.sanmateocourt.org/midx
I became cognizant of some other Rouas’ investment scams that dwarf this case in terms of monetary damages and viciousness. Sadly, these victims have bled enough and opt to remain silent because of embarrassment. And taking everything into consideration, with an inadequate contract full of holes like a Swiss cheese, they realize Julian Rouas’ operation maybe within a legal gray zone of toleration and it would be very costly to fight him in a court of law. More importantly, Julian Rouas being so destitute, anyway they look at it, it would most definitely be next to impossible to collect a court judgment against him.
Displaying no managerial skill whatsoever, Julian Rouas, in his mind’s eyes, sees his plan as a masterstroke, and gave himself the lofty titles of CEO, President, PDG, and so forth. In reality, he is just a sort of a prisoner of his own ambition. Lacking requisite skills and business acumen to succeed honestly, this Tinseltown tinhorn, with his outlook incompetence, has turned his company into a “pissoir”, a failed company riddled with lawsuits. Also worth mentioning, Julian Rouas is often changing his company’s name like a snake sheds its skin: Julian Rouas Paris; Giuseppe Rouas Fragrances International; Julian Rouas Paris International; Giuseppe Fragrances… etc, in an attempt to sideline or get rid of his investors/partners...
Julian Rouas and his cohorts are vexing Michael Jackson’s fans at every turn. “A portion of the proceeds from the new fragrance line will be donated to charities favored by Michael” boasts Julian Rouas. These charities certainly do not remotely appeal to Julian Rouas’ sense of altruism. Julian Rouas Paris Charity?! It sounds like an oxymoron!! Julian Rouas is the poster child for greed. The details of this “charitable contribution” are sketchy, to say the least. As the saying goes “The devil is in the details”, I can’t wait to see the “sticky” details.
This “potpourri” of offenses speaks volumes about Julian Rouas and unequivocally leads to the conclusion that no charities will ever see a dime from him, period! This sneaky weasel is incredibly selfish and can’t see beyond his own need, and he is happy to exploit anything that comes his way. To put it crudely, by now, with a blank check from Joe Jackson, Julian Rouas has the means to fill up tankers with these morbid fragrances: Jackson Legend; Jackson Tribute; Jackson Legacy, with his own profits clearly in mind. You’d be surprised at how competent he can be when he needs to. And, to think that he is honor bound to generously give money to these charities is insane.
Legitimate questions have been answered. Julian Franck Rouas is a fully fledged crook, a plumb nuisance, a menace to society. He passed the test with flying colors. As of this moment, a presentation of the MJ perfumes is scheduled for June 9th in Las Vegas with all the pomp and fanfare of Julian Rouas Paris characteristics. Proudly, Julian Rouas trumpets “A Night to Remember”; a Night to Vomit, in my estimation. A night to celebrate this creepy exploitation - To rub elbows with hustlers and opportunists, with Joe Jackson and his lapdog Julian Rouas leading the debauchery... mocking Michael even in death… no thank you, I’ll pass!

[Edited 6/10/11 7:12am]

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Reply #606 posted 06/10/11 11:30am

Timmy84

Lord have mercy on both Joe and Katherine's souls. Forgive them misguided folks for they don't know what they do. disbelief confused

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Reply #607 posted 06/10/11 11:39am

SamiDion

um, havent been here for a while, what happnd to MOL?lol

anyways i found this pic and it blew my mind

[Edited 6/10/11 11:42am]

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Reply #608 posted 06/10/11 11:44am

dag

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"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all."
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Reply #609 posted 06/10/11 11:45am

dag

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SamiDion said:

um, havent been here for a while, what happnd to MOL?lol

anyways i found this pic and it blew my mind

[Edited 6/10/11 11:42am]

What's that? Is it photoshopped or what?

"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all."
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Reply #610 posted 06/10/11 11:58am

SamiDion

dag said:

SamiDion said:

um, havent been here for a while, what happnd to MOL?lol

anyways i found this pic and it blew my mind

[Edited 6/10/11 11:42am]

What's that? Is it photoshopped or what?

photoshopped

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Reply #611 posted 06/10/11 12:12pm

dag

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SamiDion said:

dag said:

What's that? Is it photoshopped or what?

photoshopped

First I thought, whoever did it did a great job. Then I looked closely and realized that it wasn't Mike's neck in the body in the white shirt. His neck is quite legendary. lol

"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all."
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Reply #612 posted 06/10/11 12:17pm

Timmy84

The photoshopped picture is creepy as fuck. eek Please, someone post the original picture. It's obviously from the '80s...

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Reply #613 posted 06/10/11 12:51pm

LittleBLUECorv
ette

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Timmy84 said:

The photoshopped picture is creepy as fuck. eek Please, someone post the original picture. It's obviously from the '80s...

There's one floating around of a photoshop from Ed Sullivan's body. So it's grown Mike and little Mike tpgether.

PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #614 posted 06/10/11 12:55pm

Timmy84

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Timmy84 said:

The photoshopped picture is creepy as fuck. eek Please, someone post the original picture. It's obviously from the '80s...

There's one floating around of a photoshop from Ed Sullivan's body. So it's grown Mike and little Mike tpgether.

I saw that one too. shake

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Reply #615 posted 06/10/11 1:23pm

babybugz

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Post it. eek

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Reply #616 posted 06/10/11 1:25pm

LittleBLUECorv
ette

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babybugz said:

Post it. eek

I seen it once years ago, haven't seen it since.

PRINCE: Always and Forever
MICHAEL JACKSON: Always and Forever
-----
Live Your Life How U Wanna Live It
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Reply #617 posted 06/10/11 1:40pm

babybugz

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Swa said:

Your help please.

I'm in the process of finishing off a pet MJ project which is a book about his music, and I'm looking for great images of MJ similar to the one above - shots most haven't seen before.

I know we've flooded these threads over the months with pics - but if there is one shot you think meets this brief then please either org note me it or post it here. Ideally I'm looking for interesting shots of MJ in studio, on stage, etc - but not the normal images we've all seen. Would love your input.

When I've finished the book (should be in a month or so) I will distribute it via pdf on here free for those interested.

Thanks.

I think it’s kind of hard for people to post images you never seen before mainly if you are a hardcore Michael fan but if it’s a project that is also marketed to casual fans as well any image should be good.

[img:$uid]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r67/babybugz10457/jacksonsdiningtable.jpg[/img:$uid]

I’ll try to find more later.

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Reply #618 posted 06/10/11 3:25pm

whatsgoingon

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bboy87 said:

whatsgoingon said:

I don't know what kind of clubs you went to, but I didn't see people doing those kind of moves in the clubs I went to, because people knew they would look ridiculous doing those moves and peeps would laugh at them. Moves like that do not belong in clubs, they look stupid. Now take the moves from Blame it On the Boogie or even Don't stop Till You Get Enough would not look out of place in a club, well the urban clubs, anyway.

When MJ use to venture out to Studio 54 in the 70s, I doubt he was doing all that grab crotching and leg kicking on the dance floor. Infact according to people who use to watch him dance at studio 54 no one could take their eyes of him when he use to take to the dance floor.

well, the moonwalk was a b-boy move so it was definitely done in the club (and battles but that's another story.... LOL)

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Reply #619 posted 06/10/11 3:33pm

whatsgoingon

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bboy87 said:

whatsgoingon said:

I don't know what kind of clubs you went to, but I didn't see people doing those kind of moves in the clubs I went to, because people knew they would look ridiculous doing those moves and peeps would laugh at them. Moves like that do not belong in clubs, they look stupid. Now take the moves from Blame it On the Boogie or even Don't stop Till You Get Enough would not look out of place in a club, well the urban clubs, anyway.

When MJ use to venture out to Studio 54 in the 70s, I doubt he was doing all that grab crotching and leg kicking on the dance floor. Infact according to people who use to watch him dance at studio 54 no one could take their eyes of him when he use to take to the dance floor.

well, the moonwalk was a b-boy move so it was definitely done in the club (and battles but that's another story.... LOL)

I wasn't talking about the moonwalk. The moonwalk was being done in clubs, well black clubs at least, well before Motown 25th, I remember my cousins trying to it, in early 82 well before Thriller came out. The difference then they were calling it the backslide. So although the moonwalk is always associated with MJ, that was being done in clubs anyway. It's the leg kicking and grab crotching that did MJ no justice at all.

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Reply #620 posted 06/10/11 4:26pm

WildStyle

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dag said:

SamiDion said:

um, havent been here for a while, what happnd to MOL?lol

anyways i found this pic and it blew my mind

[Edited 6/10/11 11:42am]

What's that? Is it photoshopped or what?

No, Michael found a Delorian and went back to 1983 to take a photo with himself. Sorry, I had to lol . No offense dag, just playing.

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Reply #621 posted 06/10/11 4:34pm

alphastreet

Free2BMe said:

babybugz said:

Remember when Vh1 used to have those Michael marathons in the afternoon around 2001-2005? I used to come straight home from school watching them. lol

I remember when MTV used to have entire WEEKS and WEEKENDS devoted to Michael. They had a week where they changed MTV to MJTV. They had an entire weekend devoted to Michael when he married LM, when LM and Michael divorced, when Prince was born,etc. In fact, MTV would come up with specials just to have a special on Michael. VH-1 used to do the same thing. They had as many specials as MTV or more. To say that those two music channels were obsessed with Michael would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. Btw, for those that think that Michael Mania only occured during the Thriller days, you are wrong. It was happening over ten years later. In fact, it happened until Mottola/Sony sabotaged Invincible and MTV decided to be punk asses and go along with this shit. MTV has been a laughing stock and embarrassment ever since. MTV used to mean something in music. Now, they represent trash and junk.

He was HUGE, very HUGE! Even if you weren't a fan, you knew he was alive and doing his thing! So I can only imagine how much crazier it was during Thriller (the earliest I remember is Bad)

[Edited 6/10/11 16:34pm]

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Reply #622 posted 06/10/11 5:08pm

Swa

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"I'm not human I'm a dove, I'm ur conscience. I am love"
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Reply #623 posted 06/10/11 5:13pm

Swa

avatar

babybugz said:

Swa said:

Your help please.

I'm in the process of finishing off a pet MJ project which is a book about his music, and I'm looking for great images of MJ similar to the one above - shots most haven't seen before.

I know we've flooded these threads over the months with pics - but if there is one shot you think meets this brief then please either org note me it or post it here. Ideally I'm looking for interesting shots of MJ in studio, on stage, etc - but not the normal images we've all seen. Would love your input.

When I've finished the book (should be in a month or so) I will distribute it via pdf on here free for those interested.

Thanks.

I think it’s kind of hard for people to post images you never seen before mainly if you are a hardcore Michael fan but if it’s a project that is also marketed to casual fans as well any image should be good.

[img:$uid]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r67/babybugz10457/jacksonsdiningtable.jpg[/img:$uid]

I’ll try to find more later.

To clarify - I was just interested in pics you guys felt were interesting and not the usual "promo" shots. The rarer shots like from Italian Vogue etc - that kind of show a different look or side to MJ. I appreciate that one babybugz and don't expect we will see shots we haven't seen before.

Also this is a book I am doing for myself around the music, but hopefully others will enjoy it. I will be giving it away free.

"I'm not human I'm a dove, I'm ur conscience. I am love"
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Reply #624 posted 06/10/11 5:28pm

dreamfactory31
3

Its almost been 2 years my friends..

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Reply #625 posted 06/10/11 6:14pm

BT11

avatar

Swa said:

Your help please.

I'm in the process of finishing off a pet MJ project which is a book about his music, and I'm looking for great images of MJ similar to the one above - shots most haven't seen before.

I know we've flooded these threads over the months with pics - but if there is one shot you think meets this brief then please either org note me it or post it here. Ideally I'm looking for interesting shots of MJ in studio, on stage, etc - but not the normal images we've all seen. Would love your input.

When I've finished the book (should be in a month or so) I will distribute it via pdf on here free for those interested.

Thanks.

Very interested in your book, can't wait!

music
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Reply #626 posted 06/10/11 8:05pm

Swa

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Michael Jackson starts work on Off the Wall

December 1978: Number 23 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of pop music Tom Ewing The Guardian, Saturday 11 June 2011

Michael Jackson's life and career were so extraordinary that it's tempting to comb each chapter for clues and pointers to the next. You can find flashes of his solo superstardom in his thrilling contributions to the Jackson 5's pop. You can detect hints of paranoia and self-hatred in his years as a commercial colossus. And it's all too easy to hear his later, darker solo work as presaging the end of something.

All of which risks making Jackson's transformation into the king of pop seem inevitable, whereas it was no such thing. In 1978, he was an ex-solo star, modestly successful in his day but now re-absorbed into the Jacksons machine, where he played his part in creating marvellous platform-heeled stompers such as Can You Feel It?. This wasn't the only string to his bow, mind you: that year he could also be seen in Motown's grand filmic folly, The Wiz, playing the Scarecrow. The critics were kind to his role in this reimagining of The Wizard of Oz, which is to say they didn't think he was as godawful as Diana Ross's Dorothy. And speaking of clues and pointers, Jackson first appeared in the film lashed to a metal cross, struggling for freedom as wiseass crows make him sing inanities for their entertainment.

The man who helped him down in real life was veteran musician and producer Quincy Jones, working as an arranger on the film. Jones got on well enough with Jackson to put his name forward when the younger man asked who ought to produce his next solo record. Demand for the record was far from certain: Jackson's previous solo album Forever, Michael had come out four years earlier and had hit a dizzying No 101 on the US charts. The collaboration with Jones managed rather better, of course. Off the Wall sold 20m copies, impressive enough even before you remember that was only one-fifth of the business its follow-up, Thriller, did. In an industry shifting away from individual sales, we can say with more certainty that Thriller will keep its position as the highest-selling LP ever – but it's Off the Wall that critics routinely hail as Jackson's masterpiece.

Why? What's impressive more than 30 years later is how tight and self-disciplined the album is. It was a disco record released at disco's overripe peak, and it's by a man whose own decadent and kitschy impulses would become ever more apparent. But Off the Wall is joyously compact – shot after shot of lean grooves that never get a chance to wear out their welcome.

This sense of restraint is a vital part of all Jones's collaborations with Jackson. The singer's vocal tics – the gasps and shudders that punctuate almost every song – play a big role in this, creating the impression of a singer desperate to cut loose and express himself in movement. But there's never any excess in the music to undermine Jackson's hunger. On Thriller and Bad, the restraint starts to curdle into tension on songs such as Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal, and Jackson sounds compellingly trapped.

After Jones suggested Jackson find newer, more modern collaborators, this sense of musical restraint began to vanish: epics such as Stranger in Moscow or Earth Song were more grandiose than anything Jackson had tried before, but also somehow more private, too.

Off the Wall, though, finds Jackson at his most relatable. It announces itself – and Jackson's arrival as a solo songwriter – with Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, whose spoken intro finds him struggling like a Marvel comics character with the power inside him, then giving it glorious release. At this stage, he's not the Peter Pan of pop so much as its Peter Parker, a troubled young man learning how to use his staggering abilities, and every emotion on Off the Wall seems like it's being felt and expressed for the first time. By the time Jackson's voice cracks on centrepiece ballad She's Out of My Life, the record is already a triumph.

Oddly, since Jackson's death in 2009, Off the Wall has been one of his less influential albums. Perhaps it's too innocent. The Jackson tracks that resonate with today's stars are later ones, where Jackson treated his fame as vocation and millstone simultaneously – an attitude familiar to the self-consciously tormented likes of Kanye West. The last record with an obvious debt to Off the Wall was Justin Timberlake's fine Justified, almost a decade ago. Like its inspiration, that record is a boy announcing himself – in pop terms – as a man, in an act of homage that gets to the emotional core of Off the Wall's appeal. Whatever happened afterwards, with this record Jackson and his mentor Jones made pop's great coming-of-age album.

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk...f-the-wall

"I'm not human I'm a dove, I'm ur conscience. I am love"
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Reply #627 posted 06/11/11 1:27am

dag

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WildStyle said:

dag said:

What's that? Is it photoshopped or what?

No, Michael found a Delorian and went back to 1983 to take a photo with himself. Sorry, I had to lol . No offense dag, just playing.

lol Well, first I thought that he could be posing with some real good wax figure of himself.

"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all."
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Reply #628 posted 06/11/11 1:29am

dag

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Swa said:

He's sexy as hell in plain, regular clothes. Love it. And the dude's moves look weird next to Mike's.

"When Michael Jackson is just singing and dancing, you just think this is an astonishing talent. And he has had this astounding talent all his life, but we want him to be floored as well. We really don´t like the idea that he could have it all."
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Reply #629 posted 06/11/11 6:26am

scorp84

Free2BMe said:

babybugz said:

Remember when Vh1 used to have those Michael marathons in the afternoon around 2001-2005? I used to come straight home from school watching them. lol

I remember when MTV used to have entire WEEKS and WEEKENDS devoted to Michael. They had a week where they changed MTV to MJTV. They had an entire weekend devoted to Michael when he married LM, when LM and Michael divorced, when Prince was born,etc. In fact, MTV would come up with specials just to have a special on Michael. VH-1 used to do the same thing. They had as many specials as MTV or more. To say that those two music channels were obsessed with Michael would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. Btw, for those that think that Michael Mania only occured during the Thriller days, you are wrong. It was happening over ten years later. In fact, it happened until Mottola/Sony sabotaged Invincible and MTV decided to be punk asses and go along with this shit. MTV has been a laughing stock and embarrassment ever since. MTV used to mean something in music. Now, they represent trash and junk.

Hell. Yeah. I still have tapes that I recorded from MTV with a few of those MJ marathons. There were probably 2-3 (if not more) of them every month during the "Dangerous" era. I remember one "MJTV" weekend marathon (with Bill Bellamy hosting) from the summer of 1995 when they showed the Making of Thriller, one Jackson 5 cartoon, MJ's "HIStory in Music Videos" (compilation), the '92 Bucharest show AND Captain EO (which I missed cuz i couldn't distinguish central/eastern time zones yet lol). They showed him so much love back then...

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