alphastreet said:

but I think at one point he may have turned towards religion close to the end of his life though those could have been rumour

The rumor was that Mike joined the Nation Of Islam. Because he had NOI bodyguards at one time and was hanging around Louis Farrakhan. Jermaine is a member of traditional Islam (not NOI). Jermaine even has a Muslim name (Muhammad Abdul Aziz), but has not legally changed it like Muhammad Ali did. I think all of the siblings eventually left the Jehovah's Witnesses except Rebbie. I'm not sure about LaToya. Only their mother was a JW, Papa Joe was never a member. Marlon was once a part owner of a Christian TV network called Black Family Channel. Serena & Venus Williams and George Benson are JWs too.

MickyDolenz said:

Phase3 said:

Very good points. I never knew MJ was a Jehovah Witness. He never expressed out in the open like Prince did.

LOL the fuck he didn't. All one ever heard back then was how they were raised Jehovah's Witness. MJ talked about it (ergo the disclaimer on the "Thriller" video), Janet talked about it, everyone of them talked about it. Janet never had a birthday part until she was 30. MJ gave his kids Christmas because he never had it growing up, and so on and so on.

So if you didn't know...well.

alphastreet said:

Mj also blamed those practices for not having a normal childhood, I felt so bad for him

While I know MJ had an unusual upbringing and all that. At some point, one has to stop leaning on that as a crutch. One has to rise above their raising, as the saying goes. Rise above your raising. A lot of people have shitty childhoods, but to use that as an excuse to do stupid shit as an adult is a sign of weakness and mental laziness. Our parents, typically, want better for us as adults; for us to have what they didn't. We have to want better for ourselves. We have to say, "They had ABC, and I want XYZ x 100."

MJ did give his kids what he didn't have (Christmas, birthday parties, trips, etc.) Yet at 30 or 40, you should find a balance between trying to reclaim a childhood and just being a damn adult. MJ seemed to use it as a point of interest in his life story. There was never an answer or solution by him. He missed an opportunity to show people how to grow past not having a normal life or childhood and find a balance between the two. Instead, he wrote a narrative of a man-boy persona, quasi-innocence.

TrivialPursuit said:

daingermouz2020 said:

I liked most of the album except the tracks "Speed Demon," "Another Part of Me," "Just Good Friends," "Man in the Mirror" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."

My favorite tracks "Smooth Criminal," "Bad," "Dirty Diana" and "The Way You Make Me Feel."

"Smooth Criminal" I loved before I saw the video. Once I saw that I was done. It's my favorite MJ video of all time to this very day.

The album had 10 songs on it. You disliked 5. That's "I liked about half of the album, at most."

The problem still, for me, is the sped up nature of some of the tracks. I do think "Moonwalker" would've been better than "Another Part of Me." And let's face it, despite the string of #1s from the album, it wouldn't have been the same without "Man in the Mirror." At. All.

do you mean "streetwalker" ? or is there an actual track called "moonwalker"?

i'm serious in asking since i know the global stuff MJ released and like it, but i'm not that much in the know about one off tracks, b-sides and outtakes or movie tracks etc, like with prince.

LILpoundCAKE said:

Do you mean "streetwalker" ? or is there an actual track called "moonwalker"?

i'm serious in asking since i know the global stuff MJ released and like it, but i'm not that much in the know about one off tracks, b-sides and outtakes or movie tracks etc, like with prince.

Goddamn it yes! haha I was thinking of the VHS. But yes, "Streetwalker."

I don't know how people think "Another Part of Me" is a stronger song than "Streetwalker." To me, it's not. They're both good songs, but "Streetwalker" far outshines APOM.

alphastreet said:

Mj also blamed those practices for not having a normal childhood, I felt so bad for him

A "normal childhood" where the Jackson family was living likely would have been joining a neighborhood gang. That was one of the reasons Papa Joe wanted to get away from there. To this day Gary, Indiana has a high crime rate. They were a family of 11 (or 12 if Marlon's twin survived) living a a tiny house. What do you think the brothers would have done if they had never became performers? Work in the steel mill like their father? Jackie had been recruted to play pro baseball. But what about the others? Being a professional athlete is kind of a short career, unless you're playing golf.

TrivialPursuit said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

Do you mean "streetwalker" ? or is there an actual track called "moonwalker"?

i'm serious in asking since i know the global stuff MJ released and like it, but i'm not that much in the know about one off tracks, b-sides and outtakes or movie tracks etc, like with prince.

Goddamn it yes! haha I was thinking of the VHS. But yes, "Streetwalker."

I don't know how people think "Another Part of Me" is a stronger song than "Streetwalker." To me, it's not. They're both good songs, but "Streetwalker" far outshines APOM.

Perhaps they left "streetwalker" off the album simply because it sounds a little too much like "the way you make me feel". I mean, they are not the same song, but the general sound/vibe is very similar.

LILpoundCAKE said:

Perhaps they left "Streetwalker" off the album simply because it sounds a little too much like "the way you make me feel". I mean, they are not the same song, but the general sound/vibe is very similar.

Well, it's ack-shully because they listened to both songs back to back to make a decision about which one would go on the album. Quincy, on the 2001 remaster of Bad, said when they played "Another Part Of Me," that Frank Dileo was "shaking his little fat ass" and dancing around the studio. So that's when they decided to put it on the album.

TrivialPursuit said:

LILpoundCAKE said:

Perhaps they left "Streetwalker" off the album simply because it sounds a little too much like "the way you make me feel". I mean, they are not the same song, but the general sound/vibe is very similar.

Well, it's ack-shully because they listened to both songs back to back to make a decision about which one would go on the album. Quincy, on the 2001 remaster of Bad, said when they played "Another Part Of Me," that Frank Dileo was "shaking his little fat ass" and dancing around the studio. So that's when they decided to put it on the album.

Wow, so that's totally random, how APOM ended up on the album instead of Streetwalker

I'm very glad we got Streetwalker on the expended Bad album because I love that track

LILpoundCAKE said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Well, it's ack-shully because they listened to both songs back to back to make a decision about which one would go on the album. Quincy, on the 2001 remaster of Bad, said when they played "Another Part Of Me," that Frank Dileo was "shaking his little fat ass" and dancing around the studio. So that's when they decided to put it on the album.

Wow, so that's totally random, how APOM ended up on the album instead of Streetwalker

I'm very glad we got Streetwalker on the expended Bad album because I love that track

Agreed. But yeah, the Q interviews are on that disk (and I think Thriller?).

LILpoundCAKE said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Well, it's ack-shully because they listened to both songs back to back to make a decision about which one would go on the album. Quincy, on the 2001 remaster of Bad, said when they played "Another Part Of Me," that Frank Dileo was "shaking his little fat ass" and dancing around the studio. So that's when they decided to put it on the album.

Wow, so that's totally random, how APOM ended up on the album instead of Streetwalker

I'm very glad we got Streetwalker on the expended Bad album because I love that track

So I have to thank Frank for that. APOM was my first favourite MJ song. The one that started it all, seeing Captain Eo back in '88. That song is way better than Streetwalker.

We have gone off topic but I much prefer "Another part of me" to"Streetwalker" (were they not allowed to plug "Captain EO" in the liner notes LOL) and I love love love "Just good friends". Seriously, its one of my favs

Oh and "Another part of me" makes me dance too LOL

[Edited 1/25/22 18:44pm]