& occasionally about other things, too...

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Michael Jackson made us see music

I belong to the generation between the Beatles and Michael Jackson.

Most connoisseurs of popular music are derisive of that era because it was dominated by disco music. This is unjustified because the era also produced what I consider unquestionably the most memorable music of all time.

I remain enthralled by the music of the 1970s, introduced to me by my cousin Amar Joshi. He changed my world.

From the 1980s, Michael Jackson and Madonna are the only two that I can relate to (and I guess is true for most of the people of my generation) because most of the 1980s music is cringe-inducing (Bangles – Walk like an Egyptian, anyone?).

The New York Times has a poll on Michael Jackson and has invited readers to vote for their favourite Jackson number. Expectedly, Billie Jean has the most number of votes of the eight hits listed.

Jackson’s song that I love the most is one that few would count as his best.

Give in to me

It has the most embarrassingly inane lyrics, even by Michael Jackson’s standards. It’s from his Dangerous album – and the number is probably popular because of Slash’s (Guns N’ Roses) deft guitar work.

I love it. Period.

Thought I must share this with my world, when I saw the NYT poll (though this number doesn't make it to his best eight listed by NYT).

Michael Jackson’s contribution to music: Before him, we heard music. He made us see music.

Image: Michael Jackson & Madonna. Photoshop work on photo from http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2009/06/26/alg_michael-madonna.jpg

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