Michael Jackson's comeback news conference was held today in London, and I have to admit I was surprised that he showed up at all. And I was even more surprised that he looked relatively normal (by his standards anyway), spoke sensibly (albeit briefly), and seemed healthy.
It made me think that maybe I haven't given MJ the respect that he deserves musically. I've been guilty of making fun of him, including referring to today's events as "Wacko Jacko's Comebacko." I have my own opinions on his non-music controversies, but that's for another time and forum. For now, I choose to rank my top 13 Michael Jackson songs, including songs that he collaborated on and wrote, but excluding the singles of The Jackson's and The Jackson 5. That's the beauty of having your own blog; you can set ridiculous criteria.
13) Lisa it's your birthday - An original composition from The Simpsons. Classic episode and good song
12) Dirty Diana - Raw emotion, and you can't possibly question the level of dirtiness of Diana, whomever she may be.
11) Thriller - Oooh, controversial. Yes, I did it. I shoved the number one single of all time down to number eleven in my list. Truth be told, the video was revolutionary, but the best part of the song was Vincent Price's interlude.
10) Somebody's Watching Me (credited only to Rockwell) - I once heard that Rockwell was Berry Gordy's son, and that was the only reason he had a hit single and was able to get Michael Jackson to contribute to the track. I don't know if that's true, and I don't care enough to google/wiki it, but it's a really catchy song ("I wonder who's watching me now, [who?!] the IRS?")
9) Jam - A video featuring Michael Jordan and a song featuring Heavy D (Were "The Boyz" with him? I'm not sure). Funky.
8) Human Nature - Fantastic. Honourable mention goes to SWV for their subsequent song/remake.
7) Beat It - I always wanted to walk in on a gang fight and start dancing and watch everyone in the gang join in. That will always be the dream, but for now I'll have to watch other people do it at the end of this video
6) Smooth Criminal - Everytime I try to lean that much, I fall down
5) We are the World (credited to USA for Africa) - I love this song and I'm not ashamed to say it. I love the fact that Dan Aykroyd was there and no one knows why. I love the fact that I can name all but two voices when I hear it (Damn you Al Jarreau and Kim Carnes). I love Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen's dueling lines at the end. But it's all thanks to Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie writing it.
4) Give in to me - With Slash on guitar, this is possibly the most underrated song in the Jackologue. Also, it's chronologically his last great song. After this, there was only crap like "You rock my world" and "You are not alone" which Michael Buble would later plaigiarise.
3) Wanna be Startin somethin - ("Mama-se, mama-sa, mama-coo-sa")
2) Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough - What the hell is he talking about in the beginning? Something about the force, and the force having a lot of power...anyway, then he says "woo!" and redeems himself
1) Billie Jean - Be honest. Whenever you
step on a tile, part of you wants it to turn
pink light up...
Were the tiles pink or yellow?
Also partial to:
Black or White
They Don't Really Care About Us
Man in the Mirror
Earth Song
and
Will You Be There? (yea, yea, laugh if you will at that but it was a brilliant one)
Posted by: ryan-1 | March 06, 2009 at 08:01 AM
Whoops, you're absolutely right: http://membres.lycos.fr/mjm2002/moonwalk/billieJean_clip.jpg
I forgot about Man in the Mirror. Heal the World isn't bad either. They'd get in my top 15.
Posted by: gwto | March 06, 2009 at 08:24 AM
Good call. Forgot Heal the World.
Posted by: ryan-1 | March 06, 2009 at 01:52 PM
LOL @ 5, 6 and 7
I LOVE MICHAEL JACKSON!
Posted by: wuzdescene | March 09, 2009 at 08:09 PM
MICHAEL JACKSON ROCKS! WOOOOO!
Certainly love Heal the World... its my alltime fav song! With We are the World coming in second.. and everything else is absolute gold! sigh... :)))
As for your #1... excellent choice.. it was the song that introduced the world to the Moonwalk! Shameless to say.. but I occasionally moonwalk across the office floor in my court attire.. :)
Posted by: Marissa | March 10, 2009 at 01:58 AM
You got your tickets as yet?
Posted by: ryan-1 | March 15, 2009 at 05:43 PM
Guess what I'm really asking is "Will you be there?"
Sorry...
:)
Posted by: ryan-1 | March 15, 2009 at 05:45 PM
Nah, no interest in seeing him live in his current "state"
Posted by: gwto | March 20, 2009 at 02:39 PM
... and now he's gone!
Posted by: wuzdescene | June 26, 2009 at 03:17 AM
Gone too soon!!!
Posted by: Marissa | July 07, 2009 at 08:48 PM