Friday, July 31, 2009

"Battlestar Galactica" and Scumbags

Hello,

Joe Jackson is claiming his son, Michael, is the father of Norwegian rapper Omer Bhatti. He has such conclusive proof as Bhatti "dances like a Jackson". OK now I'm convinced. Bhatti also sat with the Jackson family at Michael's funeral, maybe there is some truth to the rumor. I don't know whether Michael Jackson is the father of Bhatti and I don't think that matters to Joe Jackson. I think Joe Jackson has been missing the spotlight and he seized an opportunity to get back into the public eye. Joe Jackson needs to go away.

I read online in several places about Eminem dissing Mariah Carey. Seriously how does this idiot still get press? I've never been a fan of his, but has he done anything since "8 Mile". A lot of people praised that movie, but that movie sucked. Eminem, please go get Joe Jackson and both of you go away. (Although I did enjoy Eminem's work with Bruno's butt at the MTV Movie awards.)

As I was driving to and from work yesterday I was listening to the amazing "Purple Rain". There is not a weak song on that whole soundtrack. If Prince had added other songs it would have ruined the perfection of that CD. I was thinking why is that CD still so amazing, 25 years after it's release. I think the reason is the CD still sounds so relevant. If that CD just came out now, I still think it would be a huge hit now. It would explode up any music going. Prince vs. Kanye, please that isn't even a contest. It's too bad Prince does not have that greatness still. Of course he's still alive so maybe he will find his groove again.

Tonight I started watching the new version of "Battlestar Galactica". I watched the first three hours of Season 1, those three hours are actually a miniseries. They aren't officially any episodes of Season 1. (I actually remember watching the original series back in 1978.) It's a pretty good show and very entertaining, although it did seem to go on longer than needed. I know it is too late now but they could have added more humor to it. I like that the new Cylons look like humans and infiltrate the Battlestar Galactica itself. The story is pretty good and intense. Twice so far decisions had to be made to let a minority of people die, for the majority of people to live. There are a lot of similarities between this series and the "Terminator" movies

For a TV show, the cast is pretty amazing. Edward James Olmos plays Admiral William Adama. He has a back story dealing with one son who has died and one son who hates him for that. Mary McDonnell, who plays President Laura Roslin. After the destruction of Caprica, she goes from 43rd in the line of succession to the President of the colonies. That's quite a big jump from being the Secretary of Education. Both of these actors are fantastic and I like how the leaders aren't old white guys. They actually have a woman and a Latino as the leaders. (This all happened before the Obama revolution.) In fact the "old white guy" is the Battlestar Galactica's commanding officer, Col. Tigh. He's extremely flawed, an alcoholic who is weak. I'm afraid he's going to let down the colonies eventually. (If that is old news I apologize, I'm a newby to the revamped "Battlestar Galactica".) Also for a sci-fi nerd show, it is surprisingly sexy with Tricia Helfer vamping at full bore. To acknowledge my nerdiness, I have added a piece of masking tape to my glasses.

The Cylons are just going to keep on coming, so the Colonies only hope is find what may or may not be the mythical Earth.

Throughout the first three seasons there is 73 episodes plus the miniseries that is the foundation for the whole show. There are a total of 5 seasons, although the SciFi channel calls Season 5 Season 4 or Season 4.5. Yeah it's just a tad bit confusing. "Galactica" websites don't help much to eliminate the confusion either. This will be a continuing topic for quite some time on my blog. I've only seen the miniseries so far and I haven't started watching the official beginning of Season 1 yet.

themusicaddict

Thursday, July 30, 2009

"Purple Rain"

Hello,

Last night I went back to 1984 and watched "Purple Rain". "Purple Rain" should be subtitled "Apollonia's boobs". If not that at least they should have received an Oscar for best supporting boobs. This movie brought back a lot of good memories. It reminded me of my days working at Safeways in Salt Lake City. I also remembered the girl I took to see the movie, Debbie Smeltzer, who wore a purple dress to the movie. If I remember correctly, before last night, that was the only time I have seen this movie. This movie has a very deserving R rating. It has explicit scenes with an overabundance of the F bomb.

I remember how popular Prince was during this time although this movie hasn't aged well. The acting is stilted, the story is okay but the music is still amazing. Watching this movie is watching Prince become a superstar. Unfortunately the copy of the movie I had had terrible sound. The movie starts off without any preamble, The Revolution are introduced and launch into "Let's Go Crazy". Amazing! I know I have talked a lot about Michael Jackson lately and how amazing "Billie Jean" is. Watching "Purple Rain" reminded me last night how amazing of a song "When Doves Cry" is. Also "Purple Rain" is one of the very few CDs that are better than "Thriller".

In fact watching this movie I've decided to come up with my Top ? Soundtracks of all-time. This list is going to be very fluid as I think of other soundtracks. As of now here are my Top 5. This list has already changed several times before even writing it down. I welcome any and all suggestions for this list.

1) "Purple Rain"- Prince This list will change a lot, but I don't think there is any doubt that this is the greatest soundtrack of all-time. This is also one of the greatest CDs of all-time.
2) "Pretty In Pink"- Various Artists An extremely solid CD with many great songs and artists from what was called new wave at the time. This was my first exposure to the Smiths, it only took me another 20 years or so to realize their true greatness.
3) "Batman"- Prince Not as good as "Purple Rain" but pretty amazing in it's own right. This CD features the truly great song "Arms of Orion". I just listened to this CD and it''s still amazing. (Danny Elfman's instrumental score for "Batman" is pretty amazing as well.)
4) "Footloose"- Various Artists Some people might consider this a guilty pleasure, but I love both the movie and the amazing soundtrack. I say that with no shame or embarassment. The song "Footloose" is just an awesome song.
5) "Grease"- Various Artists This has a lot of great songs on it, but there's also a lot of filler as well. But songs such as "Grease", "Greased Lightning", "Summer Nights" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" are all amazing songs. This might be higher on this list if there wasn't so much filler on it.

Other news: no more word on whether Paula Abdul is returning to "American Idol", I have my fingers crossed that she won't. The deadline is around August 6th, but that could be changed. Apparently Kara D. is coming back although she'll be paid significantly less than the other judges. She's so lucky to have the gig, why pay her at all? She's one of the worst things ever to happen "American Idol".

Michael Jackson died 5 weeks ago today and he still has the top selling CD on the Billboard comprehenive chart. Daughtry's "Leave This Town" debuted at #1 on the Top 200 CDs countdown. It has dropped back to the #2 best selling CD in the nation. Jackson's "Number Ones" again is the top selling CD. This is an amazing run he is on, too bad the circumstances behind it had to be so tragic.

I should be back tomorrow, themusicaddict

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Almost 5 Weeks Since Michael Jackson Died, Top CDs (Updated July 10th, 2013)

Hello,

Tomorrow is the 5 week anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, but he's still dominating the amazon.com music charts. On Wednesday morning at 11:30am MST, here are the Top 10 with other chart listings.

1) "Off The Wall"- Michael Jackson
2) "Thriller"- 25th Anniversary Issue- Michael Jackson
3) "I Look To You"- Whitney Houston This CD is doing so well because of people pre-ordering it. It won't be out until September 1st. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one looking forward to this CD.
4) "Leave This Town"- Daughtry
5) "Bad"- Michael Jackson
6) "Here Comes Science" They Might Be Giants
7) "Number 1's"- Michael Jackson
8) "Essential"- Michael Jackson
9) Music from "Battlestar Galactica: Season 4". Dearest Comcast: I'm a devoted lover of On Demand and I was looking forward to watching Season One of "Battlestar Galactica" last night. I knew it was On Demand and I had been looking forward to watching it all day long. I was disappointed that each episode costs 99c to watch. Please left this minimum fee, it would be so awesome in this prolonged economic downturn. Several other businesses are giving their customers more bang for the buck in this dour economy.
10) "Twang"- George Strait
11) "Dangerous"- Michael Jackson
14) "Ultimate"- Michael Jackson
18) "Invincible"- Micheal Jackson
19) "Ultimate"- The Jackson Five
20) "Thriller"- Michael Jackson
22) "Volume 1: Greatest Hits History"- Michael Jackson
24) "Blood on the Dance Floor"- Michael Jackson

Since I wasn't able to watch "Battlestar Galactica" free I had to settle for watching the 2005 Martin Lawrence movie "Rebound". It's an okay movie and it has a few laughs on it's way to a very predictable conclusion.

Songs rockin' my life: 1) "Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle"- Cake 2) "Overkill"- Men At Work 3) "The Warrior"- Scandal 4) "The Secret of My Success"- Night Ranger (from one of the best but under appreciated movies of the 80's) 5) "Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town"- Pearl Jam (One of Pearl Jam's Top 5 songs.) 6) "Mea Culpa"- Enigma 7) "Turn The Page"- Bob Seger 8) "Camera One"- The Josh Joplin Group

Have a good day, themusicaddict

Saturday, July 25, 2009

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, Pearl Jam Bootlegs (Updated July 10th, 2013)

Hello,

One month ago today, the world lost one of it's greatest musicians. Michael Jackson R.I.P.

Every tour Pearl Jam goes on they record all their shows. They sell CDs or make the music available digitally as well for each show. These are good time capsules of where a band is in their career. Last night I listened to their concert from August, 2000 in Indianapolis. It's a very rocking and energetic set. Their concerts aren't short either, most concerts come on at least two discs. Pearl Jam performed 28 songs in Indianapolis. All CDs and digital music downloads contain everything said from the stage by Eddie Vedder. These bootlegs were limited editions, I don't know how many copies of each bootleg remain. Go to pearljam.com for more information.

Songs rockin' my life: 1) "Mannish Boy"- Muddy Waters One of the greatest blues men.

themusicaddict

Friday, July 24, 2009

Melinda Doolittle

Hello,

There is more music coming out from Melinda Doolittle. This comes directly from the Melinda Doolittle Newsletter e-mail I get occasionally. "The soulful and moving song "It's Your Love" gets reworked by some of the hottest remixers/DJs in the world, including Jason Nevins, Mike Rizzo, and Smashmode, to create a pulsating rendition of the song that will be sure to get everyone out of their seats. The EP features three club versions of each track, as well as two radio remixes and a free bonus copy of the original music video for the song".

I haven't yet bought this CD and probably won't for the foreseeable future because we are so poor. I listened to it and wasn't overwhelmed by it. However if we had the money it would be one of the about 15 CDs I would buy. She is one of my favorite singers of her season of "American Idol". She has that great big strong voice, I love her version of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life". I couldn't even remember who won that season until 12 hours later. I then remembered it was Jordin Sparks, who I also like. Sparks' new song "Battlefield" is a pretty cool song. Second place that year was Blake Lewis, who mercifully faded away.

A couple of days ago I watched "Johnny Dangerously" with a couple of my kids. I had forgotten how funny that movie is. This is an 80's movie that actually holds up. If you get a chance, check it out. It's one of the under appreciated movies of the 80's. There are so many things going on that you are going to miss something. They remind me a lot of the hilarious 80's "Airplane" movies.

I mentioned Spin magazine the other day and their feature about The 100 Greatest Bands You've (probably) Never Heard. That was a pretty cool feature but I have to call their cover band into question. Wilco, really? They are easily one of this decades most over rated bands along with The Fray and Coldplay.

Songs rockin' my life: 1) "These Days"- Rascal Flatts. That's such a great song. 2) "Funky Town"- Lipps Inc. Definitely one of the most unique and yet danceable songs ever. 3) "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"- Michael Jackson 4) "I Want Candy"- Bow Wow Wow 5) "1492"- Counting Crows. Probably the best song from their latest CD.

themusicaddict

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Michael Jackson, more Whitney

Hello,

I was at the local grocery store and picked up the Rolling Stone Commemorative Michael Jackson issue. As I was going through the line the checker said, "I'm so sick of hearing about him", I'm sure that's a sentiment shared by many of you. I'm trying to keep what I write about him to a minimum.

Yesterday I received a pleasant surprise when I got the Michael Jackson book a day earlier than expected. I read about the first 35 pages of "The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009" by Randy Taraborelli. (Obviously this was rushed out quickly, now I hope they go back and fix everything.) So far there isn't much insight. Joe Jackson pushed his kids to become big stars, making them rehearse twice a day. He beat Michael and his brothers and almost ignored his daughters. Also while he was accompanying the Jackson Five on tour, he was stepping out on their Mom. Joe's abusive behavior is nothing new but I didn't know he was cheating on his wife. I'm not taking this book at face value. If I have read the same facts somewhere else I'm believing the facts stated . From my study of his life recently I can see how the abuse etc. led to some of his strange behavior later in his life. Again Micheal Jackson himself didn't take the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions or rumors in his autobiography "Moon Walk".

Michael Jackson is the next cover subject of Rolling Stone. I watched the video of the interview with the author of that article. Her name is Claire Hoffman and the video is available on rollingstone.com right now. (She said she was in Utah on the day when he died. As you probably know Utah is where I live, Claire what were you doing in Utah? It was good to have you here.) I look forward to reading that article. Also the Rolling Stone Commemorative Issue is pretty interesting, reprinting some old articles about Jackson and a review of each one of his CD's.

Also the early reports have the Michael Jackson movie made from his rehearsals out in October. Concerts usually don't translate to the theater very well. It could be fantastic or a complete disaster. Nearly a month after his death, the Michael Jackson furor is dying down. For the first time in four weeks, one of his CD's is not the top selling CD in the land. Daughtry's new CD "Leave This Town" is the new #1 selling CD in America. Jackson's "Number Ones" did still sell 192,000 copies last week though.

Here's some much more pleasant news, Whitney Houston had another appearance where 9 songs were played from her upcoming CD "I Look To You". The 9 songs were played, and just as they did in London, received a standing ovation. Rolling Stone columnist Sean Fennessey writes that reports of Houston losing her classic singing voice are incorrect. I'm so glad to hear that. (How do you get invited to these things anyway?)

The following is a direct quote from Fennessey, "Rumors have also been floated that her historically powerful singing voice has begun to fade. Hearing I Look To You, a modern-sounding and crisply produced comeback, should prove any doubters wrong. Whitney’s voice is as soaring and capable of gliding power as it was 25 years ago when Davis first began work with the singer." (Thanks to Rolling Stone!)

Other news for you big fans of "Mad Men" Comcast On Demand currently has all 13 episodes of Season Two available right now. I watched the first three last night. I hope to watch the final 10 episodes again before Season Three starts. We finally have a starting date for Season Three, it will begin on August 16th.

Finally I received my new copy of Spin magazine today. It has a feature of The 100 Greatest Bands You've (probably) Never Heard Of. I thought they were wrong and so I looked through the whole list. However there is not one band or musician I have ever heard of. These musicians aren't even one hit wonders, they are more like no hit blunders. Now obviously that doesn't make them bad bands, although they are extremely obscure. Some of these bands have extremely cool names, for instance Big Drag, Born Against, Junk Yard Band, Electric Frankenstein, The Heavy Blinkers, Maggotron, The Pooh Sticks, Renegade Soundwave and Sweatmaster. Now if their music is as creative as their band names, then their music is worth checking out.

That's it for now, have a great day. themusicaddict

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Whitney Houston: Queen of the Ballad.

Hello,

First of all my congratulations to Peter Wiscombe, my old boss, for doing so well on Jeopardy. He appeared on two episodes and won the first time. I could tell he was very disappointed when he didn't win the second time, but he ran into a contestant who was a buzzsaw of information. His opponent also took a big chance on the daily double in the first round. He answered the question correctly and went from $4000 to $8000. Peter I know you are disappointed but you did well for yourself. You showed a lot of knowledge on a vast array of subjects. I would say to brush up on your pop culture knowledge if you ever have a chance to go on again. As for me I'm not going to try to get on Jeopardy, I know if I did I would completely freeze up and make a fool of myself on national TV. I'd rather keep the people who know I'm a fool to a local level. Also Peter a few people accessed my blog because it contained info about you. Thanks!

Driving to work I've been listening to a completely random assortment of music. Last week I was listening to songs from the queen of the ballads, Whitney Houston. On her Greatest Hits double CD, these four ballads lead off Disc 1. Those songs are "You Give Good Love", "Saving All My Love For You", "The Greatest Love of All" and "All At Once". She also has several other classic songs including that one song from "The Bodyguard". Her other classic ballads include "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "Where Do Broken Hearts Go", "Run To You", "I Have Nothing" and "One Moment In Time". I'm hoping her new CD has a few more classic ballads and I hear that it does. There's suppose to be a pretty great ballad called, "I Didn't Know My Own Strength". I've read online reports that Whitney has lost her great voice though. I hope those rumors are wrong, because the music world needs you Whitney.

Paula "Loopy" Abdul may not come back to "American Idol". themusicaddict is all for that. Not having to listen to her rambling, nonsensical critiques ever again would be delightful. Please "AI" don't offer her a contract. The judges auditions start on August 6th so any contract would need to be signed by then. This show desperately needs an infusion of new judges. Getting good judges would be a bonus as well. No word on whether the Kara "The Torture" DioGuardia will be back. One season is enough for her. Already known is that Randy "Grasp of the Obvious" Jackson will be back, he's locked into his contract until 2011. WTH? Of course the only good judge, Simon Cowell, will be back. Or at least he's the best judge.

Book info: I should be getting that Michael Jackson book tomorrow and will probably start reading it tomorrow as well. Lately when I've had time I've been reading "The Time Traveler's Wife", this is a pretty good book. I just wish I had more time to devote to it. The movie adaptation is coming out on August 14th. It stars the lovely Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana.

Two upcoming books I'm looking forward to are: 1) Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" which is out September 15th. 2) "Where Men Win Glory: The Pat Tillman Odyssey" by Jon Krakauer. This book will also be released on September 15th. What a great day for people who love to read. If you are excitedly looking forward to these books as much as I am, here's a couple of books to check out. Both authors have previous great books you can read now. Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" is a classic telling of a tragedy on Mt. Everest. Dan Brown's "The Davinci Code" also was a fantastic read. "Code" is a very hard book to put down.

Speaking of great books, the author of "Angela's Ashes", Frank McCourt, died Sunday from cancer at the age of 78. McCourts's memory of growing up in Ireland and all his childhood struggles he went through is a modern classic. On one hand it's very heartbreaking but also a very redemptive novel. This is one of those books that should not be missed.

One final note, the executors of Micheal Jackson's estate are working on making deals to release more Jackson related material. They've shown clips to major movie studios who may want to bring a movie of his concert rehearsals to the big screen. They are also looking to release some of his unreleased music. I'm hoping they don't pick songs that will tarnish his legacy. Usually unreleased music is unreleased for a reason. Be prepared for the Jackson blitz to continue. MTV is reporting that his "Thriller" may eclipse the Eagles "Greatest Hits 71-75" as the top selling CD of all-time. Apparently Janet Jackson has been filling in sort of a mother to Jackson's three kids.

Joe Jackson also recently went on Larry King to deny ever beating Michael. However that appears to be a very well known fact in the industry. Magic Johnson, at Jackson's memorial, took great pains NOT to mention Micheal's father. Johnson not mentioning Micheal's father speaks volumes.

That's it for now, I should be back tomorrow, themusicaddict

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Quick blog

Hello,

Just a quick blog today. I was bored the other day and I went to Comcast On Demand to find something to cure my boredom. What I found instead was the terrible 1992 "Dracula" movie starring Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. Do not watch this movie, it's terrible. I could only watch the first 20 minutes before I turned it off. Keanu Reeves attempts to play an English lawyer, he was completely unconvincing in that role. My wife and daughter had went and got a video. They picked up "Inkheart" from a local Red Box outlet. That was not much better, at least I did watch all of that movie. It is very slow moving, boring and I never cared about the characters. Those are two movies to be avoided at all costs.

I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly, Time, Newsweek and Rolling Stone and all four magazines produced commemorative editions about Michael Jackson. EW is the only magazine that sent that edition to its regular subscribers. I hate that as to me if you subscribe to a magazine you should get every issue that magazine publishes. Thank you EW for being the only one of these four magazines who sent the special MJ issue to all its subscribers.

Songs rockin' my iPod: 1) "Don't Let Go"- Pacha Massive 2) "These Days"- Rascal Flatts 3) "Reelin' In The Years"- Steely Dan A band that doesn't get much publicity now but has several great songs. 4) "Me Plus One"- Annie 5) "Battlefield"- Jordin Sparks It is good to see Sparks still around and I'm hoping for many more hits for her in the future. 6) "Bathwater"- No Doubt 7) "Radio Song"- R.E.M. and KRS-One 8) "Time To Say Goodbye"- Sarah Brightman One of the best female singers of all-time. She has a powerful, beautiful voice. 9) "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"- Poison One of the best songs from the best decade for music. 10) "Mixed Emotions"- Rolling Stones A song that anyone in a relationship can relate to. 11) "Mayday"- People In Planes 12) "Hallelujah"- Paramore 13 and 14) "Billie Jean" and "Black or White"- Michael Jackson. In my opinion those are Michael Jackson's two best songs. 15) "The Boys of Summer"- Don Henley "The Heart of the Matter" is another great Henley song. 16) "Since I've Been Loving You"- Led Zeppelin 17) "Burning Down the House"- Talking Heads. One of the most innovative songs of all-time. 18) "Brass In Pocket"- The Pretenders 19) "Sugarfoot"- Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears 20) "Rebel Yell"- Dope.

Good luck tomorrow Peter on Jeopardy.

I'll be back Tuesday, themusicaddict

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Random Notes Again

Hello,

Right now I'm in the middle of working 5 days straight at Verizon Wireless. Due to that my time is very limited so my blog activity is going to be low.

I realize you're probably getting sick of news about Michael Jackson. However I keep on finding interesting news about him as his legacy continues to grow. The following is for the the week ending July 12th, 2009. First of all Jackson continues selling a lot of Cds, last week he sold 1.1 million CDs. (Jackson has sold 2.3 million CDs since his too early demise on June 25th.) Jackson's CD "Number 1's" is the top selling CD in the nation for the third straight week. (All this chart information is from billboard.com.) Even though this CD has sold the most CDs in the nation for the last three weeks, it has not been #1 on the Billboard Top 200 CD chart. In a very nonsensical ruling, if a CD has been out for over 18 months it's considered a catalog CD. That means it's able to be on the catalog chart but not on the Top 200 chart. Even though it has sold the most CDs last week, its not eligible for the Top 200 chart. I think that's stupid. The only condition to be on the Top 200 chart should be which CD sells most. The Top 12 Catalog CDs are all Michael Jackson related CDs. (Thanks to Billboard.)

I received some surprising news from amazon.com last night. The book I ordered from them about Michael Jackson has shipped. I'm only telling you this because the book isn't due to be released until August 5th. I'll be getting it two weeks before it's official release date. I'll be getting it in a few days. Again the title of the book is "The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009". I'm looking forward to reading this book, it has 768 pages. I'm hoping its a lot more in depth and hard hitting than Jackson's autobiography "Moon Walk".

Michael Jackson 1958-2009 R.I.P.

Awhile earlier I had mentioned that the BYU head basketball coach Dave Rose was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (For the record, I'm a big BYU fan.) Three weeks ago he announced he was free of the pancreatic cancer and now his cancer is in remission. He's healthy enough to make his first recruiting trip of the summer and should be healthy enough to coach the team this season. All the cancer has been removed and for now his prognosis is good.

Cancer is a insidious disease, it has killed a friend of mine at the too young age of 27. My mother-in-law is currently fighting a courageous battle with colon cancer right now. Perhaps if you have some extra money you can donate some money to cancer research. If cancer has not touched a friend or a family member of yours it will soon.

The following is probably just my fevered imagination, but has anyone else noticed the London/ 80's musician disastrous connection? First of all Michael Jackson was going to perform 50 concerts in London this July. Unfortunately on June 25th he passed away. Next Madonna opened her current Sticky and Sweet tour in London, including a tribute to Michael Jackson. The stage that was being constructed in Marseilles, France had issues. "Workers were building the stage for Madonna’s July 19th Sticky & Sweet show when a crane gave way, causing a crush of rubble that claimed the lives of Charles Criscenzo of France and Charles Prow, from England. The concert, which would have been attended by 40,000, has been canceled...."

Because of that I'm fearful for Whitney Houston's safety. She was in London a couple of days ago debuting 9 songs from her new CD "I Look To You". These tracks aren't complete as of yet, but after the 9 songs were played the CD received a standing ovation from obviously a very pro Whitney crowd. Some of the songs have leaked online, where they are getting a mixed review. May I say the 45 year old Whitney Houston is looking absolutely gorgeous still. (Thanks to the dailymail.com.) The new CD is due September 1st. To hear new music and see the new video, go to whitneyhouston.com. You do have to register. Welcome back Whitney! Please stay safe Whitney.



I apologize I made an incorrect statement about when Pearl Jam's new CD will be released. I originally stated it was November 20th, actually its going to be released on September 20th. The name of the CD is "Backspacer" and it features 11 songs. The first single is "The Fixer". For more information go to pearljam.com. That's where you can preorder the CD or you can pick it up exclusively at Target on it's release date.

I should be back with a short blog tomorrow and a much longer blog on Tuesday. Have a great weekend, themusicaddict

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Old boss, new tricks

Hello,

Random news today: Ryan Seacrest signed a new 3 year, $45 million dollar contract to host "American Idol" for 3 more years. You can tell its a slow news time when that is newsworthy. Honestly I think "American Idol" is about tapped out. The contestants seem to be less interesting each year. When three of the final four are Danny Gokey, Kris Allen and the extremely overhyped Adam Lambert- what does that say about the future of the show? The only consistently good judge is Simon Cowell, the other three judges are overpaid producer's shills. I predict that this show has two more years left before it will be cancelled. Next year will continue the decline and the following season will be the death knell for this franchise.

I would like to make a shout out to my old boss Peter Wiscombe. This last Friday he was on "Jeopardy" and won that night. He moves to the next round which will be next Monday. He's getting a week break because it's kids week this week. Wiscombe was very calm, cool and collected. He's probably the smartest guy I've ever met. (I say that even though his ego doesn't need the help.) He has a wide range of knowledge, so he's perfect for "Jeopardy". Keep on doing well Peter and I'll keep on watching. Thank goodness for the DVR so that I can watch him.

Pearl Jam's new CD was originally to be out this past Tuesday. However it was pushed back to November 20th. That's typical for many CD releases. It will be released exclusively in Target stores on that day. I'm anticipating another good collection of hard edged rock songs. Daughtry's new CD "Leave This Town" and The Dead Weather's new CD, "Horehound", did come out as scheduled yesterday. I haven't come across any review of these CD's as of yet. I don't make enough money to buy them either.

This morning at my doctor's office I finished reading Michael Jackson's "Moon Walk" and it was an okay book. It's not the most deep thinking book in the history of the world. Jackson tends to touch slightly on things that he didn't like. Jackson writes about his struggles with various record companies and his Dad driving him and his brothers to succeed. However it seems like he lightly touches on these parts of his life. The book only has 283 pages and about 50 of those pages have pictures. About the most juicy detail in this book is that he had to be talked into appearing on the Motown 25th year anniversary special. That show and his legendendary performance of "Billie Jean" catapulted him into a big star. If he hadn't performed who knows how different his career would have been.

It's still an interesting snapshot into the mind of a huge legend. Although I wish he would have written more about his creative process. For instance, when writing about the song "Thriller" he doesn't even mention Vincent Price's name. One thing did bother me a bit, everytime he mentioned his love of kids I got the heebie jeebies. I don't doubt that he loved children in a pure sense, but his impure relationships with some kids make me sick to my stomach.

I look forward to reading the updated version of Randy Taborelli's "The Magic and the Madness." That has a lot more pages and I think it will be a lot more in depth. It will be interesting to see more about Jackson's relationship with his driven father and many other facets of his life. I hope Taborelli focuses more on Micheal's creative process as well. For instance how did "Billie Jean" come to be made. I would like the story of that song and the story for "Dirty Diana" would be pretty interesting. He wrote that a lot of his songs did not come from personal experience though.

Last night I watched the last episode of Season One of "Mad Men". A very satisfying conclusion to an excellent season. Yesterday Season Two of that excellent show was released. I think the first season was a lot better than the second season. I'm getting excited about the third season starting next month. I'm hoping Don Draper won't be such an adulterer this season. There's still no word on when the first episode of season three will be.

Be strong Kevin Cogill.

Have a great day, themusicaddict

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Random Michael Jackson

Happy Sunday,

Now at work I'm working my schedule where I work 5 straight days. I've completed 3 days of that schedule. There is just a tad bit of pressure and I'm still struggling to learn everything. You cannot believe how much there is to know in the cell phone industry. Due to my schedule I've paid scant attention to what's going on in the world.

The Michael Jackson furor is burning out. Although I did see his daughter Paris is going to record a song for him. I wonder if she has her Dad's musical genius. In reading his "Moonwalk", he says that both of his parents had musical ability. He says his Mom had a beautiful singing voice but was hindered by a limp from Polio. Also his Dad played in a band. They were at most a local hit and never took off. I think that's why he pushed his kids so much to become superstars. Another sad case of a parent living his life through his kids.

You couldn't tell the furor is dying down though by the top music on amazon.com. Jackson has the top 11 CD's at this hour. The top five are 1) "Off The Wall" How often is a 30 year old CD the #1 CD. Obviously it's because Jackson died but it's also a testament to his artistic legacy. 2) "Bad" That CD is only 12 years old. 3) "Thriller" 25th Anniversary CD. That was released last year. 4) "Dangerous" This is one of his lesser known CD's but it's a fantastic CD. 5) "Essential Michael Jackson" Obviously a greatest hits CD. Their eighth best selling CD is "The Ultimate Collection"- The Jackson 5. Did you know the Jackson Five's first three singles went to #1? That's a pretty amazing feat". The highest non Michael Jackson CD is Daughtry's "Leave This Town" which is out this Tuesday. Even "Blood On the Dance Floor" is the #13 CD. That is a mix of 5 new songs plus remixes of some of Jackson's past songs. (I've been resisting the temptation to buy this CD, but I may give in soon.) He also has the #15 CD the original "Thriller".

On the mtvmusic.com rankings for this past week: Jackson has the #6 to #12, the #14 to the #30 and also the 32nd, 33rd and 35th top videos. In the all-time videos he has the 4th, 6th and 20th most viewed videos of all-time. 4) "Thriller" (Long version) 6) "Thriller" 20) "Billie Jean"

I had a bid on ebay.com for "The Magic and the Madness", the Randy Taraborelli biography of Michael Jackson. I believe that was the 1991 edition. Thankfully I was outbid on that. I went to amazon.com and bought the 2009 edition of that book. It's been retitled "Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009". I'm actually paying a bit less overall to get the 2009 edition of that book. I should be getting that book in about a month. I look forward to reading it and a review will eventually be coming. (I know I still owe you a review of Green Day's "21st Century Breakdown")

Two other books on Micheal Jackson that I've read part of are "Moon Walk" written by Michael Jackson. I'll be honest in that I didn't hold out much hope for this book. It's fairly well written and provides a glimpse into the way Michael Jackson thinks. Another book I read part of is "On Micheal Jackson", a series of essays written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Margo Jefferson. It's an academic look of some of Micheal Jackson's experiences. It's a pretty dry reading of Jackson and his life.

Have a great week, themusicaddict

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Hello,

Two weeks ago today the King of Pop passed away. Two days ago was his memorial at the Staples Center. Apparantally that cost 1.4 million dollars and the city of L.A. is wanting some of that money back. 31 million people watched the Jackson Memorial on TV with more people on-line. Some people estimate that the online audience was equal to the TV audience.

My love of "Mad Men" continues to grow. Last night I watched Season 1, Episode's 10 to 12. There's one more episode left for that season, but it was too late to watch it last night. I'll watch it shortly and then I'd like to watch some of the episodes from Season Two again. I'm hoping that will help me fill in all the blanks for this great show. By the way the DVD of Season 2 of "Mad Men" will be out July 14th.

I'm not a big internet radio listener but there are some good internet radio stations. One of them is Pandora. Pandora was able to make a long-term deal and will be around for many years to come. Not only that but Pandora continues to be a free service as long as you listen to 40 hours or less a month. If you hit 40 hours you will be given an option to go unlimited for that month for 99C. That is a very good deal. There are no commericals or lame djs. You can also rate songs that you like and hate and Pandora will match up future song selections to your taste. Internet radio is so much better than terrestial radio.

Finally songs rockin' my iPod. I'm still listening to a lot of Michael Jackson songs so a lot of these songs are Jackson songs. The man was an incredible song writer and performer. Also he and his people were very good at picking other people's songs for him to sing. 1) "Hunter"- Dido 2) "Wanna Be Startin' Something"- MJ 3) "They Don't Care About Us"- MJ 4)"In The Closet"- MJ 5) "Black or White"- MJ
6) "Who Is It?"-"Thriller"- MJ 8) "Beat It"- MJ 9) "Sad Songs"- The Pendletons 10) "Crazy On You"- Carly Smithson from "American Idol" Season 7 11) "Common People"- William Shatner (yes that William Shatner) and Ben Folds 12) "Like A Virgin"- Madonna 13) "Copacabana"- Barry Manilow 14) "Never Again"- Nickleback 15) "White Wedding"- Billy Idol 16 & 17) "Modern Swinger" and "Busy Signals"- The Pink Spiders 18) "Camisado"- Panic At The Disco 19) "Vacation"- The Go Gos

Unless something dramatic happens I probably won't be back until Sunday. Have a great weekend, themusicaddict

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Michael Jackson Memorial

Hello,

The Michael Jackson Memorial was held yesterday in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. The ceremony was 177 minutes long. Some of the highlights included Mariah Carey and Trey Lorenz singing "I'll Be There". This was one of her first big songs, its from her "Unplugged" CD. They were the original pair who sang this song on "Unplugged". An amazing performance by her and Lorenz.

An unconfirmed rumor that Stevie Wonder wrote the song he sang just for the Jackson Memorial. The song is "I'd Never Dreamed You'd Leave Me In Summer". Jennifer Hudson sang "Will You Be There/ Hold Me". She's looking beautiful with her pregnancy bump. Usher sang a Michael Jackson song "Gone Too Soon". Michael Jackson obviously sang this song with someone else in mind. The song went full circle when Usher sang it about him. Michael Jackson didn't write this song, instead it was written by Larry Grossman. (Although that sounds like a fake name.)

There were speeches made by Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and Brooke Shields. The highlight of those speeches was Magic Johnson's both funny and poignant remembrances of Michael Jackson. He related a funny story about Micheal Jackson and his love of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Magic Johnson talked about the people who are left behind who can take care of Michael's three kids. He mentioned everyone but Michael's father. I think that was an intentional omission. Magic was friends with one of Michael's older brothers for 30 years now. Brooke Shields' speech was a low light, her speech seemed to more about Brooke Shields than anything else.

Overall it seemed to be a very moving ceremony. Michael Jackson left an impact on many people with his great music. The man is a musical genius and his influence will be felt for at least many decades to come.

Other Michael Jackson news: many people are trying to cash in on his death. Of the biographies written about MJ, the most popular one is Randy Taroborelli's "The Magic and the Madness". This book is selling anywhere between $5 and $146.20 on ebay.com. These prices are for old editions of this book. It was originally released in the mid-80's. Taroborelli has updated it a few more times over the years. However let me warn you again these are all dated editions of this book. Also these same greedy people have the audacity to charge for shipping in addition to the exorbitant prices.

I have a better solution. Taroborelli has updated this book yet again and it's available for pre-order on amazon.com for only $10.25 plus shipping. There's no doubt about this being the newest edition as the book has been renamed "The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story 1958-2009." You can pre-order this book at amazon.com and it will be released on August 5th. It's only now days that a book can be added to, updated and released to the public in such a short amount of time.

Also a whole bunch of magazines new issues are devoting many pages to Michael Jackson. Some people on ebay.com have apparently bought up large amounts of these copies and now are selling them for a premium price. A few ebay.com buyers are claiming these commemorative copies are "sold out". Do not fall for this trick. I was at a local grocery store and Barnes and Noble yesterday and they both have plenty of copies available of these magazines. I expect Barnes and Noble will also extend the sales dates of these magazines.

I've read about the first 50 pages of Micheal Jackson's autobiography "Moon Walk". Jackson lightly touches on his abusive father. His father Joe was a control freak and pushed his kids at a young age to be stars. Michael Jackson wasn't able to be a kid, he started performing at age 5. The Jacksons obviously had a father who was living his life through them. I also have "The Magic and the Madness" on hold at my local library. It's the 1991 edition. Of all the Jackson biographies, that is the one I'm most interested in reading.

Two non-Michael Jackson notes. Paramore's new CD is now available for pre-order at the iTunes music store. (BTW Happy Birthday to the Apple Apps store, it's now one year old.) There are two editions available. The first version is $9.99 and the second version is $14.99. Both versions of this will CD will be available on September 29th. You can hear the first single from the new album now at spin.com. The song is titled "Ignorance" and it rocks. From the opening few notes, there's no doubt this is a Paramore song.

Also I was watching "Mad Men" Season 1 last night. The team from Sterling Cooper just was able to get a new account. To celebrate they went to a bar. The songs were that late 50's sound. Then someone played Chubby Checker's "The Twist" and that brought the crowd to the dance floor. I know this is fictional but I can see this actually happening when rock and roll was introduced. Rock and Roll brought an attitude, a swagger, a whole new kind of music and a lot of energy. Not only that but "The Twist" is still an amazing song.

I also loved the final scene of Season 1, Episode 9 with Betty Draper shooting at the mean neighbor's precious pigeons. Nobody is going to call Betty Draper weak again. That's a very funny scene.

themusicaddict

Monday, July 6, 2009

Michael Jackson tributes

Hello,

The tributes to Michael Jackson are starting. Madonna, on the first stop of her Sticky and Sweet tour, did a tribute to Michael Jackson. She had a MJ impersonator dancing all of Jackson's signature moves, including the moonwalk. The song playing in the background was "Wanna Be Starting Something". Then Madonna said, "Michael Jackson, long live the king."

There's also a video circulating of Steve Martin parodying Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video from 1984. It's pretty spot on and funny. The man was a one of a kind genius and his influence will be felt for a long time. Jackson's legacy is only going to continue to grow over time, it's already huge. 1.6 million people applied through a ticket lottery for the about 8700 seats for his public tribute. People is now the latest magazine with a Michael Jackson cover. I subscribe to both EW and Rolling Stone but have yet to receive their Michael Jackson issues. I'm also hoping to pick "Moonwalk" up today. It's a book about Michael Jackson from 1988.

I've been listening to a lot of Michael Jackson lately. One of the things is disc 2 of his "History" CD. This CD has a lot of solid songs on it. Some of the many great songs on "History" Disc 2 are his remake of the Beatles "Come Together", his version is much more funky of course. Other great songs: "D.S.", "History", "Money", "2 Bad", "Scream" (with his sister Janet), "Stranger In Moscow", "Tabloid Junkie", "They Don't Care About Us" (a pretty cool video as well), and "You Are Not Alone".

Also ew.com is currently running a feature about 18 past MTV VJs. Included is Pauly Shore, Daisy Fuentes, the loopy Nina Blackwood and Mark Goodman. That's cool and all but where is Martha Quinn, J.J. Jackson and Kurt Loder? Jackson apparently has now passed away. R.I.P. J.J. Also in one survey Quinn was voted the best MTV VJ of all-time.

Also to answer your question, is themusicaddict only listening to Michael Jackson songs now? The answer is no and to show that here is the latest addition of Songs that are Rockin' my iPod. Of course there are Michael Jackson songs on here as well. 1) "Take Me As I Am"- Sugarland. Yet another great song from Sugarland. 2) "Rockin' the Suburbs"- Ben Folds (Ben is "rockin' the suburbs just like Micahel Jackson did, except for that he was talented" In the strangest combinations of bands Folds also names Jon Bon Jovi and Quiet Riot. 3) "Daisy"- Halfway To Hazard 4) "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong"- The Spin Doctors 5) "Duke of Earl"- Gene Chandler 6) "21 Guns"- Green Day This is a great, great song. 7) "Mack The Knife"- Bobby Darin 8) "Before He Cheats"- Carrie Underwood 9) "Dirty Diana"- Michael Jackson 10) "Walking In L.A."- Missing Persons 11) "All My Friends Say"- Luke Bryan 12) "Patience"- Guns N' Roses 13) "Me Plus One"- Annie 14) "The Last Day of Our Acquaintance" (Live)- Sinead O'Connor. 15) "All At Once"- Whitney Houston (themusicaddict will also be very sad when Whitney dies. Be prepared for several blogs about her when she dies.) 16) "Who's That Girl"- Madonna 17) "These Days"- Rascal Flatts 18) "Music"- Madonna 19) "Pride (In The Name of Love)"- U2 20) "Sugarfoot"- Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. (One of the best songs that have come along in the last several years.) 20) "Hot Stuff"- Donna Summer 21) "Peter Gunn Theme"- Sarah Vaughn 22) "Off The Wall"- Michael Jackson 23) "Clumsy"- Fergie

Have a great week, themusicaddict

Saturday, July 4, 2009

"Slumdog Thousandaire"

Happy July 4th,

After hearing many good things about it, my wife and I finally watched "Slumdog Millionaire" last night. I'm sure you can tell by the title of this blog that we didn't like it. It's suppose to be an inspirational movie? It might inspire people to drink because it's such a depressing story. It's an okay movie, but I highly doubt its the best movie of its year. I haven't seen any of the other nominated best pictures nominees for that year. FYI: The four other nominees are "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", "Frost/Nixon", "Milk" and "The Reader". I haven't seen any of those four movies. (I would like to reccomend a movie that came out of nowhere and actually lived up to it's hype. That's the excellent "Life Is Beautiful". You definitely need to see that movie. It's a 5 star movie.)

If you gave me the choice of having the DVD or the soundtrack to "Slumdog Millionaire" I would definitely take the soundtrack. While I never want to see "Slumdog" again I enjoyed the music from the movie. A lot of that Indian music is very good.

Yesterday I watched the last 1.5 hours of VH1's Top 90's videos. I wasn't surprised by what was #1. It's Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit". That's a great song. However I get sick when one of the guests said something to the effect that Nirvana is our generation's Beatles. Really? Hell no! Nirvana is one of the most overrated bands of all-time. Kurt Cobain was not a genius. If it wasn't for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Cobain's suicide the band would be where it should be. That's relegated to the dustbin of history. For my generation I would say Pearl Jam is our Beatles. I would say Nirvana is our generations Herman's Hermits.

I have some birthday money still. My favorite thing to buy is music. I've been looking for quality music to buy, but I'm extremely picky. I'm also very cheap, that's why I look at amazon.com to see what their extremely discounted MP3 CD of the day is. Unfortunately most days its something that's not really exciting. For instance, today is a Steve Miller CD. He's good but I already have all of his music that I want.

Some of the CD's I have bought with my birthday money: 1) Chickenfoot's debut CD, 2) "When The World Comes Down"- The All-American Rejects 3) "The E.N.D."- Black Eyed Peas 4) "Love on the Inside"- Sugarland (I love Sugarland!) 5) "The Crane Wife"- The Decemberists and 6) "Dangerous"- Michael Jackson. I only paid $5 for the Cd's by the Black Eyed Peas, the Decemberists and Chickenfoot.

Now I'm looking for the next CD to add to my collection. I think I have found it. That CD being Metallica's "Load". I had this CD before but it fell out of favor and I traded it in for credit. I was listening to 30 second snippets last night on amazon.com. I had forgotten how good this CD is and I was kicking myself for trading it back in for credit. I would have already rebought "Load" but so far I'm to cheap to pay the $9.99 to buy it. Maybe some day!

Enjoy your Independence Day, unfortunately I have to work today. Although I'm expecting it's going to be very slow at the VZW call center. themusicaddict

Friday, July 3, 2009

Random news

Good day!,

The Michael Jackson magazine cover explosion has begun. As I had predicted, of course it wasn't a very difficult prediction, Michael Jackson is the cover subject of the next Rolling Stone. I believe they actually moved up their next issue a week early to get this special issue out as soon as possible. Of course this is just the beginning. The end of Jackson's life is just the start of what's going to be a sordid story unfortunately. Entertainment Weekly has four different covers in honor of Michael Jackson. Expect to see him on the cover of many magazines throughout this summer. Please whatever you do, don't be a hater. I have "Moon Walk" on hold at the local library, it's a Michael Jackson biography. I look forward to trying to understand the things that made the man tick. Jackson was a very fragile, childlike person.

As you can tell I'm a big fan of Michael Jackson. He's not the only performer I'm going to be sad when they die. When any of the three remaining living members of Led Zeppelin die, be prepared to face a deluge of sentiment from this blog. There will also be several blogs when certain other artists die. When Madonna dies, which hopefully won't be for a very long time, this blog will turn into a vigil. Like Michael Jackson she's one of my favorite musicians. I will also be sad when Billy Joel, and many others die.

Speaking of 80's classics the other day I bought the "We Are The World" MP3 single. Today I bought Baltimora's "Tarzan Boy" at amazon.com for only 89C. That's one of the hidden gems from the 80's. I would recommend you pick up both of those excellent songs.

I was able to watch episodes 4-6 of "Mad Men" season 1 a couple of days ago. That's such a great show and I wished I had the additional episodes so I could continue watching them. My lovely wife and I also watched the Woody Allen film "Vicki Christina Barcelona". That's an okay movie, however Javier Bardem is an amazing actor. He played a psychopathic killer in "No Country For Old Men" and was chillingly effective. He plays a Romeo like character in this movie and was also outstanding. He plays both roles with such amazing ability. I never really thought about Javier Bardem a lot before, but the man is an amazing actor.

Have a great 4th of July for me, unfortunately I'll be working that day. I did get a bonus day off though- today! themusicaddict

Thursday, July 2, 2009

"We Are The World"

Hello,

While watching Michael Jackson videos yesterday, one of my favorites is the "We Are The World" video. This is certainly a video that captured it's era. It shows the hot musicians of that time and also some legends who got courtesy invites. (All research came from me and the "We Are The World" wikipedia page.) On January 28th, 1985, following the American Music Awards, all these artists appeared to sing this song.

The single "We Are The World" was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. The song is credited to USA for Africa and was meant to help with severe drought in Africa. Ken Kragen, the producer, turned down about 50 artists that wanted to participate.

This video features such hot at the time singers Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Kenny Rogers, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Cyndi Lauper and Huey Lewis. Prince was tentatively set to appear, but was a no-show. However his super talented percussionist Shiela E came. Some of the singers who got courtesy invites were Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Al Jarreau and Diana Ross.

My favorite part though is the people in the video who are singing and you think to yourself what the hell are they doing there? For instance, 4 Jackson siblings were participating as well. (Were his parents too busy?) How much power did Michael have at that time? He was able to get LaToya, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito spots in the song. (That's Tito Jackson's second most famous moment. His first in Eddie Murphy's "Delirious". "Get Me A Kleenex Tito".) 10 months later Janet Jackson exploded with "Control". About a year later she became the hottest Jackson for awhile. Why wasn't she invited? Seriously Tito and Marlon Jackson were invited.

Also Dan Ackroyd was in attendance, why? His participating is even more dubious than Marlon and Tito. Is Dan Ackroyd secretly a Jackson brother? Bette Midler seems a little out of place as well. Definitely go to mtvmusic.com and check out this video. It currently is their #19 video. Amazingly this CD is not for sale in the MP3 format anywhere. Back in the dayI had that CD actually on a record. It's a pretty good CD and featured then new songs by Prince and Huey Lewis. The single is available at amazon.com for 99c. I was surprised that I didn't have this song in my iTunes library, I do now though.

One thing I wanted to write about yesterday but forgot. On mtvmusic.com Michael Jackson is dominating their current Top 40 videos. The Top 11:

1) "Good Girls Go Bad"- Cobra Starship They are the next hottest artist on mtvmusic.com. They have 3 of the Top 41 videos. They also have #35 "Guilty Pleasure" and #41 "Send My Love To The Dancefloor". Also that "Good Girls Go Bad" is a pretty cool song. Is that going to be on a new CD, if so when is it going to be released.

2) "Thug Story"- Taylor Swift
3) "Thriller
4) "Thriller" (long version)
5) "Billie Jean"
6) "Man In The Mirror"
7) "Bad"
8) "Beat It"
9) "Smooth Criminal"
10) "Black or White" (Long Version)
11) "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" Obviously the 3-11 videos are all Michael Jackson songs.

On the mtvmusic.com Top 40 videos Michael Jackson also has the #'s 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 34, 36, 39 and 40 videos.

I think that's a testament to several things. First, Michael Jackson is the man. Second, 80's music is the best and many of those artists usually had long careers. 3) Artists typically made a lot more music in the 80's so their influence is more felt. Also that's why Michael Jackson has so many videos in the Top 40 because he was a lot more prolific.

One week ago Michael Jackson died all too suddenly. The man is a genius and it's time to bury him. Reportedly he has a lot of music in his vaults, please Jackson family/ Sony don't release it all just to make a buck. (I'm afraid that is what is going to happen.) Please only release the music that won't tarnish his tremendous legacy.

Peace, themusicaddict

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Yes, more Michael Jackson

Hello,

Today I'm focusing on the classic videos of Michael Jackson. I'm going to be start off a little bit strangely. As my one long-time reader knows I'm a big fan of the website mtvmusic.com. Thanks to that website, the last couple of days I've watched a lot of Jackson's classic videos. ALthough the first video I'm highlighting isn't even by Jackson.

It's the Alien Ant Farm cover of "Smooth Criminal". I'm not sure if this is a parody or a tribute to Michael Jackson. When the band stands on the blocks, they light up like in "Billie Jean". This video also does the cut away of the eyes as in that same "Billie Jean" video. There's also exploding glass and a monkey that sits on the lead singer's lap. I'm guessing that's some reference to the Neverland Ranch.
That's a pretty enjoyable video. (Also that is half of the Alien Ant Farm's good songs.)

Now on to the videos of Michael Jackson. Of course his best song and best video are for the same song, "Billie Jean". I was going to add it to my blog but "embedding is disabled by request". Then there's the 13:42 "Thriller", this is the video that usually ranks #1 whenever MTV counts down videos. (Do they even do that anymore?) There's also the 11:01 video for "Black or White" starring George Wendt and McCauley Culkin. Another long video is the 16 minute video for "Bad" featuring Wesley Snipes as a gang banger. Definitely some classic videos.

There's also the extremely sad video "Man In The Mirror". This video mixes clips of the world's unfortunate intercut with some of the greats. For instance, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy. Don't forget "Scream" his video and song collaboration with sister Janet. Michael was good at a lot of things but looking tough was not one of them. Janet looks tougher in this video than Michael does.

A few years Michael Jackson released "History". On one side is a greatest hits collection and on the other side was new songs. I think the greatest hits disc is a pretty good selection. However there are some huge omissions. Where is "Dirty Diana" and "Smooth Criminal" and even "They Don't Care About Us". Why is "The Girl Is Mine" and "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" on "History". Both are fine but I wouldn't rate them as Top 15 Michael Jackson songs.

If I had made up the Michael Jackson greatest hits CD, this is what my track listing would have been: 1) "Billie Jean" duh. 2) "Black or White"- I just barely realized how great of a song this is. 3) "Dirty Diana" Another soulful and intense song. 4) "Smooth Criminal" A great, great video and song. Although the "Annie are you okay?" refrain is too repetitive. 5, 6 & 7) "Beat It", "Bad" and "Thriller". What would be a Michael Jackson greatest hits collection without these three songs?
8) "Man In The Mirror" Just a solid and great song. 9 & 10) "They Don't Care About Us" and "Leave Me Alone" Two songs rightfully telling people to leave him alone. 11 & 12) "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop Until You Get Enough". Two great songs he sang as Disco went away. 13 & 14) "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)". Two great update, very dance worthy songs. 15 & 16) "She's Out Of My Life and "Heal The World". His two best ballads would close out this greatest hits collection very well.

Also Janet Jackson made a very emotional appearance at last weeks B.E.T.'s award show.

This is the best I could find. Have a good day, themusicaddict

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