Who is the Prince?
Tuesday, 30. June 2009, 13:53:44
Thousands of you haven’t written in to ask my views, as the self-designated “Supreme Arbiter on All Matters Relating to Contemporary Music”, on Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed “King of Pop”.
The thing* I find odd about Michael Jackson is that he was a better singer as an eight-year-old than he was as an adult. All that yelping, squealing and hiccupping was presumably designed to disguise the fact that, in terms of soul, his voice was right up there with Celine Dion and Val Doonican.
I exaggerate for comedic effect, of course, but if I were drawing up a list of great soul singers he would not make the top ten. Actually, you could make the list as long as you like and I probably would not have thought to put Jackson (the adult) on the list as I thought of him more as a “performer” rather than a singer.
It does not matter. He deserves his place as one of the greats of pop music, albeit with a massive amount of assistance from Quincy Jones. Though his insistence on being billed and introduced as the “King of Pop” rankled – Aretha never had to insist on being called “The Queen of Soul”, somebody else called Louis Jordan the “King of the Jukeboxes” after a 12-year period in which he was in the charts one week in every three, and you can bet a well mannered southern boy like Elvis was, initially at least, somewhat embarrassed to be referred to as “the King” – but as someone at work said, if Jackson was not the “King of Pop”, who was?
Can an artist called Prince be a King?
* OK, one of about two thousand things I find odd about Michael Jackson
The thing* I find odd about Michael Jackson is that he was a better singer as an eight-year-old than he was as an adult. All that yelping, squealing and hiccupping was presumably designed to disguise the fact that, in terms of soul, his voice was right up there with Celine Dion and Val Doonican.
I exaggerate for comedic effect, of course, but if I were drawing up a list of great soul singers he would not make the top ten. Actually, you could make the list as long as you like and I probably would not have thought to put Jackson (the adult) on the list as I thought of him more as a “performer” rather than a singer.
It does not matter. He deserves his place as one of the greats of pop music, albeit with a massive amount of assistance from Quincy Jones. Though his insistence on being billed and introduced as the “King of Pop” rankled – Aretha never had to insist on being called “The Queen of Soul”, somebody else called Louis Jordan the “King of the Jukeboxes” after a 12-year period in which he was in the charts one week in every three, and you can bet a well mannered southern boy like Elvis was, initially at least, somewhat embarrassed to be referred to as “the King” – but as someone at work said, if Jackson was not the “King of Pop”, who was?
Can an artist called Prince be a King?
* OK, one of about two thousand things I find odd about Michael Jackson
WIDGETIZE
geoffchall # 30. June 2009, 15:06
He only wrote about a third of Up Against the Wall, and about half of Thriller. Thriller the song was written by Heatwave's Rod Temperton (whose Boogie Nights is a better song). Even the songs credited to him are sometimes not his but an exploitation of someone else writing a melody and some word and then taking a nice cheque as a buy-out.
John # 30. June 2009, 15:23
I am midly surprised to hear allegations of Jacko buying the credit for other people's songs. I know it was rife in the fifties but thought it had died out.
Having said that, if Madonna offered me fifty thou for my best song on condition I let her claim the credit for it, I'd bite her hand off.
I'd bite her hand off for a lot less than that, actually.
geoffchall # 30. June 2009, 19:49
You only have to look at the hits of one R. Williams to realise that song buyouts are still rife. Songs credited to Williams are (allegedly) written in full by Guy Chambers and some of the co-writes comprise a few smart-ass rhymes. Angels isn't even written by either Chambers or Williams but is still credited as such.
Nigel Cliff # 1. July 2009, 18:16
John # 3. July 2009, 17:02
God forbid that Bono should snuff it early; I think I'd have to go into hibernation until the fuss died down but I'd be a bit worried that the world would have stopped functioning without his guidance while I was hibernating.
Nigel Cliff # 4. July 2009, 10:16