M.J "Moonwalks" His Way Back on the Charts?
02/24/2008
02/24/2008
Many people I know gave the King of Pop remixing ANY of his classics with the likes of modern day pop-hit makers like Akon and Fergie etc, a big thumbs down. While it is weird to hear Fergie crooning along to fight-or-flight 80s' classic "Beat It" his remixes don't lose the Michael Jackson essence which made them hits over 20 years ago. He only remixes a few of the songs: "Beat It" (with Fergie), Billie Jean(Kanye West), "The Girl is Mine"(will.i.am), "P.Y.T(Pretty Young Thing)"will.i.am)and "Wanna Be Startin Something"(with Akon).
Any Michael Jackson song made between the early 80s' to early 90s' can most likely easily be labeled a pop classic. While some of those songs are bona fide stamps of his talent, he's also had amazingly creative music video concepts which always told us a short story. Here are my favorite Michael Jackson videos.
Thriller(1983) - "Thriller" still has never be topped as far as popularity, humor, and overall entertainment. I mean who can beat a vintage Michael Jackson in his prime sporting a red jacket, piping an addictive chorus with a jolt of fear as ghouls strut along with him? This is the number one video.
Remember The Time(1992) - Featured an all-star cast of Iman, Eddie Murphy and Magic Johnson. The ancient Egyptian inspired royalty concept combined with special effects is what makes this one of his best music videos of all time. Michael serandes Iman as he mysteriosly disappears from the guards who want to get him away from the beautiful Queen. He turns into dust and shows off some of his best dance moves since "Thriller".
Scream(1995) - No one expected the pleasant surprise in 1995 of Michael teaming up with his baby sister Janet for the energy infused musical explosion that was "Scream". Expressing their outrage of being constantly in the news and hunted by the press and paparazzi they came together for this instant smash single. Both happened to be in the midst of their pop icon peak when "Scream" broke through to the top 5 on r&b, pop and dance charts.
Earth Song(1995) - The video depicting the human destruction of the environment, poverty and war is one of Michael's most underrated music videos. Obviously more serious than his usual dance hits it featured good visuals and made more of an action statement than some of his other videos.
Billie Jean - Simple video but still caught your attention. Jackson proclaims innocence in a song where he repeats "but the kid not being my son" The mysterious former love interest "Billie Jean" makes no appearance in the video as Michael avoids a reporter hot on his trail. He shows off signature moves as he steps from place to place with each spot lighting up.
This video also exposed the world to the "moonwalk" , a dance that wasn't entirely his but one that he altered to make his own. Despite proven fame in the music business the CBS president at the time, still had to threaten MTV with prohibiting some of their popular rock(white acts) from being played on MTV unless they showed "Billie Jean". He became the first black artist played on MTV.
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