1 post tagged “thriller”
Like everyone else, I was deeply saddened by Michael Jackson's death last week. He has influenced everyone from late 80's boy bands like New Kids On the Block and New Edition to modern-day "Michael's" like Justin Timberlake and Rhianna. While Don McLean wrote "American Pie" as a way to commemorate "The Day the Music Died" when Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens died in a plane crash, I truly believe that Jackson's death marked the day that all of pop music died -- especially that of the music video.
MTV and VH1 are now networks filled with reality television and other throwaway entertainment. If an artist does release a music video, it usually has a story and a budget -- something we can credit Michael Jackson with having a hand in after the release of "Thriller." But something else Jackson managed to do with music videos that no other artist really can do is take something basic and make it entertaining.
Case in point, the video for "Rock with You." This video has no story line or angle; it's just Jackson clad in sequins and belting his heart out. Yet, this video is a million times more entertaining then anything I've seen in the last ten years. Plus, even though he is wearing sequins, he is pretty damn cute! Something else most male performers can't pull off.
They say that the true test of a great singer is when he or she is singing by his or herself with no accompaniment. While Jackson revolutionized the music video by making it epic, at his core, he really didn't need all the special effects and makeup: he was rather brilliant when the video only consisted of himself.
