The Good, The Bad & MICHAEL JACKSON
Imagine that it is 1963, and you're in a small kindergarten classroom in the town of Gary, Indiana. The children are a tad restless, as five-year-olds often tend to be, and they impatiently squirm in their tiny wooden seats as the long afternoon wears on.
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The Good, The Bad & MICHAEL JACKSON
Imagine that it is 1963, and you're in a small kindergarten classroom in the town of Gary, Indiana. The children are a tad restless, as five-year-olds often tend to be, and they impatiently squirm in their tiny wooden seats as the long afternoon wears on.
One of the students is standing at the front of the room, perhaps slightly nervous about being the center of attention before his peers. But as he launches into a stirring rendition of “Climb Every Mountain,” a popular ballad from the now-classic film The Sound Of Music, virtually all motion in the classroom ceases and all the minor distractions are forgotten. The kids listen attentively, impressed, maybe even a little jealous, as a young Michael Jackson gives his first “public” performance ever.
It’s doubtful that anybody in the room on that fateful day realized that they were watching history in the making, but the whole world found out soon enough. By 1970, thq Jackson Five, featuring Michael and his brothers Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Tito, were logging hit after hit on the charts. At the time, their string of number one singles seemed unbelievable, but even young Michael (who was by this time 12) probably didn’t foresee the incredible future that awaited him.
The young artist began releasing solo records whenever the Jackson Five’s busy schedule allowed; among his early hits were "Got To Be There," a cover of the irresistable '60s smash "Rockin’ Robin," and "Ben," the title song from the film of the same name. But 1979, the year Michael’s Off The Wall album was released, marked the beginning of the Michael Jackson phenomenon as we know it today.
Since then, there have been several unique landmarks in the singer’s solo career. Off The Wall spawned four Top 10 singles, which at the time was a first. But nobody was prepared for what was to follow. One simple word came to signify the biggest selling record in music history, a record even the amazing Michael Jackson would be hard-pressed to surpass: Thriller. Boasting an unprecedented record of seven Top 10 singles, Thriller has sold nearly 40 million records worldwide, earning Jackson over 150 gold and platinum awards around the world.
It was nearly five years before Bad, the follow-up to Thriller, was finally released. During that half-decade, Michael Jackson became the first singer to star in a Disneyland attraction, the stunning 15-minute 3D spectacular Captain Eo. Meanwhile, his younger sister, Janet, became a major star in her own right with her multi-platinum album Control. Millions of Jackson fans the world over wondered if Michael could recapture his title as the king of dance music.
They needn’t have worried. Bad delivers, and while it may not reach the stratospheric sales figures that Thriller achieved, it is destined to sell millions and keep Michael’s fans satisfied until he tours here in the coming months. And with the new album lodged firmly at the top of the charts, there is no question who is the baddest in the land—and in Michael Jackson’s case, that means very, very good!
Steve Peters
