The inevitable conclusion: "Based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, the entire top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart will house [Michael] Jackson-related titles when the tally is released in the early morning on Wednesday (July 1)." Yes, even Dangerous.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
20
Jamie Foxx biopic, Broadway musical, Theme Ride at Disneyworld, "Survivor: Neverland," "I'm a Jackson, Get Me Out of Here!" etc. etc. etc.
You forgot "Extreme Makeover: Jackson Edition."
*Lionel Richie schedules fake death*
Well, at least "Blood on the Dance Floor" didn't make the cut. I would worry Americans were beginning to have bad taste.
Just wait until Zombie!Michael starts releasing new albums. He'll make Zombie!Tupac say "hrrr?"
Please bury MJ at Neverland. It'll be like the Liberace Museum x Infinity.
Or Graceland x Infinity. Have you been to Graceland? It's surreal...
I went to Graceland shortly after Elvis' death. The most amazing part was the line of gift shops across the street. Elvis Everything.
I was poor, but I did purchase the infamous postcard of Sunglassed Elvis sitting in his chair, holding a sceptre, with Priscilla kneeling at his feet. I took it to the aqua-haired woman at the cash register, who gazed up at me (I was standing on a chair) through glassy, glowing eyes, and asked,
"Do you love Elvis as much as I do?"
I just don't get the impulse to buy records the moment the artist dies. Are these people searching for clues? Morbidly fascinated? Suddenly nostalgic?
I think in this case, it's part nostalgia, part sudden reminder of how awesome his songs were. I had most of his albums on vinyl or cassette, so it's not like they made the jump to my ipod. I just downloaded a few favorites and left it at that. But when they started playing Human Nature on the radio every hour, I went and downloaded it because I forgot how much I love that song. So, that times a couple million?
(sheepishly downloads Thriller)
I've had Human Nature in my head since Friday. And I'm not even annoyed with it yet.
But, yes, to that point, I think there are those who are nostalgic, or trying to commemorate, but there are other factors, too. I had been meaning to buy "Thriller" in non-cassette form for like... 5 years. I kept either forgetting or remembering at inopportune times, but now that I can't turn around without seeing images of Michael Jackson or hearing a song off Thriller, it seems it's about time I get around to buying (or illegally downloading) it.
I also think a lot of the sales could be teens or younger folks who missed the boat on hearing a lot of these songs the first time around, and are loading up either because they're finding they like the music, or because they want to buy a piece of the non-circus freak MJ that everyone is remembering on the TV that they never knew.
Hold meeee, like the river Jordannnnn
<3 Dangerous. Someone should make a mashup of Black and White except every other morphing face will be the dude from the UPS commercials.
Ha! yeah, that would be like two negatives making a tremendous positive.
Completely Off Topic, but can we get a petition going to make David Bowie do a residency in Vegas? He isn't getting any younger and the heart trouble scared the bejesus out of me.
I work at a record store in Connecticut. A horrible WASP couple came in yesterday and asked your same question, but a little less genuine curiosity and a lot more disdain. I said, "Michael Jackson is such a pervasive cultural phenomenon that you don't need to have bought his albums to participate in it, or even to be a great and genuine fan. He was all around you, on the radio and TV. But now that he's gone, I think people feel the need to keep a part of that phenomenon to hold onto for themselves, and they see buying his records as a way to do that." I could see them tuning me out before I even finished the first sentence, but I just kept on talking at them. It was weirdly satisfying.
i want to see weird al's sales figures!
As a rule I don't listen to any music by people who are now dead. Fuck you, The Past!
I just hope that everyone takes a moment to remember his duet with Eddie Murphy, the classic "Whazupwitu?"
http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/2009/06/michael-jackson-and-eddie-murphy-whats-up-with-you
Don't you fucking hate on Dangerous. It's criminally underrated, and certainly better than Bad.