"Play 'Billie Jean' Or Else"
Now people are suggesting that not only was the "King of Pop" a made-up title that Michael Jackson awarded to himself-oh right, he did-but they are also suggesting that he wasn't exactly a color-barrier breaking pioneer on the airwaves: "According to the myth, executives at Epic, Jackson's label, gave MTV an ultimatum: Play 'Billie Jean' or else. But that was a publicity stunt. In Hit Men, his 1990 history of the music biz, Fredric Dannen recounts: Around this time Jacko added a new lawyer, John Branca, to his all-white management team. Not long after, Branca was also representing MTV. As racial showdowns go, this one sounds a lot like a boardroom shuffle."
that's because Walter Yetnikoff had a big mouth and a bigger ego.
totally agree with the possibility that 'billie jean' breaking down the color wall was something of a myth (and newscasters' rebroadcasting of the 'king of pop' term — which jackson did make up, and which was ridiculed at the time that he did — is definitely embarrassing, although such is the life cycle of frivolous terms in the Age Of Endless Reblogging). BUT i can't help but feel like the linked rant sounds a little white-guy-sour-grapey in denying jackson's relevance! perhaps i am considering the source (blurt was born from the ashes of the dad-rock bible 'harp') too much in that assessment, but then again, the griping about the popularity of hip-hop that was shoehorned in midway through doesn't really help lessen the 'damn kids, get off my lawn and let me get back to my wilco albums' feel.
Yes, regardless of how Billie Jean got on TV, Michael was one of only a handful of black entertainers with mainstream popularity at that time. And he was certainly the first black MTV darling. So while he may not have been doing the barrier-breaking personally (i.e. his white lawyers or team or whoever did it for him), there's something to be said for his legacy in that regard.
Sharpton on the teevee, RIGHT NOW, just told me different. Just sayin' you can't believe everything you read on the internet…or see on TV…or read in books.
Everyone IS A LIAR!!!!
Mmm…the truth is not quite so simple. MTV did play videos from black artists before "Billie Jean," but not many, and nearly all of the most popular black artists simply weren't played at all. Even years after "Billie Jean" MTV still shied away from anything but the most crossover of R&B sounds: Whitney Houston yes, George Clinton no. IIRC, Rick James (of all people) had to wait until "Party All the Time" before they showed him in a video.
Here's a good rundown of the controversy.