R.I.P. Michael Jackson 1958-2009

I'm not going to pretend that I didn't spend the past 20 years making the same jokes about Michael Jackson like everyone else did. Thing is, no one wanted him dead. Every child of the 80s grew up with Michael Jackson being the biggest star in the world, and he was imposible to ignore whether you liked his music or not. For me, Michael Jackson was my first exposure to popular music. Growing up, I was schooled in my parents' music collection, but Jackson was the first "modern" pop artist that I got into and subsequently became the barometer for which I judged future pop artists. "Thriller" was one of my first cassette tapes, and I spent hours trying to imitate Michael's dance moves to "Billie Jean" and "Beat It".

Michael's first three solo albums (Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad) are flawless pop albums and for all the craziness that Jackson brought upon himself after his success, he will still have these musical accomplishments under his belt. As he entered the 90s, the quality of his music began to decline and accusations of child molestation hurt his public image more than any rumor about buying the Elephant Man's bones ever could. We may never know if he was guilty of these crimes, but he certainly didn't help. One would think that after facing such accusations, he would stop hanging out with children all the time just to be on the safe side. As Michael descended into insanity and his musical output becoming minimalized, people seemed to forget why we cared about him in the first place. His obvious plastic surgery, general weirdness, and the minimal output of music in the 90s and 00s made it harder to defend the man. We all made jokes about Michael Jackson. It was far too easy. Nobody wanted the man dead, though. Deep down, we knew there was still that 11 year old kid that sang "I Want You Back" with the soul of a man well beyond his years. Underneath his plastic face was the guy that was MTV's first big star, one of the first black artists to introduce elements of rock music to r&b, a guy that could dance in a way that seemed to defy the laws of physics. People wanted him to remain the King of Pop despite his wackiness.

Michael Jackson's music was the first music I got into, and I will always give him credit for that. Whether he was guilty of his crimes, or just a misunderstood man, he created some of the best music of the 20th century, and changed the game for pop music in a drastic way. I just hope history remembers him for that.

Here is a video of Michael Jackson performing at Motown's 25th Anniversary Special shortly after the Thriller album came out. Watch closely at 3:47 for the precise moment in history when Michael Jackson blew all of our minds.



--Peter Gardner

Covered

Sometimes an artist will write a song. This song could be really good or really bad. Flash forward some time later, and another artist decides to take a stab at the song and greatly improves upon it, making it their own. This is a list of cover songs that I feel are just as good as, if not better, than the original. Obviously, taste is purely subjective, so one man's treasure could be another man's ill-advised cover of "Beat It". Let's begin.

Metallica - "Whiskey In the Jar"
Traditional Irish Song. Originally made famous by Thin Lizzy


Notorious for their consumption of alcohol in the 80s, the metal press had dubbed the band "Alcohollica", and the band was rarely seen without a cup of beer nearby. Sad but true, the limitations of the metal genre had prevented Metallica from ever recording a proper drinking song until they largely abandoned the metal formula in the 90s for mediocre, blues based hard rock. Luckily for them, "Whiskey In the Jar" fits into that mold perfectly, and Metallica's cover of this song gives them the drinking song that their reputation demanded.


Marilyn Manson - "Sweet Dreams"
Originally performed by The Eurythmics


Manson was smart enough to know that his Willy Wonka inspired goth-metal wouldn't be immediately accessible to the mainstream whose attention the self-proclaimed "Antichrist Superstar" desperately craved. Issued on a short EP to hold fans over until the arrival of his magnum opus, the Antichrist Superstar album, "Sweet Dreams" was rearranged into a haunting dirge reflective of its lyrics.

The Beatles - "Twist and Shout"
Originally performed by The Topnotes and The Isley Brothers


One of the reasons The Beatles are so highly regarded in the rock community is the fact that they were one of the first bands to largely write and perform their own material. When they were just starting out, the band sharpened their chops on their own favorite songs of the era. The Beatles' take on "Twist and Shout" quickly becomes the definitive version. The song sounds like an end of the party anthem with John Lennon's vocal chords sounding like somebody scraping their fingernails on them by the end of the song.

Ben Folds - "Bitches Ain't Shit"
Originally performed by Dr. Dre


In the late 90s and early 00s, ironic indie covers of rap songs started to pop up on the radio. Amusing at first, the joke grew old as fast as it started. Luckily, Ben Folds stepped up to the plate with a version of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit" that turns it from macho posturing to a mournful track of passive revenge.

The White Stripes - "Jolene"
Originally performed by Dolly Parton


Hinting at the gender role reversal that he would later take on lyrically on the album "Icky Thump", Jack and Meg White turn Dolly Parton's Dollyland country classic into a yearning blues song about loss and infidelity. Oh, and it rocks too.

Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"
Originally performed by Leonard Cohen


"Hallelujah" is a song that was long thought to be perfect as is, and even during Jeff Buckley's short time in the spotlight, his cover wasn't really noticed. A few years later, 9/11 happened and Buckley's version became the soundtrack to every tribute video released. It also helped that Buckley's falsetto gave the song an angelic quality that Cohen's cigarette stained voice couldn't.

Nine Inch Nails - "Dead Souls"
Originally performed by Joy Division


Nothing was particularly wrong with Joy Division's "Dead Souls", but when Trent Reznor covered this song for 1994's "The Crow", he tightened up the rhythm of the percussion and guitars. While Ian Curtis sang like a zombie, Reznor sings the song as if he's trying to be released from the bowels of Hell.

Faith No More - "Easy"
Originally performed by Lionel Richie and The Commodores


Faith No More made it clear from the start that they weren't to be taken seriously, so when music critics started pegging frontman Mike Patton as a mere Anthony Kiedis ripoff, Patton responded by fancying himself a 70s soul crooner.

Johnny Cash - "Hurt"
Originally performed by Nine Inch Nails


Late in his career, Johnny Cash hired famed producer Rick Rubin to work on his next few records in the hopes of reaching a younger audience. It finally worked when a seemingly out of left field choice for a cover actually took off. The lyrics fit beautifully into Cash's life story and gives the song a heartbreaking quality. The video was also a candid, tragic reminder of Cash's health at the time and is a fitting swan song for the man. Humbled by it all, Reznor now prefaces "Hurt" in concert with, "This isn't my song anymore".

Nirvana - "Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
Originally performed by Leadbelly


Fans will always speculate as to what direction Kurt Cobain would've taken Nirvana had he lived. During interviews in the months leading up to his death, Cobain frequently mentioned his new found love of the blues, and Leadbelly was one of his favorite artists. One of their final (and best) performances, Unplugged captures Cobain's vision of the song giving a small glimpse into what Bluesman Cobain might've sounded like. Kurt's vocals make the song, and the hurt and pain during the final verse something you can't fake. Take a gander at the look Cobain gives the crowd before delivering the final line of the song. It's almost a cry for help.