Damn. Just damn. What a sad sorry waste of so much talent. Thanks to YouTube, I’ve just watched “Beat It” and “Thriller” and been wowed all over again. I remember when those videos first came out, what a jolt of excitement they were, how they redefined the music video, how jaw-droppingly electric Jackson was. Twenty-some years later, they’re still superb. What a wretched pity their star morphed over the years into Whacko Jacko weirdness.
Which got me wondering: What other stars do you think of, when you think about the descent of great talent into pathetic caricature? I mean something beyond the run-of-the-mill had it all, threw it away on booze and blow saga; a story arc from brilliance, beyond banal failure, to dreadful disintegration.
I wouldn’t blame Michael Jackson - I just feel sorry for him. He obviously suffers from severe mental illnesses. As bizarre as he is, it’s better that he’s still around to entertain us (intentionally or unintentionally) than prematurely dead of a drug overdose or suicide, as happens to so many child stars.
Would Lauryn Hill count in a way? Some would say so, I suppose. She’s chosen marraige and having children over a singing career for the most part. Some of the pictures I’ve seen of her show a woman who doesn’t seem to care about style, fashion, or fads too. (ETA: Personally, I think it’s her talent to flaunt or not, but as a greedy fan I wish she wouldn’t hide her light so much.)
Whitney Houston. Always liked the power of her voice, even if it was in the service of so-so songs. I turned on “Whitney Live” or some such thing on HBO in the '90s and watched and waited for an hour for her to start actually singing. She talked a lot and sang a little and did a Mr. Bojangles thing with Bobby Brown but never really uncorked that magic of hers. It was all a fizzle to me. I don’t think HBO aired that one very often. I haven’t heard anything memorable since besides whatever crazy talk she spewed on that Bobby Brown show.
Hell Yeah, that natural is hot! But…I think I saw some close up pics where she had set the make-up gun on super whore. I mean to the point where she looked like an insane woman.
And I think she may be just a bit off these days. Her unplugged concert went way over the ‘raw, barebones stuff’ territory and into the “WTF is wrong with her??” territory.
As to the OP, I did the same thing. There was a thread on the Dope that asked if Smooth Criminal was the best video ever, and I agreed that it was. Then I went to YouTube and watched all his old stuff. It was downright emotional for me. I was nearly crying by the time I had watched about 6 videos. “They Don’t Really Care About Us” was the last video he made that had me both thinkng, “Well, he’s still got it” and “But, dang, he looks like he is losing it.” I mean he was almost entirely whatever he is now by that point. Still, the talent was there and was amazing.
The ultimate waste was Elvis Presley. He had it all: unbelievably good looks, that amazing voice, Mississippi soul, southern charm and manners, humility, charisma, and a heartbreaking vulnerability that he earned honestly (by being poorer than any of us can ever imagine). I’m not sure what did him in --the fame, the money, the drugs, the insecurity – but it’s a real shame that all his phenomenal talent has been obscured by the caricature he became.
Interesting that this thread came up when it did. I was just talking to someone the other day about MJ. He had made a smirking comment about the guy (which is probably appropriate) and it sparked a discussion about the music. In my opinion, “Thriller” was one of the best albums of all time. It was really a near masterpiece of songwriting, production and execution, and the videos that followed were mesmerizing.
Bingo. The early Presley was phenomenal, all right. It’s an added twist of bitterness that the bloated King, rhinestones and white jumpsuit and all, is the image that’s most cherished by so many of his fans.
Argent Towers, I don’t blame Michael Jackson either, especially given the childhood he had. I’m just so sad that this is where he’s ended up.
While he was alive, I can see that. But now, all these years after his death, it’s still the bloated Elvis that springs to mind when people speak of The King.
Maybe it depends on your age. The picture in my head is 50’s Elvis, or the Elvis from the 68 comeback special. Sometimes it’s early 70’s Hawaii Elvis. Never the really bloated Elvis. Thank heaven.
