# Wacko Jacko's New Album BOMBS! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856 "2005-07-30T05:12:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/21 "2005-07-31T03:09:21Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Re: The King of Pop label. > > Bear in mind, Michael Jackson gave HIMSELF that title. The entertainment media, to their discredit, went along with him and used that name for years afterward- just as they foolishly let Prince tell them to call him “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince/That Stupid Symbol.” Reporters could (and should) have ridiculed those titles and refused to let Jackson and PRince dictate to them… but they knuckled under without a second’s hesitation. Wrong. Elizabeth Taylor affectionately dubbed him the King of Pop at an awards ceremony and the media ran with it. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/22 "2005-07-31T04:27:51Z")
Prince actually had a point… his record company owned his name. Turning into a symbol let him record without them owning him, till the contract ran out. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/23 "2005-07-31T04:38:58Z")
> [@chatelaine](#): > > Wrong. Elizabeth Taylor affectionately dubbed him the King of Pop at an awards ceremony and the media ran with it. I’m sure that wasn’t staged or pre-planned :rolleyes: I think Prince was a different situation as well. ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/24 "2005-07-31T04:57:47Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I’m sure that wasn’t staged or pre-planned :rolleyes: > > I think Prince was a different situation as well. Seeing as how she’s his best friend and is prone to be an enormous drama queen, putting aside the fact that he literally worships her, no. I don’t think it was. So :rolleyes: yourself. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/25 "2005-07-31T06:23:18Z")
First I have heard of the album, so obviously not a lot of press here. Still, I wouldn’t write him off yet. Wait a few years, and if he really does move to Europe, my guess is he will come out with something new that will be a huge hit there, and eventually become a hit here. Yes, the man is certifiable. But that hasn’t stopped a lot of insane people from creating some great things. Besides, he is such a freak show and as much as people say they hate him, if in a few years his next big hit premeres at midnight, after the Diane Sawyer interview, watch how many people tune in out of morbid curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/26 "2005-07-31T06:56:49Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I did not know that. However, that doesn’t make either albulm much better imho. Thriller benefitted from the incredible videos rather than the music itself (as did groups like Dire Straits). I just don’t rate him as an “artist”. Did you just dis Dire Straits? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/27 "2005-07-31T08:54:39Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > I guess I don’t see it. He’s a good popstrel but someone like Jim Steinman has as much if not more talent than Jackson does. He just benefitted from great marketing, good timing and a gulible public…like most pop-stars really! How many years can someone coast on good marketing, timing, and the gullibility of the public? The Spice Girls managed to coast for about 4 years but Jackson had a career that started in 1969 with “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5” and he had a pretty good music career all the way up to the release of Bad in the 87’s. 1982’s Thriller is argueably one of the best albums ever released and certainly one of the most popular. At one time Michael Jackson was a very talented man. I hear a lot of people say how embarassed they were to have owned Thriller or admit to liking some of his music but I suspect that has more to do with his oddities then anything else. Even Bad was decent though I think that was pretty much the beginning of his end. No shame, it’s difficult for any musical artist to keep pumping out new material for so long. I can still listen to just about anything Michael sang in 1982 or earlier and still enjoy it. To say that he had no talent is just plain wrong. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/28 "2005-07-31T14:51:53Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Michael’s creative split with Quincy Jones was the worst thing he could’ve done for his career… well, that and sleeping in bed with preadolescent boys. > > Oh, and Jesus Juice. > > Oh, and dangling Blanket. > [@BMax](#): > > And getting a nose reduction after every album. > > And the skin color change thing. > > And making his home the worlds biggest piece of kid bait. > > And his 2 “marriages”. > > And blowing money faster than he could make it. > [@Cheese Monster](#): > > Can’t we just say “And losing his fucking mind”? But besides all that… ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/29 "2005-07-31T19:52:33Z")
> [@chatelaine](#): > > Wrong. Elizabeth Taylor affectionately dubbed him the King of Pop at an awards ceremony and the media ran with it. I dunno. Before “King of Pop” came out Jackson had tried to label himself “The Genius” until a cadre of black entratinment figures, lead IIRC by Bill Cosby, reprimanded him, pointing out there was already a “Genius”, his name was Ray Charles and he was alive and well and still deserving of Mr Jackson’s respect. Shortly after that, “KOP” came along. Which by the way is “offensive” to Australians, because back in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s we have a beloved insitution called the “King (and Queen) of Pop”, which we bestowed as a title of honour on a number of our most revered entertainment figures - none of whom were Michael Jackson! mm ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/30 "2005-07-31T20:13:37Z")
> [@chatelaine](#): > > Seeing as how she’s his best friend and is prone to be an enormous drama queen, putting aside the fact that he literally worships her, no. I don’t think it was. So :rolleyes: yourself. Well, I would disagree. In fact I would imagine that there was a press release tha followed her “impromptu” outburst. She’s as nuts as he is but they are both clever enough to know how the marketing game works. No, it wasn’t impromptu and Jackson ran with it. Self-stylyed King of Pop indeed. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856/31 "2005-07-31T20:16:45Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > How many years can someone coast on good marketing, timing, and the gullibility of the public? The Spice Girls managed to coast for about 4 years but Jackson had a career that started in 1969 with “Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5” and he had a pretty good music career all the way up to the release of Bad in the 87’s. 1982’s Thriller is argueably one of the best albums ever released and certainly one of the most popular. > > At one time Michael Jackson was a very talented man. I hear a lot of people say how embarassed they were to have owned Thriller or admit to liking some of his music but I suspect that has more to do with his oddities then anything else. Even Bad was decent though I think that was pretty much the beginning of his end. No shame, it’s difficult for any musical artist to keep pumping out new material for so long. I can still listen to just about anything Michael sang in 1982 or earlier and still enjoy it. To say that he had no talent is just plain wrong. > > Marc The Jackson Five were a manufactured pop band much like the Spice Girls. They lasted about 4-5 years themselves though they were never as big as the Spice Girls (for whatever that is worth). Jackson had a good hit several years later with ‘Off the Wall’ and then hit the bigtime with Thriller. Thriller was a good pop albulm to be sure but I think it would be wrong to deny that it benifitted tremendously fromt he video age and clever marketing. Moreover, the reason a lot of people may not admit to owning Thriller is because it simply hasn’t aged well. It’s basically syrupy, techn-disco that just sounds silly today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wacko-jackos-new-album-bombs/314856.md?page=1)