Thursday, July 30, 2009

REALITY CHECK(for the MMB mothafuckas)

Since this blog has evolved into a free for all where Mike's diet soda habits might be as likely discussed as a Frank Zappa song(and for the record, I do have the Valley Girl album on vinyl. But strictly for that one song. 'oh my gosh. Like, totally.'), I figured I'd delve into this post-modern discussion.

Tonight was a great lesson in that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

As I was preparing to clean the dishes, I decided to spin some vinyl(Loki, that is a record, in case you don't know). So being the sort of current lad that I am, I pulled my favorite MJ album...Off the Wall, of course. I had barely played Can't Stop til you Get Enough when my wife pleaded for Thriller. I admitted that I also owned Thriller on vinyl. But I remembered that my daughter was going with my mother to Mamma Mia this weekend in the Queen City. So I pulled The Magic of Abba on vinyl(stay with us Loki). I put on Dancing Queen. Any reader of this blog who defames either the Boss or Hippie music will admit that the aforementioned ABBA song is a classic. Fuck. ABBA outsold the Beatles for Chrissakes.

I couldn't get through Dancing Queen before my wife repeated her cry for Thriller. At this time, my son said, "Michael Jackson? You mean Michael Phelps?". So I threw on the record(sic) of Thriller. Then, a light bulb went off in my head. What is Thriller w/o the video? So I grabbed a laptop, punched up Thriller on youtube and hooked it up to the 46' Sony Bravia using a VGA connector. As my kids watched Thriller, then Beat It, then Eat It(Loki - Weird Al Yankovic made a bunch of parodies of 80's videos. Some say Eat It is his finest. After watching it 18 years later, I concur.), I realized a few things:

1) Michael Jackson wouldn't have been half as popular w/o his videos.
2) I appreciated the idea of transitioning from vinyl to internet. Why is it a generation gap? We can appreciate both. Right?
3) MJ was quite talented. My wife is not from this country, which means she loves MJ w/o all the pretense. His relationship with Americans is tricky at best. But watching his old videos, you can't deny his talent. His originality. He lost me after Thriller, but that's neither here nor there. He was a great entertainer. And along with Sports, that's what we Americans do best. That and growing wheat and cows.

I was inspired to post, not because of Mike nor Chris(both as stale as bags of rotten Fritos) but because there had been some cross-generational debate on this site, which included music. I don't like Bruce, but I respect him(speaking of which, there is a great story which illustrates this point. Rolling Stone spoke to Prince back in the day and he talked about how he was backstage for a Bruce show and remembered when a band member missed a note and Bruce shot a look at that person in disgust. Prince appreciated that.) I prefer lots of bands that no one here knows(Brian Jonestown Massacre, Deerhunter, Slant 6, Les Thugs, etc), but I appreciate when a lot of other people appreciate someone. Like Bruce. Or the Spin Doctors. Or Live. Even when it's against my instincts. And after having seen my kids marvel at MJ, through vinyl and the internet, you have to realize that a lot of things transcend time. You may not like it, but you have to semi-respect it. And isn't that we have done on this site?

12 comments:

Loki said...

Gman, you sure as hell are immature for someone with a wife and kid. Maybe it's time to grow up and stop smoking pot.

gman26 said...

and focus on getting those tacos, Loki. At Seton Hall or whatever whorehouse you're at.

Loki said...

It's okay, you don't have to be bitter. Keep writing these stupid ass posts to keep yourself busy.

gman26 said...

Loki, we live in a world that has blogs. And those blogss have to be guarded by men with words. Who's gonna do it? You, Lt. Loki? I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very blog freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I'd prefer
you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a keyboard and write a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what bitterness you think I’m
entitled to. Are we clear?

Loki said...

Not clear. Spend the rest of your night writing a post to explain it.

Thank you.

AwesomeSean said...

Here's my redirect on Barnes even if it means that Dawson would kick my butt, sir.

MJ sucks. I don't think it's a matter of opinion, either. He truly sucks; right place, right time like Vanilla Ice or the like. Kids like it? Whoopty doo. My kids like the Ramones and the jingle that plays when we open a Thomas the Tank book.

I can easily deny MJ's talent.

AwesomeSean said...

Also, a jerk like Prince advocating a jerk move from a jerk like draft dodging Bruce is not a great endorsement. Thankfully, they can share some time in the all overrated room.

Anonymous said...

I like this post.

My taste in music is extremely diverse although in large part it stops at a time before the current music. My Ipod is quite the collection.

Here are my own "worthless" thoughts:

I became a Springsteen fan in the early 70's at a time when the important things in life started to matter to a young man- Music, Girls, and beer. Of course this is after the time when we are already sports fans.

So I've been a fan for many years. Can you imagine how many girlfriends I've had in that time frame? How many jobs? The one consistent thing in my life has been my support of Bruce and the consistency in his music and live shows.

Now I will admit I can do without his political rants and he has somewhat "soldout" for commercial success compared to the Springsteen I really liked in the 70's, but Bruce has rarely let me down like my sports teams so often do.

My first Bruce show was when I was in high school(approx 1978-79) and after a Thanksgiving day of drinking beer with my friends and wine at dinner I asked my mom for 50 dollars to go to MSG and try to scalp a ticket. She gave it to me and with a few extra bucks in my pocket I took a bus to NY.

I was able to get a ticket for 50.00. Keep in mind that was well above the ticket price. I was able to get a large beer and had just enough money for the bus home many hours later.

I've since been to about 100 other Bruce shows including some of the greatest road trips of my life to Michigan, Cleveland, etc. with another show to be added the end of Sept. at giants stadium.

Musical tastes are diverse as our support of our sports teams. We all have an opinion and story to tell. It's interesting to live in such great times where we can agree to disagree and still respect each others views.

JD

AwesomeSean said...

Summer of 85 that Live album came out. For the next year, my family wore that out each time we were all packed into the LeSabre. Whether it was a weekend vaca or going to soccer practice that record was on. I loved it. Thing is, I was 11. Now, I just think his whole act is tired.

As far as MJ is concerned, I just don't get it. I do remember being in New Orleans and this white dude did a dance to Beat It. That was cool. Maybe it was cool because I'd been drunk for at least 4 straight days and hadn't changed outta my Judge "New York Crew" t-shirt for the whole trip.

Anonymous said...

The funny thing AwesomeSean is that although I fall into the category of "diehard fan" I understand where you are coming from.

When I was much younger and had a lot less worries and cares I fell in love with the whole Jersey Shore kind of life and the way Bruce expressed it. His story has'nt changed much other than he now makes a gazillion dollars telling it my story and life has changed a great deal.

I still like the memories of the music and his stage presence but I'm not as enamored by the phenomeon as I once was.

I still love the live album though(lol).

JD

KBilly said...

You mean you are married and you do the dishes? Why get married if you still have to do your own dishes?

Anonymous said...

KBilly - Dishes, laundry, diapers and cooking. You're gonna make some chick very unhappy bro.