Remembering Michael Jackson - Shelly Palmer - MediaBizBlogger

Over the past two weeks we39ve lost several celebrities and two of our dearest popculture icons Farrah Fawcett the subject of the best selling poster of all time and Michael Jackson the musical force behind the best selling album of all time Their untimely passing brought their extraordinary achievements into focus making me wonder will anyone ever sell 12 million posters or 45 million copies of an individual album ever again Michael Jackson sold over 700 million albums during his lifetime It seems unlikelyI am very sad that Michael Jackson is gone He was gifted with talents that enabled him to accomplish things that no one in history has ever accomplished and based upon the fragmented nature of consumer media will never be able to accomplish again Everything about Michael Jackson was extraordinary his music his dancing his lifestyle his wealth his health and his problemsDuring the 8039s Michael Jackson quotwasquot the music business I remember when the certified numbers for Bad were announced The 1987 album had sold about 23 million copies and because it did not top the number for his world changing 1982 release Thriller it was considered a failure Just to put this in perspective go count up the number of albums that have ever sold 23 million copies by anyone During his time there was Michael Jackson and then there was everybody else none of his contemporaries even came close to his level of success But the business side of the music business was only one part of the storyWhile listening to his music this past weekend I was reminded how important Michael was to the musical side of the music business For me the Michael Jackson inspired transition of the pop music business started with quotShake Your Body Down to the Groundquot one of the singles from the Jackson 539s 1978 album Destiny Although it was more of a mix of disco and funk to me it stood out musically and foreshadowed Michael39s upcoming solo effort Off The Wall I will never forget the first time I heard it In fact quotBlame it on the Boogiequot the other single from that album had a supersolid rhythm arrangement by Greg Phillinganes that gave Michael a remarkable pocket to interact with This early synthesis of pop funk and RampampB combined with Tom Tom 8439s semijazzfusion horn and string arrangements truly set the stage for the world39s biggest crossover pop star to emerge Anyone in the world who has ever heard an audio recording knows what happened nextI hope that everyone can get past the theater of the moment and spend some time listening to Michael Jackson39s work If you listen closely you will hear him explain everything to you in a profoundly personal way May he rest in peaceShelly Palmer is the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology media ampamp entertainment He is the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2008 New York House Press and the upcoming Get Digital Reinventing Yourself and Your Career for the 21st Century Economy 2009 Lake House Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmy Awards For information about Get Digital Classes visit httpwwwshellypalmercomseminarsRead all Shellyamp8217s MediaBizBlogger commentaries at Shelly Palmer MediaBizBlogger

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Remembering Michael Jackson - Shelly Palmer - MediaBizBlogger

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