Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sammy did everything Jackson and the others on the lists did and MUCH more, and not only did he do it better, he did it during one of the worst times in US history.....the Jim Crow era. Davis started on the stage when he was 3 and fronted the Will Mastin Trio as a teen. He never attended school, not even elementary school, and grew up on the road, without his mother. Read his book "Yes I Can". He was an amazing talent. He may not have had the record sales but entertainment wise. He's one of the greatest EVER.
Sammy did everything Jackson and the others on the lists did and MUCH more, and not only did he do it better, he did it during one of the worst times in US history.....the Jim Crow era. Davis started on the stage when he was 3 and fronted the Will Mastin Trio as a teen. He never attended school, not even elementary school, and grew up on the road, without his mother. Read his book "Yes I Can". He was an amazing talent. He may not have had the record sales but entertainment wise. He's one of the greatest EVER.
Sammy Davis Jr. was an excellent performer and doesn't get enough credit. Same goes for Jackie Wilson (who imo was better than Elvis).
I think it doesn't really make sense to ask who the greatest entertainer on earth is to be honest. The standards for what is "great" and what qualifies as "entertainment" are too subjective. Some people feel dancing is an essential part of entertainment, others feel that playing musical instruments is. Some people believe an artist must write his/her own songs in order to be considered great, others don't really care about that. I think we can all agree that Elvis, The Beatles and Michael Jackson are the most successful recording artists of all time and have had a career that spans several decades. That in itself is worthy of respect, whether you like their music or not.
Most of the performers listed have about 100 people behind them supporting their performance. But there are also some who can do it by themselves, or, with just a simple rhythm section.
Agreed. His music, since he was 9, was primarily targeted and marketed to teenage girls, as I showed in the two videos I posted. Lyrically and musically, they were simply dance hall theme songs. It was his work later in life starting with the Invincible Album which started to become more sophisticated with subject matter and lyrically and was largely dismissed which I feel was his best work and had the most artistic sophistication. As he moved to more autobiographical work and world events and away from the dance hall music, his music and lyrics were better, but went against the comprehension of his target marketing audience - which is sad. I give him an A+++ for entertainer, and an A for effort in his later work musically.
I disagree with you. I don't think MJ's music since the Off The Wall album was specifically targeted to teenage girls at all and the composition of his fanbase demonstrates that.
I think the Invincible album was MJ's worst album and most fans and critics agree. You think Billie Jean was just a dance hall theme song and had no autobiographical content? Actually, I believe all of MJ's self-written songs offer a glimpse into his soul and that's why I find them the most interesting.
Quote:
Stranger In Moscow was his last single off the HISTORY album and confused his audience. I think it, along with Earth Song, was his absolute best work. Autobiographical, no one really understood, listening to it, what the song was about. His comparisons to events and people in history were way beyond the knowledge of his target audience. "Kremlin's shadow belittling me. Stalin's tomb won't let me be." Lines not written for a teenager. The song was about his trials and I can't post all the lyrics here but, reading them I was quite impressed with his work on this, but I'm not a teenage girl either.
Here abandoned in my fame Armageddon of the brain KGB was stalkin' me Take my name and just let me be Then a begger boy called my name Happy days will drown the pain On and on and on it came And again, and again, and again... Take my name and just let me be
I could have just posted the commercial vid for this one, but I do like his performance of it in this particular video and also because this is about performance and entertainment.
I don't know what you're trying to say but Stranger In Moscow was a commercial and critical success. It is a great song, especially if you know the background (MJ wrote it on the Dangerous tour, while he was in a hotel room in Moscow during the child molestation allegations). HIStory is probably his best album lyrically speaking, he was so furious. Most of the songs on that album (Scream, Stranger In Moscow, They Don't Care About Us, This Time Around, D.S., Money, 2Bad) are about the allegations. There are some great autobiographical songs on Dangerous and BOTDF as well, such as Will You Be There, Why You Wanna Trip On Me, Black Or White, Gone Too Soon, Morphine, Ghosts, Is It Scary, etc. In fact, these previous three albums all have much more autobiographical content than Invincible and were also more successful. His fans love that kind of stuff
I disagree with you. I don't think MJ's music since the Off The Wall album was specifically targeted to teenage girls at all and the composition of his fanbase demonstrates that.
I think the Invincible album was MJ's worst album and most fans and critics agree. You think Billie Jean was just a dance hall theme song and had no autobiographical content? Actually, I believe all of MJ's self-written songs offer a glimpse into his soul and that's why I find them the most interesting.
Most all of his songs lyrically were co-written or written by someone else until the era I speak of, you are aware of that. His fan base for marketing purposes, the largest base of people who purchased his music, were, in fact, teenage girls. It's what the record company promotes to and spends their money on and if the music or the lyrics go against the grain of that it has a significant impact on whether the album is promoted or his fan base accepts it. Hell, Johnny Cash even went through this.
Quote:
I don't know what you're trying to say but Stranger In Moscow was a commercial and critical success. It is a great song, especially if you know the background (MJ wrote it on the Dangerous tour, while he was in a hotel room in Moscow during the child molestation allegations). HIStory is probably his best album lyrically speaking, he was so furious. Most of the songs on that album (Scream, Stranger In Moscow, They Don't Care About Us, This Time Around, D.S., Money, 2Bad) are about the allegations. There are some great autobiographical songs on Dangerous and BOTDF as well, such as Will You Be There, Why You Wanna Trip On Me, Black Or White, Gone Too Soon, Morphine, Ghosts, Is It Scary, etc. In fact, these previous three albums all have much more autobiographical content than Invincible and were also more successful. His fans love that kind of stuff
Yes, what I am trying to say is when he started to actually write his own material singularly from a purely autobiographical and a historical standpoint his work was better in a more sophisticated way, but when Stranger in Moscow first came out, no one in his fan base, teenage girls, understood the content really. It was written about his trials and what you pointed out and I consider it his best work. His well read references to people and times in history as a comparison to his situation was lost on his audience at the time. While they are well versed on what it is about now, such was not the case then. I typed the snippet of his lyrics of an example of this. Also, by the time he started to write this very significant, artistic music, the general public had a sour taste about him personally and there again, his best work was dismissed and lost on the public. It was an unfortunate circumstance. And before anyone goes into anything about the personal issues. I am not trying to discuss that and don't think it's up for discussion in this thread. I've read it all and everyone has thier own knowledge and perceptions. I speak of only the music here.
Billie Jean, while quite autobiographical, is still listed and marketed as a dance-pop R&B song. Whereas his work like Stranger in Moscow and Earth song were not, which is all I was pointing out.
Sammy did everything Jackson and the others on the lists did and MUCH more, and not only did he do it better, he did it during one of the worst times in US history.....the Jim Crow era. Davis started on the stage when he was 3 and fronted the Will Mastin Trio as a teen. He never attended school, not even elementary school, and grew up on the road, without his mother. Read his book "Yes I Can". He was an amazing talent. He may not have had the record sales but entertainment wise. He's one of the greatest EVER.
Oh, absolutely Ron, and here, Jackson wrote and performed this song only once at the Sammy Davis Jr. 60th Anniversary to pay homage to that exact thing Sammy went through. Davis finally said, screw it and wouldn't perform at hotels and venues that practiced segregation and was leader that changed the face for many artists on the music front in that regard. He is an outstanding legend in music and dance. Jackson gives credit to him for opening doors for himself as a performer. His work is not overlooked by other performers.
Michael Jackson stole the vocal style of Eddie Kendricks and the dance steps from James Brown. He should be disqualified on the grounds of plagiarism and fraud.
Michael Jackson stole the vocal style of Eddie Kendricks and the dance steps from James Brown. He should be disqualified on the grounds of plagiarism and fraud.
I see no similarities in vocal style between Eddie Kendrick and Michael.
Furthermore,Michael did not steal anything from James Brown. I'd be honored if another artist was influenced by my dances.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Actually, I believe all of MJ's self-written songs offer a glimpse into his soul and that's why I find them the most interesting. 
