Michael Jackson

Since Michael Jackson, King of Pop, passed away last Thursday, I thought I'd do a tribute to him and look at his contribution to the music scene over the years.



This is the long version of "Thriller", and as you can see, it is mostly narrative, however there are dance routines (a common element in Michael Jackson's music videos), and he lipsyncs to the girl, not the camera (which is fairly unusual). This is probably his most famous music video, since it is very different to any other, and is such a great song. When I started typing "Michael Jackson" into YouTube, Thriller is the first suggestion that came up, and has been viewed almost 9 million times, however I don't think that is an accurate measure of it's popularity.

There is a clear "thriller" genre to the video, which is taken from the song title. The visuals add to the music, without taking away from it, making it an entertaining and successful music video. The video, with the signature dance moves, has been recreated by people worldwide. A few years ago, we did it in a PE dance lesson, and a prison in the Philippines recreated it with their prisoners (as shown below). Amazingly, it has received over 26 million views. This worldwide recognition shows that it is a truly successful music video.





This is "Smooth Criminal".

You'll notice that his music videos are longer than most, which usually are between 2 and 4 minutes, whereas his are between 8 and 10. Each one is like a mini film, and the shots are very cinematic. There is also an air of comedy, for example here when he throws a coin from a great distance, and it lands in the coin slot of the juke box, which causes the music to start. Again here it is predominantly narrative, however he performs (sings and dances) as he loved it and was very talented. This video (or perhaps another version of this video) has received almost almost 20 million views on YouTube on his official channel, showing that it too is very popular.


This is "Black Or White" however I couldn't embed it as the code had been disabled..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVoJ6OO6lR4

This video is 11 mins long, and involves interesting dance routines, a multitude of wacky locations and costumes (including the desert with tribal dancers) and has a TV Drama/film feel to the beginning, like his other videos. This makes it interesting to watch again and again, and since he was signed to Sony Records, he had big enough budgets to make these elaborate and unique videos.

In my opinion, he was a great musician, and I am sure his musical legacy will live on for many years to come.

R.I.P.