This blog traditionally strays away from mainstream material, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the passing of who I consider the greatest entertainer of all-time. Although I have been quite promiscuous with music; experimenting and dipping my fingers in any honey pot I could find, you never forget your first love. Michael Jackson was my first love. In a sad attempt to reconnect with that little girl singing "Heal the World" into a hairbrush, I purchased tickets to what was supposed to be Jackson's final tour in London. The purchase highlighted my European vacation planned for mid-July, but obviously upon the news of his death; plans have been altered.
Dubbed "The King of Pop" and deservedly so with such accolades as 13 Grammys and 750 million records sold. His Thriller album remains the best selling album of all-time, and the 1987, Bad album is the only album ever to produce five #1 singles. ("The Way You Make Me Feel," "Bad," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," " Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana")
I decided not to go with the more popular of Michael Jackson releases, since the majority of his catalog is so readily available. The first album I have decided to post is The Jackson 5's ABC album. ABC was the second studio album release by The Jackson 5. Although The Jackson 5's Third Album was more successful, I find ABC to be the band's best work. Album highlights include their covers of Funkadelic's "I'll Bet You" and the Delfonics' "La-La (Means I Love You,)" and the title track, "ABC." Although the standout track for my money is by far, "The Love You Save." An absolute gem of a pop song where the group's harmonies seem to be at their peak.
Year of Release: 1970
Label: Motown
Genre:Pop/Soul
Track List:
1. The Love You Save
2. One More Chance
3. ABC
4. 2-4-6-8
5. (Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need
6. Don't Know Why I Love You
7. Never Had a Dream Come True
8. True Love Can Be Beautiful
9. La-La (Means I Love You)
10.I'll Bet You
11.I Found That Girl
12.The Young Folks
The second of the two releases is the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Story Book Album Released in 1982, Michael Jackson narrated it while the infamous John Williams provided the music. Jackson received a Grammy in 1984 for Best Recording For Children.
I hope you enjoy these albums. Regardless of what you thought of Michael Jackson as a human being, his accomplishments as a musicians must be respected. I love Michael Jackson and I have no problem saying that about anyone that enriched my life with so much joy. Apparently, I am not alone in this feeling, as evident by the heavy Jackson related traffic on sites such as Twitter and Google. Sales of Jackson's albums have spiked tremendously on digital sites such as iTunes and Amazon as well. My favorite thing during this whole ordeal has been discussing with others their favorite Jackson songs and what the songs meant to them. Feel free to chime in with your comments here or on the Michael Jackson official site.
Year of Release: 1982
Label: MCA Records
Genre: Soundtrack/Audiobook
Track List:
1. Someone In The Dark
2. Landing / Discovery
3. Home / Intrusion / Chase / Good Bye
4. Reprise (Someone In The Dark)
8 comments:
Hi Folks,
Sorry to clog up your comments... We’re fellow bloggers, We’re Late For Class. Since 2007, we’ve posted 39 releases of FREE live improvisation and experimental/psychedelic music on our blog... just for the heck of it.
We’ve just released #40 Another Collection, a free 2-CD best of collection and we wanted to see what you thought (Rolling Stone doesn’t seem to be interested). A link in your blogroll would mean a lot to us, as that’s our only source of blog traffic.
You’re also welcomed to post #40 Another Collection for your readers, if you’d like. We’ve even made it easy by creating a page of codes to our nifty animated, future of online rock n roll cover, MP3 players (your readers can listen to it all on YOUR blog) and even a short write up about us you can use (or abuse or edit) if you don’t have the time to indulge in 2-CDs worth of stoner mayhem.
http://werelateforclass.blogspot.com/2007/04/codes-for-posting-40-another-collection.html
Let us know what you think. We’ll be happy to post links for you in our blogroll and, in the future, when our species comes to rule this planet, your name will be on the protected scrolls so that no harm will come to you.
Thanks in advance,
We’re Late For Class
http://werelateforclass.blogspot.com/
Thank you for paying tribute to the King of Pop. I've been a Jacko fan since my early childhood. His story is a tragic one but I try to keep the good memories alive in my mind.
- Susan
For anyone who read the comment from We're Late for Class & went, "What the fuck?", I suggest heading over there. I don't think you'll be disappointed. If you want a taste before you download unknown musick, let me suggest #39 Opium Den Express. You can listen to it right on the blog w/out dl'ing anything. But you will. I grabbed 40 - 30 yesterday & I'm going back for more over the week-end. Can get enough of that CRAZY STUFF!
AllyWonderland,
I have to say that I am amongst those that doesn't really feel one way or another about Michael Jackson's music.
That said, I thought this post was one of the best tribute postings I've seen due to the unique choices, particularly, that E.T. selection. Nice work!
Thank you for posting this great tribute Allison. Michael was lucky to have fans as loyal as you during his lifetime. I have a couple of bootleg albums from the Jackson 5 that I might post sometime during the next couple of days. I hope you all will enjoy them.
@Susan: Millions share your sentiments, including myself. Jackson was one of the few artists that me and my parents could agree on during vacation trips. Some of my fondest memories happened while listening to his music. In a sad way, now perhaps we will forever be remembered for his music instead of allegations.
@Josh: Thank you very much. I felt that it would have been pointless to post "Thriller" considering most either already have the album, and it is so readily available.
@Zero: It was easy to love Michael. I think he cared intensely about his fans and what they thought of him; probably to a fault. And what are you waiting for!? Get those posted. :P Especially if you came across the "Goin' Back To Indiana" TV Soundtrack audio rip.
@We're Late For Class: You're not sorry. If you were sorry, you wouldn't clog up the comments. :) Nonetheless, I went over to your blog and I must say I'm quite intrigued. I'm currently downloading...
@NO: Yes, I read the comment. Yes, I went "WTF?" Yes, I'm downloading their music. :) I'm not going to post their music here though until I listen to it first. Also I'm not sure if you wanted that task or not.
Hi Ally,
Thanks for playing the home game. Yeah... every 20th release or so we send out some junkmail to remind people that - against all odds - we're still pounding this stuff out. Sorry to sully the memory of the gloved one. Wasn't our intention. Glad we attracted your curiousity instead of your ire. You mentioned LastFM (we haven't updated it in a while), check Bandcamp for more up to date stuff... http://werelateforclass.bandcamp.com/. Thanks for listening, either way.
As for No... jeez, thanks for the endorsement. That's really kind. You know, there might be a job app for press liason available.
WLFC
I promise I'll get those MJ and Jackson 5 bootlegs posted soon. As usual life is overwhelming me with it's constant demands. Hopefully I'll be able to make a full return to DM very soon. I can't thank those of you who have kept it running enough.
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