TF: My MJ moment of the day had a all day meeting today and my CMM had a conference call before the meeting in which he played Michael Jackson to start the call off when our meeting started we had to introduce ourselves and say something about ourselves needless to say my CMM said that he loved MJ's music and had been a fan for most his life and the funny thing is another guy stood up and said the same thing we were told the CMM was seen moonwalking around his office this morning. After the meeting I went to Safeway for some groceries and as I was walking thru the store MJ's The Way You Make Me Feel came on over the speakers it made my day
TD:
That's awesome TF! TY for sharing. I don't know what a “CMM” is but if that's your boss, yippee for his excellent taste in music and dancing styles I say! How old is he?
TF:
Not sure but I think he is in his late forties and a CMM is a Consumer Market Manager someone over the Branch Manager that we all report to
TB:
Wow, TF. What a great day.How did you confess your MJOCD?
TF:
Yes I did, also showed some of the photo's from the Grammy Museum that are on my phone
CK:
Just three of them but I'll take whatever I can get...
1) I screeched to a halt Monday morning after my morning commute and parked about a block away from my office, across from a building of loft apartments. As usual MJ was blasting on the car stereo... that moment in time it was "Break of Dawn".
As I opened my car door and began unloading my stuff with the music still playing, an attractive 40-ish black woman came out of the lobby door of the loft building and walked north towards the trolley that goes downtown. She suddenly stopped walking, raised her head up and started looking all around, searching for the source of the voice she so obviously recognized.
I turned towards her just then and we looked at each other.
Big broad smile lights up her face as she sees me and the car. I smile back. Lovely moment. Then we turn away and resume life.
2) I stop at Trader Joe's after work and "I'll Be There" is playing on the Muzak.
3) Tuesday morning I screech to a halt next to my office this time.
One of our young Hispanic painters Tony is there, cleaning graffiti off the long red chain-link and wood fence that spans the entire property.
Tony is originally from Peru but speaks pretty good English. He tolerates my poor Spanish.
The car stereo is still blasting - this time "Privacy".
Tony turns to look at me, still inside the car. I start dancing, bopping all over the front seat.
He smiles broadly and starts dancing too. I let it run a few minutes and then go inside.
He follows me in to the office and says "La musica, la musica!"
I say, "Es muy importante! Numero uno!"
He yells: "MICHAEL YACKSON!"
I yell: "El Re!"
He thumbs-up and we both laugh.
Peru! And not exactly a song that everyone would recognize either. And he's about 25.
RB:
LUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEE hearing this-----to the MAX!!!!!
El Rey!!!
This goes under The MJ Chronicles header though, so I've changed the subject line to reflect that!
I'm HAPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE....skips away to bed in an elevated mood....thanks, CK--thanks so much. And as an aside, the great thing is I can now picture you in your car, in the neighborhood of your office, bopping to the tunes, and maybe even screeching to halts everywhere!! (Though I confess you seemed like a careful driver and fairly routine on the brakes--unless of course, we're talkin' about the BRAKE/BREAK OF DAWN when you tell Michael, "Brakes, who needs brakes? And, uh, I definitely do NOT need a BREAK now Michael I could go for HOURS yet....") <3
Did anyone watch Oprah's interview with the Cascios and Teddy Riley today?? I forgot to DVR it! : (
HC:
Nope, completely forgot about the interview.... but it was amazingly strange and unusual... I went downstairs for dinner and my mom brought it up. She said she watched it ... i asked her how it was. She didn't say much cause she's no MJ buff like we are ;) haha but she said they just talked about their relationship with MJ and how he recorded some of the songs off the new album in their basement and how some people think they're fake... that's all my mom said. Very vague about it. But then she asked me about what I thought about the album... which is one of the few times ever that she has acutally seemed interested in what I have to say. So that was pretty neat.
TB:
What do you think about the album? Have we convinced you to buy it yet?
Someone I know said someone e-mailed her the album. She plans to buy three copies but she couldn't resist. She said it is awesome and not exactly what has been leaked.
I had downloaded "Hold My Hand" from iTunes. I also ordered the single from Amazon (UK version) USA. I received notice that it would not be here until the end of Dec. I took that to mean that it is selling well.
Maybe your mom is having a change of heart about MJ. Maybe that album will be under the Christmas tree for you.
HC: I'm gonna be honest with you all... I'm still very unsure about this album. I feel so uneasy about it... I'm not really sure why... but I just do... I think I'm just going to wait til after the 14th and hear others share it online then I will make my decision.... but as of now I am not buying it still. And instead of becoming more likely to buy it... it seems I'm becoming LESS likely... the more I'm hearing the more uneasy I feel about it. The first day I heard about it I was like "OH MY GOSH I AM GETTING THIS" There was no hesitation at all... and now every single day that goes by and I hear more about it I get more queasy feelings about it. Even when I read positive reviews and comments about it. (Wow and I just said "about it" like 40 times).
KO:
Hi HC,
Just wondering, what's your source of uneasiness?
One of the songs I did hear - Keep Your Head Up. I can't get it out of my head. It's 100% Michael and it's a wonderful song. Can you believe I listened to that song at least 2 weeks ago now and I can still hear it in my head like he's singing it to me. I would buy the album just for that one song.
HC:
Welp... I think it's the mixture of all these different opinions on it. I have no idea who to trust. There's so many different people saying different things. His family... well some of them say it's fake. Then you have Taj his nephew who says that not all of the tracks are him, but he still thinks we should buy it to support his name and legacy. His other nephew Taryll has been tweeting about things today... i still have to read them. Then there's people like the Cascios and Teddy Riley who say it's all good. I just get so confused because I don't know who to believe out there. I feel like.... I'm a swimmer surrounded in a pool of sharks. Then when I heard Breaking News when it was first released... it just did not feel like Michael to me... Neither does Monster for me. Taryll says that 7 out of the 10 tracks are real, but the rest aren't him... and even if it's just 3 that aren't I can't stand the thought of buying something that has a poser on it you know?
I have a feeling it'll be a good album... but it's just not a MICHAEL JACKSON album... you know? We're not getting the same special touches from him... he's not here to perfect it and make it amazing.
I feel like all this is about is money... money. money. money. money. money. money. money. "So you call it trust But I say it's just In the devil's game Of greed and lust They don't care They'd do me for the money They don't care They use me for the money".... money everywhere. Michael was never about money... he was about sharing his talent and gift to all of us... This album just doesn't feel right... And I guess that's as best as I can describe my uneasiness...I better get used to this though... cause they'll be releasing more posthumous albums to come.
I COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND though why there are fans who wanna buy it.... but... it just doesn't appeal to me...
This is ironic too because I just discussed why I'm uneasy about this album with another fan earlier... Must be on everyone's mind as it approaches.
KO:
Hi HC, I appreciate you sharing with us. I've been busy all morning so didn't get a chance to respond.
I guess what's really sad is that we never will have a Michael Jackson album, no matter what. But I still want to hear music from him that I haven't heard before. I feel like I have a physical need for it. And this album has the music he was working on in the last years of his life.
I know that at least one of the 3 songs - Keep Your Head Up -- is 100% Michael. That one song makes me not believe the people who are saying the songs from the Cascios are fake. Once I heard that song, there couldn't be any question. Also, not sure if you saw the link to a radio interview with Teddy Riley. His interview made me understand why there might be a dispute. In his opinion, it had more to do with John McClain, who wanted production credits on the songs, but Sony chose Teddy Riley's version of them. So then John McClain "stirred the pot", according to Teddy.
I know, it's a mess. Unfortunately now Michael isn't here to make sense out of the mess. Who knew that he had to deal with so much behind the scenes? Not only did he have to manage his own business, he had to manage his huge enterainment family, plus the managers and hangers-on.
TB:
Hi HC -
Please don't believe everything you read. Here is a snippet from Roger Friedman's review on Michael. He loves it, by the way. So if Tarryl Jackson is tweeting negatively, he is blowing it out of his ass. Yes, that is me swearing.
"Considering all his complaining, I was surprised to find Michael’s nephew,Taryll Jackson, featured on a track. On the album’s liner notes, the album is dedicated to “Michael’s children,Katherine Jackson,and the entire Jackson family.”
Stop thinking about it and buy it. Michael Jackson was always about pushing the envelope in creativity. He would have wanted his work to be shared with the fans. The songs on the album are going to be so hot. This album will be Michael Jackson speaking to us one last time. He still had things to say and we should hear those words.
RB:
I totally agree with you, TB.
I find it very hard to believe that MJ would want the last music he ever released to have been from 2001, followed by a deafening silence for the remaining 8 years he lived. So many of his associates say he enjoyed the process of updating things to the current sounds--that he strove to remain relevant and fresh to the younger audiences (even if the older ones don't always appreciate it.)
You told me a while back:
"I am not sure MJ would have ever been comfortable releasing anything in album form during the last few years. The media has been merciless for about a decade or more. All the same old comments and accusations would have been a problem for any work he tried to put out. Even the O2 shows were going to be difficult because of the asinine critics...the same ones that we are dealing with right now....always comparing it to Thriller.
I know that MJ would have wanted to share his new stuff with the world. I know that Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad are supposed to be the epitome of the peak of his career. But, I absolutely love everything from Dangerous on...mature, gritty, beautiful, painful, uplifting...all of it.
I even get impatient with the fans that compare MJ's recent voice to his voice as a 25 year old. Everyone loves Thriller but with the current music on the charts today, does anyone really think it would sell the same way today? The young ear is looking for something different. The people involved in "Michael" were trying to reach that audience too. Michael would have totally had his pulse on what is current. Why else was he working with Will.i.am, Akon, Fergie, and reaching out to 50 cent? As my mom would say, 'Can you please use your heads for more than a hair rack.'"
THIS IS SO TRUE--THANK YOU!
I actually think Michael would have found it very hurtful to have the fans reject his newer creative output. I'm quite sure he would have taken it as a rejection of himself, sadly. Why the heck else would he have spent so much time in studios, recording, writing, reaching out to the current talent if he cared not whether his work ever saw the light of day? If it didn't matter whether his "fans" embraced it or not?
Finally, if a new, not-quite-finished work by Van Gogh or Michelangelo or Mozart were found today, I think it would be awful to hide it away from art lovers. It would be no disservice to these great artists--who have become, if you will, World Heritage Artists. As Michael himself often said, the art survives the artist and becomes the means by which the artist becomes immortal....
Thanks for listening.
FS:
Hannah, my heart is breaking for you ... it really is! I can tell your torn and for that the only advice I have is have is find Faith and keep a tight hold on it as far as this album goes. Keep a positive open mind and go with your instincts. No one is gonna make you buy it, like it, listen to it, love it, hate it, ban it, Any Of The Jazz - Give it some more time.... don't rush into buying it and not like it. OR buy it and skip those 3 songs, ya know.
I mean think about the BIG picture here and what's really going on. Michael Jackson, the greatest EVERYTHING who ever lived passes away and a year and a half later 10 songs surface with controversy. Sony this Sony that. The Estate this The Estate that. The family, The Cascios, fans divided, artists divided, reviews, authenticity, NOprah - I could just go on and on couldn't I?! We'll still love you no matter what. Don't think for a minute you need to buy "Michael" because of us - it's gonna have to come from your heart. Ok..... It is a lot to take in - here is a special huge hug for you XXXXXXXX and another one XXXXXXXX
love always
MJJ~forever
HC:
Thanks for all your words of advice everybody... I take them to heart I really do :) to make the confusion worse.. I saw Karen Faye tweeting too this morning. Holy shnikies I should just delete my Twitter so I don't have 857235712905710570 Jackson related people talking in my ear.
I told this girl earlier today... I am just gonna wait til it comes out... and people will be sharing the songs... I'm gonna sit down and listen real good and hard. Just totally zone out with my headphones on. And really get a feel for it. THEN I will make my final decision on whether to buy it or not. That's all I feel like I can do right now :) It's true that Michael would want us to listen to his left behind music... but that's what gets me cause I'm not sure if this music would really be authorized by him... To relate it to the artwork analogy. Sure we'd love to see lost artwork from Michelangelo. Keeping that locked away would be ridiculous! But.... what if some parts of that artwork was filled in by someone else.. someone else took control of it and took a paintbrush and just scribbled everywhere trying to fill in the missing parts that weren't finished. That's the sort of thing that gets me thinking too much about this album. Sure I think Michael did most of it... but what if someone else scribbled in the lacking parts? I don't like the thought of that.
BUT that is why I'm going to really give it a listen and then judge from there... I think it's just a frightening, sad thing for me... I'm scared to see how it turns out... and that it might be true what these people are saying... Sad because this whole thing makes me miss Michael so much... oh geez... I'm tearing up right now as I type this... It's just hard. I wish he was here to tell us what's really up... I wish he was here to hand us beautiful music instead of feeling afraid of trusting people.... makes me sad... :(
PS: DID YOU ALSO KNOW THAT IF YOU TYPE IN "GOOD LOOKING/CUTE/HANDSOME/WHATEVEROTHERSIMILARADJECTIVE CELEBRITIES THAT PASSED AWAY" IN GOOGLE IMAGES THAT MICHAEL ALSO SHOWS UP??? ;)
At least his good looks are acknowledged in SOME WAY for ONCE!
Gonna just keep keeping the faith... less than a week til the album comes out now... should be interesting to see where it goes from there...
