|
Michael jackson was truly groundbreaking. I remember when I heard "Beat It" for the first time: it was played unannounced on a radio program for new music here in the Caribbean. As a wanna-be synth programmer, the opening Synclavier notes spun my head around - "What the hell was that?" Then this beat kicked in and then this rock riff descended on top of it - "Huh? It's R&B with rock?" Then this voice came it - "Wait a minute! That sounds like Michael Jackson - but..." Then came the solo - "Now just hold on a #$@!damn minute! That had to be Van Halen! That sounded like Eddie Van Halen! Van Halen? On a Michael Jackson track?" It was like a musical earthquake.
Even for a child of the 60's who grew up on Hendrix and Sly, it sounded like a revolution. Remember, by the 80's the genie was back in the bottle and music had become really segregated. People seem to have forgotten that MTV at first refused to play Michael Jackson's videos.
R.I.P MJ -
|