Scatter and Elvis
Posted on 07/16/2009 3:59:16 PM PDT by Shermy
The death hadn't even been confirmed, the body not yet cold, before the comparisons were being made.
The passing of Michael Jackson reignited the occasional debate about the King of Pop and Elvis Presley, "The King" of rock 'n' roll.
In the hours after Jackson's passing, Canadian songbird Celine Dion claimed it felt "like when (President John) Kennedy died, when Elvis Presley died. We are not only talking about a talented person dying, it's an amazing loss."
The articles analyzing the similarities between Jackson and Presley have been ubiquitous and inevitable. Even Billboard magazine editorial director Bill Werde declared, "The world just lost the biggest pop star in history, no matter how you cut it."
But is there really a case to be made that Jackson's and Presley's places in the pantheon of popular culture were as similar as some suggest?
Parallels between Elvis and Michael
Certainly, parallels between the two do exist. Both were born poor and became massive music icons on a global scale (though Jackson may have the slight advantage there as Presley never performed outside of North America). Each sold hundreds of millions of records and reached unimaginable levels of fame and wealth before experiencing rapid personal and professional descents (and, of course, there's the matter of Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, who was married briefly to Jackson in the mid-'90s).
"Like Elvis, Jackson unified black and white listeners, and made startlingly important, memorable and era-defining music," says writer and music historian Alanna Nash, author of several Elvis books, including a groundbreaking biography of Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker. "Jackson was also a completely luminous performer -- you couldn't take your eyes off of him -- and part of it was because you sensed that this was an extraordinarily damaged boy-man, again, like Elvis, a Peter Pan, a puer aeternus" (Latin for "eternal boy").
One of them was a real revolutionary
But unlike Jackson -- whose gaudy sales figures and personal excesses defined him -- Presley's impact and lasting relevance were part of a larger cultural phenomenon.
"Elvis emerged at a point in history where our culture was ready to turn itself upside down," says Dr. John Bakke, a professor emeritus of the University of Memphis' Department of Communication, who staged the first scholarly conference on Presley in 1979. "From the Depression on to World War II and then into the Cold War, there was a real drive towards security. Elvis came along at just the time the first identifiable generation of teen-agers were about to substitute a drive for freedom for their parents' drive for security.
"With the change in values came a change in music and you had the impact of what became rock 'n' roll. Elvis stood at the cusp of that generational revolution."
As Nash notes, Presley's was a trailblazing path.
"Where Elvis co-created a musical art form, Michael largely built on one. Where Elvis changed sexual mores in the conservative wake of World War II, Michael only made shocking crotch-grabbing movements. And where Elvis, expanding on James Dean's work, harnessed a burgeoning youth culture, Michael only drew more attention to it," says Nash. "He did it brilliantly ... but his cultural impact pales in comparison to Presley's."
Beyond their impact in life, the question now is whether a cult will spring up around Jackson in death similar to the one that grew around Presley, who died in 1977.
Given the particular nature of Jackson's legal and personal troubles over the past decade, it's hard to imagine millions of tourists visiting Jackson's childhood home in Gary, Ind., or his former Neverland Ranch complex in California the way Presley pilgrims -- young and old -- turn up at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., each year.
"It's far easier to overlook Elvis's peccadilloes than Michael's," Nash says. "Elvis was beautiful, sexy and fun. Michael was sweet, strange and sad. Who wants to see that on a lunchbox?"
Different times, different worlds
Bakke also points out that the worlds in which Presley and Jackson lived and died were dramatically different.
"In general, people weren't interested in (Elvis) personally or that interested in their pop-culture figures the way they are now. It was a big deal when one of the networks actually led their newscast with Elvis' death. Compare that to what you're seeing with Jackson -- it's totally night and day."
Like Jackson, Presley's reputation had, by the end of his life, been damaged to some extent (by his divorce, rumors of drugs and diminishing commercial success). But Presley's image was rehabilitated posthumously. Due largely to the continuing efforts by the Elvis Presley Enterprises and RCA Records, he's remained a relevant, romantic and iconic figure for successive generations of fans. (Through a spokesman, Elvis Presley Enterprises declined to comment.)
While Jackson's later years rarely saw him create or put out new music, Presley continued recording up until his death, amassing a voluminous catalog of material -- touching on rock, pop, country and gospel -- that could be released and repackaged for years to come. "Suddenly after Elvis died, there was a vacuum," notes Bakke, "and there was plenty to fill up the void: RCA started packaging and marketing to those interests."
The opportunity for Jackson to be remembered and rehabilitated will be more complicated given his chaotic family and financial circumstances. Presley had strong supporters in ex-wife Priscilla Presley and Parker, as well as a small army of business interests eager to keep his flame burning. Who will step in and play the same custodial role for Jackson? At this point it's hard to say.
The only thing that's clear now is that the tragedy of Jackson's life and death might prove mere foreshadowing for what awaits his legacy. ----------------------------------
Comparing Elvis and Michael: At a glance
Two icons at a glance:
Michael Jackson
*
Died: 50 years old *
Age began performing: 8 *
Albums sold: 750 million *
Grammy Awards: 13 *
Film appearances: 6
Elvis Presley
*
Died: 42 years old *
Age began performing: 18 *
Albums sold: 1.3 billion *
Grammy Awards: 3 *
Film appearances: 31
As cultural touchstones, Jackson and Presley invite comparisons, but as individuals they also shared traits.
Both careers involved "moves" that were part of their attraction. Presley's moves earned him the nickname "Elvis the Pelvis." Later, he would include karate moves in his act. Jackson's legendary "Moonwalk" was just one part of a dance-heavy act.
Costumes came to symbolize both. Presley had popularized capes and beaded jumpsuits in Las Vegas. Jackson, known as the "'gloved one," also popularized other distinctive clothes, including braided military-style jackets.
Obsessive personality traits were part of their lives. Both were musical perfectionists, spending long hours in the studio doing take after take until they were satisfied. Jackson was obsessed with his appearance, including his notorious morphing through plastic surgery and a meager diet to keep a "dancer's body." Presley obsessed about everything, sometimes eating meatloaf every night for two weeks at a time. He wore out friends when he insisted they play Yahtzee with him over and over and over.
Both kept animals at their ranches (Neverland for Jackson, the Circle G for Presley). Presley, who loved horses, also had peacocks, dogs and a chimpanzee named Scatter. Jackson, who had a zoo at Neverland, had a chimpanzee named Bubbles.
Presley escaped with whispers and occasional finger-pointing for bringing the underage Priscilla Presley to Memphis, Tenn., from Germany, while Jackson was accused of pedophilia in connection with children's overnight visits to Neverland.
Drugs became part of their lives. Presley eventually became addicted to prescription drugs and died of a heart attack that may have been triggered by polypharmacy. Jackson, who resorted to painkillers while defending himself against pedophilia charges, canceled part of his "Dangerous World Tour" to go into rehab. Investigators now are looking at drugs as a possible cause of his death.
Oh, please.
Scatter and Elvis
I vote for Elvis.
Followed by Johnny Cash.
Elvis. I’ll take the hip shaker to the crotch grabber any day.
Well, it’s news to me that Elvis had a Chimp.
Whether Michael tortured friend with Yahtzee-playing also, I do not know-yet.
Elvis left a legacy...MJ left a circus.
Elvis will always be the King of Rock and Roll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOn6B5esNug
No one ever said Elvis was about equal to Jesus unlike this woman in Stockton California...
The biggest talent was John Lennon and he’s not even mentioned here.
Neither one of them could carry Johnny Winter’s guitar!
"Living with Michael Jackson" [MJ on sleeping with children: It's very charming. It's very sweet]
MJHouse.com ^
Transcript of Bashir interview. Video of it also.
Excerpt:
Jackson: "When you say bed, you're thinking sexual, they make that sexual, it's not sexual." "We're going to sleep, I tuck them in and I put a little like, er, music on and when it's story time I read a book." "We go to sleep with the fireplace on. I give them hot milk, you know, we have cookies, it's very charming, it's very sweet, it's what the whole world should do."
[snip]
Bashir: "Did you ever sleep in the bed with them?"
Jackson: "No. But I have slept in a bed with many children. "I slept in a bed with all of them when Macauley Culkin was little: Kieran Culkin would sleep on this side, Macauley Culkin was on this side, his sisters in there...we all would just jam in the bed, you know. "We would wake up like dawn and go in the hot air balloon, you know, we had the footage. I have all that footage."
Bashir: "But is that right Michael?"
Jackson: "It's very right. It's very loving, that's what the world needs now, more love more heart."
Bashir: "The world needs a man who's 44 who's sleeping in a bed with children?"
Jackson: "No, you're making it - no, no you're making it all wrong ..."
Bashir: "Well, tell me, help me ..."
Jackson: "Because what's wrong with sharing a love? You don't sleep with your kids? Or some other kid who needs love who didn't have a good childhood?"
Bashir: "No, no I don't. I would never dream ..."
Jackson: "That's because you've never been where I've been mentally ..."
Posted on Friday, June 26, 2009 10:03:14 AM ET by ETL:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2279938/posts
Lennon sucked. He also was a far left a-hole.
The Lost John Lennon Interview
"Power to the People"
TA (interviewer): In a way you were even thinking about politics when you seemed to be knocking revolution?
JL (Lennon): Ah, sure, 'Revolution' . There were two versions of that song but the underground left only picked up on the one that said 'count me out'. The original version which ends up on the LP said 'count me in' too; I put in both because I wasn't sure. There was a third version that was just abstract, musique concrete, kind of loops and that, people screaming. I thought I was painting in sound a picture of revolution--but I made a mistake, you know. The mistake was that it was anti-revolution.
On the version released as a single I said 'when you talk about destruction you can count me out'. I didn't want to get killed. I didn't really know that much about the Maoists, but I just knew that they seemed to be so few and yet they painted themselves green and stood in front of the police waiting to get picked off. I just thought it was unsubtle, you know. I thought the original Communist revolutionaries coordinated themselves a bit better and didn't go around shouting about it. That was how I felt--I was really asking a question. As someone from the working class I was always interested in Russia and China and everything that related to the working class, even though I was playing the capitalist game.
Their legacy is that they are DEAD!Please don’t post this nonsense on FR.This isn’t a soap site.
Was going to say the same thing. The Beatles had more impact on American culture than either of those two.
What does your post have to do with TALENT?
I did comment that he sucked, didn't I? He's about 4999 on my list of top 5000 all-time performers. That said, I do like a lot of the Beatles' music, particularly the old stuff. But there was nothing special at all about him.
The question is moot.
There can be No doubt that Elvis Presley is the most influential artist.Michael Jackson was good during his youth but after Thriller he had nothing much to offer.
Is this a joke?
ML/NJ
The guy had to grab his crotch to be noticed.
Yep,you are correct.The Winters brothers are great.Always loved them.Great post and good common sense.
She was born in 1968. Wonder how she can compare.
Me on the other hand, I was four when JFK lost his game of catch with the bullet and playing in boxes that contained Christmas presents sent by Grandma cross country (and I do remember it). I was on a houseboat on the Sacramento Delta when Elvis left the building for the final time. He was only 42??
I lost a lot of respect for him when he hooked up with loony toon Yoko Ono .
I agree. Comparing Elvis to Michael Jackson is like comparing President Regan to “The One”.
Some people need to get a life.
Without a doubt, Michael Jackson
That was my vote!
Elvis is in a league of his own!
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