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Michael Jackson released seven singles from Thriller, but he made videos for only three of them. (That wasn’t unusual in 1983–MTV’s proof of concept wasn’t yet firmly established.) How much would we treasure videos for the other singles today? A high-concept clip for “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”? A restrained but elegant video set on top […]
posted 21 January 2010 in 1988. 4 comments
The flipwalks are more about space than time. When I look at them now, I remember the environment of downtown New York City, rather than the particular day I took a walk, but sometimes reading my notes will remind me of a time when I was jetlagged or bored or cheerful.
(If you’re not familiar with […]
posted 13 November 2009 in Photos. no comments yet
Time to visit the Duke.
MTV replays their promo for “Michael Jackson Sunday”; as you might expect, it plays very differently now than it did a few months ago. “He’s been bad,” says the MTV Voiceover Guy. (A clip from “Bad” plays.) “He’s been smooth.” (A “Smooth Criminal” clip.) “Now he takes his own image head-on!” […]
posted 24 September 2009 in 1988. 3 comments
Some readers of Rule Forty-Two expressed astonishment at my post where I mentioned that Thriller sold a small but significant number of copies on eight-track, so I thought you might like to see the following, from a recent eBay auction:
(If you want this artifact to love and cherish, there are several more on sale at […]
posted 17 July 2009 in Photos. 2 comments
The second Warhol/Jackson meeting, as recounted in The Andy Warhol Diaries. The setting is a party in a hotel room before a performance of the Jacksons’ Victory tour at Madison Square Garden:
Saturday, August 4, 1984
Rosanna Arquette, the actress, came up and was so sweet, and I asked her if we’d ever done anything on her […]
posted 8 July 2009 in Excerpts. no comments yet
Andy Warhol had two encounters with Michael Jackson; in between, he did a portrait of him for a 1984 cover of Time (working from photographic reference). This is his account of the first meeting:
Wednesday, February 2, 1977
Went home and did some work, then at 11:00 Catherine and I went over to Regine’s to interview Michael […]
posted 8 July 2009 in Excerpts. no comments yet
Today’s my last day of Michael Jackson posting for a while (i.e., until his next video comes around on the 1988 countdown). I’ll have some MJ excerpts from the Warhol diaries a little later in the day, but first I thought I’d share two historical updates from last week.
Another tidbit from the early 1980s at […]
posted 8 July 2009 in Tasty Bits. no comments yet
There’s been a lot of fine writing about Michael Jackson’s life and death in the past twelve days, and some of the best of it has been by friends of Rule Forty-Two. I have a few more MJ-related posts to make, but before I cut off this skein, I wanted to steer you towards some […]
posted 6 July 2009 in Links. no comments yet
For your holiday-weekend contemplation, a few more photos from my April visit to the auction-house exhibition of the contents of Michael Jackson’s Neverland.
posted 3 July 2009 in Photos. no comments yet
Aside from its ultramegahugeness, there are some aspects of Thriller that wouldn’t be the same today.
A. If it was released now, it wouldn’t be sequenced the same way. Here’s your all-star lineup: (side one) 1. “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” 2. “Baby Be Mine” 3. “The Girl Is Mine” 4. “Thriller” (side two) 5. “Beat It” […]
posted 2 July 2009 in Tasty Bits. 1 comment
