August 29: Astaire's Top Hat and MJ's Birthday

On August 29, 1935, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical Top Hat, produced by RKO and directed by Mark Sandrich, was released to movie theaters.



It is tough to pick just one favorite from the nine Fred & Ginger RKO flicks, as they are all wonderful.



Top Hat remains a standout and a musical comedy to top all musical comedies.



The combo of wit, sophistication, Irving Berlin music and terpsichore can't be beat.



Everything works, from direction to cinematography to comic relief. Edward Everett Horton, a comic character actor go-to in several Astaire & Rogers vehicles, is particularly hilarious in Top Hat.



Even film critics love Top Hat!



A certain entertainer and avid classic film buff who just happened to be born on August 29, Michael Jackson, was also a fan of dancing in Hollywood movies and applied original spins on ideas from Fred Astaire to Gene Kelly to The Nicholas Brothers to Sammy Davis Jr.



Michael cited James Brown, The Godfather of Soul, as the number one influence on his songs, performances and dancing.



That said, Michael's patented "Moonwalk" brings to mind The Godfather Of Soul, The Nicholas Brothers, Gregory Hines - and a hint of Astaire.



Michael very likely watched Astaire's terpsichore over and over before learning the routines from all his movies step by step.



Realizing that Madame Blogmeister was born on the exact same day as Michael Jackson - and that this blogmeister and she LOVE classic films - today is as good a day as any to ponder the stylistic links between MJ and movie musicals.



One gets the impression that Jackson delved VERY deeply into the world of movie musicals, as deeply as his did to such r&B and pop performers as James Brown and Jackie Wilson. The following excellent compilation shows MJ dance routines alongside slick moves by Astaire, Bill Bailey, Eleanor Powell and John W. Swillett (Bubbles of Buck & Bubbles) - and of course, James Brown. The Astaire-Jackson connection is particularly strong.



MJ made his name as the pint-sized star of Motown Records' 1960's Top 40 juggernaut The Jackson 5. Michael's signature dance moves are already evident in this 1974 Tonight Show appearance.



Right up through their 1984 reunion tour, Michael and his brothers were a terrific entertainment act.

As soon as his solo records, especially the Thriller album, met unprecedented popular success, Jackson found himself an international concert sensation, touring the far corners of the earth.

In many of his videos, Michael Jackson was profoundly influenced by Astaire's choreography, grace and styleHe noted, "Fred Astaire told me things I will never forget. Gene Kelly also said he liked my dancing. It was a fantastic experience because I felt I had been inducted into an informal fraternity of dancers, and I felt so honored because these were the people I most admired in the world."



The King of Pop had numerous influences and studied all of them in detail. Universal Horror movies and the cinematic adaptation of West Side Story are obvious ones.





In this writer's opinion, Jackson's very best work was just before the hype, before the innumerable plastic surgeries and before he had experienced years of supersonic stratospheric fame a la Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles.

Film director (and Monsieur and Madame Blogmeister favorite) Preston Sturges was also born on August 29, but there is no indication that Michael Jackson was a fan of his (that I know of). MJ never sat down for an interview with Robert Osborne on TCM and talked classic movies.

While Jody Rosen's Michael Jackson obit in Slate discusses how the runaway success of the MJ brand wreaked havoc on his life, the most insightful and incisive look at the corrosive nature of super-duper-stardom remains A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Re-Examined As a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations by Cintra Wilson.



Brutally honest, sensitive and perceptive, this book examines the venal aspects of American fandom, the twisted worship of pop culture heroes and the symbiotic relationship between Michael Jackson's showbiz existence (including an abuse-filled childhood) and the immolating cult of celebrity. Wilson is a gifted writer and prescient social critic.

There have been some fantastic late 20th century and 21st century bands (including Miles Davis) that have found, in the 10 studio albums of Michael Jackson, which featured killer arrangements by none other than Quincy Jones, a springboard for new ideas.



The Jazz Mafia, an organization that has been offering fresh takes on multiple music genres since the 1990's, played a series of concerts devoted to Michael Jackson. Here's the Jazz Mafia's excellent r&b ensemble Supertaster with a guy who I would have liked to see wax an entire album of songs with Michael - and trade off vocals - Stevie Wonder.



Here's a clip from a Jazz Mafia MJ tribute concert this writer arrived at 10 minutes after it officially sold out. Love hearing it now!



Do we at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog miss seeing live music, hearing the buzz of the reeds, the lip-on-mouthpiece sound of the trumpet and the bite of a Fender Stratocaster in this stay-at-home COVID-19 era? YES! The Jazz Mafia always had a certain sweep and grandeur to their music - and I do miss concerts a great deal.



R.I.P. Fred and Michael - and thanks a million for what you do, Jazz Mafia. Today's post shall with one of the most amazing excerpt from an astonishing August 20, 1983 concert in which Michael Jackson, James Brown and Prince all performed. MJ moonwalks and Prince's original and inspired synthesis of protean elements from Jimi Hendrix, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, James Brown and Mick Jagger is in top form.



Hope we see a brighter day . . .

Never Can Say Goodbye by Mike n' Ike - Pick Your Favorite Version!

Here's a tune written by Clifton Davis that topped the charts and became concert show-stoppers for at least two 70's icons. In this corner, from Motown Records, The Jackson 5!



And in this corner, from Stax Records, the fabulous Isaac Hayes! I'm partial to the following version and Hayes' baritone vocal stylings - although both renditions are great.

Music Is Great, But Uber-Fame Really Sucks by Paul F. Etcheverry

In what will be days or weeks of unending media verbiage regarding recently passed pop icon Michael Jackson, I doubt we will see anything more insightful or unsparing than this article by author Cintra Wilson. Originally written back in 2000, this brutally honest but perceptive piece examines the venal "eats its young" reality of mega-fame, that symbiotic relationship between Michael's showbiz life (including a childhood marked by unrelenting abuse) and the immolating cult of celebrity.

As anyone who has loved a intimate partner who endured an abusive upbringing knows all too well, domestic violence can severely mess with a person well into adult life; the pull for domestic violence victims to either re-enact said abuse upon loved ones, seek vilification from others (recalling the Michael-era hit song by Annie Lennox and The Eurhythmics) or abuse themselves in 1000 different ways is magnetic and powerful. It's a truly vicious cycle (in some families, a tragedy passed on from generation to generation), and if your loved one succumbs, absolutely nothing can be done: strenuous efforts to "save" them only make things worse and your relationship more co-dependent.

While one can take the brave and difficult steps to leave a co-dependent relationship or proactively deal with health issues, Michael did not have the option, ever, to walk away from celebrity or entirely escape the papparazzi-tabloids-24 hour media or his own p.r. machine - and it takes truly getting away and off the merry-go-round to begin tackling daunting personal problems.

Sadly, there is no choice: it's confront the demons or be consumed by them.

As far as Michael's music goes, here's an excellent (as well as uncharacteristically un-snarky) piece by the usually swaggeringly vacuous, proudly ignorant and woefully untalented Aidin Viziri that concurs with my preference for the Jackson 5 songs and early solo work; in both his art and life, bigger absolutely, positively did NOT equal better. Personally, I really, really wanted to hear Michael sing Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" simply, sweetly and with feeling - the way he did in his "Frankie Lymon" phase.

Which reminds me of my favorite song he ever recorded:

That said, I believe the response from here is to take a quiet moment of remembrance for The King Of Pop, then get off our asses and actively support living musicians! And I will do just that by attending a live CD recording session by my chanteuse friend Tré Taylor - who never fails to sing simply, sweetly and with tons of feeling - tonight. I'll be there!

Saturday, June 27th 2009
8:00pm – 11:00pm
Tré Taylor And The Dangerous Martini Quartet
Armando's
707 Marina Vista
Martinez, CA 94553
925-228-6985

The Curse Of Frankie Lymon by Paul F. Etcheverry

"I'll never forgive Modigliani for dying so young." Oscar Levant

"There's two basic laws: treat your creativity with humility and treat your success with grace... or you will be in trouble." Quincy Jones

"Tell me why, oh why, oh why, why do they fall in love." Frankie Lymon

Since, without a doubt, everybody and his brother and sister, all around the world, have already blogged about the untimely passing of Michael Jackson, you, dear reader, ask what, pray tell, is The Curse Of Frankie Lymon and how does it relate to the fallen King Of Pop?

Said curse is an inexorable path to tragedy and senseless loss that pre-dates Frankie, goes back to vaudeville legends (Bert Williams), early jazz musicians (Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke) and such silent movie stars as "Madcap Mabel" Normand, Olive Thomas and Rudolf Valentino. The curse has a knack for striking music icons and mega-celebrities, all of whom - Bird, Billie, Prez, Elvis, Marilyn, Judy, Jimi, Janis, Morrison, John, Freddie, Tupac, Cobain, etc. - started with a luminous spark that was beautiful to behold. It is an occupational hazard of child stars and other prodigies in particular.

Which brings us to Frankie Lymon (1942-1968), the post-Sammy Davis Jr. and pre-Michael Jackson kid dynamite wunderkind. He wrote the doo-wop classic "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" at 12, and followed it with several other hits for his band The Teenagers. Here are clips of Frankie, a dynamic entertainer - and more than a tad reminiscent of Michael in his Jackson 5 phase - in his all too brief heydey:





Frankie met the hard knocks of show business, discovered heroin - and that was that.

To say that the territory where pop, rhythm & blues and international stardom meet have been lambasted by the curse is quite the understatement. Consider . . . Frankie Lymon, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Bob Marley, Jackie Wilson. I especially think of the brilliant songwriter, bandleader, arranger, vocalist, lyricist, recording producer and guitarist Curtis Mayfield, who was hit by a lighting rig during a 1990 performance. James Brown alone made it into his 70's.

Never had the pleasure of seeing Michael perform (think I had not yet entirely emerged from my youthful "modern jazz and prog rock snob" phase during his 1979-1987 peak), but sincerely hoped he would, like Brian Wilson and the late Arthur Lee, emerge triumphantly from his troubles and make a comeback. I particularly wanted to see an older Michael revisit the music of his roots - the aforementioned Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke - and just sing those great old songs with all his heart. . . but that's not going to happen.