The Greatest
“Michael Jackson is the greatest recording artist of all time.” –Diddy
In the past 48 hours, I have found out just how much Michael Jackson meant to people. In recent years, I tended to downplay his importance in American culture, because I didn’t really comprehend it. The outpouring of grief over the past two days is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The only thing I can compare it to is the death of Princess Diana a decade ago. Millions of people have lost their Elvis Presley.
For many people, Michael Jackson is the beginning of their musical education. Thriller was the first record they ever bought, or they fell in love with the Jackson Five. MTV has been crammed with modern pop stars proclaiming, “If it wasn’t for Michael Jackson, I wouldn’t be here.” I understand the grief, and I certainly appreciate the influence. However, I cannot and will not pretend that Michael Jackson is the greatest recording artist of all time.
When I first heard that Jackson had died, my first thought was not “How sad,” but “Here comes a tidal wave of hyperbole.”
Michael Jackson is a perfect gateway into music. His best work is complex, yet totally accessible. The dancing, the outfits, the image is larger than life and easy to latch onto. It’s easy to see why a generation of entertainers patterned themselves after him. The problem is that their musical education begins with Michael Jackson and goes forward.
When Diddy claims that Michael Jackson is the greatest artist of all time, he shows an astonishing lack of musical sophistication. He doesn’t understand that saying someone is the “greatest” doesn’t really mean anything. All great artists borrow from their influences and then take it a step further. For example, Michael Jackson is a combination of James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Fred Astaire. Elvis Presley is a combination of The Statesmen, Hank Snow and Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup. No artist is completely organic; they are directly or indirectly created by their influences.
If there is a “greatest artist of all time” out there, I humbly nominate Louis Armstrong. Why Louis Armstrong? He basically invented American singing, introduced the concept of the solo, and every musician who came after followed in his footsteps. Yes, he was influenced by King Oliver and Buddy Bolden, but their records are hard to come by. Besides, Armstrong played on most of Oliver’s important recordings. Every single artist has been ripping Armstrong off for the past hundred years, whether they know it or not. Unfortunately Miley Cyrus will never purchase a copy of Hot Fives and Sevens, because Armstrong isn’t exactly a photogenic man and the film clip for “I Covered the Waterfront” doesn’t have any pyrotechnics.
By the same token, Thriller is not the greatest album ever made. Yes, it sold a metric ton of records. Yes, I am aware that Eddie Van Halen played the solo on “Beat It.” Yes, I have seen the video for “Billie Jean,” several times today in fact. No, I cannot write a better song than “Wanna Be Starting Something,” which is probably why I became a critic in the first place. Now that I’ve answered all your questions, I can continue.
Somewhere along the line, the word “popular” became equated with the word “good.” Thriller is a great record, I’m not denying that. However, I can think of 100 records that are superior, including Off the Wall. Because Thriller has sold 40 million records, people tend to overlook that it is quite uneven. It contains three classic songs, one good one and the rest is filler. It is an enormously important record from a cultural standpoint; it’s just not in the same league with Blonde on Blonde, Revolver, Kind of Blue and Pet Sounds. Michael Jackson set out to make the biggest record of all time, and he did. Unfortunately, when you set out to make an ultra- commercial record, art gets pushed aside (see also: Born in the USA).
If Michael Jackson is your favorite artist of all time, that’s great. If Thriller is your favorite record of all time, that’s fine too. If you think MJ is bigger than Elvis ever was, God bless you. However, don’t proclaim anything to be the greatest unless you have the facts to back t up.
