Re: Be Like Mike (no, the other Mike)

[\"Doug Young aka \\\"The Iceman\\\"\"]

Jesus, I find myself agreeing with Don.  I realize that Mike has not been the
most lovable of characters and probably has some major personality defects but
he could definitely put out enjoyable well crafted pop/rock soul at least
until the HIStory fiasco.  Yes, he sold lots but sometimes that happens to
good stuff.  I would rank him as one of the three most influentail black
artists of the last 20 years.  The others would be Stevie Wonder who just
plain never ceases to amaze me.  The third one would be his royal pain in the
ass over- egoed TAFKAP (the artist formerly known as Prince).  And for the
most part I don't like his stuff but he too has done some brilliant stuff even
if I try not to like him or it.  And Sign of the Times ends up being in my top
100 albums of rock as does Thriller.

Iceman

Don Yates wrote:

> On Wed, 10 Feb 1999, lance davis wrote:
>
> > But, now that you've brought it up, I am thinking about it, and my
> > hackles are raised. OK, fine, let's put Mike in the club. In fact, let's
> > put him in the Top Ten. No, no: Top Three. After all, his influence
> > alone, would, indeed justify it.
>
> Well, that *was* what the list was about, right?<g>
>
> > The mass-market-shackled, lowest-common-denominating drivel that Jackson
> > has ridden into Swiss Bank Accounts and the Beatles back catalog is so
> > influential that modern R&B still suffers by and for it. If disco put
> > the pop in funk, Mike put the pop into disco--like that needed to
> > happen--and almost single-handedly ruined black music.
>
> I like Mike just fine -- particularly from "I Want You Back" through
> Thriller, which is a mighty long stretch of time.  The bubblegum soul of
> the J5 always puts a smile on my face, and jesus, that kid could sing.
> Furthermore, I'll stand on David Cantwell's coffeetable and say that Off
> The Wall and Thriller are two of the finest pop albums of the past 20
> years.--don