I was interested to see how Michael Jackson's death affected the charts.
The singles chart was a surprise to me, as I expected some of his better songs to have reached a higher position, and I was certainly expecting a number one hit.
38- 'Earth Song'. Not one of his best works, not one of his worse though.
30- 'Beat It'. I expected this, and most of the songs from Thriller, to be higher than this.
28- 'Smooth Criminal'. I saw the video for this as part of the Moonwalker film. Obviously the film was a mish mash vanity project, but the musical interludes were superb.
25. 'Billie Jean'. Again, I was surprised as the low placing for a song from Thriller, surely his best album.
23- 'Thriller'. By this point I was wondering what could be higher, some classic Jackson Five maybe?
11- 'Man in the Mirror'. Taken from Bad, this was the final Jacko chart position. I have to say I was shocked.
A respectable bit of work though I have to say and all songs from Thriller and Bad which is telling as it suggests what I would agree with, that this was Jackson in his prime.
This proves what I have said time and time again about the power of downloading to influence the charts. I first wrote about this two years ago and still can’t work out why it hasn’t been creatively abused for a laugh. Surely the idea of subverting things by getting Timmy Mallet or The St Winifred’s School Choir or some equally ghastly eardrum murderers is too good a chance to pass up.
After the chart show had finished I looked up the album charts. This is where the downloading has been taking place. The number one album this week is Number Ones, which I assume is a greatest hits collection. I assume this is an old compilation; even the greediest record company wouldn’t have rushed this out in a few days? At number twenty is an album called The Collection, again an old collection possibly put together one Christmas.
Off The Wall is at seventeen, and Thriller is at seven. No place for Bad which is weird. But at the end of the day the fans wanted hits and hits is what they went for by downloading and buying the compilations. At fourteen is an album called King of Pop, again something I’ve no idea about.
A quote in today’s paper; Jerry Reisman, from the Hit Factory studio.
“Quite frankly, he may be worth more dead than alive”
As Colonel Parker said on hearing the news of Elvis Presley’s demise
“Good career move”
