The recent Triple J Hottest 100 Countdown of All Time was not only plagued by men, but dead ones at that. Nirvana took out the top spot with the 90s grunge anthem Smells Like Teen Spirit, which everybody saw coming. Kurt Cobain killed himself two years after the song’s release. One gets the impression Cobain went down as something of a martyr, as rock enthusiasts everywhere never cease to regard Cobain as a legend. I can’t help but wonder if Smells Like Teen Spirit would still have scored number 1 if he had not dramatically taken his life. I’m also sceptical about its popularity when the lyrics are virtually incomprehensible. Hallelujah’s lyrics are far more worthy, but Jeff Buckley couldn’t even think of them himself. He scored number 3 with Cohen’s famous cover, which is probably more famous than the original. Buckley released one studio album before drowning in the Mississippi River. One album and he too is a Rock God. Buckley left at the height of his one-album career, and left a lasting legacy, which is mostly just a drawn-out version of an amazing original.
So when Michael Jackson prematurely died I was not surprised that he managed to jump 40 places in the Hottest 100 during the 3 days after his death before voting closed. Did everybody forget his music and it took his death to remind them? As a friend said, “death is great publicity.” I heard the news as it broke on Triple J and admittedly, I wasn’t as upset as my peers. To me, I grew up regarding MJ as a possible child molester who was so ashamed of his background he may have intentionally changed his skin colour, and was so famous he felt he could turn up to court 90 minutes late wearing his pyjamas. To me, he was, and always will be, Wacko Jacko in great financial debt. Yet in the 24 hours following his death I discovered that a significant portion of friends were lifelong Michael Jackson fans and I had never noticed. I hereby attest the claim that there is no better self-promotion than death, as I leave you with this famous Chaser clip to think upon.
Would you kill me if I said first post? What about First Proust? Still? Oh well.
ReplyDeleteWhat was with the whole male-dominated thing? I suppose it's more symptomatic of the male-dominated industry than any chauvinism on the part of the listeners; I noticed with some horror that the only artist I had that was even partially female was Arcade Fire!
The thing with dying young is that no one ever has to see you in your dotage. We don't have an old curmudgeonly Kurt Cobain hanging around, making mediocre solo albums, bitching about the industry etc. So, he's eternally the young rock star - the same applies to Buckley, Ian Curtis, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and countless others. The tragedy of 'MJ,' like Elvis before him, is that he survived long enough for everybody to see him in decline.
A mere 20% of my votes were female, which I am somewhat ashamed about.
ReplyDeleteAnd I see that you have answered all my rhetorical questions. On closer inspection I see I only asked one rhetorical question So you just answered all my non-questions! Excellent!