Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Cream Was Michael Jackson Your Elvis?
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 10:06 AM
I know, I know. But I don't get CNN! According to one report, MJ sold over 300,000 albums last week, in the process becoming the first artist to ever sell a million downloads in a seven-day span.
(Elvis wasn't my Elvis, either, just to be clear on that.)
I've heard people say that Obama is our Kennedy, and that makes sense, in a way, just as saying Michael Jackson is our Elvis also makes sense. In a way. I guess I've just never really identified with my generation--but, if everyone has an Elvis (or a Michael Jackson) who is yours?
This question has been harder to answer than I thought it would be. Probably the first band I really got into was Van Halen. (The Van Halen of Van Halen II and MCMLXXXIV, that is.) It's not like they changed my life or anything. I just thought it was so cool that they had an angel boy smoking a cigarette on their album cover. Now you know where my piercing critical acumen comes from.
The artist who blew me away the most the first time I heard him was Leonard Cohen, but his albums were already 20 years old, and when we're talking about Your Own Personal Elvis, that means an artist who comes of age at roughly the same time you do. (My mother's Elvis, for example, is Elvis.)
With Elvis on the brain, I inevitably started thinking about the moment at Bonnaroo when Chuck D. of Public Enemy--to a mostly white crowd of thousands--got to that part of "Fight the Power" that goes like this: "Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant shit to me / A straight up racist that sucker was simple and plain / Motherfuck him and John Wayne." Where the Beastie Boys earlier in the night were pulling punches and leaving out lyrics about doing this and that to the sheriff's daughter, P.E. were still true to form. The first time I saw Chuck D. say those words was when P.E. split a set with Sonic Youth at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. In 1990, it was odd for an arty rock band and a rap group to play a show together, and even though I was dressed like a fan of arty rock bands (which I was), the album that I listened to every day was Fear of a Black Planet. That record probably transformed my view of both music and the world more than any other. So I guess what I'm saying is that, ironically, Public Enemy is my Elvis.
Comments (12)
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Steve Haruch says his listening to "Fear of a black planet" probably transformed his view of both music and the world, more than any other. Then, he goes on to say "that, ironically, "Public Enemy" is his Elvis".
I say what is ironic about him mentioning the song "Gight the power", and his quoting the lyrics of the song, and his surprise at Michael Jackson being called, or not actually being, his Elvis, or whatever, is the non surprising fact that Steve Haruch has no idea, whatsoever, that Chuck D, after being better informed about Presley, retracted his views that he was a racist, adding also that as a musicologist, he had a lot of respect for Presley's love and respect for black music. He then called EMINEM the Elvis of his time, because they both had a lot of respect for black music.
Chuck D earned my respect for doing this, mainly because he did it in front of about 14 million people, in a television program produced by one of the major networks, in 2002, and in connection with the 25th Anniversary of Presley's death.
Conversely, I wholly understand Steve's assertion that Chuck D is his Elvis. He should be. But, as implied earlier, for precisely the opposite reasons ...
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I had/have/will have a number of Elvis's... But if I go back to what meant something to me from the beginning, then I would be very similar to the poster. To clarify, I should say what meant something to me that I personally "discovered."
The Beatles, Van Halen (with Roth), Eazy E, Bon Jovi, Def Leopard, the Beastie Boys and NWA. They were all the earliest I can remember.
Funny thing is, I still love all the bands I've loved throughout the years; but the only one to remain in an Elvis type position would be the Beatles.
Therefore, the Beatles are my Elvis.
like Andrew J., Morrissey is also my Elvis.
Springsteen is definitely my friend Courtney's Mom's Elvis. i'm wondering if this is also true for Gold but am betting it's Bono, since, if his/her death is to impart feelings of mortality their age should be close to yours.
Michael Jackson was my Michael Jackson. When I was 6, it sure seemed like the whole world revolved around him. As a small white child, he made me want to grow up to be a young black man. Ironically, as a young black man, he wanted to grow up to be a small white child.
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