PCGUIA 10/PC Guia 10.iso/database/shared.dir/01521_Field_92.cap.txt

Text File | 1996-03-14 | 4KB | 255 lines

@
Michael Jackson's
precocious talent
for singing and
dancing led the
family group to
elect him as lead
singer when he
was 11. Michael
soon eclipsed his
brothers, and in
1971 he began a
solo career in
tandem with the
Jackson Five
#
Although the
Jackson Five had
number-one hits
with their first
four records, they
found it impos-
sible to sustain
such popularity.
In 1979 Michael
released a solo
album - Off The
Wall. This ended
his musical
association with
his family, though
they still per-
formed together
occasionally
#
As Michael
Jackson's solo
success grew in
the Eighties he
left behind his
upbeat Jackson
Five image. His
last tie with the
family business
was cut in 1981
when he sacked
father Freddy as
his manager
#
In 1982 came
Thriller, which
was soon to be the
biggest selling
record ever. With
this album
Jackson invented
a hard-edged,
sexy  persona
that won as much
attention for him
personally as for
his music
#
By the end of the
decade Jackson
was pop's biggest
star. Always
innovative and
original, Jackson
led the black
music boom in
the Eighties, but
he was not
without rivals
@
The biggest-selling singer on the planet, Jackson underwent several
operations which transformed him into one of the most bizarre and
instantly recognisable faces in pop
#
Jackson's 1984
tour of the US
was so vastly
extravagant that
its organisers
boasted that only
NASA could have
afforded to
launch it
#
As Jackson's
fame and fortune
grew ever more
uncontrollable,
he increasingly
insulated himself
from the
pressures of
celebrity -
making little
effort to deny the
startling rumours
about his lifestyle
#
Jackson's
sophisticated
stagecraft and
sexually charged
performances are
in total contrast
to the offstage
image of innocent
androgyny. These
contradictions
have only added
to his mystique
#
Jackson
consolidated the
success of his
record sales with
live performances
across the world.
But as the strain
of touring began
to tell, the
rumours about
'Whacko Jacko'
became more
outlandish
#
In 1994 Michael
Jackson married
Lisa Marie
Presley, daughter
of Elvis. In a
widely televised
interview Oprah
Winfrey asked
Jackson - who has
always claimed
no interest in sex
- if he was a
virgin. "I am a
gentleman", he
replied, smiling
@
The Beatles split
was blamed by
many on Yoko
Ono. John doted
on her, and Paul
was deeply
distrustful of her,
But the two
songwriters'
paths had already
diverged, and the
worst that can be
said of Yoko is
that she hastened
the group's
demise
#
The once happy
and fruitful
Beatles
partnership slid
after the break-
up into personal
sniping and legal
bickering. Lennon
released a very
poor song, How
Do You Sleep,
which was a
bitter and vicious
attack on Paul
#
After the Beatles
fell apart the
members moved
on to other
projects. Lennon
moved to New
York, Ringo Starr
got interested in
film, Harrison
made some
respectable
albums in Britain
, and McCartney,
after a period of
peace and quiet,
re-emerged with
what he called a
working skiffle
band - Wings
#
John Lennon was
killed outside his
home in New
York. He had
done little in the
previous five
years, but had
just re-emerged
with a new
album. His death
put paid to the
perennial
rumours that the
Beatles were
about to get back
together
#
If prophetic
photographs are
anything to go by,
it seems Lennon
knew he would
be the first Beatle
to die. Sales in
Beatles records
naturally
rocketed after his
death, and with
his corpus of
work now
complete, the
appraisal of his
legacy, with the
Beatles and
without them,
could begin
#
Paul McCartney's
solo output has
remained
impressive, but
as with Lennon,
the quality
varied. Though
both men strived
to create a
separate musical
identity for
themselves after
the Beatles,
neither could
quite ever escape
the shadow of
their youthful
moptopped selves