Double Platinum, 2-Disc Tribute: MJ's Top 10 & The Big 80s

With his departure, Michael Jackson leaves behind an enormously vast legacy to be remembered and dissected in countless future interviews on Music history and his life. He falls into the esteemed category alongside Elvis, Dylan, Hendrix, Cash, Lennon and McCartney, as people you can never leave out when talking about Rock & Roll's growth and dissemination to us, the masses.

MJ brought the seismic change in video design and creativity. All of his videos were the gold standard of the 1980's - where many, many others tried to dethrone the King of Pop on a weekly basis on MTV. His was a personality fit for the Big 80s: big hair, fashion (glove, parachute pants), big money (Wall Street obscene) and eccentricity to an art form (the monkey comes to mind.)

So what are MJ greatest hits, with video expertise included, or as an additional weight on the greatness of the track? (An opinion, not a musical verity.)

1. Billy Jean
2. Thriller
3. Beat It (Youtube)
4. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Youtube)
5. Bad
6. Dirty Diana
7. PYT
8. Smooth Criminal (Youtube)
9. Wanna To Be Startin' Something
10. Rock With You

Here's His entire catalog


The best of the rest in the 80's musical game that put out the best music and/or videos are:


Madonna - Vogue (technically, 1990, but we know it was made in 1989.)
Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer from SO (guy was so freaky, Genesis cut him loose after he dressed up as a grape and couldn't get a mike next to his mouth.)
Genesis - Land of Confusion (Reagan at his best.)
Pink Floyd - The Wall - the groundbreakers for the weird. Amongst the All-time in sales next to Thriller.
Metallica - One - a hellish existence on video. Really the best heavy metal band.
Bon Jovi - Dead or Alive - a karokee favorite.
The Police - Wrapped Around Your Finger. You were expecting Every Breath You Take?
Prince - Little Red Corvette. With Madonna, amongst the next legends to be mourned.
Duran Duran - Hungry Like The Wolf. They could put out vids.
Aerosmith (featuring Run DMC) - Walk This Way. (Collaboration classic.)

SO, that's the double platinum album. That MJ passed does not mean we should not treasure all the good he produced. There will be plenty of bad revisited by those prone to dwell on the worst.

FROM SO -Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer

WANT TO TOUCH THE HINEY!!!

$700 Billion Dollars: Dr. Evil would be aghast

How can one deny that the U.S. Economy is in a shambles now? How did John McCain get to be nominee of his party with his lack of understanding of basic market fundamentals? Why did this all happen? At my other blog - Bringin' Gas and Dialin' 9 - I posted about this Perfect Storm in mid-July but only one person responded to the charge, a Brit with wit.
The idea of us going into a Great Depression was bantered about on March 14, 2008 as the fall of Bear Stearnes took place. That almost seems trivial as Lehman Brothers, IndyMac Bank and others visited Davey Jones.

But is $700 Billion to Wall Street really the answer? Dr. Evil would blush amid scornful reminders of his idiotic plan: "I will launch a 'Death ray' aimed at Wall Streeters, to sooth my pain...Nice pussy" (Petting his cat.)

It was interesting to watch Hillary Clinton on Today, whose husband signed the law that made this collapse possible (with Phil Gramm's urging), call this "The Perfect Storm." No shit. You suddenly are a writer using wit to score points amid this fiasco you call a market?

Frankly, if $700 Billion is available, I would suggest the following distribution:

1. Wall Street has access to a $100 Billion credit window. Only if they do the following:

a) the 50 largest banks in the world (if such a number exists) sit down daily between 1PM and midnight in New York (or via satellite) and discuss the bad debt they generated. They argue and discuss the whole problem everyday for as long as it takes to figure out whose got what, what can be salvaged and where does regulation of these exotic financial instruments go from here. I expect, no, require 2-3 weeks worth of hard work out of these $2,500 suits wearers.

b) set up reasonable terms with people making $50,000 per year and have a mortgage. Cut back their cut and tell their stockholders it is this or, "the government will let us collapse."

2. $200 Billion in infrastructure investments. Roads, Schools, Electrical power, storm walls and things that people need immediately done in their areas. This isn't rocket science, we know where the poor people are and what they are not getting.

3. 150 Billion in investments in energy and high-technology solutions to pressing environmental and energy crisis. The cars we drive are terrible on gas. Fix them. The analysis on global warming and farming concerns lack. Get'er done.

4. $100 Billion to people that can not get student loans, car loans, home improvements or other needed upgrades. 2% interest rates per annum. Guaranteed qualification for it. Must make under $50,000 per year.

5. $150 Billion in job retooling of America. The country needs more than fast food, retail outlets and government teets to suck on. It needs an industrial, technological might that kept us near or at the top.

6. Foreign aid. (Of the $700 Billion, 21 Billion should go to overseas development in Africa and other struggling countries. Somehow, I think we can get people to join the Peace Corps or other worthwhile endeavors if we pay the way for them to work on pressing issues.)

That's my plan. Wall Street doesn't get nickels for nothing.