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Posts Tagged Michael Jackson

Archive

November 22, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Lambchop: TRIP

Lambchop TRIP Merge Records I love Lambchop so much that even the thought of Kurt Wagner trying to croon via a vocoder wasn’t going to put me off…until they went to that well once too often (ie: twice) and I just haven’t really been able to care about the last few Lamchop albums – haven’t […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Covers, George Jones, Lambchop, Lambchop: TRIP, Merge Records, Michael Jackson, Mirrors, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, TRIP, Wilco, Yo La Tengo, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 2, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39 – Stevie Wonder, “Characters”

Stevie Wonder, Characters, 1987 Stevie Wonder is, as we all know I’d hope, A MUSICAL GENIUS! But this is where he absolutely runs out of juice I think. As rum as his 1980s was overall this is the nadir. This is the album where he sounds bored and desperate to be relevant – the curse […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1987, B.B. King, Characters, Crap, Crap Abums, Crap Albums, Crap Albums I Love, Crap Albums I Love # 39, Michael Jackson, Shit, Shit That's Good, Shit That's Good - Crap Albums I Love, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39, Shit That’s Good! Crap Albums I Love # 39 – Stevie Wonder, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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December 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 202

Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace (1983) Of all the Paul McCartney material to be reissued this is the one I hated the most hearing it the second time around – I had lost love for it, rather than gained any. And I say that as a fan of the title track purely because my intermediate […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1983, 80s, LP, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Pipes of Peace, Record, Ringo Starr, Say Say Say, So Bad, The Beatles, The Vinyl Countdown, The Vinyl Countdown # 202, Vinyl ·

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March 20, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: The Most Recent Poetry Reading 

She said, ‘you’re not going to read the poem about Michael Jackson are you?’  I said, “I am going to read the poem about Michael Jackson”. She said, ‘you can’t’. I said, “I can”. She said, ‘Aw…it will be awful, I can’t bear to watch, you can’t….’ I said, “I probably will still read it…” And then several different  poets got […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Michael Jackson, Poem, Poem: The Most Recent Poetry Reading, The Most Recent Poetry Reading ·

Archive

March 11, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Grieving Neverland? – Michael Jackson’s Music Was Well On The Way To Cancelling Itself, All This Discussion Is Bringing It Back

The argument around Michael Jackson – specifically around “cancelling Michael Jackson” is essentially about the price of fandom, that being that some people believe their fandom to be worth more than a victim’s story.   The film Leaving Neverland has had people in a flap, long before even seeing it. News of Michael Jackson’s alleged pedophilia and the processing of it […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Abuse, All This Discussion Is Bringing It Back, Bad, Cancel, Dangerous, Death, Grieving Neverland?, Grieving Neverland? - Michael Jackson’s Music Was Well On The Way To Cancelling Itself, Jackson, Leaving Neverland, Michael, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson’s Music Was Well On The Way To Cancelling Itself, Michael Jackson’s Music Was Well On The Way To Cancelling Itself All This Discussion Is Bringing It Back, MJ, Off The Wall, Thriller, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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March 9, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Remember When Prince Was The Weird One?

Remember when Prince was the weird one?  Taking Kim Basinger on a date to a cemetery, recording a duet of Scandalous black roses strewn – and they fucked on the floor on the studio, or did they?  Darling Nikki and the  right to fap –  created the parental advisory sticker, had Tipper Gore all in a flap,  the purple one mystical as shit the rumours  swirling like paisley park pinwheels blowing in a manufactured […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Michael Jackson, Poem, Prince, Remember When Prince Was The Weird One? ·

Archive

February 4, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

R.I.P. Ndugu Chancler

Leon “Ndugu” Chancler has died. He was 65. The pop, soul, funk, disco, jazz, R’n’B and rock drummer will be remembered best as the drummer on Thriller. The creator of the perfect beat in Billie Jean but he was a veteran who had worked with masters including Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, George Duke, Jean-Luc Ponty, […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Billie Jean, Drummer, Drumming, Drums, Eulogy, Leon “Ndugu” Chancler, Leon Chancler, Michael Jackson, Ndugu Chancler, R.I.P. Ndugu Chancler, Thriller, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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August 13, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

The Vinyl Countdown # 516

Jackson 5, 20 Golden Greats (1979) Never mind 20 Golden Greats, I would have wanted this just for one song…okay, two songs, alright, definitely three songs…well, look, I’m not saying that all 20 are absolute must-haves, but it’s one of those great Greatest Hits where the further you go down the list, the further you […]
Posted in Blog, The Vinyl Countdown · Tagged 1979, 20 Golden Greats, ABC, Jackson 5, LP, Michael Jackson, The Vinyl Countdown # 516, Vinyl ·

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June 23, 2017 by Simon Sweetman

From The Archives: The Jennifer Batten Interview

Here’s an interview I did a few years ago with Jennifer Batten. It was fun talking to her, interesting getting her insight on working with a) one of pop music’s biggest stars – and b) one of the most respected guitar heroes on the planet. * Jennifer Batten made her name as the shock-haired guitarist […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged From The Archives, From The Archives: The Jennifer Batten Interview, Guitar, Guitarist, Interview, Jeff Beck, Jennifer Batten, Michael Jackson, The Jennifer Batten Interview ·

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April 17, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Susan Fast: Michael Jackson’s Dangerous (33 1/3)

Michael Jackson’s Dangerous (33 1/3) Susan Fast Bloomsbury Academic At their best, the slim volumes of the 33 1/3 series should make you reconsider an album you possibly dismissed, or at the least go back  to a record and find something new. They can even introduce you to albums – though I’m sure most 33 […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 100, 33 1/3, Book, Book Review, Dangerous, Michael Jackson, MJ, Susan Fast, Susan Fast: Michael Jackson's Dangerous (33 1/3) ·

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December 11, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Stubs: # 31 – Michael Jackson, Auckland, 1996

I remember the announcement – and wondering if I should camp out overnight for tickets. Couldn’t quite bring myself to do that, wasn’t enough of a fan but certainly grew up with Michael Jackson’s music and recognised that his 1996 show in New Zealand – part of that HIStory “comeback” hits tour – was likely […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 1996, Auckland, Gig, History, Jackson 5, Live, Live Gig, Michael Jackson, MJ, Stub, Stubs, Stubs: # 31 – Michael Jackson, Tickets ·

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August 18, 2014 by Simon Sweetman

Kimbra: The Golden Echo

Kimbra The Golden Echo Warners There are some great moments on Kimbra’s second album, really great – unfortunately they’re ruined by the busy, buzzy, fizzy, frenetic feel and the often absurd splatter-paint pop music effect that she’s clearly going for; better, she seems to think, to suggest herself as pop music’s great tourist with a […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Janelle Monae, Janet Jackson, Kimbra, Michael Jackson, Sheila E., The Golden Echo ·
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