Disney is being sued by the Michael Jackson estate for using fair-use clips in a biopic called "The Last Days of Michael Jackson" -- in its brief, the company decries "overzealous copyright holders" whose unwillingness to consider fair use harms "the right of free speech under the First Amendment." Read the rest
It was Michael Jackson's dream to go grocery shopping like a regular person, to experience what it was like, as he says, to "put things in a basket." Read the rest
Joseph Jackson, father of late pop superstar Michael Jackson, is reported to have died early Wednesday. He was 89. Read the rest
A company by the name of Stance makes really fun socks. Their licensed ones are particularly nice. I was recently gifted a pair of their Thriller socks ($18) and I absolutely adore them. They're thick, well-made, and detailed. Plus, they are packaged in a way that shows the top sock -- the before-transformation Michael Jackson -- which then reveals the werewolf sock underneath when its pulled back.
I learned that they sell a $55 three-pack of the socks (shown above) which also includes a pair of Michael Jackson as the zombie.
Thanks, M! Read the rest
Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox band teamed up with Wayne Brady (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) to bring us this 1930s jazz style cover of Michael Jackson's 1983 hit "Thriller," complete with zombie tap dancers.
The band is currently on a worldwide tour.
For nostalgia's sake, here's the music video for the original:
Cable network Sky will not air the episode of the comedy series Urban Myths featuring Joseph Fiennes, who is white, portraying Michael Jackson. The decision came in response to intense criticism from the likes of Jackson's daughter Paris Jackson who tweeted that the trailer (above) "honestly makes me want to vomit."
“We have taken the decision not to broadcast Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon, a half hour episode from the Sky Arts Urban Myths series, in light of the concerns expressed by Michael Jackson’s immediate family," said a Sky spokesperson. "We set out to take a light-hearted look at reportedly true events and never intended to cause any offence. Joseph Fiennes fully supports our decision.”
(NPR)
@TheMJCast i'm so incredibly offended by it, as i'm sure plenty of people are as well, and it honestly makes me want to vomit.
— Paris-Michael K. J. (@ParisJackson) January 11, 2017
(UPDATE BELOW)
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department documents obtained by Radar Online describe materials depicting "animal torture" and "nude children" that were found during a 2003 search of Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch. The issue of pornography in the Michael Jackson child abuse investigations first arose about a decade ago. The pop music icon died seven years ago, but the ugly secrets of his alleged abuse keep surfacing. Read the rest
It reminds me of that disorienting sensation when you hear a very familiar song in a TV commercial but the lyrics were changed to talk about the product. From Wikipedia:
"Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton, and produced by Quincy Jones. Written by Rod Temperton; an inspiration was the Jacksons hit, "This Place Hotel". Early titles include "Starlight", "Starlight Sun" and "Give Me Some Starlight". The title was changed to 'Thriller' after Michael told Temperton he wanted something that would appeal to kids. While still titled "Starlight", the song's hook lyrics were "Give me some starlight! Starlight sun...", but after the song was changed to "Thriller" the hook was rewritten to "'Cause this is thriller! Thriller night...". Temperton commented:
"Originally, when I did my Thriller demo, I called it Starlight. Quincy said to me, 'You managed to come up with a title for the last album, see what you can do for this album.' I said, 'Oh great,' so I went back to the hotel, wrote two or three hundred titles, and came up with the title 'Midnight Man'. The next morning, I woke up, and I just said this word... Something in my head just said, this is the title. You could visualize it on the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as 'Thriller'."
Yoshimi Tsujimoto and company burn through Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" on shakuhachi (bamboo flute) and koto. Sure beats Alien Ant Farm's attempt.
I hate football but I love marching bands. Here's the Ohio State Marching Band doing a terrific Michael Jackson tribute during a game on Saturday. Don't miss the moonwalk money shot at 4:45! Read the rest
Signed and given to psychic carnie Uri Geller by the king of pop, this spoon fetched £500 at a pub in Oxfordshire. [via Arbroath] Read the rest
Only $240, and it's yours. Not sure if the smoking baby comes with him. Read the rest
