Michael Jackson

[Sugar Ape]

Buddy Holly had more talent in his bum nuggets than Elvis had in his entire body. When you consider he died aged 22 it's frightening how good he was.

[Bjornebye]

Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly are fucking boss

 

Johnny Cash wins 

[Sugar Ape]

Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly are fucking boss

 

Johnny Cash wins 

 

No.

[Lee909]

Elvis was great. Not as good as some mentioned but still a great.

[Bjornebye]

No.

 

care to elaborate on just 'no?' 

[Sugar Ape]

Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly are fucking boss

 

Johnny Cash wins 

 

No.

[DJ Bladdered]

ALL of them rock n roll legends - Elvis, Berry, Lil Rich, Holly, Clayderman - just one thing wrong with their shit kickin' music. Needs more COWBELL

[stringvest]

I never got the Elvis thing. Middling singer with curly lip who came along at precisely the right time. If he was 'discovered' today he would be another Olly Murs.

 

Some of his recordings are fantastic, but the overwhelming majority of his back catalogue is turgid bloated shite. He had no idea about quality control - he was a puppet.

[VladimirIlyich]

I never got the Elvis thing. Middling singer with curly lip who came along at precisely the right time. If he was 'discovered' today he would be another Olly Murs.

 

Some of his recordings are fantastic, but the overwhelming majority of his back catalogue is turgid bloated shite. He had no idea about quality control - he was a puppet.

The Elvis thing was more than just the music though. It was his style,his aura and supposed clean cut good looks,a bit of a package of things. He was also considered a bit of a rebel with the hip swinging and pelvis thrusting movements which pushed the boundaries of music back then. Also he was considered a white man who sounded like a black singer and fitted in with a lot of different musical styles.

Its fine to dismiss him but look at his musical legacy,50 years later and we are still discussing it. Cant see many x factor wannabees lasting a year or two compared to Elvis.

[Bjornebye]

The Elvis thing was more than just the music though. It was his style,his aura and supposed clean cut good looks,a bit of a package of things. He was also considered a bit of a rebel with the hip swinging and pelvis thrusting movements which pushed the boundaries of music back then. Also he was considered a white man who sounded like a black singer and fitted in with a lot of different musical styles.

Its fine to dismiss him but look at his musical legacy,50 years later and we are still discussing it. Cant see many x factor wannabees lasting a year or two compared to Elvis.

 

kinell mate, who stepped on your blue suede shoes

[Jairzinho]

The fucking Spice Girls will have a legacy. .

[Guest Slim(fast)Shady]

If i can dream

American tri-logy

 

real hairs on the back the neck stuff from The King

 

for the record yep agree...MJ was top draw...could watch his video's all day long..legend!

[Bobby Hundreds]

Never really liked jacko that much, decent pop tunes of their time and dance moves stolen from someone else. hype more than anything else. I'm not sure how anyone can say Elvis was shit either he may of been a company puppet but his impact was unreal despite his last chunky arse days the guy could sing, heartbreak hotel is possibly the most influential song to influence this side of the Atlantic ever. That literally made thousands of kids drop the hoop and stick and pick up guitars.

[Paul]

Michael Jackson was just hype? Wow. Those hundreds of millions of album sales (that he co - wrote) were some trick.

[FanchesterCity]

Thing with 'writing' or 'co-writing' is a load of songs are literally bought from professional writers, and reattributed to an artist, so it gets very hard to know who actually wrote what.

 

It's hard to know how good Jackson really way... with such financial backing and the worlds greatest producers all pitching in, you end up with some very good records (without doubt), but how much was down to him? I don't know.

 

If you want genuine 'hit record makers' who truly did it themselves, then you're looking at the like of Abba and the Bee Gees... love them or hate them, they knew how to write hits.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Jacko was a genius. No matter your tastes in music his astounding levels of creative genius cannot be denied.

[stringvest]

They can be challenged though. Rod temperton, Quincy jones. Off the wall was his best album IMO. Don't get me wrong, some fab videos, moves, and production, but songwriter? Not so much. Chamone Members Forum.

[Harry Squatter]

Elvis is genius, the ultimate showman, even if you hate his music you can't argue that he was a fantastic performer with shitloads of charisma. Anyone going to any of his shows knew they were going to be entertained. Plus he sung YNWA better than Gerry Marsden.

[stringvest]

I remember being terribly disappointed when he had his hair cut when he joined the army.

[KMD7]

Elvis is genius, the ultimate showman, even if you hate his music you can't argue that he was a fantastic performer with shitloads of charisma. Anyone going to any of his shows knew they were going to be entertained. Plus he sung YNWA better than Gerry Marsden.

 

 

Yep.  Fantastic vocal range as well.  His version of YNWA is unreal

[Paul]

Thing with 'writing' or 'co-writing' is a load of songs are literally bought from professional writers, and reattributed to an artist, so it gets very hard to know who actually wrote what.

 

It's hard to know how good Jackson really way... with such financial backing and the worlds greatest producers all pitching in, you end up with some very good records (without doubt), but how much was down to him? I don't know.

 

If you want genuine 'hit record makers' who truly did it themselves, then you're looking at the like of Abba and the Bee Gees... love them or hate them, they knew how to write hits.

It's not hard to know as there have been numerous documentaries on the making of Off The Wall and Thriller: he wrote the lyrics and melodies for most of his massive hits. However, even leaving aside his writing credits, I'd strongly argue that his delivery is his true genius. His voice was fucking amazing but singers rarely get credit for that. To me that's like saying Gerrard's contribution was merely a side note in Rafa's win in Istanbul. 

[KMD7]

It's not hard to know as there have been numerous documentaries on the making of Off The Wall and Thriller: he wrote the lyrics and melodies for most of his massive hits. However, even leaving aside his writing credits, I'd strongly argue that his delivery is his true genius. His voice was fucking amazing but singers rarely get credit for that. To me that's like saying Gerrard's contribution was merely a side note in Rafa's win in Istanbul.

Agree with that. He was undeniably a genius.

[Trumo]

I remember being terribly disappointed when he had his hair cut when he joined the army.

 

Were your exact words, "I dunno, kids these days!"

[stringvest]

There was a war on. We used to eat our hair.

 

[FanchesterCity]

It's not hard to know as there have been numerous documentaries on the making of Off The Wall and Thriller: he wrote the lyrics and melodies for most of his massive hits. However, even leaving aside his writing credits, I'd strongly argue that his delivery is his true genius. His voice was fucking amazing but singers rarely get credit for that. To me that's like saying Gerrard's contribution was merely a side note in Rafa's win in Istanbul. 

Well, I think it IS hard to know. A lot of songwriting credits will be transferred and subject to NDA's... and the outside world never finds out. The fact that the majority of his work was written by others should be a clue.

Documentaries are hardly likely to reveal the true source of lyrics

 

That's not so say he never wrote anything himself, I'm sure he did, I just don't subscribe to the belief that everything he said he wrote, he actually did.