Pop Culture Fiend: Celebs

The Pop Culture Fiend Archives includes an extensive collection of popular (and obscure) periodicals dating back as far as the early 1980's. My closets house crates and bins with literally hundreds of magazines (from a wide variety of genres) including Time, Newsweek, People, Us, Ebony, Sports Illustrated, Flex, Ironman, Muscle and Fitness, Runners World, Tennis, Men's Health, GQ, Vanity Fare, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Photo and Rolling Stone. The collection also includes defunct titles like Maxim, Stuff, Spin, Spy, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, Life, U.S. News & World Report, Sport, Parade, Premiere, Movieline and Playboy; along with several short-lived and/or long forgotten ones like Details, Detour, Model, Mouth to Mouth, Code, Bikini, Razor, Inside Sports, and Mirabella.

Now in addition to these full issues that take up far too much of my closet space, there were also scores of other issues that I chose to get rid of... but not before I clipped and saved a ton of their best and coolest articles and photos. These photos now occupy yet another plastic storage container in my humble dwelling and now, after many, MANY years, I've finally gotten around to scanning/digitizing them so they can be preserved and shared. You can scroll to see some of my first batch and I'll also be posting a lot of these to relevant communities on Reddit, including subs like r/OldSchoolCelebs, r/80s, r/90s, r/ClassicScreenBeauties and r/GenX.

Finally, know that many of these photos are extremely rare. I Google image searched a bunch of them and in many instances didn't find them anywhere else on the internet. So I guess props to me for being the conscientious custodian and curator of this content. After all, there aren't many of us who possess such a volume of 30-40 year old magazines and photos, or who would take the time to scan, digitally enhance, upload and publish them online.

I guess that's just what makes me the Pop Culture Fiend.

Richard Gere in costume for The Cotton Club - 1984

Belinda Carlisle - 1988

Farrah Fawcett - 1990's

Bruce Willis

Cybill Shepherd

Salma Hayek

Patti Smyth (former lead singer of Scandal) - 1988

80's stars Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Melissa Gilbert & Rob Lowe at an anti-nuke event

Billy Joel & Christie Brinkley

Natasha Henstridge

November 18, 2009

Defending Isiah

Sportswriter Jackie MacMullen has co-authored a new book with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird focused on their relationship and rivalry, which began when the two faced off in the 1979 NCAA Championship game and continued as the pair became (arguably) the greatest NBA players of the 1980's.

Thus far, the most compelling thing about this book (and what everyone’s talking about) are Magic’s comments about his “friend” and fellow NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas. Before I get into that, however, I’ll provide the backstory (word of warning, there’s a lot of it), do my best to identify all the different players (no pun intended) in this drama, and determine what could have possibly led to Magic’s very curious claims and allegations against Thomas.

Isiah Thomas with his wife and Magic Johnson

Magic and Isiah traveled many of the same roads. Just two years apart in age, the two grew up in the midwest -- Magic’s roots are in Lansing, Michigan, Isiah’s in Chicago. Both are point guards that led their college teams to NCAA titles as sophomores, and each turned pro immediately after. The future superstars signed with the same sneaker company (Converse) and shot TV commercials together. But even as the two struck up a friendship and rose to become the best point guards in their conferences, their professional careers, personalities and reputations were quite different. Isiah wound up drafted by the lowly Detroit Pistons and endured several miserable seasons on losing teams. Detroit was then, as it is now, a blue collar town -- harsh, gritty, tough. Beginning with Isiah, Pistons owner Bill Davidson, GM Jack McCloskey, and head coach Chuck Daly slowly set about building a winning franchise by assembling parts (Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, Joe Dumars, etc.) and developing an extremely physical style of play the rest of the teams in the league would come to hate but wouldn't be able to match.

Magic, meanwhile, joined the Lakers, already a winning franchise with All-Star players Jamaal Wilkes, Norm Nixon, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Johnson flourished in glamorous Los Angeles and enjoyed immediate success as an NBA champion and Finals MVP and quickly became L.A.'s media darling with the brilliant smile.

But on a deeper level, what was taking place with Magic and Isiah would prove to be at the root of all the animosity and bad feelings that have now developed between the two. Magic, because he was in L.A., was schmoozing, ingratiating himself to others, and playing to the media. It was Hollywood after all, and image was everything. Isiah, meanwhile, didn’t care about his image or how he was perceived by others. He was more focused on trying to turn his team into a contender and orchestrating the on-court and front office moves that would make his team as good as it needed to be to become winners. Magic and the Lakers were already winners. They were beating everyone and looking good doing it. Thomas and the Pistons aspired to beat everyone... while beating them up. This is how it all began -- Magic becoming “Showtime” and Isiah a “Bad Boy”.

Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson tip-off kiss

Throughout the early 80's, Magic and his Lakers versus Bird and the Celtics was the premiere rivalry in the NBA. But by 1987, the Pistons were also a legitimate power, losing the conference championship to the Celtics in seven games. The following year, Detroit made it to the championship against the Lakers and a good part of the story revolved around the two good friends and All-Stars (Magic and Isiah) finally facing each other for the crown. In a move that seemed strange to most, the pair actually kissed (European style) before every game. The Lakers wound up winning the series in seven and it looked like a new rivalry was born.

By this time, Magic and Isiah were like brothers. Johnson often let Thomas stay at his home and drive his cars whenever the Pistons came to town. Once, after the NBA Finals, the two took a suite at the Helmsley Palace and spent the weekend in New York.

But things started to unravel after Magic’s announcement in November 1991 that he was HIV positive. Magic’s startling revelation and subsequent departure from the game stunned the sports world and the speculation soon began as to how Magic got HIV, as well as who might have given it him. (One popular rumor identified porn star Heather Hunter as the source.) In any case, Magic was barely gone two months, when he was given special permission to play in the 1992 All-Star Game. Isiah, then president of the NBA Players’ Association, played a major part in getting this done when he petitioned Commissioner David Stern’s office for Magic’s inclusion even though sponsors were skittish and many players had concerns about playing with Magic. (Karl Malone, for instance, then one of the league’s biggest stars, expressed his inner paranoia publicly when he questioned the idea of Magic’s full-time return to NBA and worried what would happen if Magic suffered an on-court cut and started bleeding.) Thomas’ recollections of defending Magic during this time are crystal clear:

"They weren't going to let Magic play in the All-Star Game; all the players were coming out [against him]. You know how that all got turned around? I had a meeting with all of the players -- and I told them not only was he going to play, but we were going to shake his hand and give him a hug. And I was the first to shake his hand and hug him and give him a kiss, to let people know that's not how the virus is spread. Call Charlie Grantham [the former union executive director and COO] and ask him how Magic got to play in the All-Star Game. Ask him who called the meeting."

Magic Johnson hook shot over Isiah Thomas in the All Star game

That game wound up being a celebration of Magic. Johnson and Thomas repeated their famous kiss ritual and Isiah led the rest of the eastern All-Stars in laying off Magic (to an almost embarrassing degree) and letting him score at will so he could claim MVP honors in what we thought at the time would be his farewell to the league.

It was immediately after these events that another rumor about Magic’s HIV began circulating, albeit in a much less public fashion than the speculation about Heather Hunter. This rumor claimed that Magic had gotten HIV because he was gay or bisexual. Few then (or now) believed it, particularly not Magic’s teammates or his other close friends.

Which brings us to Magic’s assertions in MacMullan’s book. He claims that it was Thomas who spread this rumor, that he (Magic) was tremendously hurt by this, that it led to the complete dissolution of his and Thomas’ friendship, and that this failed relationship has been, “the biggest personal disappointment of his life.”

Isiah, for his part, says, "Magic acted and responded off some really bad information that he got… I think Magic has been misled on a lot of things, and unfortunately this has been another one of them. I am hurt and disappointed that he has chosen to believe others as opposed to his closest friends.”

Thomas doesn't stop there. In his own defense, he's called Magic out and questioned his character and forthrightness by claiming, “There is this public person and then there is this b.s. person. There's Earvin and then there's Magic.”

Magic’s thoughts about Isiah seem less than credible for several reasons. For starters, why has Magic waited until now, eighteen years after the original events took place, to make all this known? Has he secretly hated Thomas all these years? Isiah says that whenever he’s seen Magic over the years, “he has always been friendly.”

Second, as Thomas himself has pointed out, he was Magic’s closest friend and the two men had engaged in very unusual public displays of affection. This being the case, Thomas is 100% right when he says, “if I was questioning [Magic’s] sexuality, then I was questioning mine too. That's how idiotic this is.”

Then there's the idea of motive. Why would Thomas want to spread such a damaging rumor about his closest friend? It seems unlikely given Thomas’ history. In his dealings with Stern and his fellow players, he had just stood up for Magic in this regard. Also, Isiah’s brother Gregory had AIDS, so it's likely Thomas must have had some understanding and sensitivity towards those with HIV. Wouldn’t a more likely source of the defamatory rumor about Magic be someone like Malone, who was very vocal about his concerns over Magic coming back and having to play against him? Or someone like the Miami Heat's Tim Hardaway, the poster boy for homophobia who was quoted as saying, “I hate gay people and I don't like to be around gay people” and “I wouldn't want [a gay teammate] on my team.”

Hardaway made those comments in 2007 but was an NBA All-Star (and was being considered for the Dream Team) at the time the Magic rumor started. Make no mistake, back then, there was still a great deal of ignorance regarding HIV and AIDS -- enough that the Magic rumor could have been started by literally anyone, and not necessarily out of malice, but through a lack of knowledge about how HIV is contracted. Truthfully, how could Magic, or anyone else for that matter, definitively know the origins of this rumor? Magic says that his agent at the time, Lon Rosen, is the one who told him it was Isiah. This “he said, she said” looks to be the extent of Magic’s proof and it seems (either immediately or after contemplating things all these years) he's convinced himself that Rosen is telling the truth.

And why not? Isiah’s an easy target -- someone the public is willing to believe the worst about. But Isiah also happens to be someone people (including Magic’s inner circle of old NBA buddies and associates) might want to lay this rumor-starting thing off on. Could Magic’s allegation be part of a larger conspiracy against Isiah that’s been going on for years?... It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Isiah’s track record during his playing career certainly made him more than his share of enemies. Among other things:

After the Pistons were eliminated in the ’87 conference finals, Isiah (in what was perceived by white America as nothing short of blasphemy) disparaged Larry Bird when he said that “if he weren’t white, he’d be just another good guy.”
When Detroit was on the verge of a championship, Thomas ran Adrian Dantley out of town by getting management to trade him for Dallas’ Mark Aguirre, Thomas’ old friend from back in Chicago.
At the end of the Game 4 of the ‘91 Eastern Conference Finals, just as the Chicago Bulls were about to complete a sweep, Thomas led his teammates off the floor and right past the Bulls bench with time still left on the clock.
And perhaps most famously, Thomas allegedly masterminded a “freeze-out” of Jordan during the 1985 All-Star Game.

Certainly these aren’t the only reasons why Thomas seems to be so intensely disliked now. He did, after all, run the CBA, the NBA’s beloved farm system, into the ground. He also dreadfully mismanaged the New York Knicks, one of the league’s crown jewel franchises, setting the team back for years to come. But does any of this mean Isiah is a false friend who did Magic dirty? (If being a bad front office exec means you're a bad person, than Elgin Baylor is Lex Luthor, Hannibal Lechter and Vlad the Impaler all rolled into one.)

Many of Isiah's other actions are at least somewhat defensible. Consider:

His comments about Bird were in support of ones made by Dennis Rodman. Lost in the crush of anti-Isiah sentiment that exists today, is the fact that it was Rodman who originally made derogatory remarks about Bird, claiming that he was overrated and that he had only won multiple MVPs because he was white. Isiah chimed in in defense of his younger teammate. Also, remember that these comments were made only minutes after the Pistons were eliminated from the playoffs and that Isiah knew he had given away the series in game five when his lazy pass was stolen by Bird. Under those circumstances, you’d think Thomas’ comments about Larry Legend could be brushed off as sour grapes…They weren’t. Race is always a hot button for reporters, and the media (fresh off the feeding frenzy that ensued after Al Campanis' controvesial statements) blasted Thomas.

For sure, Thomas had the ear of both GM McCloskey and owner Davidson, and often pulled strings to get his way. And yes, Thomas engineered the Dantley for Aguirre trade. But how is this any different than Kobe Bryant running Shaq out of L.A.? ... Or his attempt to force an Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd deal a few years later? Individual star players in the NBA (moreso than in any other professional sport) can have a great deal of influence on management decisions. The smart ones sometimes use this influence to make power moves or even hold their teams hostage. Look at what the Cavs have done over the last two years in efforts to appease LeBron. But no one holds this against King James. He just "wants to win." One can argue that if the Dantley/Aguirre deal doesn’t get done, the Pistons never get over the hump and claim their two titles. And at least Isiah was never responsible for getting his championship-winning head coach fired the way Magic did Paul Westhead. (It’s interesting how history seems to have forgotten this dirty little detail about the beloved Magic’s career.)

The Pistons walkout at the end of game four in ’91 was completely classless and maybe the worst display of bad sportsmanship ever (not counting that New Mexico soccer chick.) But you know what? The Pistons did it as a team, and it was completely in character. It was the end of a long and very fierce rivalry that took place back in the days when NBA rivals (particularly in the Eastern Conference) were often bitter enemies. There was animosity between the Sixers and Celtics (Bird and Dr. J threw punches during a playoff game) and Detroit HATED Boston because they had what the Pistons wanted -- conference titles and championships. The Celtics hated the Pistons right back (Robert Parrish clubbed Laimbeer in the face, for crying out loud.) Later in the decade, on their way to conference titles, Detroit eliminated the Bulls from the playoffs three straight seasons. The Bulls hated them for it and because the Pistons physical style made them a frustrating team to play. And while I’m not forgiving the ’91 walkout, for two teams that despised each other, hugs and warm handshakes at the end would have been disingenuous. At least give Isiah credit for not being two-faced.

MIchael Jordan talks with Isiah Thomas on the bench in the All Star game

And as for the infamous '85 All-Star Game freeze-out, the story goes this way: some of the Eastern Conference All-Stars resented Michael Jordan’s rapid ascension into super-stardom and were jealous of his fat Nike contract and all his other endorsement deals. Jordan, it seems, was rising too high too fast and the East All-Stars, led by starting point guard Isiah, conspired to keep the ball out of Jordan’s hands and limit his scoring opportunities. Isiah, it’s said, had extra motivation to do this because the game was played in Indianapolis. This was Isiah’s territory, conspiracy theorists would have you believe, because Isiah played at Indiana. It was bad enough that Jordan was now the toast of Thomas’ home town of Chicago. He’d be damned if he was going to let Jordan grab any glory in Hoosier land. By game’s end, MJ was limited to 2 for 9 shooting and had only seven points.

But the reality is there was no freeze out. Jordan simply had an off night shooting and his playing time was limited by East coach K.C. Jones who gave Jordan’s backup, Sidney Moncrief, the same number of minutes as Michael (22).

Also consider that Isiah played less than half that game. This means that in order to effectively freeze out Jordan, he would have had to have the cooperation of backup point guard Dennis Johnson and others on the Eastern squad. It’s doubtful that Thomas, then just 24 years old could have persuaded DJ and veteran teammates like Erving, Moses Malone, and Robert Parish to participate in his alleged plot.

And yet the idea of a villainous Thomas screwing Jordan over has endured, even though Jordan himself (most recently, at his Hall of Fame Induction) has dispelled the idea. (Let’s see, a claim of alleged backstabbing by Isiah that turned out to be false… Interesting.) But even as the freeze-out has now been revealed to be little more than NBA folklore, at the time, Jordan and everyone else was more than willing to believe it was real. Indeed, in Jordan’s eyes, it was real enough for him to use as a reason to keep Isiah off the Dream Team. When the IOC ruled that U.S. pro athletes would be able to compete at the Barcelona Olympics, and USA Basketball set about building a team, Jordan kept everyone at bay with a host of non-committal remarks that he was "very interested" in playing. Jordan was at the absolute peak of his power during this time -- NBA champion, reigning MVP and the unquestioned face of the league. USA Basketball, the NBA, and Nike, among others, desperately wanted Michael to play, but Jordan couldn’t stand Isiah. Beyond the events of the ‘85 All Star Game, Jordan still resented Thomas for all that had taken place during their playoff battles, for the Pistons’ on-court thuggery, for the “Jordan Rules” that had frustrated him for years, and for other reasons that only Jordan himself could justify. (To be sure, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from Michael’s very bitter induction speech, it’s that the man can hold a grudge, and that he takes both real and imagined slights against him personally.)

The Dream Team on the cover of Sports Illustrated

So as it turns out, there was a plot involving Isiah and Jordan -- except Thomas was the one that got screwed. As a condition for Michael joining the Dream Team, Isiah would be left off. Magic, meanwhile, has his own take on this incident. “Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics,” he says. “Nobody on that team wanted to play with him... Michael didn't want to play with him. Scottie [Pippen] wanted no part of him. Bird wasn't pushing for him. Karl Malone didn't want him…”

Really Magic?... NOBODY?

Well we already know why Jordan and Magic were against him. Pippen was a Bull and Jordan’s wingman, so it’s no surprise that he’d also object to teaming with Isiah. And after years of Bad Boys-Celtics run-ins and the remarks from back in ’87, you can see where Bird would be opposed. But what could guys like Chris Mullin, David Robinson and Clyde Drexler (guys Isiah hardly knew and rarely played against) possibly have against him? Not that it really mattered. Jordan’s word was law and as soon as he made his feelings known, Isiah’s participation was no longer a consideration.

But it’s curious that in the MacMullan book, Magic would, on the one hand, accuse Thomas of stabbing him in the back by way of false innuendo, but then stop short of naming that as the reason he helped keep Thomas off the Dream Team. It’s as if one had nothing to do with the other. And maybe it didn’t. Maybe Thomas’ exclusion had more to do with the types of actions and behaviors Davidson was alluding to when he said:

"I was very, very close to Isiah, and there were times he was almost like a son. But, because of his background... I told him he had to change... I said, 'You've got it made now. Don't keep doing those things that you've been doing.'… But he couldn't change...We just come from different backgrounds. He had to fight his way up, and I didn't have the problems he had growing up. There's a lot of good things about Isiah, but when we had our parting, it was over something pretty substantial."

Those unnamed things were substantial enough for Davidson to renege on an offer he purportedly made to Isiah to join the Pistons front office after his playing career ended -- a position that later went to Thomas' backcourt mate Joe Dumars.

Isiah Thomas on the cover of the May 1988 issue of Sport magazine

Perhaps those things are what Magic meant when he said, “Isiah killed his own chances…” and why he never stuck up for Thomas, the way Thomas stuck up for him with Stern prior to the ‘92 All-Star Game. Still, one wonders why Magic, like Davidson, doesn’t go into detail or offer any insight as to why Thomas was, is, or should be so reviled.

Even some of Thomas' former teammates, John Salley for instance, have mixed feelings about him. It’s puzzling given all the man’s positives. Over the years he has been heavily involved in charitable and humanitarian causes, including personal outreaches to curb gang activity, organizing “No Crime in Detroit Day” and donating both his time and money to numerous causes. Indeed, Thomas was once awarded the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award as the most charitable player in the NBA.

Thomas did a lot for his fellow NBAers as well. During his time heading the players’ union, he successfully negotiated to reduce the agents' cut of contracts from 10% to 4% -- a move that most assuredly drew the ire of many an agent... including one Lon Rosen.

Speaking of Rosen, Thomas had this to say about him:

“I think you can go back and look in that era and see who [Magic’s] closest friends were, and who his closest friends are now. At that time, I don't consider Lon Rosen to be one of his closest friends; he was one of his business advisers making money off him."

Maybe there are two sides to Isiah. But it seems this may be true of Magic as well. One thing about Magic’s issues with Isiah, however, seems fairly certain -- like everyone else, he isn’t really sure who started the rumor about him, particularly after so much time has passed. And in their rush to sell books via rash, reckless, headline-grabbing accusations, neither MacMullan nor Magic ever connect any dots or present any type of compelling evidence against Thomas. It's all thoughtless conjecture.

And once again, why are we just hearing about this now? This all started close to 20 years ago. If Magic has known it was Isiah all these years, why did he continue to be friendly towards the guy? Thomas says, “Whenever [Magic] came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York.”

This all seems easy enough to confirm. Someone just needs to check with Williams. And if Isiah’s story is true, then the questions should shift back to Magic. Why would you be friendly and go out to dinner with someone that’s backstabbed you? Someone, according to MacMullan, “with whom your relationship was over many, many years ago.”

Cover of the book When the Game was Ours

When you hold Magic’s version of events up to the light of day and consider what his reasons might be for calling out Isiah almost two decades after the fact, you come back to one incontrovertible fact -- Magic is hawking a book. He’s selling his story and every good story needs good guys and bad guys. When the Game Was Ours is supposed to be about Magic and Bird. But that’s old hat… Michigan State-Indiana State, Lakers-Celtics, series clinching sky hooks, we’ve heard it all before. What the story needed was a villain...

I guess Magic and MacMullan either found one or invented one.

September 30, 2009

Remembering James Dean

Fifty four years ago -- September 30, 1955 -- James Dean died in a car accident. Dean was many things: a gifted artist and pioneering "method" actor, idol to a generation of America's youth, the personification of teen angst and rebellion, enduring hero of the 1950s...

Dean was a multifaceted, multi-talented, complex personality who could have become many more things. It was only through a specific combination of talent and ability, desire and focus, and hard work and happenstance that he became a timeless icon and one of the most famous figures in American pop culture.

Much has been written about him but here are ten things most don't know about James Dean:

Dean grew up in Fairmount, Indiana, a small town that stakes claim to being the birthplace of both the hamburger and the ice cream cone, as well as the ancestral home of Wilbur and Orville Wright, inventors of the airplane.

In addition to acting, Dean also had a knack for drawing and painting. He also wrote poetry. Frustrated by the limitations and close-mindedness of the small midwestern town he grew up in, he composed the following:

My town likes industrial impotence
My town's small, loves its diffidence
My town thrives on dangerous bigotry
My town's big in the sense of idolatry
My town believes in God and his crew
My town hates the Catholic and Jew
My town's innocent, selfistic caper
My town's diligent, reads the newspaper
My town's sweet, I was born bare

My town is not what I am, I am here

After moving to New York, Dean's first "big break" was in the 1952 Broadway show See the Jaguar, which opened and closed in only four days.

While living in New York, Dean's struggling actor friends and contemporaries included the then equally unknown Martin Landau, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen, all of whom Dean competed with at casting calls.

Also while living in New York, Dean shared an apartment with his good friend Dizzy Sheridan, best known for her role as Jerry's mother on the sitcom Seinfeld.

Dean had starring roles in only three films, each time portraying a character that (like him) had one syllable in both their first and last names -- "Cal Trask" in East of Eden, "Jim Stark" in Rebel Without a Cause and "Jett Rink" in Giant.

In the early 50s, Dean dated and fell in love with Pier Angeli, an Italian actress he met on the set of East of Eden. Angeli eventually wound up marrying singer Vic Damone, and on the day of their wedding, a dismayed Dean sat outside the church on his motorcycle and gunned the engine as the bride and groom emerged. Years later, Angeli admitted that Dean was the only man she ever really loved.

Dean had a premature "aged" look when he died. For the movie Giant, he had shaved his head to create a receding hairline look for his scenes as the older version of his character Jett Rink.

Foreshadowing Dean's tragic death, in the original script for Rebel Without a Cause, when Jim Stark runs out of the house to show that he removed the bullets from Plato's gun, the police shoot and kill him.

The cover art of the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, purposely recreates the setting and pose of this famous photograph of Dean.

Finally, from the Pop Culture Fiend Archives, here's a 20/20 story from many years ago that does a nice job of recounting Dean's life and legacy.

July 1, 2009

The Real Reasons Why Michael Jackson Was Important

Everyone from my generation remembers where they were when certain life-ending events occurred. JFK and MLK were assassinated before we were born (or at the most we were toddlers.) We were a little older when Elvis Presley and John Lennon passed, but we missed seeing them in their primes and didn't fully understand their significance and their impact on the culture until later. We were grownups when tragic accidents took Princess Diana and JFK Jr., and yes, that was sad. But for my generation, the deaths we remember most... the surreal ones... the ones that touched us to core... the ones that stopped time... the Challenger explosion, 9-11... and now this... Michael Jackson.

Of all the passings I mentioned above, Elvis's best approximates what my generation is experiencing with the news of Michael Jackson. In many ways, the two events are startling similar. Two individuals that were immensely talented singers and performers, but who were also transcendent artists that became absolute phenomenons. Each branched out beyond the world of music to make their marks in television, movies and, in Jackson's case, music videos. Each saw their careers dip sharply in their later years. And sadly, each contributed to their own demise through excess, drug abuse, and increasingly eccentric behavior. Elvis and Michael both died unexpectedly, and at the time of their deaths, left legacies as the best-selling artist of the rock era and the greatest entertainer of all time.

I'm not going to go on and on and provide a retrospective on Jackson's life and career. (There are a hundred websites and TV programs that will continue to do that over the next several days and weeks.) Instead, I'm blogging this largely for the young people out there, many of whom I suspect, don't fully understand the impact Michael had on music and our popular culture. The same way my generation couldn't fully understand Elvis' impact, anyone under the age of 30 probably doesn't fully understand Michael's.

To correct this, I won't rehash the usual list of stats and achievements (this many million albums sold, this many number one hits, this many Grammys.) Again, I'll leave that to others. Truth be told, there've been a lot of artists who have reached the top, sold millions, won countless awards, and will be long-remembered. But Jackson's uniqueness, the "how's" of his revolutionizing of the music world, the way he and his music uniquely resonated with Americans and others all over the world, and the ways in which he continuously broke new ground during his career -- that's what needs to be underscored right now.

The first thing that needs to be discussed, is that the word I mentioned earlier, "phenomenon", is not one to use lightly. As far as the music world is concerned, the Spice Girls and New Kids On The Block tours broke box office records; Bruce Springsteen was on cover of Time and Newsweek; Mariah Carey recently signed a record-breaking $80 million dollar recording contract. But when it comes to actual "phenomenons", there was Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson.

So how did these phenomenons come to be? Well, Elvis was at the forefront of popular music's defining movement of the 20th century -- rock and roll. In the mid and late 50s, Elvis succeeded in rising above contemporaries like Chuck Berry (who was actually more deserving) to become the face of rock and roll -- the genre that would come to dominate American popular music.

The Beatles were a little different. One of the definitions of phenomenon is "an unsually significant, often unaccountable occurrence." The key word in this instance is "unaccountable". In no way am I disparaging the band or dismissing their talent, but the Beatles phenomenon began, in many ways, as a case of "right time, right place", as the charismatic group inexplicably captured the imaginations of first Germans in Hamburg, then their fellow Brits, and finally Americans.

The Michael Jackson phenomenon has similarities to both The King's and the Fab Four's. Jackson came along at a time when the new medium of music videos was fundamentally changing the way artists were performing, connecting with their fans, defining their images, and marketing themselves and their music. Many of the top acts of the time (Springsteen, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne) as talented as they were, struggled with how to leverage this new medium to its fullest. But Jackson's natural ability and creativity as a singer, dancer and performer gave him the total package and he alone emerged as the single greatest artist of MTV's golden age (1981-1991.)

Indeed, Jackson revolutionized the music video, taking it from its primitive beginnings as simple live or studio performances (sometimes enhanced with cheesy special effects) to expressionistic narratives with creative art direction and cinematography and elaborate choreography. With "Beat It" and "Thriller", Jackson pioneered the "performer out front with backup dancers" style of video, which became the paradigm for many other artists from the 80's (Pat Benatar's "Love is a Battlefield"), 90's (Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation"), 2000's (Britney Spears' "Oops, I Did It Again") and even today (Beyonce's "Single Ladies".)

Also with regard to music videos, Jackson's "Billie Jean" (along with Prince's "1999" and Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue") were the first videos by black artists to be played on MTV. A gifted dancer from birth, Jackson enhanced this natural ability by adding in double and triple James Brown-like spins, as well as pops, locks and moonwalks he borrowed from 80s B-boys. The result was Jackson forever raising the bar for what we could expect from artists in concert. Singing AND dancing became much more of an expectation, and Michael represented the zenith of the multi-talented performer, paving the way for the likes of Madonna, Paula Abdul, M.C. Hammer, Jennifer Lopez, Usher, Shakira, and countless others.

Right around the same time that MTV and music videos were taking hold, radio was also changing. FM had recently surpassed AM as the dominant band, and stations were still scrambling to define their formats and find their niche among listeners. Radio though, was still sometimes segregated. As far fetched as it may seem these days, the fact is that right until the early 80's, there was much more of a gulf between the musical preferences of whites and blacks. "White music" and "black music" and "white radio stations" and "black radio stations" were often mutually exclusive. This is not to say that black artists weren't played on white radio (Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and others certainly were) but as he did with MTV, Michael Jackson, moreso than any other, was the artist that contributed to erasing any remaining color lines once and for all. Tracks from his debut solo album, Off the Wall dominated Top 40 stations. In an era when the public was railing against disco, Jackson was able to blend it with elements of other traditionally black music (pulsing R&B, horn-driven funk, lush Philly soul) and inject it with a pop sensibility that appealed to a wider (and "whiter") cross section of listeners. Radio stations, which typically leak singles out six to eight weeks apart, took Off the Wall and ran with it, and "Rock With You", "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough", "She's Out of My Life", and the album's title track all got airplay concurrently. Tracks from 1982's Thriller and 1987's Bad would get the same treatment.

His ability to cross color lines, songwriting ability, mellifluous voice, dancing ability and other considerable talents aside, there was also something undefineable about Michael Jackson. Despite his shy personality, he was tremendously charismatic. Even going back to 1968, when he was signed (along with his brothers) to Motown, Suzanne DePasse, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy, and others at the label agreed that the group had talent -- but ten year old Michael had "it."

Jackson was long considered a prodigy, but by the time he was twenty-one, he would exceed everyone's expectations by breaking free from both his brothers and Motown and proving himself one of the best voices and creative forces in the business. Everyone recognized this, even his peers and the most famous names in music. During the last three decades of the 20th century, many of the top singers (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Boyz II Men), producers (Quincy Jones, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dallas Austin, David Foster), and studio musicians (Rod Temperton, Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson, Toto's Steve Lukather and Steve and Jeff Porcaro) collaborated with Michael on projects. And when Michael enlisted axemen Eddie Van Halen and Steve Stevens (Billy Idol's guitarist) to play on "Beat It" and "Dirty Diana", respectively, many fans were introduced to hard rock guitar licks for the very first time.

Pop culture figures outside the music world also teamed with Michael on various projects. He shot videos with Marlon Brando, Michael Jordan, Naomi Campbell, Eddie Murphy, Martin Scorcese and John Landis; made movies with Academy Award winners Sidney Lumet, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas; performed onstage with Diana Ross, Cher, and James Brown; and launched the careers of Siedah Garrett and Sheryl Crow (whose first big break was as a backup singer on the Bad tour.) Little sister Janet owes a debt to Michael as well. Her career was floundering (with a mediocre debut album and an even less successful sophomore effort) until the fallout from Michael's fame helped refocus attention on her and her Control album.

As I suggested in a previous blog post, there often comes a time when a man meets his moment. For Michael, that moment was at the Motown 25 TV Special, where he reunited with his brothers onstage for the first time in eight years, and then brought the house down with a solo performance of "Billie Jean." Though the show included performances by legends like Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder and The Supremes, all anyone could talk about the next day was Michael. It was this performance that precipitated Michael's instantaneous ascension into the pantheon of not just pop music but pop culture as a whole.

It's hard to deny that Michael was an icon of the highest magnitude. He had the highest selling album of all time and was featured in his own animated TV series. He starred in his own prime time variety show and had Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire publicly marveling at his dancing ability. He was honored by President Reagan at the White House and guest voiced on The Simpsons. And, lest we forget, Michael was also one of the creative forces behind U.S.A. for Africa and co-writer of "We Are the World". Indeed, Michael contributed so much time and money to charities and humanitarian causes that the Guiness Book of World Records honored him as the "Most Charitable Pop Star of All Time."

For the last week, I've listened to the MJ tributes on radio stations and watched retrospectives on BET, MTV, and VH1. What sticks out to me and offers the most consolation for this loss is the stunning amount of music Michael left behind. I'm staggered by both the volume and quality of the music he produced with the Jackson 5, The Jacksons, and on his own.

And it's great that Michael is being shown so much love. It seems very few are remembering the negative about him, including those disturbing allegations of child molestation. I, like most, certainly haven't forgotten about that, or the fact that in this, the age of steroids, philandering politicians, and rampant corporate corruption, you simply can't believe in anyone anymore. (In light of the prevailing evidence, the claims made against Michael may very well be much more than just "allegations.")

We also (regrettably) have to acknowledge, the way he destroyed his face and body with cosmetic surgery. (It's sometimes difficult to even view pictures of him in his later years.) And we all remember the sham of a marriage to Lisa Marie Presley (which then and now seems like a clumsy attempt at damage control) and all those disturbing eccentricities -- from allegedly seeking to purchase the Elephant Man's bones, to dangling his baby over the balcony.

But through all of this, what we'll rightfully remember most about Michael Jackson is his music, his amazing voice, and all the good memories... J5... Motown... The Ed Sullivan Show... "I Want You Back"... "I'll Be There"... the giant afro... "The Robot"... The Jacksons... Thriller... the glove... the moonwalk... and on and on...

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June 25, 2009

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson

So very, very sad about Michael Jackson. I'll have a lot more to say and share later but wanted to get this up for now -- Michael's performance from Motown 25, circa 1983. This was the performance that took him to the level of being an absolute phenomenon. Whatever else you want to say about him, he was the rarest of talents... More to come...

Is an All Star Michael Jackson Tribute Concert in the Works?

May 27, 2009

UPDATE: This Relationship Makes No Sense

Just a quick update on a post from back in February...

Apparently Victoria's Secret model Adriana Lima is now pregnant by her husband of three months, NBA (and I use this term loosely) "star" Marko Jaric. This news is distressing, not just because this is possibly the most ridiculous pairing since some numb-knut decided to put broccoli on pizza, but also because it kind of ruins things. Allow me to explain as I address Adriana personally:

Adriana, please understand that supermodels like you have an obligation to stay single for as long as possible, so that regular schlubs can somehow feel like you're available. Yes, we all know there's absolutely no chance in hell the aforementioned schlubs will ever come within a thousand yards of you, much less meet or have a shot with you... but to quote Anthony Michael Hall in Weird Science, "Why are you messing with the fantasy?"

Also Adriana, beautiful women like you, who get pregnant and then have babies, are like pristine new sports cars that get into a massive crash. Sure you can have it repaired and it may even run just the same, but in the back of your mind, you always know...

So Adriana, Heidi, and all of the rest of you, please, knock it off with the marriages and pregnancies!

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March 18, 2009

Belinda Carlisle on Arsenio Hall

Last night, Belinda Carlisle earned the dubious distinction of being the first person bounced off Dancing With the Stars. Jewel and Nancy O'Dell dropped out before the season even began, so we officially no longer have any interest in this this season of DWTS ... Okay, maybe we'll flip over every once in a while just to see what Edyta is (or isn't) wearing. In the meantime, we'll just watch this rare video from the Pop Culture Fiend Archives and remember Belinda in better days.

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March 9, 2009

Pop Culture Fiend Handicaps Dancing with the Stars

Drop everything, read this, then get your bet down. (No joke, there's a legitimate line for this in Vegas.) The Pop Culture Fiend has studied, broken it down and come up with the odds for this season's DWTS contestants:

Lawrence Taylor (retired football star) – Maybe because they're so used to repetitive training and using their entire bodies, but athletes in general and football players in particular (Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Warren Sapp) always do well on this show. LT's also got personality, a great smile and experience in front of the camera. Odds: 4-1

Nancy O’Dell – Dropped out due to injury.

Jewel – Dropped out due to injury.

Holly Madison (Playboy model, reality TV star) - Madison comes to this competition straight off a collapsed reality show. She’s in this largely to remain in the spotlight and improve her Q-rating, but as a late replacement for Jewel, she's had less practice time and is at a distinct disadvantage. Odds: 15-1

Ty Murray (rodeo star) – When his wife Jewel dropped out due to injury, Murray’s chances went right with her. The novelty of seeing he and his wife competing against one another is now gone and Murray has zero name recognition on his own, thereby placing him near the bottom in terms of fan favorites. Odds: 40-1

David Alan Grier (actor-comedian) – Funny guys (Adam Carolla, Jeff Ross) don’t usually do well on DWTS. But Grier was recently on Carolla's radio show and seemed like he was taking this competition pretty seriously. Call it a hunch but we have him as our best longshot. Odds: 10-1

Gilles Marini (actor) – Okay, I never watched Sex in the City so have no idea who this guy is. I know he’s French (maybe that’ll help him?) and his partner is two-time winner Cheryl Burke, who may be the best of all the professionals. Odds: 8-1

Steve-O (reality TV star) – First off, great pick by the DWTS producers. Steve-O's irreverent personality has the potential to really liven up the show and also pull in an entirely new demographic of viewers. But even though he’s paired with Lacey, one of my new favorite dancer, we doubt Steve-O can dance or is interested in putting forth the effort needed to win. Odds: 35-1

Lil’ Kim (recording artist) – Just a quick side note: Lil' Kim was on one of the entertainment shows the other day, and she has had so much cosmetic surgery on her face and her body, she’s virtually unrecognizable from when she first started out in the rap game. Nevertheless, Kim's a performer who seems to love being back in the spotlight. It'll be interesting to see how she’ll click with her partner Derek Hough. Odds: 12-1

Shawn Johnson (gymnast) – The multi-medal winning Olympian has a lot going for her. She’s cute, used to competing, and her gymnastics background gives her all the athleticism, conditioning, discipline, balance and grace she needs to win. It’s all just a question of how well everything translates to the dance floor. Any way you slice it, she’s the favorite and a lock to make the top three. Odds: 3-1

Chuck Wicks (country singer) – Word is, Wicks has been dating Julianne Hough for awhile (the two opened for Brad Paisley on his last tour.) Hough, it seems, had made up her mind not to return to the show this season but was talked into staying because the producers agreed to have Wicks as a contestant and then pair the couple up. Julianne’s another of our favorites and she’ll no doubt pull out all the stops to get her and Wicks through each week. Even so, we say this duo's dancing (and their relationship) will both be over quickly. Odds: 10-1

Denise Richards (actress) – After running off with her friend Heather Locklear’s husband (Bon Jovi guitarist, Richie Sambora) Richards runs the risk of being unpopular among women viewers. She’ll need to not only dance well but also make nice with everyone in order to repair her image as a man-stealer and make it through. Odds: 8-1

Belinda Carlisle (singer) – Not only is she 50, but the Go-Go’s singer came off as somewhat indifferent in previous reality show appearances on Who Wants to be a Millionaire and Celebrity Duets. Belinda will have to curb any apathy, be really engaging, and show a lot of personality to last even through the first few weeks. Odds: 25-1

Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple) – He’s a gregarious guy but has too much girth and too little name recognition.
Odds: 50-1