R.I.P. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop
(A reluctant tribute from a reluctant fan)
*plus an MJ tribute roundup from the coverblogs!*
I don’t usually take requests, and in the case of Michael Jackson, I wasn’t planning to, either. After all, the death of the King of Pop has brought forth a veritable flood of tribute posts, many of them cover-laden (see below for links). And like many of you, though his history is entwined with my own, I haven’t really listened to the man himself in over a decade.
But now that the internet has recovered a bit from the news of MJ’s passing, thanks to an extraordinarily generous donation of covers from the Queen of Fragrance, without intending it, I find myself awash in both memory and material. And to my immense surprise, some of these donations, along with some of the covers I’ve been hoarding against time and inclination, have not yet saturated the blogs.
Far be it from me to ignore my readership, or the unparalleled significance Michael Jackson had on the evolution of both my own taste and that of a generation of artists who I love. After all, Michael Jackson’s Thriller was the very first album I bought new. I know the words to almost every song on the record by heart. And as a culture vulture, and a serious student and teacher of the media age, I cannot help but acknowledge, as so many have before me, the very real loss that Michael Jackson’s death represents.
For an end of an era, then: The best and the rest of a thousand covers, and more. May the world continue to struggle with fame and fortune, and the premature loss of childhood which Jackson indicted and bemoaned with every song. MJ, though we hardly knew ye, perhaps in your memory, we can learn to take better care of all our children.
- Neil Finn: Billie Jean
(live from The Andrew Denton Musical Challenge; more Finn) - Chris Cornell: Billie Jean
(live; more Chris Cornell) - Alex Cornell: Billie Jean
(from www.alexcornell.com) - The Lost Fingers: Billie Jean
(from Lost In The 80s) - Jason Mraz w/ Nikki Kerkhof: Billie Jean
(Live at Giel 3FM; more Mraz) - Caetano Veloso: Billie Jean/Eleanor Rigby
(live; more Caetano) - Pauline Easy: Billie Jean
(from Pauline Easy Plays Uke)
- Glenn Case: Human Nature
(recorded for a Yacht Rock Coverfight; more Case)
- Neja: Man in the Mirror
(from Acousticlub; more Neja)
- Hej!: Beat It
(from the web; more Hej!)
- Robbie Fulks: Black and White
(live; more Fulks)
For more tributes and covers, see these coverblogs and coverlovers:
- Cover Me’s full album tribute to Michael Jackson’s Thriller with amazing covers by Craig David and more. NOTE: These files will go down on Wednesday, so act now!
- 40 Michael Jackson remixes and mashups from Puritan Blister
- A full set of covers from our sole female coverblogger compatriot over at Blowin’ Your Cover, including an alternate live take of KT Tunstall’s I Want You Back, and a lovely if fuzzily recorded solo version of Beat It from pianofolk deconstructionist Emm Gryner.
- A diverse set of Michael Jackson covers from coverblog newcomer Grand Passion
- A couple of live MJ covers from I Guess I’m Floating’s Thursdays and Covers tribute, including Ben Gibbard’s classic ironic take on Thriller
- Covers and remixes from Canadian coverblog extraordinaire Fong Songs, including my very favorite cover of Billie Jean from Crowded House founder Neil Finn
- Song By Toad finds three covers, too; the speed metal Alien Ant Farm version of Smooth Criminal is as far as it gets from folk, but it’s long been a guilty pleasure.
Category: Uncategorized
June 28th, 2009 at 7:53 am
404 for Shivaree: Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough(don’tstop.mp3)
June 28th, 2009 at 8:52 am
Thanks, Owyn. What would I do without you?
June 28th, 2009 at 9:34 am
I also posted some covers and a couple of Weird Al “tributes” just a few hours after hearing of Michael Jackson’s death. Obviously, there’s been a bit of repetition since:
http://pathfinderpat.wordpress.com/2009/06/26/tribute-to-a-king/
Cover Freak has five more here:
http://coverfreak.com/2009/06/28/r-i-p-black-elvis/
June 28th, 2009 at 9:52 am
No problem. I use the DownThemAll Firefox add-on to get (and check) all the links in one operation. Posting a note about broken links is just common courtesy.
Anyway, you have the hard job of creating the best written (IMHO) music blog available.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:55 am
PS: Agree with turning reply moderation back on. You are getting too much spam without it.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:32 am
I’m actually getting 70 comments CAUGHT by the spamcatcher for every one that gets through. Moderation would mean wading through several hundred possibles a day — worth it?
June 28th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Michael Jackson is my favorite pop artist ever since i was a child. He is truly the King of Pop and i am saddened by this news.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Hmmm. One of my comments for today (this topic) is awaiting moderation, have seen this before.
Maybe getting snagged by your spam catcher for some reason.
And no, not worth wading through the bulk of the spam to stop the 1/71 that is still getting through. Fortunately the show quickly on the recent comments sidebar.
June 28th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
[...] I don’t usually take requests, and in the case of Michael Jackson , I wasn’t planning to, either. After all, the death of the King of Pop has brought forth a veritable flood of tribute posts, many of them cover-laden (see below for …Continue Reading [...]
June 29th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
Check this Emm Gryner superb version of Beat it also
http://famousblueraincoats.blogspot.com/2009/06/now-beat-this-billie-jean.html
July 1st, 2009 at 3:33 pm
great job as always! thanks for the shoutout!
July 1st, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Jason Lang does a really excellent cover of “I Want You Back.” So worth tracking down! (I dig KT’s live cover, too.)
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 am
Oh and I’ve got the alvin and the chipmunk videos up as well
http://musicbirdscheerios.blogspot.com/2009/07/covers-micheal-jacksonjackson-5-tribute.html
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:32 am
I have the songs Stevie Wonder performed at the Montreal Jazz Fest 09 here. He makes a great Micheal Jackson Tribute speech and performs some covers. So all MJ fans check it out.
http://musicbirdscheerios.blogspot.com/2009/07/montreal-jazz-fest-stevie-wonder-and.html
Also have my own covers post going.
Actually have mp3s of songs that were covers done by the Jackson 5
http://musicbirdscheerios.blogspot.com/2009/07/covers-micheal-jacksonjackson-5-tribute.html
Oh and I’ve got the alvin and the chipmunk videos up as well. I also linked your page on my cover’s post. May be you can also give a shout out to mine?
July 7th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
[...] never heard anything by Ms. Marstrand myself, but this version is pretty nifty. I got it from Cover Lay Down, who has a buncha other neat songs, both MJ related and [...]
July 30th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
[...] Mraz with Nikki Kerkof’s rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” (5th link in the list… I have yet to check out the other Billie [...]
August 18th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Wow! what an idea ! What a concept ! Beautiful .. Amazing …
August 29th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
[...] R.I.P. Michael Jackson, the King of Pop (A reluctant tribute from a reluctant fan) *plus an MJ tribu… coverlaydown.com/2009/06/rip-michael-jackson-the-king-of-pop-a-reluctant-tribute-from-a-reluctant-fanplus-an-mj-tribute-roundup-from-the-coverblogs – view page – cached Folk covers of familiar songs. Reimagined versions of folk songs. Because in the folk tradition, music belongs to the community. — From the page [...]
December 31st, 2009 at 3:51 am
Michael Jackson is truly the King of Pop!. He made a lot of great songs in the area of Pop Music. His death is a great loss to the music industry.
January 1st, 2010 at 1:15 pm
[...] der sich MJ u.a. über Greil Marcus nähert. Und auf die Sammlungen von Coverversionen bei 78s und Cover Lay Down. Ich füge der Vollständigkeit halber noch die beiden (in Deutschland) wohl bekanntesten [...]