Michael Jackson is a singer song writer born in Gary Indiana in 1958. He started out in music as a member of the Jackson 5 with 4 of his brothers, until 1975 when him and his brothers except Jermaine left Motown and signed with Epic records; replacing Jermaine with Randy and rebranding as the Jackson’s. However it is Michaels solo career in which he is most well known for as his iconic songs, dancing and Music Videos confirmed him as one of the greatest entertainers of all time. He is confirmed to have sold between 400 million and 1 billion records worldwide (though the numbers aren’t very specific) and is believed to be known by 4 billion people worldwide which is half the worlds population and the second most known individual in History (behind Jesus Christ).
Michael is also known by his nickname the ‘King of Pop’ given to his close friend Elizabeth Taylor, and it shows via his songs and Music Videos. In fact he was once the only Artist in History to have 5 number 1 hits on a single album with Bad (1987) until Katy Perry equalled it in 2010 with Teenage Dream. However, what defines Michael Jackson’s Music is the Music Videos he created alongside them. One of them on his Bad Album is his MV for… well, Bad which is a perfect example of how Michael was album to push himself ahead of the competition throughout and beyond the 1980’s.
Bad Music Video (1987):
The Music Video released premiered on CBS on August 31st 1987 along with the Bad album the same day in order to promote the album. It seemed to work because as of 2023, Bad is the 12th best selling album of all time. The Music Video is set in a subway in New York City and the narrative and the making of the music video both coincide with the choice of setting. Michael and his gang dancing in the subway is a reference to the 1961 musical West Side Story which Michael was a big fan of. The dances mixed with the brutal lyrics like “I’m telling you, just to watch your mouth” is incredibly similar to the tone and narrative of WSS. The only difference from the Musical would be that all of Michaels young backup dancers come from all backgrounds instead of just all white or all Puerto Ricon. This could be a hidden detail showing us that Michael wants all sides to be united, no matter what anyones background is; appealing to pretty much everyone. For the making of the MV, it is directed by none other than Martin Scorsese who is incredibly well known for setting some of his movies in New York City. The reason he was probably chosen was so that he could bring character to the setting that Michael and his dancers would be dancing in, just like he did with films like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver.
However, it is how Michael represents himself in the Music Video that helps us understand what he is trying to tell us. Setting this in the New York Subway and not the streets is already a clear indication that Michael is trying to get anyone who is associated with gangs off the streets. To further prove this, the first action that Michael Jackson does in the MV is he clicks his finger in order to get the gang members attention, showing order. He also always standing in front of the pack, not the middle or the back, and whenever there is a part in the MV we’re the gang moves around, Michael paces forward to assert control. This could also represent the shape of the Music industry in the 1980’s as whenever there is a change in the music industry (the dancers moving direction) Michael always finds a way to make his way to the front without hesitation.
This edition of Rolling Stone Magazine released in a 1983, which was the year Michael released his 3 Music Videos for the Thriller album (Billie Jean, Beat It, and Thriller) and debuted his most iconic dance move, the MoonWalk. It was around this time in the 1983 when Michael was on top of the Music World and it was thanks to the moments I just listed that made Thriller the biggest selling album of all time.
Posing with his fist on his chin and in a basic red and white striped shirt, he is taking up the full cover of the magazine to represent the amount of stardom he as reached at this point in his life. The close up of him could appeal to mostly young girls as they would be the ones most likely following him at this point in his career and would mostly likely want more insight on the man himself. He stares menacingly into the camera with his fist covering a bit of his face to potentially represent his shyness. Throughout his life Michael was as shy as anything so being on the front page of one of the most well known magazines in America was surely going to make the man nervous. This gives the impression that Michael was like his Music, that his music was calm and happy. Though this could be the case for pretty much all the songs on his first album ‘Off The Wall’ and for some songs on ‘Thriller’ like ‘Human Nature’ and ‘P.Y.T’ this was not the case for songs like ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller’. This was also the time when featuring black people on Magazines started to be normalised, as even though Michael did start it (Tina Turner did) he definitely helped to normalise it like he did with normalising black artists on MTV.
Taxi Driver > Bad