In 1995, Michael Jackson released his first ever Greatest Hits package, which was a double disc set comprising of all of the old favourites and another separate disc of mostly new recordings. To coincide with the album was a video cassette, which I personally dubbed from a friend of mine who lived around the corner from me. Eventually I taped over it but only because the sound was quite muffled. Also, I knew that one day I was going to have to replace it with a DVD copy. I wound up doing exactly that back in 2002…..maybe it was after that, I can’t recall. I know I bought both volumes on disc that day. I must admit, I didn’t like Volume 2 very much, as it featured some of the clips that were already on Volume One, so seeing as how it was that version that I always preferred, I figured I’d say a few words about that very disc. Here’s my review:
Brace Yourself: Basically, this is a short clip featuring him not just conquering places like Japan and Europe, but also creating somewhat of a stampede amongst massive crowds of fanatical fans. As you can imagine, some of these fans can be seen crying their eyes out, fainting and of course, screaming out “Michael I love you!!!” When I look back on this clip now, it just tells me that it was used in order to create some kind of hype and to give us somewhat of a sample of what was about to be presented to us all, as there are also some very brief grabs from certain video clips, such as “Thriller,” “Jam,” “Say Say Say,” which is nowhere to be found on this disc. Neither is “Jam” for that matter. From there it’s onto a whole bunch of scattered Michael Jackson videos, but since I’m too much of a fuss pot I’m gonna review the disc in chronological order. You’re basically gettin’ the same tracklisting as the “Number Ones” DVD, but with a couple of extra odds and ends. All righty then, let’s take a look at the way this thing should’ve been released in the first place.
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough: The first official introduction to Michael Jackson as an adult wound up becoming a straight up classic funky disco tune, complete with Mike singing in an unbelievably high falsetto. The deep bassline and the cowbells were even cooler and it made you dance! In the forefront of the video was Michael dancing in a tuxedo and bowtie with an Afro haircut. The background featured really dated looking steps and coloured bubbles…..no not the chimp he used to carry around with him – actual bubbles…..sort of like what you’d now use as a desktop pattern on your computer. I still love that solo that comes in halfway through the song……as that’s going on in the video – three Michael Jacksons dance on the screen…..this was but a taste of what was yet to come. Although this was the beginning of his solo career with Epic Records, it is actually the second last video on the DVD. Not a bad introduction if I do say so myself.
Rock With You: Another simple video from Michael Jackson. This one featured him singing into a radio signal microphone while wearing a rather glittery ’70s outfit and showing us all some of his rather famous fancy footwork, the likes of which would only get better over time. It looked like the world famous jheri curl was just starting to show itself in this here video clip. The song itself was yet another classic in the Michael Jackson catalogue. Why am I saying “was a classic”? It is a classic! “I wanna rock with you, all night.” On the one hand you could say that he wanted to dance with his woman all night long, but on the other hand, he could’ve also been suggesting sex. Something else you may not know about this song is that the original album version featured no handclaps at all, but then he went back and added some in. I’d imagine the original version would be a lot more scarce nowadays.
Billie Jean: This video features Michael decked out in a pink shirt with a red bowtie and a black leather jacket draped over his shoulder while he walks down the street flipping a coin. He stops by a filthy, unshaved hobo who is sleeping next to a can, which homeless folks of course carry with them, in an effort to get some change. Michael drops his coin into the can and suddenly the man goes from filthy and unshaven to clean and sharply dressed. Michael most definitely created some magic with this clip not just because of what I described, but also with the dance steps which really wowed the general public. Not to mention the fact that each tile that he stepped on lit up. The same can be said for the split screen affect that is shown throughout this clip. It was like catching Michael in mid dance step. The whole video would’ve been pretty awesome for its time, I’m sure. Still looks great now. This was the first clip on the “History” DVD.
Beat It: Michael Jackson’s foray into a much more hard rock-based territory featured lyrics about two gangs who were fighting against each other. Michael actually recruited some real life gang members and asked them to star in this very video clip. According to his autobiography “Moonwalker,” he was initially quite scared of the guys, but then he talked to them and noticed that they were all just a bunch of sweet guys, so he felt okay after that. Yes, these were his exact words. Back to the video: this was yet another iconic moment in Michael’s career. The thing that’s most recognised about the “Beat It” clip is the red leather jacket he wore. I never had one, but apparently plenty of other kids in the world did. Michael’s dance moves in this clip are also quite legendary….check out that whole sequence at the end of the clip where they all form a huge line. Brilliant. Comedian Weird Al Yankovic would later make a parody of this song and call it “Eat It.” He even gave a little nod to the “Thriller” video right at the end by using cats eyes contact lenses. Tell em what’s up, Mike: “Beat it, beat it. No one wants to be defeated, showin how funky strong is your fight, it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right.” Damn straight. What a classic!!! Although in the live version on the “Dangerous Live” DVD, he seems to begin this song with the lyrics: “They told him don’t you ever come around shit.” I laughed hysterically when I first heard him say that.
Thriller: As we all know, this was the video that really changed the whole game. Up until this point, as far as video clips were concerned, we’d only ever seen an artist performing their respective song and not doing very much else. I don’t just mean in the case of Michael Jackson, I mean in the case of any artist. Let me tell you how all of this plays out: Michael and his girlfriend, one-time Playboy centerfold Ola Ray are driving around in a silver cadillac really late at night. They run out of gas, so they decide to get out and walk.
Ola apologises to Mike for doubting him after they run out of petrol….or gasoline if you’re American. Michael responds by changing the subject all together: “Can I ask you something? You know I like you. I hope you like me the way I like you…I was wondering if….you would be my girl.” He pulls out a ring and of course, they hug and grin from ear to ear, just like a nice, normal young couple ought to. Did I say normal? Uh-oh…..Mike’s about to drop a bomb on her: “I have something I wanna tell you…..I’m not like other guys.” She doesn’t think much of it and claims “that’s why I love you.” He says, “No I mean I’m different.” Cut to a full moon, spooky music and Michael doubling over in pain.
Ola looks down and asks Michael if he’s all right. When he looks up, his eyes are yellow, his teeth are massive and sharp and he yells out “Get away!!” Or is that “Go away”? I dunno……still kinda hard to tell, seeing as how his voice is all distorted and what not. Both of ‘em start screaming, but as Michael screams, he begins to slowly transform into a werewolf. The director, John Landis who also made “American Werewolf in London” obviously added in elements from that particular film in order for Michael to become this classic monster, in particular the way in which his fingernails bleed as he sprouts a set of claws. The sound effects that are used as Michael is transforming were also lifted from “American Werewolf.”
As usual, Ola runs away while Michael chases right after her, eventually they meet up again, but just when you think he’s gonna eat her alive, the screen cuts to a scene of the two of them in a theatre watching a movie. Michael scoffs his popcorn while Ola squirms in her seat in horror: “I can’t watch this!” And out she runs. Again, Michael goes after her and tells her “It’s only a movie!” Yes, I know….although I must admit, when I was a kid, this video used to scare the shit out of me like you wouldn’t believe. I was terrified til I was about 13. No lie. Sidenote: during the scene where Michael & Ola are watching the movie, you can hear some of the dialogue: “Scrawled in blood what does it say? See you next Wednesday.” That was a phrase that Landis always used to include in his films for some reason or another.
Anyways, after Michael meets back up with Ola, he starts following her, while singing some of the verses from “Thriller”: “You feel the cold hand and wonder if you’ll ever see the sun…….” As all of this is going on, a whole bunch of zombies start coming out of their tombs and before you know it, Michael and Ola are surrounded by a group of the undead – one of them is spitting up black blood. Charming.
Ola is looking all kinds of worried but is even more terrified when, suddenly Michael becomes a zombie himself. His iconic red leather jacket becomes old and raggedy, his eyes bug out and his face goes green. The only difference is that he and his gang of undead don’t go after poor old innocent Ola Ray. Instead, they all get together in a group and proceed to perform some of the most legendary dance steps ever committed to VHS.
After a while, Mike turns around and sings the chorus, obviously now he’s back to normal: “Cos this is Thriller/Thriller night/Girl I can thrill ya more than any goul could ever dare try.” By the way, this song was originally called “Starlight Love” or “Starlight Night,” but they decided that they needed something more ambituous, so they turned it into a “scary movie” type of song and the rest is history.
When Michael is finished singing the chorus, he turns back into a zombie and tears down his girflriend’s house along with the rest of his dead homies….in no way is that a reference to O’Shea Jackson, better known as Ice Cube. Michael approaches Ola and of course, she screams her head off. He puts his hand on her shoulder and says, “What’s the problem? Come on, I’ll take ya home.” Then he turns around and his eyes go yellow. The credits roll and once again that scene of Michael dancing with the zombies plays once again.
This is without a doubt one of the best video clips ever made. In fact, when they released it on VHS, it blew up all over the world to the point where they released another one all together, outlining the making of the feature. I’m proud to own this on DVD. For real……although at this point I have it on three different discs, which seems a bit silly when you think about it.
On another note, it has just been brought to my attention that this Ola Ray chick is on YouTube crying over Michael’s death, calling him her hero and what not, yet just a few months before he passed away, she was trying to sue him over not being paid enough for making an appearance in this video. Pretty sad and extremely messed up. The video is still legendary regardless of what others may say and yes…..it is indeed a piece of history.
Bad: Yet another incredibly long video from Michael Jackson. This one features him playing the role of a college graduate named Darryl, who is very good friends with a fella by the name of Wesley Snipes. Back when this video was first released, nobody knew who he was, but of course now we all recognise him. He gives quite a solid performance as an angry young man who literally shakes Mike around and tells him “You ain’t down with us no more!! You ain’t bad!!!” Michael tells him to back off and says, “You wanna see who’s bad? Come on, let’s do it,” while he takes off his gloves with his teeth. I must say, this is somewhat of a humorous scene, especially when we all thought of Mike as some type of innocent, child-like fella who spoke in a high pitched voice.
They then go to a train station, where Michael walks over to another homeless man and clears him outta the way, so as to prevent his gang from possibly jumping the fella. Wesley freaks out: “What are you doing, huh?! You ain’t bad.” Mike retorts with: “You ain’t bad!!! You ain’t nothin’!!! You ain’t nothin’!!!” Just what the hell is all of this about? Hell, not even Michael knew! Believe that.
All of what I just described was shot in black & white, but after a while, it goes into colour and we’re treated to a whole bunch of fellas jumping around in the air. Michael stands in front of them, decked out in a black leather suit with belt buckles on it. He has some kind of aggressive look on his face. He jerks his head a little, throws his fist in the air and the beat kicks in, along with the opening lyrics: “Your butt is mine, gonna tell ya right, just show ya face in broad daylight……” I’ve no idea what that even means, but it somehow worked. This was the first video where Mike hollered “Shamon!” or “Come on” and “HO!” Not to be confused with a gardening tool or a certain female with overt sexual tendencies. It also marked the first time that Michael Jackson grabbed his, uh…. “the love below” in a video clip. I know I certainly wasn’t expecting that! Not even at five years old.
When Michael is through singing his “Bad” song to Wesley, he improvises: “Who’s bad? Who’s bad? Who’s bad? You’re tellin me, you’re doing wrong….better watch your mouth, before too long…..ask yo brother…..ask yo sista….ask me.” What’s wild is that I still remember seeing this video for the very first time all the way back in 1987. The DVD box describes what we’re seeing here as “the never before seen 18 minute long version of “Bad.”" Somebody lied. Either that or they cut out whatever was originally shown on TV back in the day. If it were the latter then that would certainly make more sense.
The Way You Make Me Feel: Second video on the “History” DVD features a whole bunch of young men in the hood generally making a fuss and even getting the cops in on the action. Two women also walk by and whenever they do they always get hit on in an unbelievably sleazy and tasteless manner. One guy even shouts out “Check out that rear end!!” Yeah, cuz that’s really how you get to a girl’s heart…make a whole bunch of sexist comments and she’ll fall right over you. Eventually Michael enters the scene and tries to be “cool” like the rest of him, but they beg him off. An old man then talks to him and tells him to be himself. Mike decides to go along with that. Then when he spots another woman he starts singing “The Way You Make Me Feel” to her, y’know how it goes: “hey pretty baby with the high heels on, ya give me fever…..” and ecetera. Whaddaya know, it works. Even the whole grinding on the ground thing does wonders for Mr Jackson, because at the end of the video, they hug and walk away with each other…….ok so they don’t walk away, but it is implied that they’ve somehow become an item. The version that’s on this particular release runs for about nine minutes. I think I may’ve seen it on TV at one point, but it was so long ago that I can barely remember. As I already pointed out in my review of the “Bad” album, “Make Me Feel” is a most certainly quite a Motown and doo-wop influenced song.
Black Or White: Michael reunited with John Landis for this next video clip, which opened up with Macauley Culkin of “Home Alone” fame jumping up and down on his beat while an ear splitting rock tune blared all the way through the house, causing his incredibly irate father to burst into his room and start hollering: “You are wasting your time with this garbage now GO-TO-BED!!!” He slams the door and a framed poster of Michael shatters and falls to the ground. Macauley then breaks out an electric guitar and two massive amplifiers. He turns the volume all the way up to “Are you nuts!?” and sends his father to a whole other galaxy. The guy literally shoots up through the air and lands in some of desert with tigers, lions and Michael Jackson dancing with Native Indians and what not. Yes, this was one heck of a mind blowing video from Michael Jackson. I remember seeing this on TV as well….this time it was back in 1991. I know there were a few folks out there who heard this song and said “What are you talking about “It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white”? You’re whiter than Edward Scissorhands! At least that’s what comedian Lenny Henry said a couple of years later. Appearances aside, this video’s ending caused quite a lot of controversy as well. The main reason why it did that was because it featured a panther morphing into Michael, who then danced around the stage, grabbing his you-know-what several times. It wasn’t just that, it was the fact that he went around smashing glass and windscreens on family cars. At nine years of age, I didn’t understand what was goin’ on. When I got older, I noticed that he was actually smashing the racist graffiti which was written on the glass. On the “Dangerous” DVD, this clip ends with the message “Prejudice is ignorance.” Indeed. On the “History” DVD, it concludes with Bart Simpson dancing to “Black Or White” on the family couch and Homer Simpson switching the TV off while munching on a banana. Yeah, I remember that too! The Simpsons were just starting over here at that stage. We were so far behind back in those days! At least now we’ve got the internet and what not.
Remember The Time: Hey look! It’s another longass music video from Michael Jackson. This one took place in Egypt and was directed by John Singleton, who later went onto direct such films as “Higher Learning” and “Poetic Justice,” which of course starred Michael’s little sister Janet. Anyways, in this video, Eddie Murphy plays a Pharaoh and African model Iman plays his wife who wants to be entertained. Eddie claps his hands and out comes basketballer Magic Johnson who introduces the first act: “The stick man.” Iman is not impressed: “Throw him to the lions.” Next act comes out – he’s named “Pyro,” a fire eater. Iman makes a “slit his throat” type of gesture. He gets ushered off and we hear the sounds of swords clinging together. “That’s cold,” says Magic as he rubs his throat. And then……out comes this person wearing a black hooded outfit. Eddie looks at him all square and asks “And what is it you’re going to do?” He steps up, sprinkles some magic dust around and walks into it. Suddenly, he falls into the floor. Everybody is stunned. Next thing you know, he comes back up in the form of Michael Jackson wearing some kind of gold dress….or so it seems. He starts singing: “Do you remember…..when we fell in love, we were young and innocent then.” The whole time he’s looking directly at Iman, who now has quite an amorous look on her face. Mike goes up to her and kisses her on her hand. Eddie is furious!!! He demands his workers to go after him!!! And so for the rest of the video, Michael is chased all around the Egyptian castle. Of course, he has enough time to stop, make a line and have a bit of a boogie session with all of the other Pharaohs in the building. Eventually, he meets back up with Iman and…..shock horror!!! They actually share a kiss!!! Go, Michael!!! Whoo!!! Who knew he had it in him? Yes. This is definitely one of his best videos. Brilliant. The song’s quite good, too. Just listen to those vocals. Classic Mike Jack.
Heal The World: Are you sure you want to know what I think of this song? Very well. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. When I first heard it, I immediately disliked it. I don’t know what it was, but something about it made me go: “Nah. I’m not diggin’ this.” Maybe I thought it was too slow for my liking. Perhaps even too preachy and sappy. “Heal the world, make it a better place…..” That may be a nice gesture but it struck absolutely no chords with me at all. Come to think of it, the little kid’s voice in the intro irked me quite a bit, too: “Think about..the generation blah, blah, blah.” Then about a year or two later, when I was in sixth grade, one of my “teachers” decided that we should all sing this song together in harmony. Eventually it reached the stage where members of the class would occasionally break out into the chorus. Can you imagine a whole bunch of eleven year-olds shouting out “Heal the world, make it a better place…..” Evil! Which is why I, personally, would never sing this song. Ever. As a matter of fact I’d always be cringing in the corner secretly hollering “Make it stop!!!!” I even have a mental picture of two girls in my class performing some kinda dance routine to the lyrics. I wonder what their reaction to this song would be now? As you can see, I still can’t stand this…..atrocity. Sorry, Michael. In the same year that I was tortured with this song (1993) a member of the reggae band Third World played it on his violin. All the more power to them for liking it, but I still don’t! Basically, I always switch the DVD player off whenever it gets to this song….it’s the last one anyway, so it’s no big deal. All of that said, I must admit, it was nice when they played this at Michael’s memorial service, with his children up there singing their daddy’s song.
Verdict: I’ve loved Michael Jackson ever since I was a child. Therefore I feel very privelliged to own all of these groundbreaking video clips on DVD. If you had so much as a passing interest in Michael Joseph Jackson, this is definitely what you need in your collection. Carson Daley of MTV America said that a Michael Jackson video was more like an event and this collection only further proves the point. It is undoubtably essential viewing.
michael was a great man in his life time,but his biography,ways of his living was so dangerous.michael was a good masicial he sing very well,and the interesting part of it,is about his dancing method.thanks,