He was popular and influential, but do you really believe that nobody from 1900 to 1999 had more impact on popular music than Michael Jackson??
Just to be more concrete, I'll say it's not obvious to me that Michael Jackson was more influential than, for example, Bing Crosby.
Bing? Really? I can't really say Bing was influential. Period. And I liked him.
Now, a lot of people might say Elvis. But a lot of people probably are unawares of how he sang songs written by black musicians without their permission.
Which, IMHO, leaves Michael Jackson, for his blend of dance and music, that were unparalleled at the time and now you only have to look at, well, just look, they ALL dance and sing nowadays don't they? And then you have to look at the Beatles. In which case you look at Lennon and McCartney.
No two songwriters were ever as influential as Lennon and McCartney but that's two guys and hardly seems fair.
Which leaves Michael Jackson.
What about James Brown? Or the Beatles for that matter? Funky Drummer has the most sampled piece of music ever in it.
I meant pop as a genre, distinct from rock, soul, R&B or the like.
Ok, that makes a lot more sense. I was thinking of 20th century popular music.
Commenting by HaloScan
