Cue the insufferable media frenzy, record company's cashing-in, and exaggerated tributes to St. Michael.

Oh yes - of course! Sorry but my sympathies with Jacko are limited. Jarvis had it right back at the Brits.

RIP Michael, this feels so strange.

Well, I'm gutted. But mostly because his bleeding songs'll be unavoidable for the next six months, nay, years - & as a known Pulp fan I'll be constantly asked about it for the next few weeks in Reading.

Let's not forget that Jacko was accused of being a paedo - can you imagine Gary Glitter being given  such respect if it had been him that died? Why is one vilified, and the other put up on a pedestal? Sorry, I know this is going way off topic of Pulp, but it irks me.

-- Edited by anet on Friday 26th of June 2009 09:12:18 PM

-- Edited by Steve Devereux on Friday 26th of June 2009 11:13:36 PM

He was never convicted as a ''paedo'' though. Did he ''buy off'' his accuser's silences? Or was he a victim of them (and their parents) taking advantage of his ''naive man/child'' persona? I really don't know. But I'd stop short of tarring him with the same brush as Glitter. He was convicted. Jackson never was.

Anyway, Jarvis can expect a lot more coverage tomorrow presumably. Be it through the chance of a soundbite in his ''between-song-banter'' or the possibilty of a Jacko cover version, all eyes/cameras will be trained on the John Peel tent (those that aren't watching Springsteen obviously).

-- Edited by Eamonn on Friday 26th of June 2009 10:15:09 PM

anet wrote:

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I think the evidence against Jacko is over-whelming

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You can't state with any authority that the evidence is "overwhelming", though, because you've never seen any of it, other than what was reported in the media.  The maxim, though, remains innocent until proven guilty; he was never proven guilty, and to insinuate otherwise - as per your original last sentence - is wandering into very dangerous legal territory (I don't know how the law works in the US - where the board is actually hosted for some reason - what with the First Amendment and everything, you might be able to get away with that kind of comment, but for the purposes of the tort of defamation in England/Wales, it would be an open and shut case.)

Regardless of how repugnant you might find him and his admitted conduct, can we all please refrain from saying anything else libellous, and keep our legal conjecturing to ourselves in future? Please?

Thank you.

-- Edited by Steve Devereux on Friday 26th of June 2009 11:12:50 PM

http://www.guarana.org/totc/

Jarvis was right in '96 because the performance was preposterous.  that takes nothing from with the fact that Michael Jackson was a genius.  if you can't see talent and brilliance in Thriller, Off the Wall, The Jackson 5, the moonwalk, the robot, the lean, and some of the best videos ever made; i don't know what to say. 

and the "evidence" concerning the civil suit and the one where Jackson was found not guilty?  hardly "overwhelming". 

Michael Jackson dying is fucking shame.

A lot worse has been said else where. I didn't get censored there!

But accusations and allegations aside, I always thought Micahael Jackson's work was more about showmanship than substance - it says nothing to me about my life. And he allegedly went behind Paul McCartney's back to buy the publishing rights to The Beatles songs - unforgivable.

anet wrote:

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And he allegedly went behind Paul McCartney's back to buy the publishing rights to The Beatles songs - unforgivable.

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There, now you're getting it! :)  I know I'm ludicrously over-protective when it comes to potential legal issues, I do; it's a by-product of my day job, where I see people getting sued all the time for relatively innocuous shit, combined with the actual stroppy letter some jobsworth piss-bubble at Vivendi saw fit to have sent to my house when loads of people were supposedly talking about trading copies of the Island albums on the old board (i.e. other people, not me, but they got my name and address from the domain registration info).  I'm not scared, most legal threats of this ilk are laughable, but it's all stuff I can do without, especially now that I'm applying for work with the CPS, GLS etc.

Eamonn: I've just finished training as a barrister; I've been working at a firm of solicitors for a couple of years now while I did the bar course part-time.