The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Wednesday May 20, 2015
The King of Pop lives on in today’s #ThreeSongs. Not digging too deep here, but when it comes to guys like MJ sometimes the best is on the surface.
ABC
It’s impossible not to smile when listening to vintage Michael Jackson. It’s so hip, so energetic, so…perfect. Perfect pop music. Jackson 5’s funky “ABC” is deservedly a rock standard. I forget how tight their band was. Seeing a young Michael on Bandstand breaks my little heart.
Thriller
Thriller
A Halloween classic and the best music video of all-time. I love his disclaimer at the beginning: “Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult.” Quincy Jones’ production work on this is flawless. Big ‘80s sound rarely sounded decent much less this good.
Beat It
Come for the catchiness and the story, stay for Eddie Van Halen’s guitar solo (and licks throughout). He sounds fresh outside of the context of his band, mixing chunky sustained notes with a decent amount of flash. Another top 5 video, too. ‘80s tough guys are pretty freaking cool.
Sigh. Man I miss Michael Jackson.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
Sigh. Man I miss Michael Jackson.
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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