case study

1. Michael Jackson:-
I (Sagar Savaliya) have decided to do a case study about Michael Jackson to widen my music
knowledge. The sources I have used togather this information are my own knowledge, Wikipedia
and www.michaeljackson.com, (an official website dedicated to Michael Jackson).
Michael Jackson, referred to as the “King of music videos” is a highly recognized singer who
originally started out with influence from R&B and soul music. From the early 80‟s he had a
demanding role in the pop music movement, at the same time in which he released his album
„thriller‟ which is the best selling album of all time. Michael Jackson has a strong meta narrative
in which he changed his personality, appearance, and relationships drastically which
consequently caused great controversy.
Early life:-
Michael Jackson was born on the 29th July, 1958. He was the eighth of ten children to come from
an African American working class family. Michael claims that his troubled childhood caused
him to succeed in the world of music. He joined the Jackson brothers in 1964, a band formed by
four of his brothers. When Michael was eight, he started singing, lead vocals and subsequently
the group changed their name to the Jacksons from 1966 to 1968 the band toured the Midwest
strongly, in order to gain a name for themselves and succeeded by winning a major local talent

2. show with cover, of motown, before going on to record several songs which include “Big Boy”
in 1967. The magazine rolling stone described the Jackson 5 as “a prodigy:
Moving up:-
The Jackson 5 signed a record deal with Epic Records( partnered with CBS Records). They
changed their name to “The Jacksons” with Michael as the lead singer. They toured
internationally at the same time as releasing six new albums between 1976 and 1984. The album
“off the wall‟ in which they produced in 1979 proved successful with collaborating artists such
as Stevie wonder and Paul McCartney who helped song write. Also in 1979, Michael broke his
nose in a dance practice, and subsequently complained of breathing difficulties. After, and was
consequently referred to a doctor to perform his second rhinoplasty and other operations. This
changed his appearance and the audience became more involved with his life, however his
carrier was still moving up with success including winning three music awards at the American
Music Awards in 1981.
In 1982, Michael Jackson released the album “Thriller” which in 1983 became the world‟s best
selling album of all time selling approximately 110 million copies of the album to this date.

3. “Thriller” was such a huge success both in MICHAEL JACKSON‟s career and the music world
that in late 2009 the music video for the for the single “Thriller” was selected for the national
film registry by the library of congress. This music video was also the first music video ever to
be included in this register which suggests his music video was a ground breaking point in music
video history. MICHAEL JACKSON developed a grain of voice in which he became noticeable
for his unique and talents by everyone. After famous performances MICHAEL JACKSON
mastered his “moonwalk” and implied it as a trademark routine. This was a great promotional
tool due to the fact that everyone knew he was famous for creating the fabulous the “moonwalk”
dance move. New York time wrote,” The moonwalk that he made famous is an apt metaphor for
his dance style. How does he do it? As a technical, he is a great illusionist, a genius mine. His
ability to keep one leg straight as he glides while the other bends and seems to walk requires
perfect thing.”
MICHAEL JACKSON‟s music video Thriller I like the way the music perfectly matches the
narrative and the camera work covers every detail in order to combine the beat with the image
for exam. When they are walking the footsteps play in sync with the beat and the melody
positioned perfectly over the top.
Pressure from CBS records caused MTV to start showing MJ‟s videos, a channel in which
hesitated at first due to his ethnicity. Videos such As “Scream” and “Beat it” made him constant
on MTV, and in turn made MTV just as well known for featuring such an iconic artist.
Consequently, in the 1980‟s MTV MICHAEL JACKSON received 11 awards nominations from
MTV for his video‟s „scream‟ and won “best dance video” , “best choreography” and “ best art
direction” as well as being recognized for the most expensive video ever to be produce.
Downfall:-

4. His iconic grain of voice, trademark routines and utter career success caused him to be the center
of attention in the music world; until the media rumored of his downfall. MICHAEL JACKSON
had mildly brown skin throughout his early life. Yet rumors that he had been bleaching his skin
appeared after his skin looked lighter from the mid 1980‟s. This change in appearance caused the
media to engross themselves with a new story that would fascinate the world; however he
combated these claims by stating that he was diagnosed with vitiligo and lupus. Which in turn
made his skin lighter? Another factor that changed his appearance was his desire to have a
dancer‟s physique, in which he lost a lot of weight, his troubled childhood and extreme launch
into fame made him increasingly self-conscious; surgeon‟s conjeclured that he underwent a
number of medical procedures. Including; cheek house surgery, nasal surgery and a forehead lift.
Although, this press caused him to earn the name the “KING OF POP” by his fans in the late
1980‟s.
In may 1994 Michael married the daughter o Elvis presley. Lisa marle Presley. The marriage
lasted two years before a divorce; to make way for his second marriage in the late 1990‟s to
Deborah Jane Rowe which produced two children before divorcing in 1999.MICHAEL
JACKSON gained full custody of the children before having a third. through artificial
insemination. In 2002 MICHAEL JACKSON brought his new born son on to a balcony and fans
witnessed him dangling him over the balcony. This first child abuse allegation sparked the
media„s attention and resulted in more bad press. This incident was consequently followed by
another child abuse incident in 2003 to 2005.
Final years: -
Michael Jackson held a conference at London‟s 02 arena in 2009 explaining he would perform
on stage one last time, in a series of concerts and “this is it “.Dedicated fans were extremely
excited for his last comeback; however a few weeks before he was due to perform for the for the
concert. He died from acute propfol intoxication on June 25, 2009 after suffering from a heart
attack.
Overall, by studding MICHAEL JACKSON in detail I have learnt about his music career
including some of the promotional tools used to keep audiences interested. One of the techniques
I noticed that entailed over MICHAEL JACKSON‟s lifetime was the Meta narrative appearance

5. technique. We see him drastically develop over years from a young dark skinned by to an older
white male who underwent a series of facial reconstructions. Although he has had some serious
allegations throughout his career; Michael Jackson will be an iconic symbol for great talent in
music and creating imaginative music video I believe the sources I used also worked efficiently
in a way that I was able to extract and interpret information successfully.
Prepared by:
Sagar Savaliya (H-04)