Tag Archive | 1983

Michael Jackson

Aug29

‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’

August 29, 2023

A Tuesday Newsday Classic Updated

The 1980’s were, in my opinion, one of the best and more diverse decades musically due to the gigantic influence of one artist in particular. That artist was, of course, Michael Jackson.

Were he still alive he would be celebrating his 65th birthday as he was born August 29, 1958.

His talent was apparent from a very young age as he was part of the Jackson 5 beginning in 1964 at the ripe old age of six. The group performed for local gigs in their hometown of Gary, Indiana, and also on talent shows. It was in August 1967 that they won a talent contest at Harlem’s Apollo theatre and caught the attention of Gladys Knight. Although her contacts in Motown did not sign the group at that time they persevered as their father Joe Jackson – the ultimate stage parent – continued to find and book gigs for them to play. In 1969 they were the opening act for the Supremes and, with the mentoring of Diana Ross, were rocketed to fame.

Although the group had tremendous success, no doubt Michael eclipsed his 9 siblings when, at age 13, his solo career started in 1971. His first single “Got To Be There” reached the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It was his next single “Ben” which sent him to the top of the charts.

It was the release of the album “Thriller” in 1982 which made Michael Jackson a true household name. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“More success came with Jackson’s sixth album, Thriller, released in late 1982. The album earned Jackson seven more Grammys and eight American Music Awards, including the Award of Merit, the youngest artist to win it.  It was the best-selling album worldwide in 1983, and became the best-selling album of all time in the United States and the best-selling album of all time worldwide, selling an estimated 65 million copies.  It topped the Billboard 200 chart for 37 weeks and was in the top 10 of the 200 for 80 consecutive weeks. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Beat It’, and ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’.  In December 2015, Thriller was certified for 30 million shipments by the RIAA, making it the only album to achieve that feat in the United States. Thriller won Jackson and Quincy Jones the Grammy award for Producer of the Year (Non-Classical) for 1983. It also won Album of the Year, with Jackson as the album’s artist and Jones as its co-producer, and a Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, award for Jackson.”

As a performer he brought energy to all he did. It’s fun to go watch the videos he made but I particularly like this clip where he does the moonwalk in a performance for the first time. Enjoy!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=fR2WFQRbP3g%3Fsi%3DRZCUMdPMaZCqF-FW

On May 8, 1983, the fourth single from the Thriller album was released: “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”. When I first heard this song it was in the middle of what became a two year stint with a fledgling start-up software company named Microsoft (I was employee #248 if I remember correctly).

Pages 36 & 37 (below right) of the December 26 1983-January 2, 1984 People magazine featuring the 25 most intriguing people of 1983.

Those were heady days for the company. Bill Gate’s star was clearly on the rise and at the end of 1983 he was featured as one of People Magazine’s 25 most intriguing people. But it was at the 4:44 mark in this song which proved to me that Microsoft was on everybody’s, including Michael Jackson’s, mind in 1983. To this day when I hear this song I swear he’s repeating the word ‘Microsoft’ over and over.

Although I’ve never written specifically about Bill Gates, I often tell people he is the most eccentric person I’ve ever met. And I will forever associate this particular Michael Jackson song with a Foresst Gump-like interaction, likely June 1983, when a trio of us from the Microsoft telemarketing crew, had the ultimate adventure with Bill Gates.

Rewind to a couple weeks earlier. Two of my fellow telemarketers, Susie R. and Sue C., really enjoyed playing racquetball at the Bellevue Athletic Club (a perk for employees) and one day they got into discussion with the vice-president of retail sales, Jim S., about the game.

This turned into an argument over whether or not Jim could beat the two of them at racquetball. Soon a bet was proffered: he would take on both of them at once and if he lost, he would take the pair out to dinner; if they lost, they would take him.

The day of the big game occurred and the next day I learned that Jim had beaten the two women.

Soon the planning began for the dinner but the one thing Susie and Sue did NOT want to do was go to dinner just with Jim. So they asked all of the telemarketing group to come along (there were six of us at that time) as well as one of the company receptionists. Beg was a more accurate word in my opinion.

So I agreed and said I would bring the hubby too. Although none of the other telemarketers took them up on the offer the receptionist – a very cute and personable 19 year old named Lisa – did. And, oh by the way, would it be okay if Lisa also asked a friend to come with her?

That ‘friend’ – it turned out – was the 27 year old owner of Microsoft: Bill Gates.

The day arrived and we headed south from Bellevue to the Cliff House restaurant at Brown’s Point near Tacoma. Since the hubby and I planned to go home directly after dinner and we lived in West Seattle, we ended up driving our little brown Honda Civic wagon while the other five piled into Susie R.’s Volkswagen Beetle van.

A 1978 VW Van similar to Susie R’s

The dinner went off without a hitch. Bill G. ordered and drank most of two bottles of wine by himself. We were all feeling pretty happy.

After dinner was over it was decided that we needed to drive back to Bellevue and go dancing at the Red Lion. So the five climbed back into the VW van while the hubby and I followed in our car.

We are on I-5 and somewhere around Fife, Susie pulls up next to us and hands a bottle out the window to our car and then zooms ahead. I will say right up front that what happened next was stupid and foolish. But five of the seven individuals were under the age of 30 and immortal and the other two (in their late 30’s early 40’s) had elevated senses of adventure.

Susie speeds ahead in the van and from our vantage point a few car lengths back, we see the van ‘wobble’ a bit and then slow down. We look over, now Jim S. is driving. Yes, they changed drivers going 55 mph* on I-5.

As we continue north this scenario continues several more times: the van wobbles and then slows with a new driver smiling and waving at us.

It was just after we had gotten onto I-405 when the last switch happens. The van wobbles, slows down, and now Bill G. is the driver. The van shoots away as though possessed. The hubby struggles to keep pace.

When we finally get to the Red Lion about five minutes AFTER the other five, we have a group table and the drinks are already flowing. I have to imagine that Lisa must have had a fake ID because she was there enjoying herself too.

When Bill – who obviously had a thing for Lisa – escorts her out to dance he literally walks up to this knee high gold colored railing which is all around the edge of the dance floor. There are a couple entries, but Bill doesn’t walk around to one of those. Instead he bends his knees and tucks the lower part of his leg up and seems to float over the railing. I’d never seen anything like it and the memory is as clear now as when it occurred 40 years ago.

Fast forward to the 4:46 mark when “Microsoft’ seems to be repeated over and over

Back to Michael Jackson. We all know how the rest of the story went. As often happens, the achievement of fame does not lead to happiness. Jackson was a near daily subject of tabloids and a constant target for paparazzi; his bizarre behaviors and personal life dissected without abatement.

His death, it was ultimately determined, was from cardiac arrest. Like everything else in his life, though, that too swirled in controversy. What we do know is that he was taking a virtual pharmacy of drugs for various issues at the time of his demise on June 25, 2009.

The whole article is worth a read. Jackson’s was an amazing life, surreal in many ways.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forrest_Gump

*From 1974 to 1995 the speed limits on highways was capped at 55 mph.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law

Remembering Karen Carpenter: The Voice That Captivated a Generation

Feb4

February 4

Karen Carpenter

A Tuesday Newsday Classic

February 3, 1959. August 16, 1977. December 8, 1980. February 4, 1983. April 5, 1994.

For any person who is a true fan, any one of these dates might invoke an unpleasant memory of the ‘day the music died’ for them. Each date marks the passing of a well loved and famous musical artist. Do you recall where you were and what you were doing on any one of these days?

My brother – who is a disc jockey – still talks about August 16, 1977. The day Elvis died. For Nirvana fans it’s April 5, 1994. Beatles devotees recall December 8, 1980 as a day which shocked the world. And, of course, February 3, 1959, marks the tragic date when Buddy Holly died in a plane crash along with a few others.

Karen Carpenter early 1970s

Karen Carpenter in the early 1970’s

If you don’t recognize February 4, 1983, you can be forgiven. But for me that was the date when the first artist whose voice and music truly captured me, died: Karen Carpenter.

To this day I wonder it was an avoidable outcome if only…  if only her mother had been more loving and less controlling… if only she hadn’t been forced to come out from behind her drums… if only the press had not been so awful to her… if only she could have loved herself the way her fans loved her.

By all accounts, Karen’s life could have become a fairy-tale come true. At the age of nineteen Karen, as one half of The Carpenters, saw their first big hit “Close To You” rocket to the top of the pop charts. Fame and financial success followed with a string of Top Ten records. Concerts, TV specials, and an invitation to the White House were all a part of those heady years.

And yet. Karen was particularly sensitive to body image. From the Infallible Wikipedia:

“Carpenter began dieting while in high school. Under a doctor’s guidance, she began the Stillman diet, eating lean foods, drinking eight glasses of water a day, and avoiding fatty foods. She reduced her weight to 120 pounds and stayed approximately at that weight until around 1973, when the Carpenters’ career reached its peak.  That year, she happened to see a photo of herself taken at a concert in which her outfit made her appear heavy. Carpenter hired a personal trainer who advised her to change her diet. The new diet caused her to build muscle, which made her feel heavier instead of slimmer. Carpenter fired the trainer and began her own weight loss program using exercise equipment and counting calories. She lost about 20 pounds and intended to lose another five pounds. Her eating habits also changed around this time, with Carpenter trying to get food off her plate by offering it to others at the meal as a taste.”

With increased success, came increased pressure to look and be perfect. By most accounts it seems that Karen spent her life trying to gain her mother’s love and approval. Older brother Richard was the focus of the family’s attention. At age 3 he was playing the piano and had been identified as a child prodigy with immense talent. It must have come as a huge shock to her parents when it was Karen and her amazing voice that proved to be the secret to success. Also from the Infallible Wikipedia:

“(Karen) Carpenter had a complicated relationship with her parents. They had hoped that Richard’s musical talents would be recognized and that he would enter the music business, but were not prepared for Karen’s success. She continued to live with them until 1974. In 1976, Carpenter bought two Century City apartments which she combined into one; the doorbell chimed the opening notes of ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’.”

Karen carpenter in grip of her disease

In this photo, you can clearly see that she is not at a healthy weight.

Most of the focus on Anorexia Nervosa came after Karen’s untimely death. In the decades since there has been research and a public push to find solutions for those who are afflicted by the disorder. Karen Carpenter’s struggle has been largely responsible for this.

One of the things I would have loved would have been to attend a Carpenter’s concert. Alas, being only 13 when they hit the top of the charts, it was not going to happen. My mother believed rock and roll concerts (the Carpenters were not exactly rock and roll BTW) were not appropriate places for young women. In fact, the first concert I attended was a decade later, long after the Carpenters were no longer touring.

For several years in the 1970’s, however, I purchased every one of their albums and would listen to Karen’s dulcet tones for hours on end. I loved her voice.

Fast forward to Friday, February 4, 1983. I was working at Microsoft – then located near the Burger Master on Northup Way in Belleuve, Washington – paying more attention to selling computer software and not listening to music for hours each day.

It was payday and at lunchtime one of my fellow Microsofties, Sue C., and me decided to go deposit our paychecks in the bank. We headed to downtown Kirkland, a few miles north. Once our banking was complete, we drove south on Lake Washington Boulevard. We likely had the radio on – background to our chatting – when I heard the announcement “Pop star Karen Carpenter has died.”

I think Sue was behind the wheel and immediately stopped the car as we both exclaimed shock and dismay. How could it be? What I most recall about that day is that it seemed dark to me. In reality, according to the weather history, it was a fairly mild, clear day. But in my mind, it’s dark.

Karen Carpenter was such a part of our growing up experience; she was 32 years old, a mere seven years older than ourselves.

In 1989 I watched with interest the CBS TV movie The Karen Carpenter Story. In the years since her death I had not listened much to The Carpenters. The moment I heard those favorite songs and her voice, however, it was as if I was transported back to the early 1970’s. What a voice. It was filled with emotion and able to convey a sadness that transcended the years. Like so many artists who died young, I wonder what wonderful songs the world missed out on when Karen Carpenter left us on February 4, 1983.

A few links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter

I couldn’t make up my mind as to which of these two songs to share… so I did both. I think Superstar also captures the depth of whatever pains she felt in life.

Superstar: https://youtu.be/SJmmaIGiGBg

Links to three other posts I’ve made about Karen Carpenter:

Wedding Woes

Just like me, they long to be…

Top Of The World