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| MJ | 71% | 653 votes | Total: 924 votes | |
| Elvis | 29% | 271 votes |
MJ
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King of Rock or the King of Pop: Who Influenced Music More?
I grew up watching Elvis movies, singing along and falling in love, but I also remember my Michael Jackson blow-up pillow, plucked from the depths of a cereal box when I was very young, and Michael was a member of the Jackson Five. A pillow I slept with for an entire summer spent listening to my older cousins' forty-fives and a crackly radio in the fresh air just outside of Woodstock, NY. So I pondered this question for quite some time. In the end, I think the answer lies in the question. Who has influenced music more?
Were the question who had influenced American Culture more, I might answer Elvis. Elvis changed the way rock music was presented to the masses, but I'm not sure he really changed rock music. He was a consummate performer but not really an innovator. When we think about Elvis in comparison to his cohorts, Jerry Lee Lewis, or Little Richard, for example, was Elvis really offering something so radically different from a musical perspective? Yes, Elvis was able to bring a new musical style and presentation into the public arena, but he was not solely responsible for a new genre of music.
Michael Jackson, while practically born on the stage, did not merely follow along in Jackson Five formula. Like a sponge, he soaked up all the elements of music that had come before, blues and pop, rock in all its incarnations, early rap, even international influences. Then, he produced a truly new look and sound within the music industry. Listen to the music. Who before Michael was so successful at blending and reworking so many sounds? Michael not only paved the way for the integration of technology and video into mainstream music, he did so with passion, genius and flare.
I got my red I Want My MTV shirt by hounding my mom to call the number on TV and then badgered her to call the cable company and ask for "Music Video TV" as she called it. Little did I know what a thrilling world awaited, where I could watch Bon Jovi flip their hair, Devo strut around in what I now believe resembled upside down flour pots atop their heads, and the Go-Gos, well, go-go. But then, we got word of Thriller, a never before heard of video concept with a real story, like a mini-movie musical. Kids gathered in groups to watch its debut, and none were disappointed. There may not be a lot of music still on MTV, according to the Bowling for Soup song, but Michael changed forever what the image of a music video was and set the bar quite high for those trying to attain similar video success.
Let's not forget the dancing! Presley may have been known as Elvis the Pelvis, but Michael Jackson was a highly accomplished and gifted dancer and choreographer. Just like his music, Michael's dance moves integrate classical dance like ballet and tap, with modern, jazz, hip-hop and street. Who else could mix pirouettes and crotch-grabs and make it work? Michael Jackson made music a visual experience in a way that none before him had.
Lastly, Michael helped to change the world of music with his unique perspective on humanitarian and philanthropic endeavors. His mission to make the world a better place not only drove at least some of his artistry, as in Man in the Mirror, but fuelled a generation of music artists making music with the same intention. Michael may not have been the first to make that call to action, but he certainly took up that campaign with a fervor not seen before, and spread his desire to better the world, especially for children, with an infectious urgency.
Michael Jackson, a child-star, a music video icon, a singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, had a career that forever changed the music world, and music. More than just a king of pop, Michael Jackson was a maestro, and his legacy lives on in the musicians of today and tomorrow.
Learn more about this author, Bahija Haidaoui.
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Elvis
Elvis and Rock 'n Roll are inseparable. He came on the scene with body and soul. Music was no longer lovely tunes, thoughtful prose and a ballroom rhythm.
Ballroom dancing was taught in many public schools back then. Parents would enroll their kids in dance lessons. Rock 'n Roll took the punch of the WWII jitterbug and spread it around to all dancing. When you needed to rest from too much jive you blew everyone away with your waltz or rumba. Presley created a necessary place for the waltz, giving it status.
The American Bandstand audience knew a 10 when they heard it because "It's great to dance to." You could be the next Marlon Brando, but if you didn't dance, you were zilch at the Record Hops. And if the wallflower could dance! Well, what can I say.
Elvis was also a voice. He could grow fat, miss events, whatever he wanted. But what a voice! From the first note to the last, he held you captive. The seats were sold out and nobody was disappointed. When he spoke, you had to pause and listen. The humor was always a surprise sparkling through.
Elvis was a gentleman. He respected his elders, including Sinatra and Ed Sullivan. Presley held the door open for the Calypso Heatwaves, the Little Richard's, the Duane Eddy's, all instruments, all cultures. Mowtown became a whole way of walking, talking, dancing and 'their own sound'. There was room at the top for everyone. Every kind of music was hot, from Johnny Cash to Robert Goulet. Jail House Rock became a staged dance production. Broadway had the Jets dancing down the West Side. The contagion was everywhere. Today has evolved into unthought of directions but it's still Rock 'n Roll.
The stage performances of Presley, Little Richard and especially Jackie Wilson were starting to bring about a separation from 'partner touching partner' dancing. Ballroom could no longer contain 'swing' and it's offspring.
Michael Jackson took the new video technology and turned it into a full production. There's hardly a dance step today that he didn't invent. No singer or group can show up on stage with just a stool and microphone. His grunts, screams, hiccups were like a new music. His choreography couldn't be matched. Everything about each production came from outside the box. He didn't open up a genre like Presley did. He became a whole new ball game. Every extension from his peers and the next generations couldn't compare to the source.
Michael Jackson was a genius choreographer who took the amateur forever out of the music scene. Whole new dance cultures are coming out of this, expanding daily in their greatness. He did more for dancing than Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But Jackson will always be the Pop dance genius, above all the rest. He stands alone.
Elvis Presley opened global avenues, sharing the stage with an eclectic and impressive list of people. No one will ever hear any music again without feeling its depth, its source and potential from head to toe and then some. Presley established an Era.
Learn more about this author, Trudy Tuttle.
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