1988: Michael Jackson Vs George Michael in USA

LOL This isn't even fair. Jackson was so much bigger than George Michaels I forgot Michaels was even popular around the same time. Seriously, no one was even close to as popular as Michael Jackson.
 
mjmj said:
LOL This isn't even fair. Jackson was so much bigger than George Michaels I forgot Michaels was even popular around the same time. Seriously, no one was even close to as popular as Michael Jackson.
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I think it went past a lot of people that TS was primarily asking about a snapshot of 1988. It was basically George's absolute peak, and while Bad was a massive album it wasn't quite Thriller level in terms of success and impact. It would still easily be the biggest success of pretty much anyone's career, but people were starting to ask why Jackson looked different, he seemed like a bit of a weirdo already when he wouldn't sing Thriller anymore because it was too occult, he tried to buy the elephant man's bones, etc. He was starting to turn a lot of people off.
 
OkayMate said:
poster boy for many women...and men in the 80s. Had some very good songs both solo and with Wham! Can’t deny he wasn’t a talented musician.
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Unwrapping Fantastic! on Christmas morning was so awesome, I still listen to Faith. Him carking it on Christmas Day wasn't fun though.
He was a massive part of every music fan's lives growing up at the time.
 
BisexualMMA said:
I think it went past a lot of people that TS was primarily asking about a snapshot of 1988. It was basically George's absolute peak, and while Bad was a massive album it wasn't quite Thriller level in terms of success and impact. It would still easily be the biggest success of pretty much anyone's career, but people were starting to ask why Jackson looked different, he seemed like a bit of a weirdo already when he wouldn't sing Thriller anymore because it was too occult, etc.
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I know it wasn't as big as Thriller, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Nothing has ever even come close to Thriller. I recall Bad being a huge hit and songs being played all the time. I know it was also George Michaels peak and I think Faith outsold Bad in the US, but it was never close to enough for George to become more popular than Jackson. I really don't think anything could have done that, Jackson was just too big of a star in the US. Of course if the discussion was worldwide then it's even less of a discussion. Many people forget or don't realize what an icon Jackson was.
 
mjmj said:
I know it wasn't as big as Thriller, but that's hardly a fair comparison. Nothing has ever even come close to Thriller. I recall Bad being a huge hit and songs being played all the time. I know it was also George Michaels peak and I think Faith outsold Bad in the US, but it was never close to enough for George to become more popular than Jackson. I really don't think anything could have done that, Jackson was just too big of a star in the US. Of course if the discussion was worldwide then it's even less of a discussion. Many people forget or don't realize what an icon Jackson was.
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Faith spend 12 weeks on the top of Billboard album and Bad was less than that.
 
GM is my fav. pop artist of all time and one of my favorite producers.

Fame effed with them both. I think MJ;s peak was all his work up through Off The Wall. Then shit got weird.
 
You know what I'm thinking? Big time celebs should hire a team of professionals to make sure they don't die young of drugs or other crazy shit. Stop them from overdosing on sleeping pills, recreational drugs, hanging while jerking off, etc. They've got the big money to afford it.

Something like Sharona on Monk.
 
Goon Dog said:
George Micheal was huge, but MJ was in his own stratosphere. He was like The Beatles or Elvis for a while, in that he couldn't go out in public even with security. Vocally, George was superior for sure, but Michael was such a performer back then. His brothers wanted to tour but no company would support it. Michael decided to join in and the sponsors came running. He was in his own orbit for a while.
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This^.
 
BisexualMMA said:
I think it went past a lot of people that TS was primarily asking about a snapshot of 1988. It was basically George's absolute peak, and while Bad was a massive album it wasn't quite Thriller level in terms of success and impact. It would still easily be the biggest success of pretty much anyone's career, but people were starting to ask why Jackson looked different, he seemed like a bit of a weirdo already when he wouldn't sing Thriller anymore because it was too occult, he tried to buy the elephant man's bones, etc. He was starting to turn a lot of people off.
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But MJ being the biggest pop star carried on from the previus years and his last 2 albums, I mean it will be like comparing a team like the Yankees to lets say the Marlins, even the year the later won the world series more people overall cared about the Yankees.

So thats why I dont think is as straight forward as who sold more records that year as its obius MJ was a bigger household name before and after.
 
BisexualMMA said:
I think it went past a lot of people that TS was primarily asking about a snapshot of 1988. It was basically George's absolute peak, and while Bad was a massive album it wasn't quite Thriller level in terms of success and impact. It would still easily be the biggest success of pretty much anyone's career, but people were starting to ask why Jackson looked different, he seemed like a bit of a weirdo already when he wouldn't sing Thriller anymore because it was too occult, he tried to buy the elephant man's bones, etc. He was starting to turn a lot of people off.
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1988....having been about 10 years old, i could tell you that Faith was certainly on full blast most of that year. The 80s had so much good shit that its hard to say one person or the other truly dominated. MJ would be the best candidate to come to most peoples minds and rightfully so. For me the late 80s in particular was a lot of Def Leppard and Guns n Roses mixed in with some NWA.
 
Goon Dog said:
George Micheal was huge, but MJ was in his own stratosphere. He was like The Beatles or Elvis for a while, in that he couldn't go out in public even with security. Vocally, George was superior for sure, but Michael was such a performer back then. His brothers wanted to tour but no company would support it. Michael decided to join in and the sponsors came running. He was in his own orbit for a while.
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<PlusJuan> not much more to say. You nailed it
 
Even at that time, I'd say Michael Jackson. The guy was just a phenomenon, the only person or band to compare him to in terms of impact and popularity is the The Beatles and Elvis Presley. That's about it. Those are 3 super mega iconic stars.
 
It feels like every male singer that came out in the 80s minus Prince were record companies attempt to challenge MJ. Or producers and writers challenge to knock MJ off his pedestal. I like George a lot, play his music often, but it feels like everyone was biting MJ's style. El Barge or Debarge too. But MJ had Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad back to back to back (I didn't say in the 80s because Off the Wall came out in 79).

And I would think the more information we have available to us now would speak to MJ's innocence tbh. With guys like Weinstein, Epstein, Cosby, Kelly you notice a pattern of events and a laundry list long of victims. MJ had 4 I think, and 3 were caught lying. 2 admitted they made stuff up. A 10 year FBI investigation came up with nothing. So either MJ was the most powerful man in the world where he could pay literally everyone off, or maybe he was a misunderstood dude who shouldn't have been hanging with children to begin with. As the years go by, I'm leaning more towards the latter.
 
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