“流行天王”還是“怪人杰克”？

Ｊａｍｅｓ

The world was shocked in June with the unexpected death of Michael Jackson, the 'King of Pop' in the 1980s. Jackson died on June 25th of a heart attack, aged 50, just weeks before he was due to begin yet another comeback tour.

六月,八十年代“流行天王”邁克爾?杰克遜突然辭世,全世界為之震驚。杰克遜6月25日死于心臟病,享年50歲,而他原本打算在數(shù)周之后復(fù)出,展開新一輪的巡演。

Jackson started out as a child star, part of a performing troupe, the Jackson 5, along with three of his elder brothers and one sister, Janet. In his first public appearances, he was only six. The group was put together and managed by his father, and was a moderate success, scoring several hits in the 1960s and 70s. Jackson achieved fame for his great dancing talent, vocal skills, and 'cute' appearance. His fame was marred by psychological anguish; his life as a child, forced into performances and constantly on the road, was warped and unnatural, with little time to play, and he would look out at ordinary children playing and cry. His father beat him viciously, and terrorized the children psychologically.

杰克遜做童星出道,與三個哥哥和妹妹珍妮同屬于“杰克遜五兄妹”樂隊。他首次公開亮相時年僅六歲。樂隊由其父親組建并管理,樂隊小有成就,在上世紀(jì)60年代和70年代推出了幾張熱銷作品。杰克遜因其精湛的舞技、出眾的音樂才華和“可愛”的相貌而名聲大噪。但心理上的痛苦為他收獲的名聲蒙上了一層灰;他的童年是扭曲而反常的——經(jīng)常被迫參加表演,不停地奔波在旅途之上,鮮有玩耍的時間,看到別的孩子玩耍就會慟哭。父親經(jīng)常嚴(yán)厲地打罵他,對其年幼的心靈造成了創(chuàng)傷。

It was his solo career that made Jackson a megastar, however, escaping from the shadow of his father and working with the famous music producer Quincy Jones. His two early albums were fantastically popular – Off the Wall (1979) generated four top ten hits in the USA, and sold 20 million copies. Thriller (1982) was even more successful, and is the single best selling record of all time. Thriller is also credited with causing a racial breakthrough in American TV; MTV, the main music video channel, was previously reluctant to play videos by black artists, but Thriller was so successful that this barrier was shattered. Jackson's fantastic dancing, including the backwards 'Moonwalk' contributed to his popularity. The fourteen minute long music video for Thriller, with its large budget, brilliant choreography, and mini-storyline, was also deeply innovative, setting new standards for music videos. He was christened the 'King of Pop', the most financially successful musician ever. Bad (1987) was another mega-success, but by then Jackson's mental problems were already turning him from a musician into a sideshow attraction.

杰克遜的單飛使他真正成為一名超級巨星,這時他擺脫了父親的陰影,并與著名音樂制作人昆西?瓊斯合作。他早期的兩張專輯異常受歡迎——《瘋狂》(1979)里有四首單曲榮登美國排行榜前十名,銷量達(dá)2000萬張?！额澙酢?1982)更加成功,是全世界有史以來銷量最大的唱片。《顫栗》也使美國電視實現(xiàn)了種族突破。MTV音樂電視臺起初不愿播放黑種藝人的視頻,但《顫栗》的成功使這種障礙土崩瓦解。杰克遜的夢幻舞步,包括“月球漫步”,也促成了他的流行?！额澙酢酚虚L達(dá)十四分鐘的音樂視頻,制作成本高昂,舞步絢麗,還有故事情節(jié),充滿著創(chuàng)新,為音樂視頻設(shè)定了新標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。他被封為“流行天王”,是有史以來賺錢最多的音樂人?！墩姘簟?1987)又大獲成功,不過由于精神問題,當(dāng)時杰克遜已經(jīng)開始由音樂人轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)槎魉嚾恕?/p>

The most visible signs of this inner trauma were the destructive surgeries that he inflicted on his body. He went from being a handsome young black man to an androgynous, deracinated freak, his skin an unnatural shade of white and his face seeming to be almost sloughing off at points. As a boy, he'd been mocked by his father for his prominent nose, which he reduced to a neat point. He claimed to have various diseases, including vitiligo and lupus, which caused the gradual bleaching of his skin. He also lost drastic amounts of weight. Personally, he became increasingly eccentric, living a strange, child-like life in his mansion, 'Neverland' – named after the magical fantasyland of Peter Pan, 'the boy who wouldn't grow up'. Jackson's life became a freakshow, watched by an eager public. He married Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, in 1994, widely believed to be a sham marriage for publicity purposes. The tabloids dubbed him 'Wacko Jacko', and claimed that he slept in a hydrogen chamber and had bought the bones of the 'Elephant Man', a famous Victorian freak.

他內(nèi)心創(chuàng)傷最明顯的標(biāo)志是手術(shù)對其身體的破壞。他從一名英俊的黑人小伙墮落成一個不男不女、不黑不白的怪人,皮膚不自然,臉上有多處塌陷。小時候,父親嘲笑他的鼻子太大,于是他將其整勻稱。他聲稱自己患有多種疾病,包括白癜風(fēng)和紅斑狼瘡,皮膚因此逐漸漂白。他的體重也大幅度減輕。他變得越來越怪誕,孩童般在其“夢幻莊園”豪宅里過著奇怪的生活,“夢幻莊園”的名字來源于“永遠(yuǎn)也長不大的男孩”彼得?潘的夢幻樂園。杰克遜的生活成了一場畸形秀,公眾皆引頸觀看。他于1994年迎娶貓王埃爾維斯?普雷斯利的女兒麗莎?瑪麗?普雷斯利,人們都認(rèn)為這場婚姻實則為假,只是為了宣傳罷了。八卦小報稱杰克遜為“怪人杰克”,說他睡在氫室里,還買了維多利亞時代著名怪人“象人”的遺骨。

The nadir came with accusations of child sexual abuse. Jackson surrounded himself with children, and often slept in the same bed with them – innocently, he claimed. He accused the family of the child he was supposed to have abused of fraud and blackmail attempts, and was found innocent by a jury, but his reputation was permanently damaged. Many still believed him to be guilty. His personal life became even more bizarre; he had two children from a short marriage to his nurse, followed by a third, via artificial insemination, with an unknown mother. He covered their faces in public, and refused to allow any press contact with them. After he publically dangled his infant son over a balcony, there were calls for the children to be removed from his custody.

在被控猥褻兒童之后,杰克遜的事業(yè)墜入谷底。杰克遜喜歡有兒童簇?fù)?還經(jīng)常跟他們睡在同一張床上,不過他說這樣做是不帶邪念的。他指責(zé)涉嫌被他猥褻的小孩的家人是騙子,想要勒索他。雖然陪審團(tuán)裁定杰克遜無罪,但其名聲已徹底受損。許多人依然認(rèn)為他有罪。他的個人生活更加古怪,他同照顧自己的一名護(hù)士有過一段短暫的婚姻,育有二子,又通過人工受精跟一名陌生女子生了第三個孩子。他在公共場合總蓋著他們的臉,并拒絕任何媒體接觸他們。他曾經(jīng)公開在陽臺懸蕩其小寶寶,引發(fā)人們的抗議,要求解除他對孩子的監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)。

Financially, he was having difficulties. Much of his money had been blown on extravagant purchases or stolen by crooked associates, and, despite his canny purchases of the Beatles' back catalogue of music (for fifty million dollars, an investment that returned itself many times over), and the continuing sales of his albums, he was nearly bankrupt. He was about to embark on an already sold-out tour when he died, which would have earned him over fifty million dollars. Despite all this, the greatness of his early solo albums remains. Most of Jackson's later work is derivative, sometimes virtually unlistenable, pap, but the energy and innovation of his 80s music is undeniable. Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987) are brilliant pieces of work, containing crackling numbers like Wanna Be Starting Something, Billie Jean, and Beat It. In the long run that, rather than the sad scandals of his later years, are what he deserves to be remembered for.

杰克遜經(jīng)濟(jì)拮據(jù)。他的許多錢都揮霍在購買奢侈品上,或被無良合伙人竊走,雖然他購買了披頭士音樂的版權(quán)(花5000萬美元購入,收益已翻倍),其個人專輯也在繼續(xù)銷售,可他還是幾乎身無分文。他去世前不久,正在準(zhǔn)備展開巡演,演唱會門票都已經(jīng)賣光了,收益可達(dá)5000萬美元。即使如此,他早期的獨(dú)唱專輯依然偉大。杰克遜晚期的作品大多平淡無奇,有時簡直慘不忍聽,純粹是糟粕,但其八十年代音樂的能量與創(chuàng)新卻不可否認(rèn)?！动偪瘛?1979)、《顫栗》(1982)和《真棒》(1987)都是杰出的專輯,里面有《找茬》、《比莉?簡》和《走開》等著名單曲。從長遠(yuǎn)來說,這些才是杰克遜應(yīng)該被銘記的,而不是他后期的丑聞。