Michael Jackson wasn’t on the music scene for approximately 12 years, surely this was his decision because the world would have sat up and noticed anything he put out. How many albums, hit songs, videos, concerts and dance moves did we miss out on because of this? For someone in a lot of debt, like Michael Jackson, I would think it would make more sense to work and make money instead of doing whatever – I don’t think for one minute that Michael Jackson ever lived like he was $400 million in debt. I’m left wondering why Michael Jackon, and other artists to a lesser extent, choose to have extended periods of inactivity. What do you think?

I don’t have the slightest clue as to why someone would choose to not exercise a God-given gift, a gift that pays them money and could cement their place in history. Michael Jackson is the most obvious and current example of this and after reading about what promised to be an amazing show in London, I’m scratching my head. Once the mourning has lessened, I hope someone in his family will suggest putting footage of his upcoming show together on a DVD.

I would think there are many factors that hold up the release of albums, but Michael Jackson would be the performer who could easily jump over any of those hurdles and put out new material. Would his record company tell him to stay at home and not make a new album? Certainly not since they know full well that he could remake nursery rhymes (no jokes about that) and sell a million copies. They also wouldn’t have any problems finding producers willing to give up their best songs for MJ. Imagine Michael Jackson calling you and telling you he wanted to record one of your songs, but was only willing to pay half the going rate. That would be an easy answer. So what could possibly keep him from recording and what did his daily activities consist of?

If you are Michael Jackson, you aren’t getting up and going to the mall (unless they shut it down for you), so what do you do all day every day? I would think business affairs could only take up so much of your time and he probably had people he paid to handle stuff like that anyway. So did he sit around and watch TV all day? I think it would interesting to know what his days were like.

Where is Prince? I know he was on an awards show a year or so ago, made an appearance on American Idol a couple of seasons ago and can be spotted here and there at Lakers’ games. I also know that he has a bad history with record companies and may be distributing material on his own. But I would still think he should have new videos, concert dates or something in the mainstream. Although he is eccentric, many consider him a musical genius and anything he puts out would be successful.

There are others – successful artists not on the same level as Michael Jackson – who seem to take extended breaks between projects, but I still don’t get it especially since their pockets aren’t as deep as Michael Jackson’s. I can understand the need to relax/vacation after a grueling schedule, but as a consumer I can say that inactivity can hurt as much as being too active. It is a balancing act to walk the line between saturating the market and leaving people high and dry long enough to the point where they don’t care. Obviously, the ability to sing, dance and/or act doesn’t mean people have the sense to know when it is time for new material.

Oh well. At least their absence allows another artist to do well. I bet Kobe Bryant has shot a basketball since his team won the championship. He is aware of what can happen when he rests too long.

Something To Look Forward To

– Make sure you come back tomorrow for Wordplay Wednesday. Can you express yourself in 5 words or less? Tomorrow you will have your chance.
– We are going to have to talk about hate very soon. From Barack Obama to Barry Bonds to Michael Jackson and more, people are hating with an inconsistent bias that is mind boggling.