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PopMatters: "1989 is similar to Thriller"
Quote:
Katy Perry has more Twitter followers. Kanye West gets more tabloid headlines. Beyoncé has more sex appeal.
But Taylor Swift is America’s biggest pop star.
Which raises the question: Is Swift’s “1989” having the biggest impact on the pop-culture landscape since Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”?
There are many similarities. Both superstars released these landmark albums at age 24. “Thriller,” delivered in November 1982, was Jackson’s sixth solo effort. “1989,” which dropped last October, is Swift’s fifth.
Imagination, smarts and hard work have made Swift successful, she told “Entertainment Tonight” in 2014 — qualities that also applied to Jackson.
Both were savvy enough to pull in unexpected collaborators — rock guitar god Eddie Van Halen on Jackson’s “Beat It” and hip rapper Kendrick Lamar on Swift’s “Bad Blood” — to help cross over to different audiences.
Still, both found ways of employing cutting-edge media to fit their disparate personalities.
While Jackson built “Thriller” via the impersonal clubhouse known as MTV, Swift has developed her following through social media — Instagramming photos of personal moments, tweeting directly to followers and literally inviting fans, via Twitter, to her house for a preview of “1989.” And those repros of Polaroids packaged with every “1989” CD, how cool was that?
With such videos as “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Thriller,” Jackson not only tore down racial barriers at rock-oriented MTV but set new artistic standards, transforming videos from glorified commercials into big-budget, meticulously crafted pieces of art.
For her part, Swift has certainly made a dramatic impact with the videos from “1989.”
The dance-happy “Shake It Off,” with its retro ‘80s new-wave vibe, felt like her “Billie Jean.” With its opulent, combustible pas de deux, “Blank Space” is her “Beat It.” And “Bad Blood” is her “Thriller,” with its noirish takeoff on “Robocop” movies.
The “Thriller” album yielded seven Top 10 singles, with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” reaching No. 1. “1989” has already delivered three consecutive No. 1 songs, with “Wildest Dreams” threatening to make it four in a row.
Not bad considering “1989” is Swift’s first full-on foray into pop music.
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http://www.popmatters.com/wire/is-ta...chael-jackson/
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