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[Toaster]

I was actually going to say the same thing as Keith, but I didn't because I was afraid the discussion would tilt somewhere unwieldy.

[wombat]

I was talking about this to a friend the other day, the basic premise is that we can no longer have elvi because people get their information from highly unique sources.  Except for it wasn't about elvi at all.

This seems wrong to me. Didn't everyone know Michael Jackson had died in like five minutes? Whether they heard it on Twitter or the radio or whatever. There may be more information sources now than when there were only three tv channels. But a lot of the time, they're all saying the same thing.

[Dangermoose]

This seems wrong to me. Didn't everyone know Michael Jackson had died in like five minutes? Whether they heard it on Twitter or the radio or whatever. There may be more information sources now than when there were only three tv channels. But a lot of the time, they're all saying the same thing.

Well I guess, yeah, we all heard about it.  But that's not the same as being impacted by it.

I think the point is about fragmentation of culture.  In the days of the Elvi, records were churned out by hit-machine record labels and everybody tuned in to Ed Sullivan or whatever.  Now everybody's found their niche and rarely checks out another niche.  The likelihood that we've all heard the same song has gone down.  Michael Jackson was arguably the last Elvis we'll have.  Can you imagine anyone achieving the ubiquity needed to sell 25 million records (or downloads or whatever) now?

[wombat]

Didn't like 25 million people watch the video of that homely small-town woman in England who won the singing contest? Seems to me there is just as much ubiquity these days as there ever was. The difference is that she didn't make any money off it.

[Dangermoose]

I don't think viewership is 1:1 with album sales though. 

I've never heard that woman sing.  But I remember Billy Jean being unavoidable.

[KeithHernandez]

I would say somewhere around 98% of Americans above 25-30 have heard Jackson, that isn't true of the other woman and doesn't really help your case.  First, she isn't very good, so, in this new era, people are used to shit.  Second, there is like a redemption story built right in.  Third, the same amount of people watched on of her 5 minute clips on you tube as spent 15- 20 dollars on Thriller?  That isn't really that good.  Fourth, the old methods of propping her up were used, and I only saw headlines on cnn.com.  In the old days, anywhere I got my news from probably would have been promoting her and I would have been at least heavily exposed to it.  Now, I don't have to give a shit at all, barely even have to avoid it.  Now, if someone like Michael Jackson comes around again, I will just think it is New Kids on the Block X however many shit pop bands have been around.  I won't give it the chance because I already have 100 days worth of music in iTunes instead of maybe 100 records.

[Arachno-capitalist]

I feel like my generation knows about Michael Jackson because we were periodically inundated with news about him fondling little boys and giving them "Jesus Juice". The fact that he at one time made music some people once liked was kind of an after-thought.

[Ruta Bagas]

Didn't like 25 million people watch the video of that homely small-town woman in England who won the singing contest? Seems to me there is just as much ubiquity these days as there ever was. The difference is that she didn't make any money off it.

Scotland.

It doesn't really bother me but the Scottish wouldn't be too pleased.

(She didn't win, either.)

[wombat]

You know how Americans are, you foreigners are all the same to us.

[Dangermoose]

So take a look at this.

Once you toss the double albums, which get double counted, the only album to sell more than 20 million copies in the US released after "Thriller" was a Shania Twain album in 1997.

And while Beat It, Billy Jean, and all the rest of Thriller's songs were unavoidable in the US from 1982-...88(?), I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one here for whom the apparent tidal wave of Shania Twain was almost completely unnoticeable.  I think maybe I heard a bit of one song that ripped off a Queen song.  That's it.  I didn't need to listen.

Same goes for worldwide sales.  Since Thriller, who has come close?  No one.

And if you point out that this is because nobody even buys albums anymore, I'd say that just adds to the fragmentation.  With things like iTunes, fans of the same artist can't even get on the same page about an album.  Everybody can just buy the singles they like.

That's why we'll never have another Elvis after Michael Jackson.

Dammit, Onstad, why you cause me to think so hard about this.

[greenkoolayd]

This strip demonstrates an element of Achewood that sets it neck and pecs above the pack: Onstad does not regard death as a joke. Funny, yes, but not a joke. Where else do you find that in American culture?

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