Is Jermaine Jackson set for a comeback?

Jermaine Jackson
Is it time to get serious again?
Could Jermaine Jackson’s amazing performance at his brother Michael Jackson’s memorial service have set him up for a comeback?
His rendition of “Smile”, written by Charlie Chaplin and covered by MJ on his HIStory album, was the highlight of the service.
It was raw and emotional, free from poser-y showmanship (take note Usher) and despite Jermaine being on the verge of tears, sounded great.

I’m sure someone must be mulling over whether it would be appropriate for it to be released on iTunes, as it could probably be a No.1 hit if it was.
I have read plenty of opinions that have been sarcastic about the service being a boost to Jermaine's flagging career. I’m sorry, but I don’t think there is anything even remotely odd about singing at your brother’s memorial service and I think it would have been a bit strange (although understandable) had a member of the family not sung.

Check out the hair! Jermaine and Michael back in the day

In the ’70s and early ‘80s Jermaine, while never quite reaching the levels of his younger brother (but nobody ever has), was considered a noted solo artist in his own right. Like Michael, he released solo records with Motown while still in The Jackson 5, scoring a big hit with “Daddy’s Home”.
When his brothers left Motown for Epic in mid-’70s, Jermaine left the group and stayed – something to do with being married to Berry Gordy’s daughter. Awkward.
Throughout the rest of the the decade his brothers churned out hits like “Blame It On The Boogie” and starred in their own variety TV series, while Jermaine served up a series of dependable if underwhelming fare.
Then, in 1980, he offered up one of my favourite songs of all time in “Let’s Get Serious”.

Written for him by Stevie Wonder, if only Jermaine had another 10 songs as good he may never have drifted into semi-obscurity.
The song hit No.1 on the US R&B chart and the album of the same name scored Jermaine a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
He followed it up with the slightly dubious “Dynamite” and in 1984 a duet with Michael titled “Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' (Too Good to Be True)”. When Epic wouldn’t let it be released as a single, Jermaine (now signed to Arista) chucked it on the b-side of “Do What You Do” (a No.1 AC hit itself) and radio and clubs played it anyway, eventually allowing the song to reach No.1 on the dance chart.

His last solo hit was 1989's “Don't Take It Personal” which was another R&B No.1.
Of course his greatest moment was when he came to Australia to shoot the Nine Network’s 1990 “Shout” promo. Damn I used to love a good network promo. They just don’t make ‘em like this any more.

I have also watched the Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Special several times this week – it seems to be rerun every day – and the highlight was without doubt The Jacksons’ reunion. Brilliant. (Why did they never perform “Boogie” live?)

I would be more than happy for the brothers to do a new album. They could still do it. Plus Katherine would probably be okay with giving them some of those mystery MJ tracks to use (I seem to be giving them to everyone of late, but it’s just because it’s one of my more brilliant ideas).
Either way, I would like to see a whole lot more of those Jacksons.

Scott Keenan
S-E-R-I-O-U-S baby let’s get serious o’clock

HELP! Where can I watch the MJ memorial?

The Jacko Memorial
(buh-bye... sniffle)
... But will it kill the interweb?

Today the world will watch on as friends, family and lottery-winning-fans squish into the Staples Center in downtown LA to bid a final farewell to Michael Jackson. While Liz Taylor has made it clear via her Twitter account (how very modern, Lizzie!) that she's not down with the circus-like proceedings, plenty of other celebrity friends will be on hand including Brooke Shields, John Mayer, Lionel Ritchie, Usher and Jennifer Hudson. In other words, it's going to be pretty awesome... you know, except for the part where Michael had to die for it to happen.

Of course, you don't have to be there in person to pay tribute to MJ's memory. So, if you missed out on being related to MJ, befriending him or didn't pick up a ticket in the worldwide sweepstakes then no doubt you'll be able to catch the moving live coverage on a TV screen near you.

If SOMEHOW you can't find a station covering it - and I really don't know how that could be - you can easily check out the live streams on the internets.

The best bet is the CNN live coverage to be found here: http://edition.cnn.com/live/

or try the MySpace stream here:
http://celebrity.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=celebrity.icon

But the big question is: will the memorial kill the internet? I have to say that my money is on so many millions of people trying to watch what could be the hugest live event in the history of the web, that the internet may indeed need a little lie down in the corner in the middle of it. This is especially a possibility because on the day the King of Pop died, he almost managed to take the internet with him when many major sites such as CNN and TMZ buckled under the pressure. Given the non-stop grief and hysterical media coverage since that sad day, you'd have to think there would be an even higher interest in the memorial. Let's put it this way: expect delays.

RIP MJ from everyone at The 'Brain.



--
Carolyn Stewart
As I turn up the collar on my favourite winter coat/This wind is blowing my mind o'clock, July 8, 2009