(Spotlight4817)Michael Jackson 24 October, 2011
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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Joshua Leo. Voice 2
And I'm Christy VanArragon. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Do you recognize this voice? People around the world have heard this singer. This is the music of international celebrity Michael Jackson. He was a star. But people do not just know Jackson for his music. He is also famous for the struggles and problems of his personal life. When he died in 2009, his story dominated news around the world. Today's Spotlight is on Michael Jackson. Voice 2
Michael Jackson was born in 1958, in Gary Indiana, in the United States. He was the eighth of ten children. His father, Joe, worked in a steel mill. But this was not the work Joe wanted to do. He was also a musician. And he hoped that music could change their life.
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The Jackson children had musical skill too. And Joe was determined to develop that skill. Joe formed a musical group with five of the boys. They were called "The Jackson Five". Soon they became very popular.
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Joe was their manager and trainer. He planned their music and their performances. He helped them to practice. He gave them strong discipline, to develop their skills. They practiced often, and they learned to do what he said. This was one of the reasons people liked the group. The boys were excellent singers and dancers.
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It was during this time that the family became very famous. They began recording music with Motown Records in 1968. Radio stations played their songs. Many people bought their records. They even had their own television show! And Michael was the most popular. People were amazed by his skill at such a young age. He was just ten years old.
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All of this was especially amazing because the Jacksons are black. In the nineteen sixties and seventies, there were some popular black musicians. But the Jacksons were one of the first musical groups that were equally popular with black and white Americans.
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What many people did not know is that this success came with a great cost. Only the Jackson children know all the details, but it is clear that Joe hurt his children. Later, as an adult, Michael talked about this abuse. He said that Joe threatened the children when they practiced. He beat them if they made mistakes. He hurt them emotionally and physically. As an adult, Michael explained that he was afraid of his father. As a child, he had felt alone with this pain.
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But even though the family struggled at home, they grew more and more successful. They changed recording studios, to CBS Records. They wanted to have more control over their music. At CBS Records, they started writing their own songs. And it was here that Michael started recording music by himself, without his brothers. In 1979, he recorded his first solo record, "Off the Wall". This record is still one of the best selling records in the world. He was just twenty-one years old. It included the song, "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough." Voice 1
But it was Jackson's next album that made him an international star. It has sold over one hundred million copies - the highest selling album in the world! It won many awards. People everywhere in the world heard the songs. This was the album "Thriller". Voice 2
But people did not only hear the songs. They also WATCHED them. Thriller came out in 1982. This was soon after a new television channel started in the United States - MTV. The channel was just for music videos - films that played with a song. However, at first, MTV did not play music videos from black musicians. MTV has never stated why they did not play these videos. Today, many sources agree that racism was probably the reason - the channel did not believe that black musicians would bring a large audience. This was not true. There were many popular black musicians at the time. Finally, in 1984, they began to play Jackson's video for the song Billy Jean. With the success of that video, they began to play videos from many other black musicians too.
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Jackson's most famous video was for the song "Thriller". Groups of people still perform the dance for this song today!
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Jackson continued to release new and interesting music through the eighties and nineties. His albums continued to be very popular. But people did not just know Michael Jackson because of his music. Newspapers and television followed his private life closely. They told increasingly strange stories.
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For example, Jackson's appearance changed a lot as he grew older. In the nineteen eighties and nineties, Jackson's skin became lighter and lighter. Many people believed that this was because he was bleaching his skin - using chemicals to make it lighter. Jackson and his doctors stated that this was because of health and skin problems - vitiligo and lupus. Jackson also used heavy makeup on his face, and this made his skin appear lighter too. But his skin was not the only thing that changed. After several injuries, Jackson had operations on his nose. He continued to have similar plastic surgeries on his face. Because of these operations, his appearance continued to change. Friends and doctors later said that he had mental problems, including an addiction to pain medicine.
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More seriously, in 1993 and 2003, Jackson faced accusations of sexual abuse of children. He often invited children to his home - and he made his home fun for children. This may be because of his own unhappy childhood. However, some of the children later said that Jackson had abused them sexually. Jackson was tried in court on these charges in 2005, but the jury found him innocent.
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As a result of the trial, Jackson lost most of his money. He moved away from the United States. He was planning a new album and concert tour in 2009. It would have been his first tour in more than ten years. But Jackson died very suddenly in June 2009. Around the world, people mourned his death in memorials and ceremonies.
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Michael Jackson was truly an international star. People everywhere knew him and his music. But that was both a blessing and a curse. Jackson shared his amazing, inspiring, joyful music with the world. But growing up as a star left him with deep mental wounds. It is important to remember both things - his amazing music and dance, and the sad results of a public life.
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The writer of today's program was Christy VanArragon. The producer was Joshua Leo. The voices you heard were from the United States. Visit our website and leave a comment athttp://www.radio.english.net. This program is called "Michael Jackson."
