The brightest pop star of his generation walked away from 10 counts of child molestation and related charges Monday, and now the question becomes whether Michael Jackson can salvage a historic music career.
Some entertainment experts said Jackson, 46, could redeem his image if he can craft a perfect strategy.
“I don’t think there needs to be a rule that if somebody goes to court, (their) career is over,” said Todd Park Mohr. The Big Head Todd frontman admires Jackson’s music but has “a difficult time with his persona.”
Jackson exemplifies someone crippled by insecurity and loneliness, Mohr said. If those emotions were funneled into the creative process, the result could be art.
“I would just get back to the fundamentals,” said the Colorado musician. “Focus on … your craft, stay out of the media and try to put as much good- quality product out as you can.”
Focus and productivity have been a problem for Jackson recently, but Blender magazine editor-in-chief Craig Marks said this latest legal turn could boost Jackson’s prospects.
“(His career) wasn’t going very well until about 20 minutes ago,” Marks said after learning the verdict.
“If anything can restart a career that was in decline, I imagine this could be it,” he said. “For some consumers, this will put the charges out of mind. … If you’re a record company, you have to assume he’s not going to be brought up on any additional charges any time soon.”
Twist & Shout music store owner Paul Epstein said even a trial with as many distasteful tidbits as this never clouded the fact Jackson made some of music’s most memorable albums.
“The Jackson 5, to me, will always be very important,” said Epstein. “The period of ‘Off the Wall,’ ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller’ is unparalleled in music history.”
Still, Epstein doubted the public, particularly the American public, will ever embrace Jackson with the same fervor it once did.
“It’s hard to imagine him not being damaged goods at this point,” he said. One way Jackson might regain popularity is to tour with the siblings who helped launch his career, Epstein said.
“I have heard he’s planning a Jackson 5 reunion tour,” Epstein said. “That could be the way to do it. Hearken back to a more innocent time.”
Stan Soocher, a University of Colorado entertainment-law professor, watched the Michael Jackson copyright-infringement lawsuit unfold in Denver in 1992. The author of “They Fought the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court” said it may take time for “the critical clouds to clear” but that even scandal cannot douse Jackson’s musical legacy.
“We’ve seen this before in the entertainment industry,” Soocher said. “Fatty Arbuckle’s career was ruined (by murder charges), but he was later recognized as an important comedian. … (Jackson) may not have a lot to overcome in the long run.”
Crystal Cartier waged an unsuccessful Colorado copyright-infringement case against Jackson over the song “Dangerous,” which she said she wrote and sent to Jackson months before the entertainer released a similar song by the same name.
She said that while Jackson has gotten out of legal trouble, his music and image still need help.
“He was an icon. He represented the epitome of success,” said Cartier, an author, social worker and public-access TV producer. “You can’t stay young forever, and his (newer music) is ‘popcorn.”‘
Los Angeles media consultant Anthony Mora said touring or staging a major Las Vegas show – like Celine Dion and Elton John, or Liberace and Elvis before them – is the answer if Jackson hopes to regain professional footing.
“I would take him to Vegas,” said Mora, a frequent contributor to CNN and “Access Hollywood.” “It’s a controlled environment, and if there was ever a city that was made for Michael Jackson, that’s it.”
Mora said the Hollywood gossip machine predicts Jackson will indulge in a public hiatus, probably in Europe, before undertaking a career resurrection.
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
