2012年9月13日 - 澳大利亞歌手、創作人和表演人達倫•海耶斯（Darren Hayes）談論邁克爾•傑克遜（Michael Jackson）的《飆》（Bad）25周年慶典：
有人讓我對邁克爾•傑克遜的《飆》（Bad）專輯25周年慶典隨便說兩句。如果你瞭解我，就知道這不可能。我可以對這張專輯說幾年的好話，所以我決定寫一篇關於這張專輯的博客，讓別人摘出有意思的句子！
《飆》毫無疑問是我最喜歡的邁克爾•傑克遜專輯，讓我產生強烈的苦樂參半的聯想。一方面這是驚人的音樂風暴，有勁爆的金曲和炫目的影像，另一方面緊隨有史以來最暢銷專輯之後的它地位有點尷尬，人們對它的期望我想連邁克爾自己可能都無法回避。這張專輯是非凡的成功，產生了5支《公告牌》（Billboard）第一名單曲（這可是世界紀錄），賣出超過3500萬張 —— 是有史以來排名第5的暢銷專輯。由於不是《顫慄》（Thriller），《飆》被不公對待。諷刺的是，我很高興它不是。
當時我沒有《顫慄》。震驚吧！恐怖吧！但這是真的。這是有經濟原因的 —— 我們買不起。等我攢夠錢去買《顫慄》時，3年的太空步統治世界浪潮已經過去了，所以我只能耐心等待“下一張”專輯。
等《飆》準備直沖雲霄時，我已經進入青春期會欣賞音樂了。當時是1987年，我15歲。那年的8月31日，到處都是天花亂墜的預覽宣傳，毫無例外會有音樂錄影首播。有一個黃金時段的電視節目《邁克爾•傑克遜：魔力回歸》（Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns），裏面有17分鐘的、由馬丁•斯科西斯（Martin Scorcese）執導的《飆》音樂錄影：這是《顫慄》 —— 有史以來最成功音樂錄影 —— 的續集。沒有壓力！我們已經聽到了情歌《止不住的愛戀》（I Just Can't Stop Loving You），但那算不上真正的首發單曲，更像是玩了我們一把，想要消除壓力。在圈子裏，我們稱之為“軟釋放”。真正的盛典是第一首給力的流行歌曲《飆》和與之匹配的音樂錄影，所以有壓力！作為歌迷，我全神貫注。
聽起來怎麼樣？他看起來怎麼樣？最重要的是 —— 我會像愛《顫慄》一樣喜歡它嗎？
答案是大大的“YES”！同名歌曲《飆》在音樂上很有意思，它充滿能量，我看不到放克樂或靈魂樂的影子。我沒想到邁克爾能變成這樣，我喜歡他亦男亦女的外型和新潮的黑色皮衣加搭扣的形象。他的髮型、裝扮，完全是個漂亮的流行巨星，是英雄。
我念高中時也被人欺負得很慘，所以你能相信邁克爾《飆》錄影的影響。他演的角色被嘲笑，那他怎麼辦？他跳上天，變成身穿黑色皮衣加搭扣的超級英雄。然後他跳瘋了，像天使一樣噴出華麗的辭藻和滿滿的自信。
當我拿到專輯，像進行一次宗教之行般聆聽。我還記得專輯封面的造紙原料、墨水的氣味 —— 精彩的內容簡介和馬修•羅斯頓（Matthew Rolston）拍攝的內套照片，邁克爾戴著黑色墨鏡、穿著高領絨衣，通過扭曲的鏡頭展現在公眾面前。
音樂是超現實的。《你給我的感覺》（The Way You Make Me Feel）裏的打擊樂和“飆”悍的嗓音跟背景和聲裏甜蜜的聲音形成鮮明對比。《速度之魔》（Speed Demon）的歇斯底里、跟史蒂夫•旺德（Stevie Wonder）合唱《只是好朋友》（Just Good Friends）的快樂、聽世界聖歌《鏡中人》（Man in the Mirror）聽出的雞皮疙瘩、《風騷戴安娜》（Dirty Diana）的狂暴以及摘得《飆》專輯桂冠的《犯罪高手》（Smooth Criminal）。忘掉《比莉•珍》（Billie Jean）吧，留下《顫慄》。我想看一部能激發人腎上腺素的音樂錄影！作為一張作品集 —— 這些歌和出色的《顫慄》相差十萬八千里。《顫慄》在技術上尚顯保守，《飆》玩的就是音效。沉思、憤怒或性感。沒有一樣聽起來像在走老路。
接下來的活動一樣充滿神秘的震撼。誰見過冉冉升起的“性感邁克爾”？但就連我那喜歡搖滾的妹妹在看過《你給我的感覺》後也變成了他的歌迷。這個曾經無害的小精靈突然變成自己的《西區故事》（West Side Story）歌舞片裏自信的首領 —— 挺起胸膛滿大街地追美女。每支音樂錄影都是一場盛事，MTV已經進入澳大利亞電視臺，我三更半夜坐在那裏等著每一支音樂錄影的首播，擺弄著VCR錄下它們，一遍遍地看，學習舞步，癡迷於細節。然後就是巡演，我的老歌迷都知道我第一次現場看邁克爾的經歷，1987年11月25日和28日在布里斯班娛樂中心（Brisbane Entertainment Centre）。尷尬的是，澳大利亞媒體當時對邁克爾很不友好，說他會在塑膠螢幕後表演，避免接觸澳大利亞人的細菌。荒唐，但奏效了：門票銷售停滯不前。MJ本來要在體育館表演，但由於我家鄉糟糕的門票銷售，他改在競技場演出。不是在4萬人的體育場唱一晚，而是在9千人的競技場唱兩晚。現在想想，“流行音樂之王”怎麼可能賣不出票，但在當時，這就是我家鄉的現實。
巡演冊非常好看，有邁克爾身穿神秘細條紋西裝、頭戴白色軟呢帽的照片。我沒記錯吧？這是哪支錄影裏的？我花了一年時間才知道。
關於這個夜晚，我寫過很多次，但我要說最後由於意外我幾乎到了前排（我那張便宜的體育館坐票突然變成了舞臺旁的地板座票），演出改變了我的人生：我知道這輩子想幹什麼了。演出精采自不用講，我還成功買到了第二場演出的票 —— 我看到史蒂夫•旺德和邁克爾合唱以及布里斯班編舞師韋德•羅伯森（Wade Robson）5歲在舞臺上和邁克爾共舞的首秀。
在《飆》宣傳階段，我買了所有的12英寸黑膠單曲。《鏡中人》的封面是我的最愛 —— 邁克爾的黑白肖像，還有銀色和黑色的墨水。《風騷戴安娜》裏的長筒靴太受歡迎了，我可能在那年的高中畢業舞會上也穿過一雙，還束著一條“凱旋”（Triumph）牌摩托車扣帶。
《飆》佔據了我在高中的兩年生活，它見證了我如何從一個受人欺負、孤立無援的青少年變成學校音樂劇中自信滿滿、對生活充滿希望的領袖。它給了我一個仰望的英雄，一個有點怪怪的、走自己的路、拒絕雷同的人。
當《飆》的宣傳期結束 —— 仿佛魔力就要從我的世界溜走時，一本電影雜誌上的廣告讓我停下了腳步。《太空漫步者》（Moonwalker），主演：邁克爾•傑克遜。
他在電影海報裏穿著白色的細條紋西裝，讓人想起喬治•盧卡斯（George Lucas）或史蒂文•斯皮爾伯格（Steven Spielberg）的電影。這意味著什麼？我得等到電影上映。幸運的是，我在唱片店兼職，成功得到試映票，我在日曆上標注了日期。這件白西裝的謎團很快就揭曉了 —— 這是邁克爾在《犯罪高手》音樂錄影裏穿的著名服裝，我在試映那天既害羞又自豪地穿了一件仿製的。在潮濕的澳大利亞夏天穿著一整套白色西裝、吊帶褲和藍色短襪，我趕車的時候感覺自己有點傻。我是經過打扮的兩人其中之一，另一個就是當時已經6歲的韋德•羅伯森。他穿著完美的仿製白色幫匪西裝，跳著一樣的舞步。那天試映後我向他打招呼，當時沒人知道他是誰，但我對他說：“你是那個和邁克爾•傑克遜在演唱會上一起跳舞的小男孩嗎？”他抬起頭，用褐色的大眼睛看著我，會意一笑：“是的。”他和他的家人最終在邁克爾的幫助下搬到了美國。在邁克爾的指導下，韋德成長為賈斯汀•汀布萊克（Justin Timberlake）和布蘭妮•斯皮爾斯（Britney Spears）的舞蹈老師。但1988年時的他還只是一個孩子。我向他道別，向“飆”時期道別，拿起我的白色軟呢帽趕上了回家的車。韋德啟程去了夢幻莊園（Neverland），而我步入10年後讓我登上家鄉同樣舞臺的旅途。
這是我人生中最棒的公車之行。
The 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson's 'Bad'
Bad is without doubt my favourite Michael Jackson album of all time. It evokes such strong and bittersweet associations for me. While on one hand it was an astounding musical hurricane of smash hit singles and dazzling visuals - it also occupied that awkward space of being the album that had to follow up the biggest selling album of all time; an expectation I don't think even Michael himself could ever escape. It's a shame because the album WAS a phenomenal success. It spawned five Billboard Number One singles (a world record) and went on to sell in excess of 35 million copies - it ranks as the 5th greatest seller of all time. Still, it seemed to this fan that at the time, Bad was unfairly judged simply for not being Thriller. The irony is, I'm so glad it wasn't.
I didn't own Thriller at the time. Shock! Horror! But it's true. It was a matter of economics - we couldn't afford it. By the time I saved up enough money to buy Thriller, the massive moonwalking Grammy Award winning world dominating wave of three years had finally passed. So I waited patiently for the 'next' album.
By the time Bad started gearing up to crack open the sky - I was the prime age to appreciate music. The year was 1987 and I was 15 years old. On 31 August that year there was a massive pre-release hype for the entire project and the premiere of the music video was no exception. It was a prime time television event - 'Michael Jackson: The Magic Returns' and featured the full 17 minute Martin Scorcese directed video for the single Bad: Michael's 'sequel' to Thriller - the most successful music video of all time. No pressure! Granted, we'd already been treated to the ballad I Just Can't Stop Loving You - but that was not really the big first single. It was like a teaser. Almost a way to take the pressure off. In the business we'd call that a 'soft release'. No, the real event was the first big pop song and the accompanying music video for Bad. So the pressure was there! I even applied some as a fan.
What would it sound like? What would he look like? Most importantly - would I love it as I adored Thriller?
The answer was a big massive YES! Musically - the title track Bad, was FUN. It was up and energetic and I did not see the funk or soul coming. I did not expect Michael to look the way he did. I loved his androgyny and his new slick black leather and buckles image. His hair. His makeup. He was a proper pop star. A hero.
I was also being bullied quite badly at high school during that time so you can imagine the impact Michael's video for Bad had. His character was taunted and what did he do? He only shot up into the air and dropped down as a super hero in black leather and buckles. Then he danced up a storm and sang like an angel spitting out rhetoric and confidence.
When I finally got the album, listening to it was a religious experience. I still remember the paper stock of the album cover, the smell of the ink - the incredible liner notes and of course that amazing Matthew Rolston inner sleeve photo spread with Michael in black sunglasses and turtleneck and through a distorted lens as he contorted for the camera.
The sounds - well they were surreal. The percussion and aggressive vocals of The Way You Make Me Feel' in sharp contrast to the honey sweet harmonies of the backing vocals. The insanity of 'Speed Demon' - the joy of Stevie Wonder duet Just Good Friends and of course that goose bump inducing global anthem Man in the Mirror. It has the violence of Dirty Diana and finally the jewel of Bad's crown: Smooth Criminal. Forget Billie Jean, keep Thriller. I wanted to see a music video for this adrenaline rush of a song! As a collected works - the songs were a million miles away form the brilliant Thriller. Where Thriller was sparse and conservative in its punches, Bad was a techincolour of sound. Brooding, angry or sexy. Nothing on there sounding like a repeat of where he'd been before.
The rest of the campaign unfolded with equal amounts of mystery shock and awe. Who could have seen 'sexy Michael' on the horizon? But there he was in the video for The Way You Make Me Feel converting even my rock-loving sister into a fan. This previously harmless elfin like child man was suddenly the confident lead in his own West Side Story musical - puffing his chest and chasing the pretty lady down the street. Every music video was an event. MTV had just come to Australian television (albeit a two hour show three times a week late at night!). But I sat there for every single video premiere at midnight - fumbling with the controls for the VCR to record them so I could watch them over and over again. Studying the dance moves and obsessing over the details. Then there was the tour. Long standing fans of mine would know about the transformative experience I had seeing Michael live for the first time. Brisbane Entertainment centre - November 25 and 28 1987. Famously and rather embarrassingly, the Australian press launched a pretty aggressive negative campaign about Michael back then, informing locals that he would be performing behind a plastic screen to avoid catching germs from Australians. Ridiculous. But it worked: ticket sales virtually halted. MJ was supposed to play in stadiums but due to the poor ticket sales in my home town he was downgraded to arenas. Instead of one night in a 40,000-seat stadium he played two nights at a 9,000 seater. It's unfathomable now to imagine the King of Pop couldn't sell a concert ticket - but in that moment in time, that was the reality in my home town.
The tour book was extraordinary. It featured photographs of Michael in a mysterious white pin striped suit with a white Fedora. Had I missed something? What video was this from? I had to wait a year to find out (see the end of this story!).
I've written numerous accounts of this night but suffice to say I ended up almost front row by complete accident (my cheap seat field tickets for the stadium randomly exchanged for floor seats right near the stage) and the performance changed my life: it made me know what I wanted to do for the rest of mine. It was a spectacular show, and I managed to buy tickets to the seconc show as well - where I saw both Stevie Wonder perform a duet with Michael but also the debut of choreographer and local Brisbane resident Wade Robson as he made his debut on stage at five years of age, dancing with Michael during the encore.
During the course of the promo period for Bad, I had all the 12 inch singles on vinyl. For the record, Man In The Mirror was my favourite artwork - this incredible black and white portrait of Michael with silver ink and black. The boots from Dirty Diana were also fawned over and I may have worn a pair just like them complete with a Triumph motorcycle buckle belt to my high school prom that year ;).
Bad filled up two years of my life at high school. It saw me go from bullied teen with no allies to lead in the school musicals full of confidence and a purpose in life. It gave me a hero to look up to. Someone strange, marching to the beat of his own drum and someone proud not to fit into the mould.
By the time Bad promo finished up - and the magic felt like it was about to drain out of my world, I saw an ad in a movie magazine that stopped me in my tracks. Moonwalker - starring Michael Jackson.
There he was in that white pin striped suit in a movie poster reminiscent of a George Lucas or Steven Spielberg film. What did it all mean? I had to wait until the movie was released. Luckily because I worked part time in a record store - I managed to score tickets to a press screening and I marked the date on my calendar. Soon enough the mystery of the white suit was revealed - it was the outfit Michael famously wore in the music video for Smooth Criminal and I embarrassingly and proudly wore a replica version of it to the screening myself. I felt a bit of a fool catching a bus in the middle of a humid Australian summer day - in full white suit complete with suspenders and blue socks! I was one of two people dressed up. The other, the now six year old Wade Robson. He was in a perfect replica of the white gangster suit complete with identical dance moves. I said hello to him after the screening. No one else realised who he was but I said to him 'Are you the little boy who danced with Michael Jackson at the concert?'.
He looked up with his big wide brown eyes and smiled knowingly, 'Yes'. He and his family would eventually be moved to the US with Michael's assistance, and under Michael's mentoring, Wayde would grow up to be a choreographer for Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. But back then, in 1988 he was still a baby. I said goodbye to him, and to the Bad era and caught the bus home with my own white fedora in my hand. Wayde was off to Neverland and I was off on a journey that would put me on stage at that same arena in my home town just 10 years later.
It was the best bus ride of my life.
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