This week onethirtybpm has rolled out end-of-year lists documenting the best albums, songs, and cover art of 2009, among other things. But such lists don’t capture the full spectrum of things that happened this year. After all, a lot of times a year isn’t remembered by the albums that were released from January 1st to December 31st, but rather by landmark events in popular culture. This is especially true in this day and age, when an album’s technical “release date” matters less and less as the years go by. With that in mind, here are the five things you are most likely to give as answers when your grandkids ask you what happened in the music world in 2009.
01. The Death of Michael Jackson
Has there ever been a musician whose public image so dramatically improved overnight upon their death? Maybe Elvis. The last six months’ media coverage already makes it hard to remember what people generally thought of Michael Jackson before June 25th, but years of seclusion and tabloid reports on his bizarre personal life put Jacko’s public approval rating squarely in the post-resignation Sarah Palin zone. When he announced a run of shows at London’s O2 Arena for the summer of 2009, with the sadly prophetic title “This is It,” nobody was speculating about the content of the shows—all of their press seemed to center on the question of whether MJ would even show up. But almost from the minute word of his death broke to the public, the tables turned in the most dramatic fashion imaginable. His albums instantly became sold out in every record store in the world, magazines from Rolling Stone to Time published issue-length tributes to the King of Pop, tickets to his nationally-televised memorial service went for thousands on eBay, and Sony released This is It, an excellent documentary of the rehearsals for his London concerts. Jackson had already secured his place as one of a very short list of 20th-century American musical icons (pretty much the only people who could be mentioned in the same breath as him on that list would be Sinatra, Elvis, Miles, Dylan, and Hendrix). His death just reminded everybody of that.
02. Kanye West Finally Goes Off the Deep End
Something tells me we’re not going to stop hearing the phrase “Yo, ______________, I’m really happy for you and I’ma let you finish, but _________________ had one of the best _______________ of all time!” anytime soon. It’s just too ridiculously applicable to any situation you could think of, musical or otherwise.
03. Chris Brown and Rihanna Become the 21st-Century Ike and Tina
Details of what happened in that car on February 9th are sketchy, but all evidence is pretty incriminating. Chris Brown has deservedly become Michael Vick in the court of public opinion, while Rihanna has become a prominent advocate against domestic violence. It will be impossible to ever have a conversation about either one of them without referencing this incident for the foreseeable future.
04. The Beatles Update Their Catalog, Finally
Even three months after the September 9 release of the Beatles’ remastered catalog, it’s still pretty mind-blowing that before that, you could only own what is inarguably the most important body of work in the history of popular music in the CD versions that were released in 1987. Every other act of that time, from the Stones to Dylan to Bowie, have remastered and reissued their catalogs in basically every fashion imaginable over the last two decades, forcing fans to buy the same albums over and over again for improved sound and bonus features. Although it was frustrating to not have updated versions of the Beatles’ albums until now, in a way it is admirable that they took the time to do it right before giving the albums an overhaul. Add to that the simultaneous release of a Beatles-dedicated Rock Band game, and you have one of the biggest marketing coups in recent memory, and the greatest rock band of all time finally showing that they could stay current.
05. Eric Cartman Sings Lady Gaga
South Park’s brilliant sendup of “Poker Face” was the point where Stefani Germanotta made the leap from “potentially interesting pop star” to “potential Madonna successor.” Lady Gaga has proven herself all year to be a force of nature in pop music, making headlines for bizarre videos and outrageous live performances, and dominating the charts with some of the smartest, most subversive dance-pop in recent memory. And like any cultural phenomenon that gains some semblance of popularity, the South Park spoof was inevitable. Cartman’s straightforward take on Gaga’s biggest hit, “Poker Face,” went viral almost instantly, proving to be nearly as popular as the original.
