Is Michael Jackson History In The Usa
Is Jackson mania finally over in the US?
Michael Jacksons new album, Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, is sinking silently into obscurity in the US.
Four weeks ago, the album made its debut at a lowly No. 24 on the charts. Last week, it had sunk to a humiliating level of No. 92. The album has sold a total of 92,000 copies in the US so far, a shockingly low figure for the man who was once crowned as the countrys King of Pop. In contrast, the album was number one on the charts in Great Britain, France and Spain. Billboard magazine quotes the albums producer, Epic Records, as estimating that the recording sold 445,000 units in Germany, and as many as 250,000 in UK. Astonishingly, the album was released in the US without the customary hoopla surrounding a new product from a musical superstar. Unlike previous Jackson releases, there has been no major promotional campaign touting the record, no exclusive interviews with the media, and apparently no effort to push for display space at music stores.
The quiet release and the damp reception underscores Jacksons plummeting popularity in the US. The singers personal life has undergone as many bizarre changes as his face of late, with the scandals taking a toll on his popularity. In recent years, Jackson has settled out of court after being accused of child molestation in a case that got tons of tabloid attention, been in a strange, short, marriage with Elvis Presleys daughter Lisa Marie, and is now the father of a child through a secretive, marriage with one-time nursing attendant Debbie Rowe.
Industry analysts told the New York Times that Epic, burned by disappointing US sales after spending an estimated $30 million to promote Jacksons last album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, probably decided to concentrate its marketing effort overseas. HIStory sold three million copies in the US, but 25 million units overseas.
Meanwhile, the erstwhile King of Pop is being dethroned in his backyard by challengers such as the Spice Girls, Notorious B.I.G, and Tim McGraw.