starrynight

Surely. He must have wrote many more great melodies than Michael Jackson. The whole Michael Jackson as 'king of pop' was just a record company idea in the early 90s.

Stone Birds

i'd like to throw john lennon in the ring let the arguing begin

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starrynight

John Lennon was good, but perhaps McCartney was more productive through the 70s. And he's obviously had the advantage of living longer as well.

right-track

His longevity has been to his detriment.

NGPercussion

Eh. McCartney wrote some great songs (I love the Temporary Secretary and Coming Up! :P), but Michael for sure is the king of pop. He is the ultimate performer, dancer, and a very talented singer, writer, and musician. The amount of brilliant songs to his credit cannot be ignored.

starrynight

He might have been a better dancer, performer is probably a matter of opinion. Singer? McCartney has sung in all kinds of styles. On a couple of albums I think McCartney played all the instruments himself so probably better as a musician. And as a writer he has wrote great songs over 5 decades. He was best in the 60s and 70s but what he wrote over that period alone would easily beat Michael Jackson I think.

Michael Jackson did some very good songs but not really that many in comparison. Much of his persona was about creating an image, Neverland being like his Graceland for example. I think he is more comparable to Elvis in a way.

And Michael Jackson admired The Beatles songs so much he actually owned the copyright in them for a while.

NGPercussion

Yes, and I'm not doubting McCartney's musicality and contribution to music in general, he certainly gave a lot to it. I just think Michael had a bigger impact on the pop genre.

I think the albums on which he played every instrument were McCartney and McCartney, correct? If memory serves :/

starrynight

Yeh I think it was the 2 self titles ones in particular he did that.

Influence is hard to judge, and it isn't always a good thing anyway.

NGPercussion

True, but I think Michael had a bigger impact with his music on the pop genre. Just my view on it. Paul sure had a huge effect, but the likes of Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, Bad, Smooth Criminal, You Rock My World, etc. had HUGE popularity. They were extremely catchy, groovy songs with great videos, amazing choreography, and storylines. That's another thing MJ has over Paul: the art of the music video. He single handedly revolutionized the way videos were made for music. That combined with his music and dancing and stage presence puts him over the top, I think.

starrynight

From Wikipedia:

"McCartney is listed in The Guinness Book Of Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history with sales of 100 million singles and 60 gold discs,[3] "Sir Paul McCartney became the Most Successful Songwriter who has written/co written 188 charted records, of which 91 reached the Top 10 and 33 made it to No.1 totalling 1,662 weeks on the chart (up to the beginning of 2008)."[234]

In the US, McCartney has achieved thirty-two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including twenty-one with The Beatles,[8] one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds",[11] nine solo, with Wings or other collaborators,[9] and one as the composer of "A World Without Love", a number one single for Peter and Gordon.[10] In the UK, McCartney has been involved in more number-one singles than any other artist under a variety of credits, although Elvis Presley has achieved more as a solo artist. McCartney has twenty four number-one singles in the UK, including seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and one with "The Christians et all".[235] McCartney is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Stevie Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", The Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", The Beatles with Billy Preston), and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).[236]

McCartney was voted the "Greatest Composer of the Millennium" by BBC News Online readers and McCartney's song "Yesterday" is thought to be the most covered song in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions[4] and according to the BBC, "The track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list. Sir Paul McCartney's Yesterday is the most played song by a British writer this century in the US."[5] After its 1977 release, the Wings single "Mull of Kintyre" became the highest-selling record in British chart history, and remained so until 1984.[237] (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so, in 1984, was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" in which McCartney was a participant.)"




As for music videos I think many of the most creative ones were done in Britain. Maybe not as technically slick sometimes as some done in America but certainly inventive, and that started before the Thriller video. Not that I want to make it a nationalist thing, but some places I suppose did pioneer music videos more than others. To just single out Michael Jackson seems limited.