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Financial News Online

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T H E B I K E R 'S C H O I C E

If you were amazed by the looks of so called "Lord Of The Streets", Yamaha FZ 16, then just have a look at this Mega Beast Yamaha FZ 1 - A clear advanced version of FZ 16, with a powerful engine, smoother edges and more muscular looks. Launched by Yamaha Europe. The FZ1 has got heart-pumping knockout performance and it’s got serious attitude on top of that, a lean and mean look that’s all about
Engine

Engine type
Liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, 4-cylinder, DOHC
Displacement
998 cc
Maximum power
110.3 kW (150 PS) @11,000 rpm
Maximum torque
106.0 Nm (10.8 kg-m) @ 8,000 rpm
Transmission system
Constant mesh, 6-speed
Fuel tank capacity
18 L
Oil tank capacity
3.8 L


Chassis

Chassis:
Aluminum die-cast, diamond shaped
Rear suspension system
Swing arm (link suspension)
Front brake
Dual discs, Ø 320 mm
Rear brake
Single disc, Ø 245 mm
Front tyre
120/70 ZR17M/C (58W)
Rear tyre
190/50 ZR17M/C (73W)


Dimensions

Length
2,140 mm
Width
770 mm
Height
1,060 mm
Wheel base
1,460 mm
Minimum ground clearance
135 mm
Wet weight
214 kg / ABS: 221 kg raw power.

Move to Epic and Off the Wall
The Jackson 5 signed a new contract with CBS Records in June 1975, joining the Philadelphia International Records division, later Epic Records,[13] and renaming themselves The Jacksons.[14] They continued to tour internationally, releasing six more albums between 1976 and 1984, during which Jackson was the lead songwriter, writing hits such as "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)", "This Place Hotel," and "Can You Feel It".[11]
In 1978, he starred as the scarecrow in the musical, The Wiz,[15] and it was here that he teamed up with Quincy Jones, who was arranging the film's musical score. Jones agreed to produce Jackson's next solo album, Off the Wall.[16] In 1979, Jackson broke his nose during a complex dance routine. His subsequent rhinoplasty was not a complete success; he complained of breathing difficulties that would affect his career. He was referred to Dr. Steven Hoefflin, who performed Jackson's second rhinoplasty and subsequent operations.[17]
Jones and Jackson produced the Off the Wall album together. At the album's pre-release party, Michael, himself, stated that Little Richard had a "huge influence" on him.[18] Songwriters for the album included Jackson, Heatwave's Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder, and Paul McCartney. Released in 1979, it was the first album to generate four U.S. top 10 hits, including the chart-topping singles "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You".[19] It reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[20] In 1980, Jackson won three awards at the American Music Awards for his solo efforts: Favorite Soul/R&B Album, Favorite Male Soul/R&B Artist, and Favorite Soul/R&B Single for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". That year, he also won Billboard Music Awards for Top Black Artist and Top Black Album and a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, also for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".[19] Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.[21] In 1980, he secured the highest royalty rate in the music industry: 37 percent of wholesale album profit.[22]

1982–83: Thriller and Motown 25
In 1982, Jackson contributed the song "Someone In the Dark" to the storybook for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial; the record won a Grammy for Best Album for Children.[23] That same year Jackson issued his second Epic album, Thriller, which became the most commercially successful album of all time. The album remained in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for 80 consecutive weeks and 37 of those weeks at the peak position. It was the first album to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."[24] Thriller was certified for 28 million shipments by the RIAA, giving it Double Diamond status in the United States.[25] It is the best-selling album of all time, with 110 million copies worldwide.[26] Jackson's attorney John Branca noted that Jackson had the highest royalty rate in the music industry at that point: approximately $2 for every album sold. He was also making record-breaking profits from sales of CDs and The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a documentary produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the documentary sold over 350,000 copies in a few months. The era saw the arrival of novelties like dolls modeled after Michael Jackson, which appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.[27] Biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli writes that, "Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item — like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie — and started selling like a household staple."

Early life and The Jackson
Michael Jackson was born the seventh of nine children on August 29, 1958 in Gary, Indiana, an industrial suburb of Chicago, to an African American working-class family. His mother, Katherine Esther Scruse, was a devout Jehovah's Witness, and his father, Joseph Walter "Joe" Jackson, a steel mill worker who performed with an R&B band called The Falcons. Jackson had three sisters: Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet, and five brothers: Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy.[5]
Jackson had a troubled relationship with his father. He stated that he was physically and emotionally abused during incessant rehearsals, whippings, and name-calling, though he credited his father's discipline for his success.[6] In one altercation recalled by Marlon, Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks".[7] Joseph would also trip or push his sons into walls. One night while Michael was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window, wearing a fright mask and screaming. He said he wanted to teach the children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Jackson said he suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom.[7] Joseph acknowledged in 2003 that he regularly whipped Jackson as a child.[8]
Jackson first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in an interview with Oprah Winfrey broadcast on February 10, 1993. He said that he had often cried from loneliness and would sometimes vomit when he saw his father. In an interview with Martin Bashir, aired on February 3, 2003 as Living with Michael Jackson, he covered his face with his hands and began crying when talking about his childhood abuse. He recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed, and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you".[9][10]
He showed talent early in his life, performing in front of classmates during a Christmas recital in kindergarten. In 1964, he and Marlon joined the Jackson Brothers — a band formed by brothers Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine — as backup musicians playing congas and tambourine. Jackson later began performing backup vocals and dancing; at the age of eight, he and Jermaine assumed lead vocals, and the group's name was changed to The Jackson 5.[5] The band toured the Midwest extensively from 1966 to 1968, frequently performing at a string of black clubs known as the "chitlin' circuit", where they often opened stripteases and other adult acts. In 1966, they won a major local talent show with renditions of Motown hits and James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)", led by Michael.[11]
The Jackson 5 recorded several songs, including "Big Boy", for the local record label Steeltown in 1967, and signed with Motown Records in 1968.[5] Rolling Stone magazine later described the young Michael as "a prodigy" with "overwhelming musical gifts," writing that he "quickly emerged as the main draw and lead singer."[12] The group set a chart record when its first four singles ("I Want You Back", "ABC", "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There") peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]
Between 1972 and 1975, Jackson released four solo studio albums with Motown, among them Got to Be There and Ben, released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise, and producing successful singles such as "Got to Be There", "Ben", and a remake of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin". The group's sales began declining in 1973, and the band members chafed under Motown's strict refusal to allow them creative control or input. Although they scored several top 40 hits, including the top 5 disco single "Dancing Machine" and the top 20 hit "I Am Love", the Jackson 5 left Motown in 1975.[13]

About Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009), known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful entertainers of all time. His unique contributions to music and dance, along with a highly publicized personal life, made him a prominent figure in popular culture for four decades.
He started a solo career in 1971, having made his debut in 1964 as a member of The Jackson 5. His 1982 album Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time, with four others — Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), and HIStory (1995) — among the best selling. He popularized several intricate dance moves, such as the robot and the moonwalk. He is widely credited with having transformed the music video from a promotional tool into an art form, with videos for his songs "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Thriller" making him the first African American artist to amass a strong crossover following on MTV.
Twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his other achievements feature multiple Guinness World Records — including the "Most Successful Entertainer of All Time" — 13 Grammy Awards, 17 number one singles (including the four as a member of the Jackson 5), and estimated sales between 350 million and 750 million records worldwide.[3] He was also a notable philanthropist and humanitarian who donated and raised millions of dollars through support of 39 charities and his own Heal the World Foundation.
Jackson's personal life generated controversy for years. His changing appearance was noticed from the late 1970s and early 1980s, with changes to the shape of his nose and to the color of his skin drawing media publicity. He was accused in 1993 of child sexual abuse, although no charges were brought. He married twice, first in 1994 and again in 1996, and brought up three children, one born to a surrogate mother. In 2005, he was tried and acquitted of child molestation allegations. While preparing for the This Is It concert tour in 2009, Jackson died at the age of 50 after suffering from cardiac arrest. He reportedly had been administered drugs such as propofol and lorazepam, and his death was ruled a homicide by the Los Angeles County coroner. His memorial service was broadcast live around the world, attracting a global audience of up to one billion people.[4]

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The Sigourney Weaver in "Ghostbusters" Stage - The beginning of the end. OK, people and the press are really talking now. Gasps are audibly heard. He gets his nose done again, and, in a move that will forever baffle the world, neglects to sue the bastard who botched the surgery job on him. He suddenly has cheek bones. In a mere year and a half his skin's gone from beautiful cocoa bronze to fish belly white. He first denies this, then blames it on the medical condition Vitiligo which causes people of color to develop light patches of skin that lack pigment. Well he doesn't say this, his "people" say this. Mike ain't saying a thing which is odd considering the good he could do to bring this little understood condition to public light. Rumors abound that he's been allegedly taking female hormones (note the clever use of the word "allegedly" to avoid a law suit) to remove facial hair and keep that voice of his at the 12 year old boy pitch. He's talking in a Marilyn Monroe Little Girl Whisper. He's started the Spin of the misunderstood, picked-upon Victim instead of an increasingly weird 30 year old man. He's creepy. People are making jokes that only in America can you be born a black man and end up a white woman. Talented or no, the fact is we're realizing that Michael Has Issues.

The shark music from "Jaws" starts softly in the background...
Another nose job to narrow things and permanent eyeliner tattooed around his eyes. Ouch! Is that lipstick?! Hell, it's the 80s - it's allowed. During that time he had an army of spin doctors, lawyers, bodyguards, agents, minions, PR magicians, attendants, and managers all making sure he no one had a clue about his personal life but what did we care? He was doing amazing, selfless things - contributing to children's charities and starting his own "Heal The World Foundation"; cowriting the famous "We Are The World" song to help African famine victims. He was given the Heritage Award and praised by Queen Liz, President Reagan and others. Mike was everywhere, giving as much as he got and letting us all know how blessed he was. There was no one who wasn't impressed and didn't sprain an ankle trying to imitate his "Moon Walk" in their living room.