When I first heard the news, the first thing that came to mind was “No, it can’t be true. It’s a lie.” Then when other news sources (CNN, Yahoo, etc.) started to confirm the story, it was shocking and utter disbelief to me. It was bad enough to learn of Farah Fawcett’s death a few hours earlier and now the news that Michael Jackson is gone. I was too young to remember when Elvis Presley passed away in 1977 and I was in second grade when John Lennon was assassinated in 1980, and in my lifetime the deaths of Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Tupac Shakur in 1996, Notorious BIG in 1997, Aaliyah In 2001, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002 and James Brown in 2006 were huge, Jackson’s passing was the greatest of them all.
My first memory of Michael Jackson was when he was with his brothers in 1979 with the song “Shake Your Body Down To The Ground”. When I was six years old, I couldn’t remember any of the words to each verse, but I do remember singing (at least trying to sing) the chorus of the song at home after hearing it on the radio. Another memory took place at Christmas 1982, when my mother bought us the Thriller album as a family gift. It was a total surprise to us that the album had just been released a few weeks earlier that month. Who knew it was going to be the best-selling album of all time (according to SoundScan: 100 million and counting).
The last memory was five months later, in May 1983. My brother and I had to go to bed because we had school the next day, but my mother asked us if we wanted to stay up and watch Motown 25 (NBC was showing the special of television that night.) Of course we said yes and watched the show. You couldn’t believe what you saw on that special, seeing Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, The Temptations, The Four Tops performing on stage, as well as The Jackson 5 reunion and Michael’s classic rendition of “Billie Jean.”
His performance was something my classmates and I talked about at school the next day. This was the days before TiVo, the Internet, Youtube, MySpace, Facebook, and any other social media site where someone would post the video clips online immediately. Unless you had the money for a VCR (and not many of us had it back then) you had to watch it live because if you missed it, then you missed a great performance.
1984
1984 was the year everyone wanted to be like Mike (this is before another future global icon with the initials MJ who would make a name for himself in the NBA later that year with the Chicago Bulls: Michael Jordan). just one year, any album Jackson sang on, be it his songs, any collaboration (see: “State of Shock” with Mick Jagger and “Say Say Say” with Paul McCartney) or simply provided background vocals (see: ” Somebody’s Watching Me, with his brother Jermaine on “Tell Me I’m Not Dreaming” and his sister Rebbie on “Centipede.” That song was going to be a hit. If you were a fan of Michael Jackson in 1984, the heyday of “Michaelmania” , you wanted to make not only dance like the man, but also dress like him. My funds at the time did not allow me to buy the “Beat It” jacket, the “Thriller” jacket, the chance to go to the Victory Tour, or get me a curl jheri (It crossed my mind, but I never got one, but my friends did.) Seeing those carefree bottles of curl activator and the accompanying plastic caps, though, brings back memories. funds allowed me to buy all 45 of some of the singles that were released from the album “Thriller”.
A pioneer
“Billie Jean” was the first music video shown on MTV that was made by a black artist. It’s hard to believe now when you watch the channel, but MTV didn’t show any videos of black artists (even though Rick James, Evelyn Champagne King, Gap Band, Ray Parker Jr., Earth Wind and Fire had already made music videos, the network would not show them because there were no rock videos.) Walter Yetnikoff, president of CBS Records, issued an ultimatum to MTV, they will either show “Billie Jean” or they will never receive any more videos from any artist on the CBS Records music chart and the network will be exposed by its policies. MTV relented and began showing Billie Jean on a regular basis. Jackson was able to change the concept of a music video. It went from being a promotional tool to a kind of mini-movie. The challenge was released for all artists in the music business – if you just want to sing in your video that’s fine, but if you want your video to stand out, you need to act and / or dance to get some audience attention. Jackson’s appeal crossed racial, gender, age, and socioeconomic boundaries. The blueprint for his success was the label he began his recording career with: Motown, where Berry Gordy’s plan was to have R&B musical acts that would move onto the pop charts.
An imperfect genius
The man was a great singer / songwriter, a fluent dancer (he was a student of James Brown, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Wilson, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, the Nicholas Brothers, plus he added elements of Hip-Hop, Broadway, Jazz and Tap in his dance repertoire): humanitarian (donated time and money to charitable causes, in addition to visiting sick children in hospitals, clinics and shelters here in the United States and around the world); smart businessman (buying the Beatles catalog was a great solid investment) and an excellent performer on stage (as a musical act you better bring every night and give the audience their money’s worth, a lesson that Jackson always followed in each and every one of them). every concert.)
Unfortunately, the last 15 years have been the fodder for the tabloids. If it was her plastic surgery
(Did you go far? Yes!) Your questionable behavior in public (Should you use better judgment when in public view? Yes!) Your spending habits (Spent beyond your means in recent years! Yes!) His entourage (did he surround himself with people who really weren’t looking out for his best interests, especially those parasites who were only around just to bleed his money? Yes!) His “disappointing” album sales after Thriller ( According to SoundScan: 1987’s Bad album sold 8 million copies in the US and 30 million worldwide with 6 top 10 hits, including 5 songs that reached number 1) The 1991 album Dangerous sold 7 million in the US and 32 million worldwide with 6 top 10 hits and 2001’s Invincible sold 2 million in the US but 10 million worldwide with 2 top ten hits, pretty good for a album that received little promotion from Sony Music; was not part of a world tour and virtually ignored by mainstream pop radio.) and his two well-publicized court cases involving young children (the irony is that prior to the 1993 case, Michael was on a media tour with the performance of the Super Bowl than January, doing print and TV interviews and appearing on award shows, then things hit the fans that summer and that was it. The 2005 case was very evident that it really had a physical and emotional impact on him).
The legacy lives on
Despite the media judging and condemning him for having an odd personality while documenting his trials and tribulations on a regular basis; Although the media also say that he is a has been in the current music scene; despite being a polarizing figure in the court of public opinion; And despite being the pinnacle of late-night comics jokes, Jackson has always maintained a loyal following not only here in the United States but also around the world. His impact on the music industry over the years has created a new generation of musical acts and dancers who were definitely influenced by Jackson, be it his voice-inflected singing style or dance style, where the movements they are accurate and tight.
Jackson was on his way to perform a concert series in London later this month and sadly, we will never know how it would have turned out.
Last words
Was the man a saint? No. Jackson had a horrible childhood and, as an adult, developed an addiction to plastic surgery and, as we have recently learned in the news, to prescription drugs. But the man was not the monster or the phenomenon that the media made him out to be. Everyone has the right to have their own opinion on Jackson, but a memo to US Congressman Peter King: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.” Finally, while there are worthy contenders to be the next King or Queen of Pop on the current music scene, there will never be one like Michael Jackson, end of discussion.
Rest In Peace- Michael Joseph Jackson- The Greatest Of All Time
