Mood:
sadYesterday, we lost one of the world’s greatest musical entertainers. He was a beloved child performer who grew up to be a premiere pop artist. Personal scandals and relationships aside, Michael Jackson was brilliant shining star. He entertained us and he enlightened us. He gave us songs to dance to and songs to weep to. Even when we made fun of his unique sense of style—the one glove and the white sparkly socks & black penny loafers, we (somewhat) secretly tried to emulate his style. (In middle school I wore white slouch socks and black penny loafers, and had a glossy photograph of Michael Jackson taped inside the back cover of my assignment notebook.)
To say I grew up with Michael Jackson’s music would be an understatement. There wasn’t a time in my life, from when I was an infant, that Michael Jackson’s music wasn’t in my life. My age 5, my brother and I used dance around singing “ABC, it’s easy as 123….” I even vaguely remember my brother I creating a dance routine to one of the Jackson 5’s songs and performing it for our mom. We watched the Jacksons’ variety show as a family, and thought it superior than Cher & Sonny’s or the Donnie & Marie’s shows. (Not to know those variety shows, because we liked them too.) How about the Jacksons’ cartoon? I’m pretty sure the Harlem Globetrotters guest appeared on it at least once. Lol.
Anything related to Michael Jackson was required viewing in my household. It was a night for family time around the TV. Michael Jackson brought us together. I remember when The Wiz premiered on television, my aunt, grandmother, brother and I gathered around the television set. We snickered at how old Diana Ross was too old to play innocent Dorothy but we loved MJ as the lovable & brainless scarecrow. The movie was heralded for it’s Technicolor New York sets but we had a black & white television. We had to imagine the rainbow colors. My aunt, in an attempt to provide color, draped a rainbow color scarf over the television!
We waited until 1 a.m. for the Thriller video premiere. Bad, Black & White, and Remember the Time videos were also memorable moments in my home.
However, the most memorable television moment had to be Michael Jackson performing at the 25th Anniversary Motown special. At that time, MJ was no longer on Motown and there had been rumors about whether or not he would even perform. (BUT HE HAS TOO!) When he came out with those smooth moves, tossing the hat into the audience, and singing “Billie Jean,” we were in awe. But when he started moonwalking, a dance move we had never seen before, we lost it! We started screaming, jumping up and dance, clapping and high-fiving. We called friends and family. “Yo, did you see Michael?” The next day at school, we couldn’t talk about anything else. When’s the last time the whole of society had shared such one common television memory—same show, same time, same channel? Michael Jackson unified us. He seared himself into our collective consciousness with his talent.
From squeaky clean Motown tunes to rarely played funky foot stompers to discofied dance hits to touching ballads to cross over R&B and Pop music, Michael Jackson crossed genres, generations, races, nations, and socioeconomic status. He was born a little poor black boy in a town that is still basically poor to grow up to become our very own King of Pop. There will never another like him nor would I want there be another Michael.
I love you Michael Jackson. Thank you. Despite what they said about you, I always believed that you were pure and good at heart.
http://blog.allmusic.com/2009/6/26/in-tribute-michael-jackson/