Thursday, June 25, 2009

On Michael Jackson

(My first thought, I admit, was "Way to knock Farrah Fawcett off the front page." Seriously, though, the death of a big 70s icon and a big 80s icon on the same day -- damn.)

But, y'know, when I first thought of Michael Jackson upon hearing of his death, I thought about the Michael Jackson whom we've known recently. The weird, sorta freaky one. The one who had odd relationships with children, seemed very immature himself, and, y'know, didn't entirely have a nose.

But in the car on the way home, I started to really think about the guy. (I flipped radio stations to see if anyone was playing his music. Negative on the pop stations, and the rock stations. But the "oldies" station -- the "greatest hits of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s" -- they were playing all Michael all the time.)

Here's the thing -- there are some pop stars out there who seem famous just by luck. With frequent use of Auto-Tune, recording songs other people write, some of them are just famous by being in the right place at the right time, and are totally fungible.

But Jackson, despite all the rest of it, was the real deal talent-wise. Brilliant, innoventive, trend-making -- dude could write, perform, ... and he sure could move. He pretty much single-handedly put MTV on the map, made choreography hip again, and had not one, but several, infectious sounds.

That's the Michael Jackson I'll miss.

1 comment:

Elen said...

Yes I agree. He was weird. He had very disturbing relationships with children. He did seem unable to grow up. But my goodness was he ever an awesome singer, writer and dancer. Just brilliant. And now all that is gone. It is sad.