The news of Michael Jackson’s death didn’t hit me at all yesterday. I was too busy being down in the dumps after not receiving $1,000 scholarship grant from H&R Block (not that big of a deal in the long run). So how do I feel 24 hours later? Different. This afternoon I re-listened to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Dangerous and parts of Off The Wall at work. Michael Jackson left a considerable dent on my childhood but in retrospect I’m not sure I enjoy what I remember of him.
It’s hard to hate Michael Jackson, well, it is hard to hate Michael Jackson if you knew him before the mid-1990s. I can clearly remember a VHS recording my dad made of the music video of Jam wherein Michael played basketball in a rundown gym with none other than Michael Jordan. Everything from the fact that I was watching it on a big screen television set to the fact that it was on MTV made him the “man” in my opinion. I grew up listening to Thriller each year during the weeks leading up to Halloween because my dad made a mix tape with assorted “monster-related” songs (i.e. Purple People Eater, Ghostbuster’s Theme, etc.). The first cassette tape I put in my first home audio player was Sting’s Mercury Falling. The second cassette tape I put in my audio player was Michael Jackson’s HIStory.
Michael Jackson gave me a link to R&B which was a wildly exotic world for me at the tender age of 8 or 9. I grew up loving jazz mainly because I knew that the jazz greats (excluding Kenny G.) were black and that was something I could never be. Michael Jackson gave the world R&B by making it mainstream. Sure, Motown and disco did a lot to help the music genre but it was Michael’s tender ballads and fancy footwork that set the world on fire.
The past decade hasn’t been easy for Michael or the rest of his fan base. I still haven’t listened to Invincible, his last major effort at a career revitalization. To me Michael Jackson stopped being “cool” after his duet with Janet Jackson in 1996’s Scream. The music video, another Jackson tool, shows just how amazing his effect on music was. Who else could command a music video that cost the same as many major motion pictures of the same time period? Michael. His allegations of sexual molestation and constant abuse of pain killers haven’t helped his situation. Nor has his gross negligence of his financial spending (he spent thousands of dollars on candy and ice cream). In short, Michael’s fantasy life may have provided him refuge from his abusive childhood but it only led to his public downfall.
After listening to Thriller today I can officially say that I enjoy every one of the nine songs on that album outside of his duet with Paul McCartney (The Girl Is Mine). I also noticed that the only song where Michael sounds aggressive or angry is Billie Jean (Beat It and Thriller have a distinct tongue-in-cheek to them). I kind of enjoy the Smooth Criminal that inhabited Michael’s earlier efforts. When it came time to preaching his messages of global peace, racial equality and love I don’t think the world was quite ready.
I think Thriller’s The Lady In My Life is the best send-off I can think of for his tumultuous career. Everything from the jazz guitar to the disco-esque keyboards give the song a beautiful sound that almost made me cry. If only Michael evolved that sound instead of heading in a popier direction. Thanks for all you gave us, MJ. You single-handedly proved that disco isn’t dead and that we can never Blame It On The Boogie.
Even When We’re Old And Gray
I Will Love You More Each Day
‘Cause You Will Always Be The Lady In My LifeStay With Me
I Want You To Stay With Me…- The Lady In My Life
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