It would be inappropriate to miss out on the opportunity to pause for a moment and remember Michael Jackson. After thousands of articles and interviews in my journalistic career, a large chunk of which are music-related, I remember the very first article I did for a publication. In Seventh Grade, I submitted a review for the “Beat It” video to our McCleskey middle school newspaper, which was so well-received the sponsor asked me to follow it with “Thriller.” I had become a fan a year earlier when I bought Thriller, my very first album, which I played non-stop on my cassette player/stereo/TV combo I kept beside my bed.
I grew up in the age when MTV played music videos and Michael stood head and shoulders above everyone else. His music earned so much money, he could afford to hire any director, any musician, any celebrity to cameo and his mini-movies became media events. And everyone else worked harder to keep up. He’s long been attributed to giving a young MTV the legs it had to stand on.
Long after I’d supposedly grown past his music, when the premiere for “Black and White,” his first video in many years was scheduled, I planned my break at the bookstore at Town Center mall so I could walk over to the electronics store and watch it. Using every means at his disposal, including incorporating the new, expensive morphing technology, he had once again created a buzz-worthy clip. And I was a kid again.
Someone asked yesterday that if we didn’t lose Michael Jackson a long time ago and I can agree with that. I don’t think anything else he could have done would have restored him to the place he once had on the national stage. Ironically, his music will now enjoy the reverence that has otherwise eluded him in recent years. Still, before his personal life overshadowed his music, he was the King of Pop and no one could come close to touching him.
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