Memories of Michael

To be quite honest, I thought it could easily be a publicity stunt - Michael Jackson dying of cardiac arrest. Yeah, right. Thinking that he would die of a heart attack, just before a major tour, seemed so convenient. But, to my surprise, he is in fact gone. Wow.

He was, and goes without saying, a true icon. Most icons are dead before recognized as icons, but Michael was one through the majority of his life. Now that he's gone, he will still be remembered as an important figure in the music and entertainment world.

MJ's Thriller was my first album/cassette tape. I think my second was Janet Jackson ironically. I remember in first grade Barry Danks, a fellow classmate, did a Michael Jackson break dance performance. I was always too shy to perform in front of others but remember practicing break dancing at home alone in my room - ha! And I can't forget how excited my childhood friend Derek and I got when he'd performed on the Grammy's (see video), with his shiny silver glove and socks. My parents had a video tape of the music video and the making of Thriller, and we were obsessed with it, watching it over and over, getting scared (yes, we were scared, but young enough to be scared) every time he'd turn around from being MJ into a zombie.

In retrospect, he was always strange, even before all his plastic surgery and child molestation accusations. After all, what was with all that grunting, squeaking, and grabbing of the crotch? Seems he had a lot of issues being in the limelight all his life. The Barbara Walters interview where he talks about how the paparazzi should recognize that he too has a heart seemed to illustrate how aggravated he was just being who he was, and being in general. I guess I can't blame him for being as strange as he was. I can't say I'd be 'normal' either if I was globally recognized like MJ.

Every generation or several years there seem to be a few people that really innovate and become recognized for being so good at what they do. Michael Jackson was one of them. There's no denying he was talented. I don't know of any person that didn't appreciate something about Michael Jackson's entertainment or songs. He will be missed by many.