Yet another blow to my long lost youth :(

OMFGWTFBBQ! THIS IS UNREAL! CAN YOU BELIEEEEEVE THIS? NOOOOOO!

OK, got that out of my system. Just as I clicked to post my Farrah reminiscences, it was announced at that very minute that Michael Jackson had passed away. I was stunned. I must say that I once had a discussion with a very good friend about MJ and his bizarre lifestyle and he commented exactly this: "that man is going to die young and under strange circumstances". Prophecy fulfilled. The picture I've chosen to post here is one of the Michael Jackson I remember from the tender years of my youth, when he was still "himself".

When I was a kid, my Mother bought me a record player. Yes, RECORD. As in vinyl. Remember those? I had the Jackson's album "Triumph" and Michael Jackson's solo album "Off The Wall". I listened to them over and over and over. I did that thing that most kids do when they really love a song. I sang into the mirror using my hairbrush as a microphone. Of course, long before this I was obsessed with "Dancing Machine", "I'll Be There" and "Ben". There was just something infectious about this music and to this day when I hear those songs I feel the urge to get up and dance. I challenge anyone to listen to "Dancing Machine" and NOT get your ass out of your chair and dance. *Sings* ..."Automatic, Systematic.... full of color and self contained...tuned and gentle to your vibes."... If you're not dancing you are tapping your toes or wanting to dance but too embarrassed to try because people are around, right?.

I remember going away to college for the first time and blasting my Michael Jackson albums. He made the moonwalk huge even though it had already been done by Fred Astaire and others decades before. He modernized it. People tried to do this on every dance floor. He found a visual hook and ran with it. It became his signature and it really sucked in people in a hypnotizing way. And the red leather jacket from the Thriller video, that was everywhere too. Music, dance, fashion...Michael Jackson's influence was everywhere. He pioneered the industry for entertainers like Prince, Ne-Yo, Chris Brown, Usher and the like. I don't think Madonna and Britney would have made it like they did if he hadn't precluded them. He set a standard that wasn't there before as a real pop entertainer musically and visually. I really can't think of anyone who does what he did as far as writing music, performing it and producing it. He was a one man show really. The thing that really amazes me was that he became so huge before the existence of the Internet and ipods. Elvis and the Beatles managed this one too but Michael Jackson was something else entirely.

He was big even before MTV although MTV surely made him even bigger. Actually, thinking back now, he helped MTV more than it helped him. He once said that MTV actually refused to play "Billie Jean" initially. After they finally did, it broke an all time record and MTV was begging for more. Michael Jackson actually opened the door racially for Prince at MTV and in other arena's as well.

Michael Jackson represented my youth. What he became pretty much overshadowed his enormous talent in the end. I have no idea what was true or not or what really happened, but all the scandal does not erase his enormous talent. I don't think there was ever anyone else like him before or since or ever will be again. I certainly hope there will be. I read that he had a very large collection of recorded unreleased music and this may prove to be an interesting addition to his legacy. Time will tell on this one.

I'm not going to canonize him, I think he was an intensely unhappy, disturbed person. Perhaps this was the price to pay for his enormous talent and fame. I'm just thinking back on his influence and his positive contributions right now.

The deaths of two icons from my youth in one week is quite the jolt. I am not the type of person to worship celebrities but Farrah and Michael were popular when I was an innocent, unjaded person. They both entertained me and are part of my memory bank and for that, I would like to thank them both.

That's all for now :)