Weekly > Features
Michael Jackson 1958 - 2009
Ok, so take every piece of prejudice aside about this guy. Take the whole gossip column bullshit, the ‘Wacko Jacko’ nonsense, the plastic surgery did he/didn’t he aside. This is a desperately sad day for music.
Today is about the death of a guy who loved….who lived to entertain. To thrill if you like. I wanted to focus on the music and it occurred to me that pretty much everybody on the planet knows and loves at least five Michael Jackson songs (tell me your in the minority that don’t and I still won’t believe you).
‘Beat It’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Wanna Be Starting Something’, ‘Thriller’ (lest we forget, that four, astonishingly, all one album), ‘Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Jam’. That’s just off the top of my head.
The real deal for the uninitiated is ‘Off The Wall’ maybe the greatest pop record of all time. With that and ‘Thriller’ – his twin peaks – he scaled the heights of the world and it’s hardly surprising he barely came close to matching them. That’s ok though. Neither did anybody else. Take everything away and his legacy is he recorded two albums that are guaranteed to a) stand the test of time b) enliven any party and c) make people smile and feel good.
That’s immortality there. To quote Al Pacino’s character from ‘Heat’; ‘Bon voyage motherfucker. You were good.’
Have your say...
Comment Permalink | marco_69 said:
Hi Bobbins.
MJ was definately a one off. There is a good chance people will be listenning to his music in 100 years time. I remember when the ‘Thriller’ video was played for the first time. It was like a mini movie premiere.
Pacino’s line sums him up perfectly.
Comment Guidlines
You must be logged in to post a comment. Go Login or Register first.
We waffle on enough without letting you lot do it too. Comments are limited to 300 characters.
Try and keep on topic if you can and no insulting the contributors. All hate mail can be addressed to Kev.