Really, the death of Michael Jackson shouldn’t have come as a shock.
Looking back, he never did seem like the healthiest guy. More like someone who has been dying in public for years. And yet his death really did take me by surprise.
Surprise, and a burning desire to listen to “Thriller.” Immediately. And not just the song, but the entire album. Trouble was, I didn’t own the album. In fact, I didn’t own any Michael Jackson music at all, which suddenly seemed like a grave omission, something of which I ought to be deeply ashamed.
I woke up the next morning and searched for Michael Jackson on the radio. Surely, some station had thought to put together a Michael Jackson tribute for my commute. But no. Nobody had. And yet I couldn’t get Michael Jackson out of my head. “Billie Jean,” “Rock With You,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,” and “I Want You Back” looped through my brain all morning. At lunch, WEQX played “Beat It,” which was a total delight but failed to satisfy my desire to listen to Michael Jackson, and when I got home, I downloaded “Thriller” from iTunes. I wasn’t alone. According to news reports, on Friday 60 percent of Amazon.com’s music sales were Michael Jackson albums, DVDs and other related products, while Jackson’s music accounted for nine of the top 10 albums and six of the top 10 songs downloaded on iTunes.
I’d never considered myself a Michael Jackson fan. Hence, his absence from my CD collection. But Jackson’s death enabled me to focus on his music and listen to it with new ears, even as Michael Jackson memories I didn’t know I had — the moonwalking craze of second grade, for instance — seemed to emerge from my subconscious. For years, the Michael Jackson media circus, his increasingly weird antics and ghoulish appearance, the repugnant accusations of child abuse, had obscured just how good his music is. Now, finally, was an opportunity to remember and rediscover it. Everywhere I turned, people were doing what I was doing — playing old Jackson albums, buying Jackson albums, writing notes on Facebook about how much they loved Jackson’s music. I burned “Thriller” onto a CD and brought it to a friend’s house for dinner.
We played “Thriller” several times. The album’s best songs are “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,’ “Thriller,” “Beat It” and “Billie Jean,” but its lesser songs — “Human Nature,” “The Girl is Mine,” and “P.Y.T.” — are pretty darn good, too. (There’s a reason “Thriller” remains the best-selling album of all time.) But I wanted more, and so the next day I decided to download “Bad.”
Unfortunately, my cat Paul was walking across my lap and nudging my hand with her head, and so it was only after I’d initiated the download process that I noticed I’d accidentally purchased “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection” (price $34) rather than “Bad” (price $9.99). It was too late to cancel, and so I decided to look on the bright side — I would soon own over 65 Michael Jackson songs. In other words: I would want for nothing!
At least, that’s what I thought. But there really is such a thing as too much Michael Jackson music, at least for me. I don’t need to own “We Are the World” or the “Free Willy” song or, really, much of anything from Jackson’s post-“Bad” output, although I do like “Black or White.” Much of the King of Pop’s later music is overproduced and labored, lacking in the sharp hooks and effortless cool that make his earlier work so exciting. Like many great artists, he lost his edge, but didn’t want to admit it.
In any case, I don’t know that I’ll ever listen to all of the Michael Jackson songs I downloaded. But the earlier stuff? I think I’m going to listen to it all of the time. Because it really is terrific and someday, when the seemingly endless Michael Jackson show has finally shut down for good, it will be what people remember.
Soon after hearing of Michael Jackson’s death, I reached out to The New England Sports Fan Friend, who, in addition to being a fan of New England sports, is a big fan of Michael Jackson (and Pearl Jam).
“In some ways, I am relieved that he’s dead, because now I can just listen to his music without having to think about what he became,” the New England Sports Fan Friend wrote. “I expect there are many millions who agree with me. I do feel that I should find a way to pay tribute to Michael’s work. Maybe buy the new remastered 180-gram vinyl version of ‘Thriller’ or something. On a side note, [Eddie Vedder] ends his tour in Hawaii during the next week. It will be interesting to read what J5 or M.J. songs he plays. Although it may not be obvious, the [Jackson 5] and Michael Jackson are a very significant Pearl Jam influence. In fact, I think a young Eddie Vedder in Evanston, Ill., wanted to be a singer just like little Michael from Gary, Ind. I’d love to be in Hawaii for that.”
Yeah, me too.
One of the stranger aspects of the Jackson story was his constantly changing skin color. My college classmate Kiese Laymon, now teaching at Vassar, discusses this issue, and others, in an essay titled “The Greatest American Worker of My Time was a Black Boy Who Performed in White Face,” which you can find here here.
Gazette music writer Brian McElhiney has a nice piece in his blog, which you can find here.
LINK OF THE DAY:
This (click here) doesn’t have anything to do with Michael Jackson, but it does explain why Gov. Mark Sanford might just be America’s first emo governor. If you’re like me, and you’ve never understood emo music, you’ll probably think this is funny.
Got a comment? Add yours below or e-mail me at sfoss@dailygazette.net.
