Michael and Me

Posted by admin on August 5th, 2009 filed in unleaded

I wanted to save this post for when all of the fanfare, rumor mill, and shear pandemonium ceased about the unfortunate death of Michael Jackson.  We all know kinda what happened so I won’t get into all that.

But what’s oddly atypical for me is how I personally feel about the loss.  I, evidently, was a bigger King of Pop (KOP) fan than I thought.  There are so many things about Michael’s music that uniquely etched memories in my heart.

1st memory: Cartoon Saturday

We all loved Saturday morning cartoons.  I was no different.  I didn’t have video games or cable that had the 24 hour cartoons, so whatever came on, that was it.

I don’t remember if the “Jackson 5″ cartoon came on really early or relatively late for cartoons, but I damn sure remember getting tired of it rather quickly.  The cartoon was too novel. Even a 4 year old could tell it sucked; laugh tracks (same one for the whole cartoon?), the voices of the other characters were 1 or 2 different people, and most of the scenes were the same just some different background.  It was one of the few cartoons that I wasn’t upset if I missed it.

2nd memory: Cruising

I can’t remember what car my uncle had back in the day, but at some point, he had a ’77 Plymouth Duster.  Somewhere in that time period, the Jackson 5 was in their transition period from Motown and was slowly getting out of the bubble gum songs.  As a 5 year old, I liked bubble gum songs.  Around that same time, the Sylvers were out with “Dancing at the High School Dance”.  I LOVED that song.  It was like “the Jackson 5, who?”  My mom and her brother disagreed.  According to them, the Jackson 5 was still the shit.  I remember this argument was the children vs the parents going across the Patapsco River Bridge in Baltimore.  I guess I remember that because the bridge has this huge rise to be such a short bridge.  All while listening to and singing “High School Dance” in the Duster.

3rd memory: “Can You Feel It” video

It was 1981, and video technology was skyrocketing in popularity.  MTV was in its infancy, and NBC thought it could go toe to toe with the creative network cable network using its late night show “Friday Night Videos”.  One Friday night, my cousins and I, with the help of blunt toothpick to hold our eyelids open,  decided to stay up and watch the world premiere of  ”Can You Feel It” by the Jacksons (coincidently, I’m listening to it now…hmm, imagine that).  And of course, the video is the last of an hour’s worth of videos and 2 hours worth of commercials.  The toothpicks were bending, but they never broke.  One cool thing about the video is the freaky outro; then again, the video itself was freaky even back then.  But one thing I remember for sure after watching it, was all of us looking at each other, mouths gaping, and none of us needed the toothpicks to stay awake.  The excitement of the all encompassing song seemed to do the trick.

4th memory: The Billie Jean video

I have no idea who was behind all of it, but the marketing giant behind Michael Jackson’s new “Thriller” was steamrolling the country as well as the world.  Again, I was forced to stay up with my cousins to watch the new world premiere of “Billie Jean”.  What was different this time was that Friday Night Videos was making its own funeral arrangements as MTV was slowly but surely kicking Friday Night Videos’ ass.

So we, with heavy eyelids, sat and attentively watched as Michael synchronously illuminated the pavement with his steps, spins, and kicks.  TIIIIGHT.  There were some weird things about the video that in essence would be symbolic to Michael’s future, but overall it was a great video for its time.  What do I mean?  The transformations.  Michael transforming into a leopard and something else but I can’t recall.  This was a regular practice in MJ’s life as he went from a medium complexioned teenager with regular lips and full nose to a waif, notebook paper white, tattooed lipped, no-cartilage-in-the-nose-having  scarecrow with a bankroll.

5th memory: Motown 25

My mom was out of town for a conference (yeah right) and I had to stay with my psuedo aunt and uncle.  They were older than my mom, and they were adamant about seeing Motown 25.  I for one, was not siced.  The Four Tops?  The Temptations?  Come on man!  Who cares?

What made it even worse was the fact that after every performance during the commercials, they just HAD to talk about the good ol’ ancient days of doo wopping on the corner and all that.  Again, who cares??

Then, during the 3rd or 4th segment, the Jacksons got on stage.  Surprisingly (to me at least),  they start singing ALL of the songs; Michael still the lead vocals.  ”A job well done, fellas” I thought.  But I couldn’t help but want Michael to do one of his songs with him.  I was hoping it wasn’t gonna be “Beat It” because how can he and his brothers do it together.  Mike grabs a microphone off of a stand and says “You know, I love all of those songs, gave us a lot of memories.  But now, ” he continued as  all of the  sudden the rest of the Jacksons walk off of the stage. “…I can’t help but love the new ones.”
And the famous baseline started (Steely Dan is STILL pissed) and the women in the audience started to scream.  I hate that, but I couldn’t help but smile because I knew what was coming. Sike!  No I didn’t!  Mike must have gone down to the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in Brooklyn or something to tap one of the coolest pretty boy moves at that time.  I don’t care what anyone says, I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse.  But I never expected to see it on a stage so big.  MJ took the streets primetime.  The reaction the next day at school was total amazement and adoration.  From the stodgy vice principal to the bad boy of the student body. EVERYONE, was talking about the moonwalk.  Afterwards, I’ve always wondered how that whole thing played out in other areas of the country where they may have thought that that was Mike’s very own creation.

6th memory:  The “Thriller” video

Here is where the DreddedOne’s sketchy past comes out. I had some serious punk-ass tendencies.  I refused (and still do) refuse to watch horror.  To me, life is horrifying enough.   I missed the world premiere of the video, but I heard about it from a bunch of folks.  The zombies and all that, no.  Not the kid.  I avoided watching the video for at least a month until my friend Steven coerced me into watching it.  He promised to warn me of all the gruesome parts before they happened.  Taking him at his word, we watched the video in his grandparents’ basement.  He turned off all of the lights, closed the curtains, and said as seriously as a 12 year old could “you need this.  This is the only way to watch this video.”  And so it was.  Steven popped in the tape, and we watched the entire video; a couple of times.  He held up to his word; he did warn me about all of the freaky parts in the video.  Except for in the end when Michael turns his head back to the camera in the end with the wolfen eyes.  ”I forgot about that part,” Steven laughed.

7th Memory:  All Them Damn Grammys !!

13 Grammys in one night.  This one is self-explanatory.

8th Memory: You Sick, sick, fuck.

After the “Thriller” album cooled off, Michael’s next album, “Bad” was for the undying fan.  I think he thought he could catch magic in the bottle again because to me, most of the songs made me scratch my head “Bad”, “Black or White”.  All quite lame; to me at least. My fandom quelled.  Now, between those albums, there was some weird shit brewing.  It started with taking Webster‘s Emmanuel Lewis to the Grammy’s and carrying the 12 year old around like a baby. **shudder**  Then there it was him and Michaly Colkin.  Then there was the Elephant Man’s bones.  Then Bubbles; a fucken monkey in your backyard!  Then the multiple nose jobs.  Then the hyperbolic chamber.  I began to think “THIS mutha fucka is crazy.”  He became a nuisance if anything.  Then, in 2003.  The child molestation charges popped up.  I was incredulous.  ”He’s an idiot, but he ain’t gross.”  I’m still not sure about that whole thing, but if the reports are right about the little boy knowing exactly where one of Mike’s birth marks is near his dizzak, then Michael Jackson is…was a sick sick fuck.  Child molestation is just one of the most despicable acts by an adult.  Period.  Let’s hope it was a nasty set up (which is what its looking to be.)

9th Memory: The Shock of  Mortality

I was on the way home on a hot June day.  It was one of the rare days that I implemented my drive/ride Metro combo.  I had a meeting that night (not unusual for those who know me) and I was going to meet the Boss.  On the subway, my girlfriend texts me “people are pissed at me that I said that MJ was dead”.  “People are saying that he’s not dead, he’s in a coma.”  I sighed, turned on my news source on the radio, and found out that at 3:43 PM EST, the Medical Examiner’s office released a statement confirming Michael Jackson’s death.

Then it hit me.  Michael Jackson morphed into one of the weirdest beings on the face of the earth.  And yet, through all of that, was one of the most memorable performers of all time.  From the family days of performing James Brown covers to the odd black outfits singing “Dirty Diana” on stage in front of thousands in Europe.  He will be missed in more ways than one.  He’ll be missed for the music that expanded across multiple generations, for his unequivocal outrageousness (albeit involuntary), the one glove, and least we not forget the humanitarianism.

Michael, you painted a picture of the world through your eyes and shared it with all.  Yes, it was an eccentric, Van Gogh-esque portrait; but we all continuously observed it and took it in, all the while with our heads cocked and tapping our feet.

Thanks, Michael.  Peaceful journey.