June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson Drops Dead
Last night was a rough night for me. First, news breaks yesterday morning that Farrah Fawcet died of cancer. Then, at the baseball game cell phones start blowing up with news that Michael Jackson dropped dead of a heart attack. And, to top it off, the Red Sox got beat by the Nationals. The Nationals! Tough times.
Anyway, people can say and think what they want. We do live in America, though, where a person is supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. I don’t know if MJ inappropriately touched little boys, or if he just thought he was a little boy. Either way, his talent cannot be denied.
This is the man who brought us Thriller, Billie Jean, and Smooth Criminal. Whatever craziness he did in his personal life (hanging his baby off of a balcony comes to mind), his musical contributions must be recognized. Whether we like it or not, he is an American icon. Rest in peace, Michael.
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Not a single Michael Jackson CD left at Target this morning.
That photo reminds me of a formerly-five year old niece’s question, “Why do they keep calling it his Bad album?”
Comment by mj — June 27, 2009 @ 1:21 pm
And it only took until we were nearly ready to leave last night before the bar started to play his stuff.
It was an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance, I hope you had a much fun as I had, watching you and Stacy go back and forth.
And Portsmouth really isn’t THAT bad a town (but the best restaurant in town is really in another city, seriously)…don’t mind the Navy D-bags.
Comment by Jeff Weimer — June 27, 2009 @ 9:44 pm
This is the man who brought us Thriller, Billie Jean, and Smooth Criminal. Whatever craziness he did in his personal life (hanging his baby off of a balcony comes to mind), his musical contributions must be recognized. Whether we like it or not, he is an American icon. Rest in peace, Michael.
The Anchoress ( http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/theanchoress/2009/06/26/jackson-was-an-idol-not-an-icon/ ) might take exception to the “icon” thing, but I’m not going to address that, she does a splendid job. I want to address the aversion to his negatives.
Yes, he brought the world some very popular music. Thriller was THE thing when I was in 8th grade, and I celebrated when I figured out the “moonwalk” and did it myself. He was a pop culture phenomenon exactly when I began to pay attention to those things – when he went off the deep end it was a bit of my childhood that died. But the WHOLE must be acknowledged, warts and all, and the last 15 years seem to be largely ignored in the retrospective, and that is a shame. It’s as if he died at 35 instead of 50, and these latest years illuminated the true person more than when he was famous and well, managed.
Comment by Jeff Weimer — June 27, 2009 @ 9:59 pm