Growing up in the 70s, I loved Michael Jackson: ABC, Never Can Say Goodbye, I Want You Back. To this day my favorite Christmas album is the Jackson 5's. I have such clear memories of it crackling on my parents stereo. (BEST version of "Up On The Housetop" EVER!) Then came the 80s. And MTV. And Michael ruled the video scene—Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller. AMAZING. He was so insanely famous during that time, which is why I think he kind of flipped out. I can't imagine having that much fame can ever be good for you. He was eccentric and weird but truly talented. I can't help but dance when I hear his music.
This is an earlier teen performance I had never seen: Michael & The Jackson 5 on the Carol Burnett show. The dancing!
This is Michael's iconic performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25th Anniversary. I remember watching this on TV and being blown away. Apparently Fred Astaire called him up the day after the show to tell him it was a "helluva performance."
You'll be missed Michael, but you'll live on in our hearts and iPods forever...
This is Michael's iconic performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25th Anniversary. I remember watching this on TV and being blown away. Apparently Fred Astaire called him up the day after the show to tell him it was a "helluva performance."
You'll be missed Michael, but you'll live on in our hearts and iPods forever...
Damn, I miss him!!
ReplyDeleteI've been strangely and passionately moved by this. And the first thing I did was get home and turn on "Shake Your Body" and then "Off the Wall." I refuse to listen to Ben because I will lose it!
ReplyDeleteVH1 has been running MJ music videos non stop and I DVRd a few hours. That man had so much talent.
ReplyDeleteWow this was a great post. I feel so bad for him though, his life turned out sad and lonely in the end. I remember the magic of MJ when I was a kid. And seeing him slowly become someone entirely different was hard to take I think for lots of his loyal fans. When I see him in this Billy Jean video with his perfect face/features I cannot imagine why he's want plastic surgery. He was so incredibly handsome and I loved and dated all races when I was single so maybe I don't get it because I'm color blind, but why was he so obsessed with being white? It's a shame to think about how much internal pain he had to endure - and that everything we saw of him was always acting and not truly a representation of how he'd live had he not been tortured by so many inner demons. It's really sad.....
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