He Was Big In Japan*

The day Michael Jackson died, I fired up the internets while still at work and watched videos while finishing up work for the night, and then came home and watched more.  For hours, probably.

Am I, or was I ever, a huge Michael Jackson fan?  Not particularly.   At least, not as he reincarnated himself after his first solo album.  I know, I know, Thriller was the perfect album.  Meh.  And it was a revolutionary video that broke all sorts of boundaries, but a) it was silly, b) I didn't have a tv, c) I had no idea that those color boundaries even existed.  See, where I grew up, Motown was a Big Deal.  So I had no idea that in other parts of the country the Jackson 5 didn't necessarily get lots of airtime.

That was crazy.

Anyway.

The Jackson 5, child laborers that they were, were fantastic.  Such great songs, perfectly sung.  And when he died, I took some time to remember what a talent Michael was, and how much joy he gave us.

Then I ordered Off the Wall and, because he was another fabulous child Motown phenom, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, which I played to death when I was a kid.  I am currently humming along to the horns in Sir Duke.

*My squirts can identify this reference.  Anyone else?

You know you love it.

Comments

[Denise]

Sure can, it's on my I-Pod. I love Stevie. I didn't know we had that in common. We have a similar take on MJ also. I have really liked a lot of his music but I have never bought any albums, only a few 45's. I grew up with him as he was a few months younger than me and I knew the words to every early song. By the time Thriller and all of those with Paul McCartney came along I was a young parent with no time to watch videos and no extra money for music. I caught up on a lot of those videos last week too, and wondered why I didn't pay attention at the time. But even though he is gone, and hopefully at peace now, his music will live on.