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Blogs / Lounge Act / June 2009 / The Michael Effect

The Michael Effect

Incongrous as it might seem, Michael Jackson is as responsible as anyone for the life I've led as a music fan and music writer for most of my 37 years.

Like millions and millions of other Americans, I was an adolescent when Thriller came out, 11 to be exact, and soon found myself participating in the early '80s version of Beatlemania.

I had a sparkly glove. I bought a red Members Only jacket just because it kinda, sorta, looked like one of Michael's. I had posters of Michael Jackson on the walls of my room, right alongside posters of Brazilian soccer star Pele, Darth Vader and Terry Bradshaw. I lurked around the 8-11 (yes, Omaha had 8-11s instead of 7-11s) waiting for new teeny-bopper magazines to arrive with new "news" and photos of Michael.

For all intents and purposes, I was a giddy schoolgirl. But this was no homoerotic crush. I was simply swept up by the MUSIC. For the first of hundreds of times to follow, I was obsessed with songs and sounds, even dancing. I can tell you this—I didn't keep the bottoms of my penny loafers slick because I DIDN'T want to moonwalk my way down my Catholic school's hallways.

Reports are currently zipping around the Internet that Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack at 50. As soon as I saw the first report, I felt sick to my stomach, and felt tears welling in my eyes.

Weird, given that I haven't paid Michael Jackson much mind since the Bad album. I had moved on to other music obsessions well before MJ's life turned into an utterly bizarre soap opera of plastic surgery and allegations of sexually abusing children. 

 

There are going to be a lot of folks making Michael Jackson jokes regarding his wilderness years the past decade or so. The same people probably only think of Elvis as a Vegas lounge singer who died on the toilet.

It's certainly fair game to mock the famous and infamous. But here's hoping those people will also recognize what a massive force in American culture—not just music culture—Michael Jackson was, both as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist.

Besides creating undeniably awesome funk/soul/dance music like "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," "Billie Jean" and even "The Way You Make Me Feel," Jackson single-handedly opened MTV to black artists, leading to all manner of opportunities for Middle America to hear fresh music instead of the same pasty-white crap.

R.I.P.