intonato | 
06 28th, 2009| 
I could blabber and blubber on and on like everyone else, but I just don’t think it’s necessary. Everyone knows the significance of MJ’s influence on the music business. Where have you been? In a fucking cave?
For me, Michael Jackson was The Jackson 5, and then, when I was older, “Thriller.”
Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s in Buffalo, New York, music was one of my true escapes. The Jackson 5 were among a handful of “song factories” as I like to refer to them, that I bought into as a kid. 45’s were king, and I coveted them like gold nuggets. I’d save my money and have my mom or dad get me to a retail outlet where I could score the latest. Back home, up in the bedroom, drop that needle on that record and wham! I was on the beach in L.A. or walking down what I imagined the streets of NYC were like. I was only 6 or so, but I was a bad-ass 6 year old in my mind. Michael WAS the Jackson 5, and everyone my age wanted to be like him. A jump rope became a microphone and off you went.
By the early 80’s, I was listening mostly to Rock, Blues, New Wave and Punk. I was writing my own songs and thought I was moving forward. Not much room for Pop or R&B (Reticent & Boring), but when “Thriller” dropped, EVERYONE listened. I can remember being fully involved with The Jam, The Clash, The Police, etc. when I first heard “Billie Jean.” The way the kick and snare pounded like sex, mercilessly, with Michael’s almost sinister vocal delivery, my ears cocked to attention. The production was so clean and open but full of energy. ”And Eddie Van Halen has a solo on another song,” someone said. I was apologetic at my local record store, but the cat who was familiar with me said, “Don’t worry, everyone’s buying this record, and besides, the chicks DIG this shit.” And to me, that is the essence of Michael Jackson’s popularity: punks bought his record, new wave hipsters bought his record, some rockers and jazzers bought his record, moms and dads bought it. You don’t know it, but your dog was rocking to that shit. Pretty much all inclusive. Who else had those bragging rights? Let’s start counting because I don’t think it will take long. 1. Frank Sinatra, 2. Elvis Presley, 3. The Beatles, 4. hmm. Slim Whitman? You know what the fuck I’m talking about. THAT was Michael Jackson.
I never paid much attention to the other shit which plagued his life after that. He just seemed like a lonely person who never had the chance to be a kid. I never expected another “Thriller.” But he did make a couple pretty good records after “Thriller.” Was he a genius? I don’t know. I think we throw that moniker around too easily in the music business. Why don’t we save that for the bad-ass who figures out how to cure cancer. And besides, I’m not sure there’s true genius in addiction.
