No one else in my lifetime has ever been as famous as Michael Jackson was in 1983.
His star power was nearly unfathomable, its magnitude impossible to overstate. Affection for him was universal. Everybody liked Michael Jackson, and people who called themselves Michael Jackson fans absolutely adored him. He was a true song and dance man for the 1980s, with what seemed to be limitless talent.
He was a big star before then, and he was a big star after then. But the Thriller heyday stood alone—right in a glorious intersection. Music video had exploded, but the exponential decay of our attention spans hadn’t really accelerated yet. It may well be that the fame he had is impossible now.
Of course, he’ll be remembered for his substantial eccentricities at least as much. You can throw out the false charges—Joseph Merrick’s bones, the hyperbaric sleep chamber, and whatever else—and still be left with plenty in evidence to reasonably conclude that he became an awfully weird guy. I have always had my doubts that he was ever truly dangerous to children, but at the very least he certainly had some strange circuits.
I just kept having the feeling he was going to come back with a great record and tour. Both my shock and my sadness are greater than I would have thought.
Once in a while my mother would speak of celebrities as if she had direct knowledge of their emotions. Often it was ridiculous. I remember her going on and on once about the love for Bill she saw in Hillary’s eyes in some interview or another, for example.
But about 1992, I remember her saying of Michael Jackson: “He’s never had a chance to just be. He’s been merchandised his entire life. It’s probably amazing that he’s as normal as he is.”
RIP.
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I agree with your Mom Bo. I am saddened by his death too. I hate to say that I am not surprised at some of the meanness that I am seeing other people write about him.
Hey! I can’t believe you wrote this article! It’s so well written!! You really should consider submitting yourself to Rolling Stone or Newsweek … Good Stuff! oh- and about Michael Jackson, it is sad. He really was something.
I was thinking the same about one more great album…I thought maybe once the Thriller bubble deflated enough (and that album was so huge, maybe it could never deflate enough…) that he’d quit trying to force the muse and top it and maybe do a Tony Bennett…reemerge with the muse loose and in full swing later in life…but, instead, his death is reminding me how cyclical history is, uncannily. Elvis was about to go on tour, too, in 1977, but the pills had done their damage, and in some totally irrational synaptic feeling from the gut, I feel like the Universal Intelligence said: that new tour was just a test to see if you were up for it; you were. That was enough. You don’t have to go through with it…you’ve done enough…come on home.
Bo, like you, I was extremely surprised at the shock and sadness I had about this news today. Nice post.
I hope he finally has some peace.
Bo, you diappoint me. I was expecting a word or two on Farrah before Michael Jackson. No denying he was a great entertainer but I never had a poster of him on my wall. Maybe Michael could just not take being left here on earth with no Farrah and decided to join her in heaven.
Thanks, all, for the compliments.
BB_FAN: Farrah was queued up for a bullet on my usual Thursday miscellanea post, and then I didn’t do it when Jackson died. I’ll give her some love sometime soon.
I think I spent about 35% of my elementary school time in 83 watching “Thriller” and “The Making of Thriller” with my entire gym class. I have no idea how Coach Vaden got away with that instead of teaching us basketball or square dancing.
Mama-se, mama-sa, mama-coo-sa…
I admit Michael Jackson was very talented and a little odd. But, I have to think “where there is smoke, there is fire” about him abusing children. If it had been one or maybe even two claims, I might think it was people just trying to get money from him. But, there were many people and many detailed stories about what went on at Neverland. I think he thought he could do whatever he wanted and did. I know he wasn’t convicted but, neither was OJ. He was a sick man. I hope his children will be kept together and well taken care of.
BamaDan: As our friendship buds, one of the realizations I’ve had is that you are unquestionably hipper than I am. You make references from time to time that send me straight to Google. At first I thought your final phrase was another one to throw on my heap.
But I got it when I read it out loud. 🙂
Jenny B: I think the question of Michael Jackson’s (actual, not legal) guilt is far murkier than OJ’s. I hear what you’re saying about smoke and fire, but in Jackson’s case, I saw an awful lot of smoke that stayed smoke once it was rigorously investigated, and finally dissipated completely.
I find a substantial manifestation of some sort of childhood regression disorder at least as plausible as pedophilia as an explanation for his latter personality, with the rest of the equation being filled in by opportunistic plaintiffs and their attorneys who saw a very rich, very strange man as eminently exploitable.
The other thing that always bothered me is that for the most part, people don’t just up and turn into pedophiles one day. Jackson was 35 years old when he was first accused.
Few know. I don’t. But above are the Cliffs Notes of what’s always driven my doubt.
Call me jaded, but I’ll bet there’s one man who was very relieved when the news focus shifted to Michael Jackson’s death.
Cheryl: Indeed.
And kudos to your First Lady for not only saying all of the right things, but for not standing there during The Speech. Here’s hoping that’s the start of a trend. Here’s also hoping he’s sincere in his quest for forgiveness and reconciliation.
Bo, it has been forever since I’ve been able to catch back up with you on the blog. I really enjoyed your post. I have to say that I fondly remember having the TV channel on 3 and the “black box” on the TV on 17 basically on a daily basis at your house during the time when Thriller was released. I distinctly remember seeing “Billie Jean” for the first time at your house and you and I looking at each other with that “what was that” look of amazement in our eyes. Anytime that video came on, we would stop whatever we were doing and pay attention. He was that amazing. It is too bad that, imho, he was never able to recapture that magic from Thriller…or Off the Wall for that matter. He just became too weird for me…pretty sad life.
Bigdave: Great to hear from you in general, but particularly on this post. You and I did indeed experience Thriller and its videos together!
Consider that you and I just caught the phenomenon, too. You don’t have to be much younger than we are to have missed it. Oh, of course, you can go back and watch the videos and listen to the music, but it’s not the same. I haven’t yet had to try to explain to someone who wasn’t there just how big he was.
“Billie Jean” has stayed my favorite.
Bo: No worries. I still can’t get all the steps to “Beat It” down pat.
One of the best DVD Easter Eggs ever is on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within where the whole cast dances to Thriller. Very cool use of CGI.