end of an era
it's saturday night. sunday morning, to be exact. 2am. i've been watching and listening to michael jackson for the past five hours or so. this isn't the first long evening spent in this pursuit. i'm immersed in mj. it's been a little tough without cable these past couple of weeks. i've had to make do with jerky youtube videos and gifs on blogs. but i must say, without mainstream television coverage to dilute the footage, the sheer wealth of information out there is staggering. i do long to see him on the big(ger) screen again, though. because wouldn't you know it, 26 years after hearing "thriller" for the first time, i've become a michael jackson fangirl.
i'm a child of the '80s. generation x, if you must. in 1983, i was six, there was no one in the world bigger than michael jackson. my parents were more the beatles, simon and garfunkel, maybe a splash of bruce springsteen type. true baby boomers. but they bought us the cassette tape of "thriller" and, although the exact memories have become hazy, i distinctly remember my older brother and i playing that bad boy over and over. and over. i think it was the theatricality that drew me in; i got chills when vincent price's voice filled the car. and michael's impossibly high falsetto - it seemed appropriately not of this earth.
all this, and i hadn't even see the video yet. i'm always a sucker for a man who can dance. and a man who can dance in sync with a crew... forget about it, i'm done. so i'm thinking, it must go back to "thriller". i could watch that dance sequence on an endless loop and not get sick of it. remember when mtv used to run those "100 greatest videos of all time" specials? they were always around new years, so i'd be home on school vacation, hooked to the tv watching the countdown. "thriller" was always, without fail, the number one video. i never learned the dance, although i may be the only human being who hasn't tried, but man, i love that video. watching it brings me back to my childhood in the best possible way. just tonight, maybe half an hour ago, i finally found a version on mtv.com that was not so herky-jerky. i watched that little 3" window and i grooved. i sang along and talked back to the screen, but mostly, i reveled in how it makes me so happy.
in adopting the role of resident michael jackson fangirl, i have had the pleasure to watch all sorts of footage i'd never seen before. i'm discovering this icon as if he were a new artist, and i'm fascinated by his progression from child prodigy to pop sensation. i admit, shamefaced, that i own no michael jackson cds. (yet - i have a couple on the way from amazon). so i was delighted when i found a bunch of his songs that i'd downloaded years ago in my itunes. i keep listening to them, in different order depending on my mood. sometimes it's a "the way you make me feel" kind of moment. sometimes, "billie jean". and of course, there's never a wrong time for "thriller"...
with michael jackson gone, it feels like my childhood has well and truly ended. that little six-year-old has never seemed so far away. but in a way, i'm glad. michael never got a childhood and never really had a chance to grow up. but i'm immensely grateful to get both. his once-in-a-lifetime talent lives on through his music, videos, and concerts, and i'm thrilled that i can watch and listen any time i want. someday, i want to introduce "thriller" to my own little six-year-old. you know, i bet it sounds even better on vinyl.
i'm a child of the '80s. generation x, if you must. in 1983, i was six, there was no one in the world bigger than michael jackson. my parents were more the beatles, simon and garfunkel, maybe a splash of bruce springsteen type. true baby boomers. but they bought us the cassette tape of "thriller" and, although the exact memories have become hazy, i distinctly remember my older brother and i playing that bad boy over and over. and over. i think it was the theatricality that drew me in; i got chills when vincent price's voice filled the car. and michael's impossibly high falsetto - it seemed appropriately not of this earth.
all this, and i hadn't even see the video yet. i'm always a sucker for a man who can dance. and a man who can dance in sync with a crew... forget about it, i'm done. so i'm thinking, it must go back to "thriller". i could watch that dance sequence on an endless loop and not get sick of it. remember when mtv used to run those "100 greatest videos of all time" specials? they were always around new years, so i'd be home on school vacation, hooked to the tv watching the countdown. "thriller" was always, without fail, the number one video. i never learned the dance, although i may be the only human being who hasn't tried, but man, i love that video. watching it brings me back to my childhood in the best possible way. just tonight, maybe half an hour ago, i finally found a version on mtv.com that was not so herky-jerky. i watched that little 3" window and i grooved. i sang along and talked back to the screen, but mostly, i reveled in how it makes me so happy.
in adopting the role of resident michael jackson fangirl, i have had the pleasure to watch all sorts of footage i'd never seen before. i'm discovering this icon as if he were a new artist, and i'm fascinated by his progression from child prodigy to pop sensation. i admit, shamefaced, that i own no michael jackson cds. (yet - i have a couple on the way from amazon). so i was delighted when i found a bunch of his songs that i'd downloaded years ago in my itunes. i keep listening to them, in different order depending on my mood. sometimes it's a "the way you make me feel" kind of moment. sometimes, "billie jean". and of course, there's never a wrong time for "thriller"...
with michael jackson gone, it feels like my childhood has well and truly ended. that little six-year-old has never seemed so far away. but in a way, i'm glad. michael never got a childhood and never really had a chance to grow up. but i'm immensely grateful to get both. his once-in-a-lifetime talent lives on through his music, videos, and concerts, and i'm thrilled that i can watch and listen any time i want. someday, i want to introduce "thriller" to my own little six-year-old. you know, i bet it sounds even better on vinyl.