Giving people their moment.

Jun 26, 2009 12:14


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fa_ikaika June 26 2009, 18:27:48 UTC
Thanks for this: I was a bit too old (and in shell-shock from the musical wasteland that was mainstream music in the 1970s) to really get into Michael from his "Off the Wall"/"Thriller" period. Sure, I dug the hits, but for every great song e.g. "Thriller", there was something a bit too maudlin for my taste: "Ben" or downright schhlocky: "The Girl is Mine".

But when he was on, man was he on.

In my life, MJ was important because of the Jackson 5's first two singles and that cute little cartoon show. The singles "I want you back" and "ABC" were and are pure musical genius. Sure they weren't actually written by MJ or his brothers, but they illustrated the raw material they possessed as a group. And what musicians they were!!

THe show at the time was the only place you got to see black children being more than accessories to a generally white narrative or to "black people being a version of a white people's show". Sure the Osmonds were on as well, but to my 8 year-old consciousness, the Jacksons were clearly the better show and clearly first. And that was a valuable thing for a yellow kid growing up in a 95% white world.

He was a great talent and an awe-inspiring performer. No doubt about it.

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The cartoon show was genius! sofvckinghot June 27 2009, 01:14:45 UTC
I can still spin on each leg like they do at the beginning of the show.

And I am still not over Off the Wall...everything after that was just okay to me. I respected his success with the hits when Thriller was released, but I was well consumed by Duran Duran.

I would stop everything for the "Thriller" video, though. I used to know EVERY step. The boy was BAD, fer sure.

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