We Likely Won't See Another

I kind of feel like I should say something about the passing of Michael Jackson. Everybody is. Everybody. I was on the train last night, shortly after there was confirmation, and you could hear nearly everyone talking: about the moment of the Moon Walk (nearly as earth shaking as the actual walk on the moon), the surgeries, the scandals, the fame, the sad tragedy of it all. And definitely about the music. Older people seemed to focus on that cute kid with the Jackson 5. Younger people mainly on Thriller. Me, I’m kind of a Diryt Diana/PYT kinda girl.

I tried to explain to my niece how big MJ was. Monster big. Beatles big. Elvis big. But she didn’t understand that kind of overwhelming fame at all. There are so many choices, so many niche markets, so much diversity in entertainment today, that I don’t think anyone will ever be as, and this is the absolutely right word, ubiquitous as Michael was at the height of his fame. There were only a few real large segments of music in the 80s. And he combined rock and R&B, two of the biggest. He took over MTV and the radio. He was t-shirts and gloves and zippered jackets. His influence was everywhere you looked.

And in some ways that influence has faded. Nobody puts on a single sparking glove. The super Jeri Curl is gone (thank you, hair gods). But I still see things occasionally. Like this picture popped up last night that I hadn’t seen in years, from the 7”single jacket (remember those?) of Human Nature. Look at that and tell me Andre Benjamin didn’t look to Michael at some point. The shrunken suits and bow ties from Thom Browne remind be a lot of the Billie Jean look. And undeniably, anyone who has any aspirations of making a great pop song has got to study his work. It is the master class. From Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo to Chris Cornell, they respect the music.

In spite of everything, all the hesitation people feel for various reasons, go to a dull office party and put on The Way You Make Me Feel or Rock With You. See what happens. It’s like the dance floor blooms. Irresistible.