His death will spark different reactions for different people, but for myself I choose to remember the good times and not the ones where he had a pet monkey, or hung his kid over the fire escape, or bleached his skin or slept in an air chamber, or...you get the point.
The first cassette I ever owned was the Thriller album. I listened to it so much that I literally wore out the tape. I brought it to school almost every day in third grade and jammed out to PYT with this Laotian girl in my class. (So yes, apparently even back then I liked Asians). I would go "Duh nuh nuh nuh" and she would finish it off with a "UH!" and we would laugh.
Years later when CDs were invented I bought the anniversary edition - you know, where all the tracks are "remastered." But they didn't need to be. The songs were already perfect.
I first saw the Thriller music video when I was nine. We didn't have MTV, or cable, or a VCR so I had to stay up until midnight to watch Friday Night Videos on NBC. Big mistake. Oh, you all know the part I'm talking about: at the beginning when Michael's like half werewolf and yells at his girlfriend. "GO AWAY!" and then chases her through the woods.
Watching that + after midnight = pissing pants. It wasn't until years later that a family friend (who shall remain nameless) danced to Thriller in a black leotard that I overcame my fear of the song. Of course, that then sparked a new fear of men in black leotards, which is why I could never join an adult jazz class.
I know a lot of peeps like the Thriller dance by those inmates in the Phillipines, but my favorite parody of the Thriller video was done Bollywood style by a bunch of crazy dancers from India.
We all know that Michael didn't have the best childhood, but if you had a litter of kids who could sing and dance like Joe Jackson did wouldn't you put them in show business too? I mean, it's either that or you become a farmer. Isn't that why people had so many kids back then? One of the most bomb memories was his performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25 show. It was sort of reunion for the Jackson 5.
He premiered the moonwalk and every day after that I practiced it on our linoleum floor. I even signed up for breakdancing classes at the local YMCA, but that was mostly because that movie Breakin' came out and I wanted to be like Ozone and Turbo.
I tried to boycott Pepsi in 1984 when his hair caught on fire while filming a commercial for them. But man, Pepsi is sooooo good. Plus, his hair grew back.
The next epic event was in '85 when "We Are the World" dropped. Michael co-wrote the song with Lionel Richie to save all the kids in Africa. I'm not sure how many starving children it really saved, but my sisters and I had every part memorized and we could even impersonate the voices for most of the celebrities who sang on it. I always did the parts for Michael, Bob Dylan, Steve Perry and Hall and Oates. Angie does a spot on Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper. Kim, weeeeellll, she was a backup singer.
One of my childhood trips to Disneyland included the premier of Captain EO. It was a 3-D movie they used to show in Tomorrowland where Michael saves the universe by – you guessed it – dancing and singing away everything evil.
We didn't really have a "couple song" so Boo and I danced to "Remember the Time"* for our first dance together at our wedding reception. The other tie-in to Michael Jackson at our wedding came when I heard several people say they "thought this wouldn't last" – similar to what MJ said before he went gangsta on Lisa Marie with the most awkward kiss ever at the MTV Awards. They split in '96 so who's laughing now?
Watching that + after midnight = pissing pants. It wasn't until years later that a family friend (who shall remain nameless) danced to Thriller in a black leotard that I overcame my fear of the song. Of course, that then sparked a new fear of men in black leotards, which is why I could never join an adult jazz class.
I know a lot of peeps like the Thriller dance by those inmates in the Phillipines, but my favorite parody of the Thriller video was done Bollywood style by a bunch of crazy dancers from India.
We all know that Michael didn't have the best childhood, but if you had a litter of kids who could sing and dance like Joe Jackson did wouldn't you put them in show business too? I mean, it's either that or you become a farmer. Isn't that why people had so many kids back then? One of the most bomb memories was his performance of Billie Jean at the Motown 25 show. It was sort of reunion for the Jackson 5.He premiered the moonwalk and every day after that I practiced it on our linoleum floor. I even signed up for breakdancing classes at the local YMCA, but that was mostly because that movie Breakin' came out and I wanted to be like Ozone and Turbo.
I tried to boycott Pepsi in 1984 when his hair caught on fire while filming a commercial for them. But man, Pepsi is sooooo good. Plus, his hair grew back.
The next epic event was in '85 when "We Are the World" dropped. Michael co-wrote the song with Lionel Richie to save all the kids in Africa. I'm not sure how many starving children it really saved, but my sisters and I had every part memorized and we could even impersonate the voices for most of the celebrities who sang on it. I always did the parts for Michael, Bob Dylan, Steve Perry and Hall and Oates. Angie does a spot on Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper. Kim, weeeeellll, she was a backup singer.
One of my childhood trips to Disneyland included the premier of Captain EO. It was a 3-D movie they used to show in Tomorrowland where Michael saves the universe by – you guessed it – dancing and singing away everything evil.
We didn't really have a "couple song" so Boo and I danced to "Remember the Time"* for our first dance together at our wedding reception. The other tie-in to Michael Jackson at our wedding came when I heard several people say they "thought this wouldn't last" – similar to what MJ said before he went gangsta on Lisa Marie with the most awkward kiss ever at the MTV Awards. They split in '96 so who's laughing now?
*Editor's note: Apparently the song was "You Are Not Alone" but other than that I remember everything about our reception.
One of his best videos was Scream with sister, Janet. It still holds the record for most expensive video ever at $7 million, which is ironic considering it's in black and white and they play an animated game of PONG together. I'm still not sure where the budget went to produce the video unless they actually went to space to film it. Oh well, Janet looks hot in it so I'm not complaining.
But Scream is not my favorite MJ video. That honor belongs to one he made with his brothers back in 1980, when they had gone well past their cute, cuddly Jackson 5 era and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Michael blew up on his own. Ohhhh, Can You Feel It!?
Yes, there's other stuff about MJ that I could talk about. I mean, who hangs their son over a balcony to show off for a crowd of people? I'll do that to my kids sometimes, but at least it gets them to clean their rooms - so it has a purpose.
And Michael's life had a purpose too. He inspired millions across the world, could dance like nobody's business, and transformed the art form of the "music video" to something no one else has come close to doing.
Plus, for someone to be that famous and grab their crotch as much as he did you have to applaud him.
So here's to you, MJ. I know you're moonwalking in heaven.
One of his best videos was Scream with sister, Janet. It still holds the record for most expensive video ever at $7 million, which is ironic considering it's in black and white and they play an animated game of PONG together. I'm still not sure where the budget went to produce the video unless they actually went to space to film it. Oh well, Janet looks hot in it so I'm not complaining.But Scream is not my favorite MJ video. That honor belongs to one he made with his brothers back in 1980, when they had gone well past their cute, cuddly Jackson 5 era and it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Michael blew up on his own. Ohhhh, Can You Feel It!?
Yes, there's other stuff about MJ that I could talk about. I mean, who hangs their son over a balcony to show off for a crowd of people? I'll do that to my kids sometimes, but at least it gets them to clean their rooms - so it has a purpose.And Michael's life had a purpose too. He inspired millions across the world, could dance like nobody's business, and transformed the art form of the "music video" to something no one else has come close to doing.
Plus, for someone to be that famous and grab their crotch as much as he did you have to applaud him.
So here's to you, MJ. I know you're moonwalking in heaven.
9 comments:
Yeah, it was "You Are Not Alone," not "Remember the Time." If you recall, it was also the song we danced to at your Grandma's house at that family dance.
I was wondering about that "Remember the Time" memory. Lindsay's explanation makes much more sense. (By the way, family dances were the best!) Okay, so impressions have never been my forte, but I shared the love and that's all that matters.
RIP MJ! (Ha ha...that was dorky.)
Dude! that was Awesome! Jared you Rock!
ok, so i messed up on the song title. you got a fat rock on your finger so who cares!
This post rocked in true Jarred style. MJ was someone who always shocked us, even down to his last breath. I would love to hear your version of "We are the World" someday and throw in some moonwalking, too;)
Oh c'mon jared, kimmy did a great dan akroyd impersonation!
Long live Captain EO. I say we have a Bates Family Reunion Tour. I want to hear you and your sisters bust it out... what about Mitch? No singing talent even worthy of backup?
AWESOME, jared! thanks for bringing back all my memories too!
Jared needs to write a weekly pop culture column, this was so funny. I think that he could have been best friends with my older brother who watched "Breakin" about 2000 times and made us listen to the Thriller record every day. That video always freaked me out.
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