Rams Head The Blog

I’m not one to wax poetic about celebrity deaths; as a matter of fact I was commiserating with a co-worker last night about how ridiculous I thought all the less than thirty-somethings were for posting RIP notices for Farrah “Faucett” yesterday. “Really?” I asked. “Was she actually important to them? If they didn’t find out she died, would they have ever asked where she was or where she’d been? If she just faded away, dying without public notice, would they even care? They didn’t have her poster on the wall, they didn’t see Charlie’s Angels – why do they care?”

Fifteen minutes later Michael Jackson died. It was BIG news – he was young, about to embark on his comeback concerts and, um, still a HUGE celebrity in the way that we don’t see them anymore. Watching the impending news coverage and reflecting on his life was sad. Jackson was the Gastby-an tragedy of the MTV generation; complex, conflicted, and equally created and destroyed by fame and celebrity. There is a depth to his tale that makes him one of the oddest curiosities of our time.

As a father of two young children, I have zero tolerance for the types of crimes he was accused of. Even if he was found not guilty, his testimony of the events that occurred was clearly inappropriate and deeply disturbing. Today isn’t the day to discuss that though. Using the free pass we give people on the day of their death, it was okay to only remember Jackson as the starry eyed uber-talent that fronted the Jackson Five. It was fun to ignore what he became and remember Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. Yes, things got noticeably weird after that, but again; today isn’t the day to discuss that.

Using that pass to watch Jackson’s videos again with an unobstructed eye was astonishing. It had been years since I have seen any of them, and time had made me forget what remarkable achievements they each were. Thriller was the Battleship Potemkin of music videos. You don’t have to be a film nerd to marvel at the editing, the makeup and, oh yeah, the choreography. Best of all, watching the videos reminded me of how much simpler things were then, how much less cynical people felt about music and the music business. Everyone liked Michael Jackson. The jocks, the punks. Everyone liked Thriller. They must have, because the album sold forty million copies and was number one for thirty-seven weeks. Paul McCartney appeared on it. So did Eddie Van Halen. Let’s face it; it made Beatlemania look like a one day sale at Marshall’s.

Particularly in this era, where we care more about what celebrities eat and tweet than what they are famous for, it was refreshing to actually spend last night and today just watching the videos and listening to the music. I think it’s ironic that MTV had to interrupt some shameless program called “16 and Pregnant” to cover Jackson’s death. I, like many others I’m sure, turned to them for the first time in a long time because I didn’t know where else to turn to hear the music. Thank God for BET.

For non-music fans, I understand why they are sickened that this story is receiving so much coverage. They view Michael Jackson as a washed-up entertainer turned supervillan. For music fans though, we remember the excitement. A big part of pop music is nostalgia, and for those of us who love music nobody delivers as much on that tip as Michael Jackson. For those of us between the age of 28 and 38, trying to moonwalk was like skipping stones. It reminds us of a simpler, happier time, filled with lunchboxes and Trapper Keepers.

Watching the videos last night, it was great to just be entertained again. It was fun to ignore the peripheral mess and just be a fan again. It was great to remember that music can be fun, and it made me wonder why we stopped taking it at face value anyway. We can worry about his legacy later – for now, lets just have fun gathering around and listening the records – it would be a hell of a party if nothing else. R.I.P. MJ.