Like everyone else out there, I was sad to hear the news that Michael Jackson had passed. I was always a fan and have yet to see anyone in the pop world come close to his level of stardom or talent. I first saw him during the early days of MTV. I even broke out the VHS tape I had when I recorded the Motown 25th Anniversary special from the 80s. That was when he made the moonwalk famous world wide and sported the glove. I think it was his best performance. I practiced my moonwalk forever after that.
In elementary school I too had a red leather jacket. It was a cheaper version of the one he wore in the "Beat It" video. We all had one or wanted one. What I notice when I watch that video now is that one of my favorite actors, Michael DeLorenzo, was a dancer in the video. Dude from New York Undercover really gets down. He's Boriqua, so it is to be expected.
Still, as classic as
Thriller was, it is not my favorite Michael Jackson album. I much prefer
Off The Wall. I never s
aw any videos for it or anything because the
Thriller album's singles were always on MTV. My mother was the one who played the
Off The Wall at home. She eventually ended up giving me the record when I left home and it has been in my collection ever since. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You" are the albums best tracks, and have always got my college parties started. No girls, nor guys actually, sat still when those songs came on. In fact, ask anyone of my friends who were at one of my parties I threw back then and they will tell you there was always Michael Jackson songs spinning. They were always songs from
Off The Wall. That's how I roll.
I also loved
Bad, especially for inspiring Weird Alto creat "Fat".
Moonwalker blew me away at that time, when he made that move during "Smooth Criminal" video where the camera leaned back as Michael leaned forward. Don't tell that didn't trip you out! I still have that movie recorded on an old VHS come to think of it. MTV used to play the hell out of it.
There is so much I could say about Michael, but I just thought I'd share my Michael memories and what I loved. He broke down racial color lines and inspired a new generation of young dancers. Often imitated, never duplicated...he will always be the standard in pop music. He will always be "The King of Pop".
I share with you, the video for my favorite Michael Jackson song, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". RIP Michael.
