Been back in London a week now, with again too many projects sailing around me. Was just on a business call to the USA when a friend got a text message on the other side saying somebody had sms-ed him: Michael Jackson is Dead.

I said I’d check it later to see if it was a hoax. Then my crazy cousin in Amsterdam calls on my cell shouting the same. And so on. I’m sure everybody had the same international grapevine thing going on, but most who didn’t grow up in the 80s probably don’t realize that modern music and the music video as medium started with MJ. There is before and after Michael Jackson, it’s that simple. Even though as kids some of us were more into rock or reggae, everybody was infected with the Thriller virus. Images of Japanese, South American, European fans passing out Beatles style. The album and the man conquered the world.

Most people in their twenties or teens now unfortunately only know the man’s name from his court cases in the sordid context of sexual relations with boys and the even more sordid fall out of too many plastic surgery sessions. The tabloids sold it like hot candy: Wacko Jacko this and that.

In fact, I also forgot the impact he had when he just exploded on the world scene with MTV still pioneer land where black artists didn’t appear. Neither did elaborate choreography on the scale that MJ brought to the medium, nor high budget top end cinema technique and make up FX as in Thriller (directed by John Landis). In a time when rock and R&B pop were separate worlds, he was also not afraid to experiment with hard rock guitars, even inviting Eddie van Halen to play a solo on Beat it.

Plenty has been written about the influence on pop culture, his generous involvement and charity, his mental states, so I won’t go into more detail. But in retrospect his innovation and showmanship still stand up to many of the copycats nowadays. His antics were indeed bizarre in the last two decades of his life, but it’s too bad he didn’t get the chance to do his last comeback tour. It’s always better to see somebody triumph than fall. Anyway, his musical DNA lives on in far lesser talents and considering the surge of mass media, I don’t think they’ll ever be a real queen (like Madonna) or king anymore. So effectively an icon has passed away and though the whole celebrity culture is now very much fabricated, there are icons who shaped and continue to shape the landscape of popular culture. And there is something inspiring about seeing people excel, no matter what art form or sport.

Billy Jean, I remember it was oddly haunting for a pop song and even more as a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fHoDWc22B0

The production was also incredibly tight with a perfectionism you seldom see anymore:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean

Beat it, in a time of urban warrior and kung fu movies, we were packing sticks and knives and all wanted the cool jackets when we were about nine years old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkGOiS75Lwk&feature=related

So whether his music appeals or doesn’t to individuals, the man’s kinetic genius has to be admired, so perhaps best to remember him more like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PAJqgeeJf4

R.I.P.

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