I wasn’t going to post anything about Michael Jackson’s sudden death, because there’s saturation coverage on all media as it is. But he’s one of the huge cultural pegs on which I hang my own life history. I can’t not.
Instead of yet more tiresome prose, here are two videos by way of memorial.
The first is an almost impromptu cover by Amanda Palmer the night Michael Jackson died. The second is his first TV performance of the moonwalk. Please enjoy them. As the old cliché goes, it’s what he would’ve wanted.
Amanda Palmer covers Billie Jean – Los Angeles, 25 June 2009
Michael Jackson’s first public moonwalk – Motown 25th Anniversary show, 25 March 1983
See also: the last comments in this post.
Michael Joseph Jackson (1958-2009)
I remember watching the premier of the moonwalk. Memories of childhood…
I’m owrking as a karaoke DJ at night, and I’ve never heard so many people ask for his music or sing it.
I have to admit, though, it makes me sad. Most people ask for thriller. I think that if I asked them to name five other songs that went #1 for him they couldn’t do it.
*sigh*
Its never until they’re gone…
Thanks Aravis and Alecya. Aravis, that’s true, it does bring back a lot of childhood memories. Plus I was a megafan, back in the day, so it reminds me quite specifically of videos I used to watch over and over again, events with my best MJ-loving friend and so on. Nostalgia trip extraordinaire.
Wow Alecya, do the customers do any MJ dancing too? Hee hee, as he might’ve put it. It does seem like he’s having a massive career boost by dying, which is how it always goes, I guess. You’ll be sick of hearing Thriller pretty soon, I bet. Demand Smooth Criminal! You know it makes sense.
I watched the Oprah interview on YouTube yesterday and it was fascinating, poignant and also horrifying in places. Particularly the children’s bedrooms built into the walls of the cinema (this was broadcast in 1993, before the child abuse allegations began) and the point where Michael says he’s never happy with how he looks. But he did a bit of impromptu beatboxing and that was ace. I don’t think I’d ever seen it before.
He’ll be everywhere for a while, won’t he? I won’t harp on about him too much here then.
You know, there’s not so much moon walking as I expected. But everyone wants to dance to him, that’s true. And I am increasingly annoyed by the fact that everyone keeps asking me if I am wearing a fedora as a nod to him when I’ve worn a fedora every night since I started working as a DJ. And suddenly everyone wants hat tricks too…
Smooth criminal always makes sense.
Feel slightly guilty, as this weekend a friend persuaded a DJ to play ‘Beat It’ especially for me, by claiming it was my birthday. (It’s not for 3 weeks.) So I’m one of those DJ irritants.
On the plus side, I didn’t comment on his hat. The fact he wasn’t wearing one had nothing to do with that decision.
MJ without surgery, according to some facial reconstruction people:
What an intriguing alternative universe that must be.