The first time that I saw himI was running down the stairs past my mom’s bedroom.
The door was open just enough for me to catch a glimpse.
Lighting up the television screen was this man in a black suit, white shirt, and glittery white socks.
He had the most beautiful smile that I'd ever seen.
Our love affair began that day.
It was the summer of 1980.
I was 11.
He was 22.
His name is Michael Jackson.
I haven't been the same since that glimpse.
Michael became an all out obsession.
While all the other kids my age were chasing boys
and doing what is it that kids do,
I was collecting any and everything Michael Jackson.
From bubble gum to buttons, if Michael's face was on it, I had to have it.
It didn't occur to me until sometime later that this was
the same Michael Jackson of the Jackson Five.
I'd watched the Jackson Five cartoon.
They were so huge that you could cut out a 45' record of ‘Rockin’ Robin’
from the back of a box of sugar bear cereal.
I’d watched the Jacksons tv show on channel 7.
My friends and I all had a favorite Jackson.
We’d fight over who was going to marry Michael.
Occasionally, you’d get a few Jermaine and even a couple of Marlon lovers.
I’d seen them on Soul Train.
Michael could get down with the best of them.
But this was something else.
He had evolved.
He'd become magical Michael Jackson
Afro free Michael jackson
Beautiful and
new Michael Jackson.
I began searching to find out what he had been up to the years that I’d missed.
I discovered that he’d been pretty busy.
He’d done the film ‘The Wiz’.
And he’d been recording what has turned out to be
my favorite musical period from the Jacksons.
I call them the Gamble and Huff years.
1975's Moving Violation, 1976's The Jacksons and 1977's Goin Places
are my favorite Jackson albums.
My mom treated me and my best friend to one of my very first concerts.
It was August 18, 1981 and Michael and his brothers were performing
at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
The first song was Can You Feel It?
Randy came out with a torch to open the show and then suddenly there they were.
It was a life changing experience.
I've seen many concerts since then and NONE have ever been that exhilarating.
I loved when Michael would jump up and down in one spot with the mike in one hand
and a fist for the other.
He skipped around the stage like he owned the world. And he did.
There’s something magical about Michael.
His voice is buttery.
He moves breezy and free.
He's cocoa butter, candy apples and banana splits.
He’s my favorite pair of pro-keds w/the blue and red stripe by the pinky toe.
He's a chewy apple now & later. And when he sings I'm seven again.
The affect that he has on me is almost medicinal.
Whatever is going on in my life…A Michael cd is sure to fix it.
You could be the biggest gangsta in the world,
But you know you had a thriller jacket, a white glove
or at the very least some high water pants.
Your mouth was wide open for about 4 days after you saw Motown 25
because you couldn’t figure out how he got across the stage like that.
You cut school to see the premiere of the Thriller video on MTV.
And yes, that was you and a bunch of your friends doing the Thriller dance
in the middle of your street.
He's changed over the years, yes.
But so have I.
Underneath it all...he's still my Michael.
Fine ass Michael Jackson from Gary, Indiana.
It happens once in every lifetime.
Someone musically comes along that just knocks you off your feet.
In my life, that person is Michael.
From my nana, to my children, there's something about him that moves the masses.
Michael is simply the best to ever do it.
And Neyo, Usher, Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown
need to send Michael flowers and a check thanking him for showing them the way.
"Thriller" is more than 25 years old and it is arguably better than anything out now.
Michael is 50 yrs old today.
I'm 39.
And our love is going strong.
I love you Michael Jackson.
You are still the King !!
9 comments:
"finger snaps" -- brooklyn moon style :-)....
"free to be you and me" with Roberta Flack! he was quirky and young and i fell in love all over again! they way he could get that one foot to twist in and out while standing still and biting his lower lip...loved it! Girl you wrote the hell out of this article
love this! I was myself a Marlon lover. And I was also a collector of anything Micheal. Oh yeah i also knew the whole thriller dance. Thanks for bringing back those memories I have to go find my "Off the Wall " cd
We were living in Guyana when Thriller came out. My dad came back from a trip to New York with a copy of Thriller on VHS and changed our lives forever. I can't tell you how many times we watched that tape, but it was enough that my sister and I could perform Thriller in its entirety for my grandmother (who didn't really have a clue what we were doing).
I guess if most people are like me, then there are at least two Michaels, and the existence of the first pretty much forgives the transgressions of the second.
My my my...Michael Jackson. He's like all things biblical to R&B and really pop culture. No other artist elicits such emotion...such magnetisim. I remember seeing him during the Victory Tour in the late 80's in LA at Dodger Stadium. I was 10 maybe. I went with Amara and when we thought we were going to meet him we broke out into tears. Those same universal tears u've seen shed across the world. Of course we didn't meet him as he made his escape during the fireworks. But the thought that we would was more than enough. It wasn't until years later...completely grown...that I realized nuthin had changed. I went to an event a friend put together to honor him...know that I was totally over him...but when I laid eyes on the man that moved me so deeply with his music...a tear fell. Nuts!!!
I love Michael too! That man moves me! And all these young cats just don't measure up no matter how hard they try.
The thing that made Micheal so magical was the fact that everything he did, was him. In his music, he reflected his thoughts, dreams, and nightmares. He managed to do that all the way till his last album. He moved in a way that reflected his feelings. He also moved in a way that was perfect. Micheal moved so perfectly that many times he looked more like a machine than a man. Micheal had the fortune to come along during a time when talent came first as far as entertainment went. Micheal got a chance to study and talk to Jackie Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astair, Gene Kelly, and James Brown. These are some of the greatest performers the world has ever known and Micheal was able to take what they did, mix it all up and put his own flavor on it, thus becoming the greatest performer and entertainer the world has ever known. There was an honesty in what Micheal did through out his career. We will never see anything like him again, todays entertainment climate won't let it happen. Actually makes me really sad for my kids. Today, artist simply do stuff to sell records. Most of the artist that are propped up aren't even talented anyway, just media creations and such. What artist are out there today that could inspire the same type of magic that Micheal's inspirations did? Micheal is and will forever be the KING.
You Are Not Alone
Beautifully stated Lisa B! MJ lives as we can all attest to that!
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