I have quite a few memories involving Michael Jackson. I saw him perform live during the 'Bad' tour, because I worked at a marketing company that was handling the record for Epic. The show was the first large, theatrical music show I had ever seen, choreographed, and HUGE. I don't mean it was a spectacle like ELO or Alice Cooper, but a tightly run, Broadway sort of production. Of course others acts went that way-The Rolling Stones, U2, or Madonna.
That memory is a sort of aside really, I clearly remember going to several stores in Sacramento to buy a copy of "Off the Wall" because a couple of stores did not have it. I had to take a bus all the way downtown from a suburb in South Sacramento where we were living. I was actually very into, Lou Reed, Van Halen, and Aerosmith but Michael Jackson was always what the industry calls a 'cross-over' artist. He was also one of the very first to cut himself a better deal. He had a higher percentage of profits than his contemporaries, well I am sure there was an argument that he didn't actually have contemporaries. He survived the transition from child star to adult super-star, and from the machine of recording other peoples songs to writing his own material. These are not small feats.
I also remember the first time I heard 'Enjoy Yourself' on a dance floor. Henry a popular L.A. DJ and co-owner of Vinyl Fetish record store played this tune. I had loved the song since I was small, and somehow it being played seemed like a small miracle to me. Because many of us who really care about music, spent some chunk of years thinking we were alone. (Yes, readers this is before the internet).
I might also mention here that the ritual of 'Dance Party USA' as performed often in my kitchen, is a highly cherished ritual which MJ has often been party too. The music industry can be an ugly place. A complicated snarl that no child should be envied to have grow up within. I am not stating that I have some sort of pity for MJ, I am just saying I feel the loss, and although not fanatical I think he deserves respect not jokes.
Lastly, I have a 'be careful what you wish for' superstition, because after the last book of a certain series, which I will not embarrass anyone by mentioning here- I felt the need for a new anchor as it were. An event to look forward too. I came up with the tell all book I expected one of the Jackson children to write. Sadly, no, Michael taken from life early, too early for my wish to be fulfilled and yet eerily giving me a feeling that I should stop with the sarcastic quips. I mean yes, I meant my comment about the book, but one perhaps should not joke about anyone's death, even if it is to get some incredible tid-bit such as "No more wire hangers!".
*Poor Farrah, pseudo-science loving blonde thing-dead, and still over shadowed!
That memory is a sort of aside really, I clearly remember going to several stores in Sacramento to buy a copy of "Off the Wall" because a couple of stores did not have it. I had to take a bus all the way downtown from a suburb in South Sacramento where we were living. I was actually very into, Lou Reed, Van Halen, and Aerosmith but Michael Jackson was always what the industry calls a 'cross-over' artist. He was also one of the very first to cut himself a better deal. He had a higher percentage of profits than his contemporaries, well I am sure there was an argument that he didn't actually have contemporaries. He survived the transition from child star to adult super-star, and from the machine of recording other peoples songs to writing his own material. These are not small feats.
I also remember the first time I heard 'Enjoy Yourself' on a dance floor. Henry a popular L.A. DJ and co-owner of Vinyl Fetish record store played this tune. I had loved the song since I was small, and somehow it being played seemed like a small miracle to me. Because many of us who really care about music, spent some chunk of years thinking we were alone. (Yes, readers this is before the internet).
I might also mention here that the ritual of 'Dance Party USA' as performed often in my kitchen, is a highly cherished ritual which MJ has often been party too. The music industry can be an ugly place. A complicated snarl that no child should be envied to have grow up within. I am not stating that I have some sort of pity for MJ, I am just saying I feel the loss, and although not fanatical I think he deserves respect not jokes.
Lastly, I have a 'be careful what you wish for' superstition, because after the last book of a certain series, which I will not embarrass anyone by mentioning here- I felt the need for a new anchor as it were. An event to look forward too. I came up with the tell all book I expected one of the Jackson children to write. Sadly, no, Michael taken from life early, too early for my wish to be fulfilled and yet eerily giving me a feeling that I should stop with the sarcastic quips. I mean yes, I meant my comment about the book, but one perhaps should not joke about anyone's death, even if it is to get some incredible tid-bit such as "No more wire hangers!".
*Poor Farrah, pseudo-science loving blonde thing-dead, and still over shadowed!
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