The Michael Jackson Experience

I don’t have a more age appropriate picture of me, so add about three years to the one above. What the photo sentence symbolizes is the age that I lived in and how if affected me. I think one would have to be my age to remember the button and “jeans” jacket phenomena. I was included in that. Neon headband, jeans jacket, multitude of Michael Jackson (and later Madonna) buttons. I wish I had a picture of that handy. I’ll have to ask my mom.

I was between aged 8-10 when Michael Jackson took over the entertainment world sans Jackson 5 with Thriller. One would have to be a child of the 80s pop explosion to understand the crossover grip that the movement had. The Top 40 Pop was resurgent after spending the 70s in the disco and easy listening explosion. We lived in a small town 30 minutes outside of Charleston, WV (in the least diverse state in the country). My neighbors, classmates, mom, dad – everyone, got Michael Jackson fever. His appeal was to shape entertainment for years to come.

A few of the things I remember and associate with that time:

Friday Night Videos. Others helped make videos mainstream, but Jackson revolutionized music videos with pre/post song narrative, cinematic elements, and high production values. I remember that the Friday Night Videos on NBC (I remember the network before going to wiki – strange, huh?) was one of the few places that would play the entire videos for Billie Jean and Beat It. MTv, famously, would air the full length of Thriller video at a promoted scheduled time*.
Beverly Hills Cop. In a film writing stroke of genius and a perfect mesh of pop phenomena, Eddie Murphy humorously bluffed being a member of the Jackson entourage (I don’t remember exactly what of the top of my head) to grift special treatment while in Beverly Hills. His scene laughing at the Jackson-Beat It-Jacket clad youths stuck with me. Murphy gained prominence in the early 80s and much of his most famous comedic material was at the expense of Jackson in jokes, impersonations, or actually singing impersonations (surprisingly good.)
Madonna and Prince. I’m not sure why, but in my mind, Michael Jackson was the lead-in to the strategy and popularity of both Madonna and Prince. The argument can be made that those two are more similar in each others promotion technique than either of them are individually to Michael Jackson, but Jackson was a marketing genius. Hhis empire and the way it laid out its marketing strategy was successful and definitive. I believe that that freedom and creativity paved the way for marketing persona such as Prince or Madonna. Whatever the cause and effect, pop music would not have been impressionable for the figures of Madonna or Prince if it were not for the blown apart carnage of gates that Michael Jackson left in his wake.

Paul McCartney. There was of course the teaming of The Beatles’ Paul McCatney and Michael Jackson for two songs. Say Say Say and The Girl Is Mine are weaker songs for both Jackson and McCartney. The complexity of that relationship (as I would discover in my late teens Beatles fascination) is that Macca gave Jackson some business advice during the time (something like, “Buy music, mate. You get royalties even if you didn’t write it”**) and Jackson’s promptly took the advice and bought the entire Beatles non-Apple music catalog that was amidst legal quagmire between Macca, Yoko, and the remaining Beatles. My reaction at the time? “McCartney who? I rather The Beach Boys”***

There was so much more to remember about Michael Jackson. I remember once at a family outing with some extended family that there were no less than four kids and a late teen decorated with One White Glove (from a gardener’s glove to an official representation, IIRC). Everyone tried to dance and moonwalk.

Not since the Beatles nor since has there been a musical phenomena like Michael Jackson. I know I am about to sound like an old man, but I do have to claim that if you weren’t there, there is no way you can grasp the scope.

His legacy was so much more, on a large scale, but the times and what it brought in affected everyone of the age. Even a fat white kid in a notoriously un-diverse area. Michael Jackson was That Big.

I love to years some of your musings in the comments.****

* Think about this for a minute. MTv promoted what time they would play a video. It was listed in TV Guide. And millions would tune in to watch. Seriously. Think about that.

**McCartney famously owns the Buddy Holly music catalog.

***Yeah, now I prefer The Beatles.

****Assuming anyone else ever reads this.