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Michael Jackson Will Be Missed

June 26th, 2009 Posted by: The Ticket Guy

There is a reason you can’t log in to facebook or twitter or turn on the radio or the TV or view your rss without these two names popping up over and over again.

I don’t care who you were or what you were doing in 1982, if you were present on this Earth you did the moon-walk at least once. Well maybe if you lived in Kabul or Portland you had to wait until 1992 to hear this phenomenal album. But we all have, and we have all caught ourselves spinning around and shouting, “WHEEE-HEE!” every now and then. I still do it to this day.

As a wanna-bee member of Iron Maiden and a kid that was still drawing Judas Priest and Scorpions logos all over his Trapper Keepers even three years after its release, I felt it necessary back then to keep my love and admiration for this album and Michael Jackson’s dance skills under tight wraps.

Michael and his music had a way to bridge gaps. By that I mean this guy made it cool (or at least I thought it was at the time) for a kid to wear red parachute pants with a cutoff Iron Maiden t-shirt. Blasting out Holy Diver by day and singing, “the girl is mine… mine… mine… ” alone at night in my room, I could tell my DIO-loving buddies at school MJ was a sissy ’til I was blue in the face, but nothing could stop me from throwing one hand up in the air and belting out, “I AM THE ONE…” before dropping down on a piece of cardboard to attempt a back-spin in the secluded safety of the back patio at the end of the day.

Michael Jackson will be missed, but his music will be ours forever. Now that I’m older and nearly thirty years have passed since the Thriller album was released, I can’t even venture to guess how many times I’ve jumped out of the shower, slid across the wet tiles in front of the mirror and shouted, “WHOOO, WHOO!” before completing a spin, or spontaneously busted out with a recital of Billie Jean when no one else was around to hear.

You can say what you want but the proof is in the pudding, Thriller is now and will remain for a long time one of the best selling albums… EVER! It’s hard to find an American over the age of thirty that can’t tell you what Michael dances on in his Billie Jean video. For his widespread popularity alone I take this opportunity to appreciate the music and talent of the guy that taught me it was okay to let loose and have a little fun on the dance floor.

To those that that love him I offer my sincerest condolences on his passing and take this moment to celebrate a truly unique and astounding individual.

Michael Jackson, You Will Be Missed…

Filed under: My Take, In The News