Rewind the clock twenty years or so…
May 1983… You see a little -=e=- getting ready to graduate high school. The end of the year talent show, had me and a GROUP of guys FROM the school band calling ourselves “The Jazzy Gents” on stage…
The program had us doing a run of the mill, Glenn Miller “In the mood”-type jazz progression, the inner-city crowd, subjected to a rather lackluster night, restrained by an old-fashioned teacher running it, were finally content…
Suddenly, the music stopped.
The drummer breaks INTO a solo, followed by a modern drum beat. I played an all-too-familiar bass line… the crowd was on their feet.
We decided “Fuck it… we’re playing Billie Jean!!!”. If we were leaving the school, we were going out in style. Two break dancers joined us on either side, recreating “The Gloved One”s electrifying performance on “Motown 25”, just weeks earlier.
The crowd went fucking wild!
Yeah… we planned the rebellion all along. ;0)
It was as if a riot was going to break out at any second… the guys handling the lights decided to get extra creative, we were instrumental, so the audience sang every word to the #1 song in the country, danced in the aisles, despite the terrified teachers ordering everyone to stay seated. The steam coming out of the teacher’s ears, over the change in program, provided one hell of a smoke machine effect. :0)
The coordinator of the SHOW finally got tired of us defying her, the back stage crew ignoring her orders to close the curtains on us… she finally unplugged our amplifiers when we were halfway through “Beat it“.
Bitch.
As a child of the 80’s, I couldn’t think of anyone that *WASN’T* a Michael Jackson fan. Ever see the scene in “Beverly Hills Cop” where Eddie Murphy chuckles at the white couple with the Jheri Curls and the “Thriller” Jackets?.
That might as well had been me. I had my hair permed twice, and paid $150 bucks for a silk “Thriller” jacket in 1984 (shut up.). I’d get off of elevators in Manhattan to a chuckling receptionist watching me in their monitors: “Hey, your spins are really improving! *snicker*”
It was truly Michael Jackson’s world in those days. We were only living in it. Being born and raised in the entertainment biz, his music and moves were pure magic.
20 years later, I watched in horror at the price the man paid to become “The King of Pop” on 20/20 tonight.
He seemed more defensive about his plastic surgery, than his hanging an infant over a balcony in Germany. He twitches when his father is mentioned. And honestly thinks nothing is wrong with his kids saying they “have no mother”.
Most disturbing of all, is how he just doesn’t get how inapropriate his contact with children is… sleeping in his bed with him. Calling parents who have a problem with it “whacky”. (!!!)
I can’t even begin to figure out what has fucked him up. Was it the torment and abuse of his father? The fact that he never had a childhood? HAVING his head filled with Jehovah’s Witness doctrine? The fact that he’s spent his entire life in the spotlight, surrounded by people telling him anything he wanted to hear?
Is it all of the above?
Or is it a deliberate move to get back in the spotlight, as it’s the only life he’s ever known?
Ask anyone in the entertainment biz. There’s no such thing as “bad press”.
In other news, some guy named Phil Spector shot and killed a woman in his home.
Oh. I’m sorry… back to Michael Jackson and all his surgeries…
I can’t express the sadness and pity I have for the man these days.
All I gotta say is:
gif, gif, gif
Good old memories though
I find the fact that he insists he has had only 2 nose surgeries, flat out laughable.
On the issue of children sleeping in the bed, I am guilty of it too. I have a 6 year old son and a 3 year old daughter. I breastfed both children and it just got more convenient for me for them to be in the bed with me. Little did I know years later, I’d be begging them to go back to their own beds!!! The fact of the matter is it can be normal to sleep with your children. Many cultures encourage it. But I certaintly do not advertise it – I don’t go around telling everyone I sleep with my children (ok ironically, I am confessing now) And I certaintely do not invite my children’s friends over and have them accompany me in my bed.
The fact of the manner is this man has issues. Whatever the case may be, he needs some help and a dose of reality. His music is no longer what it used to be. He was once a great artist. My advice to him is to lay low a few years. Stay COMPLETELY out of the limelight. In about 5 years, book a complete surprise on the MTV Awards or some shit, come out in the sequin jacket, glove hand, and sing Billy Jean – dance the moonwalk- and leave the stage. Record sales will boost again. People will think the old Michael Jackson is coming back. You can recover the image (at least a bit). And then do not come back, don’t make new music, don’t speak of your fascination with children. That is the only way I see him ever saving face.
fact of the manner??????????? .. ok i obviously sleep deprived
that should be fact of the matter
Jewdez … “That is the only way I see him ever saving face. ” ….. um, methinks too much of his face is on the OR floor to be saved. Or perhaps it IS saved … in a jar in some specimen lab. As odd is Michael has become, he may have his nose in a jar in his “Neverland” bedroom.
Oh -e- …. please tell me that you have some sort of home movies of the band doing the Jacko songs! It would be great entertainment for your forthcoming East Coast blogging get together.
Yeah… but Jewdez. Any parent in the world is gonna wake up in the morning to a kid or two in their bed from a nightmare or a fever… that’s perfectly normal.
After what happened in 1993 (which I thought was just a shakedown for money… but obviously the case is still pending.), the one point that the interviewer was trying to drill in MJJ’s head was: “Didn’t you learn a lesson, and keep your distance?”
Of course, he was agitated (He’s not used to people being candidly honest, obviously), and made it even worse when he said “other people should do it too”.
He just doesn’t get it.
*slams head into wall*
please tell me that you have some sort of home movies of the band doing the Jacko songs!
DOH!!! No, not in them days…
Maybe on “Karaoke Night”, I’ll do “Billie Jean”… nothing spells “F-U-N” like a fat middle-aged guy moonwalking and doing spins into expensive equipment! :0)
The only picture I found was this one with my perm. You’d have to really squint to see it. (GAWD I was so cute back then!).
And yeah, After “Beverly Hills Cop”, I never wore the thriller jacket again. :0)
Always a rebel! See? I had no idea you played. Yeah, I probably missed it somewhere along the way. I’m bad like that. You always manage to surprise me. xox
What the hell is that? A Vox or Gibson knockoff? And the caption concerns me too; “church outreach program?”
About Michael, alright, he’s weird and pretty disturbed. It probably hasn’t made it any better that the media has talked shit about him for tweny years or so.
Thanks for sharing old memories. If you do Billy Jean make me imagine that you have a voice that kind of doesn’t match the rest of you ;o)
Well, before I got stupid & started smoking, Nico… I had a pretty good range. :0)
What the hell is that? A Vox or Gibson knockoff? And the caption concerns me too; “church outreach program?”
Sharp eyes, Linkster! Yeah, the church I was working in had a Gibson (no idea what model it is), in my opinion… Gibson guitars are the best. I have a Korean copy of the Charvell-Jackson “Randy Rhodes”, but it’s just for show as it plays like garbage….
Not to worry, I only hide behind my religious convictions to blow off major deals (God forbid ever become a sucess at something.).
Well if you & Kira ever get bored you can read the 4-part story about my life as a musician: R.I.P. Rockstar.
Lots of Sex, drugs, rock&roll…
(ok drugs & rock & roll. Let’s get realistic here.)
He’s a complete moron. I couldn’t get over the masks he makes his kids wear – and the scarf he puts over the baby’s face. And the fact that he was bouncing him up and down while the kid was drinking his bottle. The man seriously needs parenting skills classes. I feel terrible for those kids. They’ll never want for anything material, but they are going to have some serious psychological issues!!
I have a hard time reconciling him today with the MJ from Off the Wall. He’s absolutely frightening .
And although I had a few Jacksons 5 45’s, (and still do) I was one of the 10 people in the non-third world or muslim countries on the planet who never owned any of his solo albums, including Thriller. But I did watch the videos on MTV 🙂
I was never a Michael Jackson fan, -e-, I was an (whispers) osmonds fan!
I’m cringing, but I even saw them in concert! I was 13, and my friends went too. That’s my excuse, and I’m sticking to it!
And MJ has really lost it. I couldn’t believe what he was like the other night! horrific! Poor kids!
No -e-, I must correct you, Ibanez, that’s what I call real guitars ;o) Seriously, you’re kind of right, it’s something about those Gibsons that almost turn you on.
I see MJ as niave to the point of stupidity. its sad to be 44 years old and still NOT GET IT.
If you’ve ever seen the movie, The Three Kings, then you’ll understand my theory that Jacko has a pyschic link to Iraq. The worse it gets there the worse he gets. It a strange voodoo doll/Dorian Gray connection.
I (fortunately) missed the interview with Michael Jackson. And there’s no lasting footage of you doing the Moonwalk?? *sob*
I read your story, -e-. I’m very impressed. But then again, you always do manage to throw me down on my ass on a regular basis…
🙂
And although I had a few Jacksons 5 45’s, (and still do) I was one of the 10 people in the non-third world or muslim countries on the planet who never owned any of his solo albums, including Thriller. But I did watch the videos on MTV 🙂
Hey, Lisa, I’m one of those other ten people. LOL!
You are so speaking for me too E!! I agree with you completely! Sooooo sad!!! :o(
Aw, thanks Susan. :0) Yeah, I used to be interesting. It’s kind of funny how my online persona is more like that person back then than the person I am in real life. I’m quiet & boring now. It’s like “reading a ghost” here to me sometimes.
Ibanez does make some nice guitars, Nico. I never really played one, but the’re definitely prettier than Gibsons. I still love the low-action on a Gibson. I was given the honor of touching a Les Paul once… *Orgasm*!!!!
The worse it gets there the worse he gets. It a strange voodoo doll/Dorian Gray connection.
Hmmm… chemical peels. Chemical weapons.
Maybe shit like trying to buy the Elephant Man’s bones or King Tut’s coffin is merely a distraction when the heat is on Iraq. I agree, John! LOL!!!
It’s still you, my friend. And quiet? Boring? Hah! 😉 And you’re still most definitely interesting. All this stuff has to come from somewhere, right? *g*
I think somebody should put Michael’s ass on jail. He’s gone mad!
Sharp eyes, Linkster! Once a guitarist, always a guitarist. And Nico, Ibanez are fine guitars, but for electrics, well…Gibson and Fender rock (for different reasons; I’ve still got a Rickenbacker, and it’s got an entirely different tone than either of those).
I think he’s just gone completely insane!! And there’s a BIG difference between sleeping in a bed with your OWN children and sleeping in a bed with other people’s kids!! He needs to be comitted!
I didn’t see it, but wish I had. It sounds like something I could have used to teach with – when a reporter becomes part of a documentary, in all the wrong ways. Or so I get from reading several reviews of it.
Jackson is so incredibly out of touch with reality. And you know the really sad thing? His advisors let him go through with this thing. The guy *wants* to be in the media this much. There are other high profile people who manage to live outside the spotlight for some portion of their lives. Jackson wants to be in the media, to be understood and loved. He is wildly out of touch – I mean, the whole concept that he can’t look in a mirror and see his face now – I suppose he just hasn’t seen any childhood photos of himself. I very much doubt that elves came in the night and switched faces on him.
It would be sad, I could feel pity – except this is a guy that’s brought children into this delusional world he lives in. What kind of lives will they lead when they grow up? How will his psychological problems be visited on the them? Will they ever have a chance for a normal life? His own screwed childhood created the man he is now.
This scares the shit out of me, anyway.
Those poor kids will continue to have their lives observed by the world. Daddy wants it that way.