Idle Musings: The King of Pop

I still remember the songs which I listened to way back. The first which come to mind are La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, Mrs Robinson by The Beatles and of course every one of MJ's songs. Back in the day he was THE thing on every one's high-fi and Walkman. My cousin is probably his greatest fan I know, in fact he used to have this Michael Jackson game they had on the ancient Sega console and LD's of all his albums. Heck I can even remember the Michael Jackson movie, now THAT'S how old I am! He was and is THE quintessential performer. While a flawed and eccentric character as all true geniuses are, his musical talent and supremacy at his art was undeniable. Watch his moves on the dance floor and I'll bet even Kim Jong Il will be mesmerised and forget to flick the switch on that nuke he's about to launch. The way he danced wasn't human, it was that of a well-oiled fluid dancing machine, his moves clinical, smooth and precise. His sudden passing was a real shock, and I'll admit that the thought of getting tickets to his comeback concert did occur a while back. Well guess this takes care of that little dilemma. His passing is a real loss to the art and I would go so far as to say that with his passing the last great performer from my era has gone. While many might focus on the more onerous aspects of his life I feel that we should remember the man for what he was, which is the greatest performer ever to grace the dance floor, not what he was accused of. In a way he lived a sad life devoid of a childhood and was taken advantage of by those who just wanted extra spending money. So I pray, that he has finally achieved the peace he so deserves.



This is probably my most favourite song of his. Brings me right back to my childhood where Power Rangers were still based on dinosaurs and ruled Saturday morning television and kopi was only for people older than me. Oh and milk was still served in a bottle. I guess I especially like the video because it has the romantic feel of the ole' American gangster era with their tailored suits and "Tommy" guns. Fantastic.