This is my tribute to him...told in the brutal honesty of a fan who hates the other side of him. You may not agree with what I say but this is how I perceived the man, the legend. And his death will not change that. Case in point: I am NOT one of the 20+ million who made Thriller the best-selling album of all time.
Since news of his death broke out last Friday, radio has been flooded with requests to play his songs. I have heard Gone Too Soon, Heal The World and Will You Be There more times in the past two days than in the last five years.
I decided to join this historic moment and reminisce his glory through his songs. I know I have his limited-edition 2-disc greatest hits HIStory CD but it has been passed around by my friends. So I got my trusty iPod and searched by artist to Michael Jackson. Only one song came up...Wanna Be Startin' Somethin’, the 2008 version featuring Akon and Fergie which was re-recorded in time for the 25th anniversary of Thriller last year.
This confused me because I know I have tons of Michael Jackson songs on my iPod. And then it hit me. I have his songs, but not HIS version. There are indeed a lot of them... from the recent big hits (Smooth Criminal by Alien Ant Farm and Beat It by Fallout Boy feat. John Mayer)... to the live unreleased performances (the recent American Idol performances or Man in The Mirror by Usher, 98 Degrees and the late Luther Vandross)... to the local versions (Kyla with One Day in Your Life).
How did this happen? At some point I got tired of the man but not his songs. It was almost blasphemy to listen to his voice and it seems tantamount to supporting the life he led lately.
Let’s put it this way. In terms of MJ appreciation and fanaticism, I am at the halfway house. As I said, I am somewhere between a fan and a hater. I am in deep awe and I have the highest regard for his music and his influence to the entertainment world. But not necessarily of MJ as a person and what he represents.
I said I will be honest. With all due respect to Michael Jackson, I have laughed at the freakshow that he has become and I have used him as a pop-culture punchline countless times. I LOL-ed at the jokes saying he was included in the casting of Planet Of The Apes. I have called him a looney and a weirdo (those who have not are welcome to throw stones at me). I have said many a time that he was a fool to let his personal life tarnish his artistic legacy. For in the past years, all we heard about him are his personal and legal troubles. His music and artistry took the backseat. Which is ironic because if not for his music, then we wouldn’t have known he existed.
Hands down, he was the greatest musical icon of my growing-up years. The Beatles were gone before my musical consciousness was awakened. I was only 5 years old when he released Thriller so I was too young then to realize MJ's impact and the fanatical adoration rivalled only by Pope John Paul II. But growing up, I never knew the New Wave sound of the 80’s. As a kid, ask me to name an old song and, chances are, I will recite the songs from Thriller.
Other than his greatest hits CD, the only CD I have of MJ is Invincible from 2000. It spawned one hit (You Rock My World) and I bought it on sale but I can’t remember ever listening to the CD in its entirety. But I do remember one beautiful unreleased track from that CD – Butterflies.
Friends have asked me what my favourite MJ song is. I’ll have to say Human Nature and Man In The Mirror for the mainstream choices. But for obscure hits, I’d say Scream (his duet with Janet)...the energy of this song gives me a natural high. On the other end of the spectrum, I cringe at You Are Not Alone (the first song in history to do the unthinkable: enter the charts at #1). The lyrics are way too clichéd and cheesy and there is an excess of that MJ-signature hiccup-y sound or whatever you call it.
Michael Jackson thrived in the 80’s, an era of musical relevance and artistic movement. The artists from that era (Madonna included) created a world of their own. They set such high standards for today’s music. From then on, the artists we saw were mostly copycats or confused morphs of each other, as if they came from one lacklustre factory. They gave pop music a bad name. Think Britney and Celine Dion, who despite amassing huge hits, will never be called musical geniuses. For the mere fact that they don’t own their music.
Whereas Michael not only made his own music but he made music his own. The ultimate proof of MJ’s musical genius is that you can’t ruin his songs. Any artist...from Mariah Carey (I’ll Be There) to the videoke singer on the street can sing it and it will sound spectacular. He does not have the best vocals (in facts his vocals of late is whiny and wheezy) but he knows how to best use what he has. Like a true-blue artist, he knew how to differentiate himself and created his signature style. He was the male trendsetter; the fads he created are innumerable and enduring. His name and style are now priceless trademarks (note that I did not use past tense).
Hence, the kids of today’s music bear his blueprint and salute him... whether subtly (red Thriller jacket in Mandy Moore’s Crush video or the gloved hand-movement in Destiny Child’s Bootylicious video)... or blatantly (Justin Timberlake's falsetto and crotch-grabbing moves).
For all we know, the trademark he created might shine brighter in death than in life. I know only one other artist who has this all-consuming and lasting influence. Elvis Presley.
I know there is more to MJ than the musician. We have heard of his humanitarian work and drive to make this world better through his eye-opening songs like Earth Song. But, considering his much-publicized personality and choices in life, I cannot shake off the fact that these were brought about by some personal agenda. After all, he is a social study in over-indulgence, idiosyncrasy and narcissism. He became the poster boy for the dreaded rise-and-fall in the entertainment industry. But sadly, unlike Mariah Carey, there won’t be any emancipation... no huge comeback for the king. Except maybe post-humus.
People may say that he is a victim of media and bad publicity, but I will have to say that somehow he fed this machinery (remember the child dangling off the balcony?). He fanned the embers until it became an inferno which consequently burned the image of the consummate artist that the world knew and embraced.
But we need not dwell on that. His life maybe the ultimate E! True Hollywood Story but his achievements and contribution in music and the arts will forever be engraved in the annals of world history. He gave the backbone that defined pop music and his death cannot change that. The scandals and the lawsuits will soon run its course but his music will not. Years from now our grandchildren will still moonwalk and dance to Thriller. And we will smile and remember one of the greatest man who ever lived.
Ironically, the man who so craved for immortality never realized that he had it all along: his music will live on.
Love him or hate him, we all fell under his spell. The legacy left by the King of Pop is...to use his words...neither black nor white. It is permanent grey.
- Copyright B. Crisostomo @ www.barnieboi.blogspot.com.
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