RIP King Of Pop

We went to bed last night with the news that the King Of Pop was dead. I was struck by how upset Alma and I felt about this. Another one of our generation who has died, perhaps we measure our own mortality by these events. Michael Jackson was a great Pop musician, but I never bought any of his albums, or singles. I did buy one of his greatest hits collections, but I only played it once. I couldn't connect on any level with the music it contained. Perhaps the videos were too powerful to overcome and stopped me connecting on an emotional level. When I play Self Portrait by Dylan I remember when I bought it and when I played to a friend for the first time. No video to get in the way. I did however always enjoy his videos and hit records when I heard them on the radio. He sold hundreds of millions of albums, but although he was an era defining artist he didn’t produce great art. He is never mentioned in the same breath as The Beatles or Dylan both of whom he dwarfed in sales. He was almost a composite figure with his false face, false hair and false lifestyle. There was never a glimpse of the real Michael Jackson; perhaps the reason was that there was no real Michael Jackson. He was on stage from the age of four and became a Superstar in his teens. His life was a long exercise in child abuse. Perform; make money seems to have been the object. There was no chance for him to grow and develop as a person, or so it seems. There is always the possibility that in private he was a well-rounded, well-read well-grounded character and the Wacko-Jacko persona was all an act.

Dead at 50! In a way it is a perfect way for this Peter Pan of Pop to check out. No ravages of old age to face, no decline into touring for the sake of unpaid bills. No Elvis like exile in Vegas.
So the King Of Pop joins the King of Rock along side Beatle Johnny and Beatle George in that great house band in the sky.