Michael Jackson is the Internet

As with so many people my age, Michael Jackson was an important, complicated, tragic and mythic figure in my life. His death stirs up a whole host of memories and feelings, many of them from a time in my life that seems as far away as the image of Jackson that originally meant so much to me.

For me (and for millions of people), that image comes from May 16, 1983 - the broadcast date of the Motown 25th Anniversary Special. It was during this (lip-synced) performance of "Billie Jean" that suburban (and mostly white) America got it's first view of the adult performer, and his now ubiquitous Moonwalk. I remember watching the show on TV with my family and the palpable excitement in the room from seeing him glide across the stage. For the following week or so, I did my best to emulate the Moonwalk on our beige carpet. I believe my brother was old enough to be properly mortified, but he might have tried it once or twice too.

(more after the jump)

Immediately following that night, I began to videotape large chunks of MTV, to preserve the video version of "Billie Jean" (which MTV had been reluctant to air, thanks to an "unofficial" policy towards videos by African-American artists), and watch it over and over again. My family bought "Thriller" on LP shortly after that and I wore it out that summer. It was one of the first records to capture my attention completely that didn't involve Star Wars or the Muppets, and didn't belong solely to the record collection of my parents or my brother. In short, it was one of the first musical experiences that I considered to be truly my own.

9 days after the Motown special aired, Return of the Jedi opened (I saw it on opening day with my father and my friend Keith at the Blue Star Shopping Center in Watchung, NJ) and my attentions shifted to finding the new toys, going to see the movie as many times as possible. But the shift wasn't a complete one - I was still staying glued to MTV and playing "Thriller" when I wasn't recreating scenes from Jedi with my action figures.
In hindsight, it's pretty easy to look at the timing of those events and see the significance of what was happening. Star Wars was wrapping up (literally) and my interests were moving to music (along with comics and horror movies). Thanks in large part to my interest in Michael Jackson, I was introduced to all sorts of new bands and artists on MTV and music began to grow into a significant part of my life and pre-teen identity.

By the time "Bad" was released in 1987, I had moved on to guitar rock, hair bands and Iron Maiden - but I still bought it on cassette and watched the premiere of the video on MTV. After that, my interests diverged even more and things got weird and much worse for the King of Pop. It would be many years before I would revisit "Thriller" (and "Off the Wall") and once again find much to love and admire about the music of Michael Jackson.

After all that has happened, and all that we know (or can reasonably infer) about Jackson and his life, it can be hard to remember the time when he was simply a gigantic talent. An amazing singular artist that could electrify millions by lip-syncing a song on television. A performer who (along with MTV) saved the music industry from imploding by releasing a single album. A musician who could instill the spirit of music in so many others.
In some ways, that Michael Jackson has been gone for a long time, but in other ways, he will always be with us.

So long, Michael - and thanks for the music.