THE CURIOUS CASE OF MICHAEL JACKSON A VIEW FROM THE MIKE

Two months and change later, and in the aftermath of his 51st birthday, it is difficult to comprehend the reality that Michael Joseph Jackson is no longer amongst the living. His untimely and shocking passing triggered a tsunami of memories from and number of perspectives, musically, culturally, psychologically, and otherwise, the impact he made was so profound. I would like to examine Michael Jackson from a singer’s standpoint, but there is no doubt that the other factors will be discussed in this space. The forces that guided his existence on this earth will be scrutinized for eternity. ‘His’ story is a curious one indeed.

Michael Jackson was the first clear-cut vocal inspiration for me, and he takes me back to summer camp when as a 9 year old, I sat mesmerized as 5 of my peers sang Jackson 5 songs at the camp talent show, with me wishing I was up there, and the one guy that sang again, my man Terry Belle asking me 32 years later why I wasn’t up there with them. I first heard Michael when we both were 8 years old, before his age was changed to the correct one years later when the Jackson 5 bolted Motown for Epic. So, because of the Motown star-making machine, many of us thought that Michael was the same age as we were, but hey,he was only two years older.

In spite of all that, I was old enough to know that there was something very special about the little guy with the doe eyes, and the big voice. It seemed as if we all wanted to be part of this phenomenon that swept the nation in the late 60s and early 70s…Motown, The Sound of Young America, was the catch phrase, and the Jackson Five epitomized that. The brothers were in our age range, of our generation, and so many of us identified with them in

a way that was borderline spiritual. Many young Black males wanted to be like Michael, and this was way before Jordan. The Jackson Five’s ‘ABC’ album did it for me. I wanted to sing, and I made sure I maintained that vision, thanks to Michael Jackson.

Glancing backward, I recall the impact the J5 had on popular culture in the late 60’s and early70’s with Michael as the star. As aperformer, he was spectacular, wise beyond his years with an emotional maturity no 10 year old had a right to be singing with. Listen to some of the early Jackson 5 recordings, the yearning in his voice, he made you feel that he’d been through everything he sang about. In addition to his ‘little man’ persona, he possessed a business savvy to match any adult, often questioning the decisions of the group’s manager, his father, Joe, and his boss, Motown chairman Berry Gordy. He wore the mantle of breadwinnner thrust upon him by both his father and his prodigious talent. Michael Jackson was the real-life Benjamin Button, the character played by Brad Pitt who began life as a man, then became an infant in old age. Michael Jackson was a man as a boy, a mature entertainer and businessman whose development as a human being was compromised by his gifts, who reverted to the childhood he never really had, due to the demands of this cruel industry. The Curious Case Of Michael Jackson, and while you may think there are similar stories, none of these child stars were named Michael Jackson. He was too big for comparison.

Sometimes, we get so caught up in the stuff totally unrelated to Michael Jackson the artist that we forget what a brilliant artist he was. Lest we forget, particularly when African-American stars pass on, I will remind those that do. MJJ was one of the greatest vocalists of all time, a singer of infinite depth and range, with a delivery so dynamic that it shook us to the core. Even when his voice started to change as a teenager, he was still a bad mofo, a beast Check out the Jackson Five catalog, the proof is all there. I consider myself fortunate to have lived the duration of his career,

through the Jackson Five years, the Jacksons’, years at Epic, my favorite album, Off The Wall, the commercial phenomenon that was Thriller, the early solo work, Bad, Dangerous, and an album that did not do well commercially, but one that no of us should sleep on, Invincible. So many of us have been extremely lucky to witness this` talent grow before our very eyes. As a child, we made the hour and some trip to Harlem, 125th Street, to the world famous Apollo Theater to see so many of the greats, up close and personal. My one regret is not seeing the Jackson Five, although I did see the Jacksons at the old Omni in Atlanta, Ga., in 1981.

As we all know MJJ was an extraordinary dancer, a student of the great hoofers, and he took the dual art of song and dance to the highest of high levels. I am not qualified to expand on his dancing greatness, but there is plenty of film footage out there to prove it, so I need say nothing more. The proof is in the viewing. The co-lead vocalist of the Bernadettes, Elden Lowery does a great Michael Jackson, from the standpoint of that duality, and he gets major props for being able to pull it off, but as we all know, there is only one MJJ.

Recently, or should I say, almost daily, I have been listening to the Jackson catalog, and it brought back so many memories. I’m sure so many of us can point to a time when they remember the year that certain Michael Jackson songs were released, and the joy and good times that came along with those seminal moments. I did not come here to bury Michael Joseph Jackson, let the paparazzi, and the tabloid freaks do that, he deserves all the praise. I remember him as a artist, dancer, composer, humanitarian, and for me, one of the greatest pure singers who ever lived. R.I.P. Michael…well done, my brother.