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"Oh my God can't believe what I saw when I turned on the tv..."
Michael Jackson ft Janet Jackson, Scream (HIStory)
The first two albums I was ever given as gifts on LP (I know - I'm so old) were True Blue by Madonna and Bad by Michael Jackson. I recorded both of them onto tape (remember tapes?!) and played them constantly over and over. I recorded every video that was released as a single, tried to learn every dance routine (not easy, but I was very committed) and performed them every day with my friends, in my bedroom, in the garden... I always liked to dance.
By the time I was in my late teens, I was involved in an amateur dance group in the church I went to. We did a lot of performances at other churches, youth clubs, charity events and the like (embarassingly some were held in public, including in Belfast City Centre at times, and I think there is probably video footage of it still lurking somewhere...) The guy who did all the choreography - a very talented dancer, even still - was a Michael Jackson fanatic. He had actually previously made some money working as a lookalike. He was a very good teacher, and could take the most impressive looking, complicated moves and break them down making them easy to learn. I loved it. I learned to play drums around the same time. The first song I learned to play? - Billie Jean. Every drummer's staple, bottom line beat.
When I turned 20 in 1995, I was still getting Michael Jackson music bought to me - someone got me HIStory: Past, Present & Future as a gift. I danced the bridge part from the Scream video (the bit where Michael and Janet dance together) until my knees were actually bruised. If you know the video you will know the part I mean. Very, very cool.
In short, I do not really recall a time in my life when Michael Jackson's music was not present. Or when I didn't think he was amazingly talented.
And that remains the case.
I couldn't believe it when I heard of his death this morning. I have spent much of today watching news and music channels, and I am still shocked. I knew he had not been in the best of health, and I had doubts about his ability to pull off the gruelling schedule of concerts lined up for the rest of this year, but a heart attack? At 50?
I have also spent some of today being astounded at some of the comments I have seen on Facebook, Twitter and on the news websites, crying "paedophile" and the like. Christ almighty, wake up and smell the coffee. Michael Jackson was clearly a very unusual individual. He was called "Wacko Jacko" long before there were ever any allegations of impropriety levelled against him, simply because he was, well, weird. He has always done things that have raised the eyebrows of the common (evolved) man. But people who are still chasing clouds thinking they are smoke from a very real fire are kidding themselves. And what a day on which to do it. The man is barely cold - have some decency.
And DON'T bother moaning at me "decency? well he was hardly decent. what he did was disgraceful", blah blah. Not one single allegation levied against Michael Jackson has ever stood up to any scrutiny, including the scrutiny of a jury presented with evidence accumulated by a bigger investigation team than has ever been employed in any mass murder case in US history. Every witness has proved to be not sufficiently credible. And the many investigators involved could not adduce sufficient evidence to justify a conviction, not just of indecent assault but other related, lesser charges.
Michael Jackson's biggest mistake, in my humble and retrospective opinion, was settling the Jordy Chandler case back in 1993. Cases settle every day - it is an integral part of the legal system. And, while I can only speak from my own experience as a lawyer for the last 10 years, cases tend to settle for strategic, business and financial reasons. Not because "the employer did it" or "the accused did it". Sometimes they did. And in those cases you can bet the lawyers will insist on including every conceivable confidentiality clause known to man so that you or I will never find
