4 Years Later: Understanding the Magic of Michael Jackson

CLEVELAND - Michael Jackson, dressed sharply in a black leather suit and his trademark dark shades made his way into an Augusta, Ga. church on December 30, 2006 to the sounds of thousands of screaming fans and countless flashbulbs. Flanked by two beefy bodyguards, the entertainment icon waved and soon took a seat in the first row of the church as media cameras focused on his every move and news anchors broadcast his arrival on national television.

But this event was not for Michael Jackson.

Instead, MJ had just arrived at this church to honor the great James Brown, the man who most inspired Jackson as a child to become an entertainer. This event was Brown's funeral service; he died just five days earlier at age 73.

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the shocking death of Jackson, a man so publicly maligned at the time of his departure from Earth that he almost seemed to be an unwanted alien by many. I, for one never saw him that way and was absolutely crushed when I received that horrific news on that dark Thursday. But even as his public reputation nosedived in the final 20 years of his life, he never lost his magical aura, as evidenced by his appearance at Brown's funeral just 18 months after his acquittal of child molestation charges.

In understanding Michael's magic, I believe that it is essential for people to realize how we first came to know about him and care what he did. Beginning at age 11 in 1969, Michael exhibited substantial singing and showmanship qualities that made him seem almost fictional. No child of that age should've been able to sing with the majestic passion that he possessed, or the poised stage presence as evidenced by countless television appearances with his brothers as the Jackson 5. Thus, Michael entered our minds as a true prodigy filled with breathtaking talent and that memory never left anyone that saw him decades later.

When he re-invented himself as an adult solo artist in 1979, his superstar status was complete. He entered the 1980's as a 21-year old star who could sing his heart out and was blessed with killer dance moves. All of this sensationalism reached a fever pitch with the release of his seminal album Thriller.

The Thriller era spanned two years; 1983 and 1984. This is when Michael was at the apex of his power, appeal and universal resonance. His stylistic choices, both in his work as well as his visual appearance took elements of innovation from past artists and expanded on them to create his own unique presentation. So, as his career flew into the stratosphere of excellence, critical acclaim and achievement, his highly inventive and singular appearance became embedded in all of our collective minds. The fact that he created such iconic music, short films and commercials completed the package.

So, when Jackson took to the podium at that church in Augusta, Ga. 22 years after the end of the Thriller era to give a brief statement on the impact that James Brown had on his life, it was easy to understand why the assembled crowd screamed loud at his appearance. They cheered and applauded as if this event were for MJ, which was pretty amazing given the enormous stature in music that Brown himself held.

For decades, anytime Michael Jackson made a rare television appearance at a live event, it was almost like a coronation or a very special treat. He was always dressed in something cutting-edge and original, and his whisper of a voice (which had been internationally famous for many years) always fired up the crowd as he spoke into the microphone to accept an award or make any sort of comment. Simply put, he just ooozed a cultural mythology that no one else could match, even nowadays. I'm not saying that fans would think of all of his great accomplishments right then and there; but subconsciously, we all knew about the incredible art that he gave us over many years, and that always made him seem larger than life.

When he went on trial in early 2005, he showed up to court daily clad in a very elaborately designed suit that was unlike anything anyone else ever wore to a court proceeding. But it always felt like a huge "happening" when he would emerge from his SUV and walked towards the courthouse, flanked by bodyguards and family members. Fans would scream and shout and snap photos of the man, even though his greatest artistic works had been released many years in the past. Scandal and heavy media scrutiny had trashed his once pristine reputation, but in spite of the sordid headlines and accusations, he always carried the magic of being Michael Jackson, the former child megastar who sang the hell out of "Who's Lovin' You?" and "I Want You Back." The adult supernova that crafted three consecutive classic albums in eight years; Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad. He was still the man who mesmerized the world with his performance of "Billie Jean" on Motown 25 and in the process, claimed the moonwalk dance step as his own signature move. This was still the man that dominated awards shows, popularized the single sparkly glove and white socks and loafers and danced at night in a red leather jacket with a host of "zombies."

Michael Jackson was always far more than he seemed in any given moment. He was the sum of his overall greatness and lifetime of unforgettable, standard raising genius. And here we sit, four long years after his demise and we look around at constant replays of his legendary short films, timeless music and inventive style and we realize something pretty amazing.

Even now in death, he still has that magic.

Michael Jackson Was Victimized His Entire Life...And Beyond

CLEVELAND - Michael Jackson lay motionless in his bed around noon on June 25, 2009. In his bedroom, a frantic and nervous doctor noticed that the legendary entertainer wasn't breathing. Simultaneously, millions of people across the U.S., unaware of what was happening to MJ at that moment, perceived him as a once-amazing talent that had long ago become an embarrassing sideshow. Within a few hours, those same people reconfigured their perception of the man and began expressing sympathy and grief over his sudden and Earth shattering death.

All of those people need to go to hell.

Head shaking as it is, today marks the one year anniversary of Michael's departure from life. It was an unspeakably horrific day for me personally and for the tens of millions of his fans globally. I still have a difficult time accepting it as reality, even though Michael was such an emotionally fragile and sensitive person who was forced to deal with a pressure cooker of a life for 45 years. I look back on that dark Thursday with endless contempt and impossible bitterness.

I've thought about the man's life in great detail. His successes were of epic magnitude. His failures were tragic and colossal. And although Michael Jackson was perceived by many as the ultimate oddball and a raging weirdo, the truth is, he was very much like the common man. He only wanted to be loved and admired. He was blessed with a gigantic amount of talent, yet he was also prone to making bad choices and being irresponsible. He had several lapses in judgement just as we all do, but none of that should ever overshadow what he was truly about.

He wanted to make the world a better place.

Long ago, it became the "cool thing to do" for many people to not only criticize Michael, but to completely assassinate his character and spew some of the most vitriolic hate ever conceived towards him. In the years after Michaelmania dominated the U.S. and abroad in 1983 and 1984, Michael began being vilified and mocked for his constantly changing facial appearance, his reclusive and eccentric lifestyle and for the failings of his music to eclipse the impossibly high standards of his historic Thriller album. Years after those criticisms began, he was mutilated in the media and court of public opinion for what many considered to be his seemingly seedy relationship with pre-teen and teen boys.

It may seem as though the mid-1980's was the beginning of the sniping at MJ, but in reality, his entire life had been that way. Since he was a child, he was forced to support his family through intense dedication to his music career. True, his brothers were all a part of The Jackson 5, but with Michael being the lead singer and far and away the biggest talent, the pressures on him were greater, and he wasn't yet 10 years old. He had to endure heavy criticism because of his nose, which even family members mocked and took to calling him "big nose." For a kid who was already sensitive, that sort of attack was almost too much to take. It heavily shattered his spirit. Then as an adolescent, he endured the cruel effects of acne to his soon-to-be-adult face. Of course, he was made fun of for having "so many spots" on his face.

The level of pressure that was upon Michael Jackson during the late '60's and throughout the '70's was incredible. Not only did he have to excel musically for the sake of his family and others in the music industry with a vested interest in him, he had to do so with a face that was constantly frowned at and mocked. He didn't have the luxury of hiding. His face was public property.

He began to flex his muscles as an adult solo artist in 1978 when he turned 20 and co-starred in "The Wiz." Shortly thereafter, he crafted his masterpiece Off The Wall album which launched him into orbit on the path to megastar. Beneath it all, he was more ambitious than he'd ever been, yet very insecure. He had been tethered to his brothers for years and now, he was finally developing his own sound and legacy.

Of course, Off The Wall became a huge success in an unexpected way but the phenomenon that came with the late 1982 release of Thriller was beyond comprehension. That seminal era, early 1983 through late 1984 was owned by Michael. The entire U.S. was consumed by his music, style and artistic trademarks and his work sold in record numbers. The Thriller era was such a charmed, fairy-tale time for Michael that it felt almost too good to be true.

As it turns out, it was.

Michael had been a man who could do no wrong during the whirlwind dominance of Thriller and its accompanying music videos. When he and his brothers ended the Victory Tour in late 1984, it was as if the clock struck midnight for Cinderella. Beginning in early 1985, the immense love affair that the public had with Michael began to fade. I remember this time vividly, even though I wasn't yet eight years old. Over the next 2 and a half years, his character took major hits in the media for his various eccentricities and lack of a new album. By the time Bad, the highly anticipated follow-up to Thriller debuted in August 1987, he had been getting major criticisms for his much lighter skin tone as well as other modifications to his face. It occurred to me that the man did exactly what many people would do if they had been in his shoes and had the means. Remember, he had been ridiculed since childhood by people (including members of his own family) and thus, carried a complex about his nose in particular and his face in general. If I were subjected to that and I was a multi-millionaire, I would have made changes as well.

During the last 20 years of his life, the criticisms and insults grew harsher and more insidious every moment. There were complaints about his record sales which were still awesome but always fell short of the juggernaut that was Thriller. MJ was already a notorious perfectionist, so he naturally put tons of pressure on himself to please his public. As his skin appeared more and more pale white and his face changed shape often, endless jokes and repudiation of the man fell upon him. No one believed he suffered from the skin disease vitiligo as he stated. Instead, they poked fun at him, called him a liar and hurled insults at him.

No one bothered to care about what pushed him to remodel his face. No one cared that his skin lightening was essential to even out what the disease was doing to his color. Imagine having to deal with that from a few people. Michael had to deal with a nation of people ganging up on him.

Then, the child molestation charges that effectively turned him into a pariah. Sure, it is bad judgement for a grown person to surround themselves with underage kids. It is also puzzling as to why and how Michael ended up in the same situation a second time after the horror of the first time. What people ignore is that Michael isn't an average Joe. Yes, he was an adult. But he was an adult who surrendered his childhood in favor of an entertainment career. The significance of that is it explains why he took to creating a childhood as an adult that he never experienced as a child. He may have been an excellent businessman, but he certainly didn't see himself as an adult. From what I saw, he looked at himself as a 10-year old boy and thus, saw nothing wrong with being around young boys.

To him, they were his "peers."

His thinking was clearly unconventional, but when such epic success isolates a person, it becomes understandable. Remember, Michael's closest female friends were women who were sometimes decades older than he; Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and Katherine Hepburn. He always tried to surround himself with people who best understood him or whom he could truly connect with and relate to.

People ignore the fact that Michael spent his adult life donating endless amounts of his time, energy, emotions and money to countless charities. Children were his inspiration and he loved them. No one gives as much as he did without genuinely caring for the cause they're supporting. Not only that, but it was disclosed several months ago that MJ had been under surveillance by the FBI for 13 years and nothing was found that showed him to be a molester. In sum, he was acquitted after a trial in 2005 and the FBI found nothing improper on him, but no one ever mentions those things. Instead, he gets castigated for what was actually just allegations against an easy target and the possible "appearance" of impropriety. People label him a pedophile as though it was ever proven.

Add another stress inducer to his life.

I'm not saying that Michael didn't bring any of this on himself. He certainly placed himself in compromising situations, but he never deserved such malicious treatment by people. It infuriates me that so many people say such nice things about him now that he's gone, but never would have done that while he was alive. Jay Leno was always delivering below-the-belt jokes about him, but now speaks of him like he's a beloved icon, which he is, but Leno never spoke that way before.

I read unbelievably cruel comments all the time from idiots who continue to disparage Michael, even in death. It just further underlines the hell that MJ had to deal with daily while millions sat back and judged him. Those same people are hypocrites who clearly know nothing about class and love.

I will forever love Michael and I will use this awful anniversary as another opportunity to appreciate the gift that God gave us.

Michael Jackson forever.

27 Years Ago Today: Michael Jackson Transcends Pop Culture

CLEVELAND - If there was a single moment that propelled Michael Jackson to the very top of the music industry, American pop culture and showcased his stunning repertoire of talent, style and polish, it was without a doubt the evening that Motown Records broadcast their 25th anniversary special on NBC television.

The night belonged to him, hands down.

It was 27 years ago today that Michael ascended to the highest peak of his stunning brilliance while firing on all cylinders. His historic performance of his new song "Billie Jean" remains a seminal moment in pop culture history and more than anything else illustrated his trademark iconography in perfect detail. The television special, entitled "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever" featured numerous stars from the landmark record label's past. From Smokey Robinson to Diana Ross and the Supremes, it was a who's who of black musical dominance of the 1960's and '70's. The Jackson 5, who had joined the label in 1968 as a group of teens and pre-teens were slated to perform but Michael was initially against it.

At the time of the show's taping in March 1983, Michael Jackson was fast becoming the pre-eminent figure in music by a mile. His four-month old album Thriller was just starting to set shocking sales records and his music video brilliance had only a month prior become a public obsession. In short, Michael was a huge deal times a thousand. Meanwhile, as his luminosity grew in intensity, his brothers seemed more and more irrelevant. Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr. pleaded with MJ to join his brothers on stage to celebrate the 25th anniversary and Michael agreed on the condition that he be allowed to perform the aforementioned "Billie Jean."

Of course, Gordy agreed.

Evidence of Michael's leverage at the time was obvious in that Gordy allowed the new song on the show in spite of the fact that it was the only non-Motown song in the show. Michael also requested full control over the camera angles used during his solo because he wanted audiences at home to experience it the way he saw fit.

Very shrewd.

The performance itself was a sight to behold. First off, MJ segued from a Jackson 5 medley with his brothers into the solo by placing a fedora atop his head, brim tilted down over his eyes while holding it there and striking a pose. The "Billie Jean" rhythm filled the arena and Michael began thrusting his hips, kicking his leg and pirouetting while executing precision footwork. He tossed his fedora into the crowd, mimed an ultra-cool hair comb then slyly grabbed the microphone and went into the song's first verse. The entire time, his footwork is mesmerizing as he keeps them moving and sliding while his upper body rocks to the groove.

The entire moment feels like history is being made and that Michael Jackson is completely unassailable in the field of song and dance. His stage presence is so phenomenally jaw-dropping that his breathtaking music videos almost seem like a rip-off by comparison. Michael's fashion sense jumps out at you during his masterful performance as well. He sports Black America's latest fad hairstyle; the Jheri-curl. But Michael's isn't like anyone else's. His curl has a few strands that hang down over his forehead and he has "baby hair" along his sideburns. He's five months from his 25th birthday at the time of filming and he has a handsome, brown skin toned face.

He is attired in a very sparkly, rhinestone adorned black shirt and black sequined jacket. He has basic black pants on that are cropped at the ankles to showcase very sparkly rhinestone socks inside his black penny loafers. One white rhinestone glove is worn on his right hand and the entire costume immediately becomes one of his most indelible, signature looks. It all made him look like a larger-than-life entertainer with such colossal talent that everyone else in the industry was essentially playing for second place.

Which he was.

Of course, this legendary performance was the very first time that Michael unveiled his soon-to-be-trademark dancestep "the moonwalk," which he did twice during the song. It was also the first time his single white glove went public. This performance represented him in all his splendor and rising fast to the peak of his powers. The following day after the show, Michael was praised and fawned over by older entertainers that he grew up idolizing as well as millions of fans who immediately flooded stores to get their MJ gear.

Needless to say, this iconic performance fueled the Thriller album into selling unthinkable numbers of copies. It also signaled the unofficial beginning of "Michaelmania" which lasted for another year and a half. He became a cultural obsession. His music was played repeatedly everywhere while replicas of his jackets, shades and glove became instant sellouts. MJ posters and pins were ubiquitous and endless magazine space was dedicated to him.

Those reasons are exactly why I love 1983 so much and look back on that time with great fondness. The world will never forget Michael Jackson, and "Motown 25" is one of the biggest reasons why.

Without question.

Without MJ, Jackson Brothers Bland And Boring

CLEVELAND - Watching "The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty" on television last night began as a curiosity, then descended into intense boredom and ultimately embarrassment. Featuring brothers Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Tito, this shameless "reality show" ignored its most glaring reality.

Without Michael Jackson, the other brothers suck.

I hate to say it, but that has been fact for 40 years now. The fact that these four non-descript middle aged men are appearing in their own "mini-series" on A&E less than six months after Michael's death feels curiously and suspiciously suspect and opportunistic. But I won't venture into that territory. Instead, I want to condemn this farce as arguably the most worthless piece of trash in the history of American television. Its only appeal is in examining what the brothers were feeling after that horrible news came to the world on June 25, 2009.

Because of the white-hot luminosity of Michael's mega stardom, the other brothers never had a chance of being worthwhile. That was obvious even in 1969, when an 11-year old Michael enraptured the crowd and television audiences on The Ed Sullivan Show with his singing and awesome stage presence. The other brothers were in the background for a reason and should never have been allowed on center stage. It's not that they're completely terrible or totally untalented, it's just that they can't be evaluated without being compared to Michael's stunning brilliance and groundbreaking career. It was very telling when, during a scene in the debut episode the brothers arrived at a dance studio to work on some moves. While we are being forced to try and look at these guys on their own merits, their 1978 hit "Shake Ya Body (Down to the Ground)" blares over the speakers with Michael's indelible and magnificent voice filling the room singing the lead vocals. At that moment, it is shown very subtly that Michael Jackson was overqualified to even be a member of the Jackson family.

I'm just sayin'.

Of course, there was the usual bickering and petty disagreements between the brothers and too many seemingly fake moments, but what was most appalling is how every time an interviewer asked the brothers if they were financially capitalizing on Michael's death, they issued truly inane rejoinders that went something like "how can we capitalize off something we created together?" In other words, these delusional wiseguys feel as though they were all equal to Michael, you know the man that authored a litany of legendary albums and music videos and became the most iconic and popular entertainer in history.

Um, yeah.

There was another moment in the show where Jackie, Marlon and Tito visited a record store. As they perused the CD section marked "Jackson," they ran across a multitude of family hits. There were several classics from Michael and a few from his fellow family icon Janet and maybe two or three Jackson 5 records. Marlon marveled at the expansive collection that his family had at the store and mumbled to Tito proudly, "we need our own division." I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief. Will these guys ever understand that "we" is far too strong a word for what the legendary Michael Jackson accomplished on his own? That Janet Jackson accomplished on her own? Beyond those two seminal figures, the Jackson clan is far from being a dynasty.

Delusional and irrelevant is more like it.

Joe Jackson Needs To Be Assassinated

CLEVELAND - First of all, I salute Joe Jackson for keeping his young sons focused and dedicated enough to become international superstars in the early 1970's.

Other than that, he's a total jerk.

Jackson, the 79-year old father of pop icons Michael and Janet, as well as the other seven children has been a sketchy figure for decades. But in the aftermath of Michael Jackson's shocking death last month, he's been downright abominable. His first knuckle headed moment occurred at the BET awards on June 28, just three days after his son died. The elder Jackson seemed absolutely indifferent to the fact of his son's untimely departure. In fact, he spent more time (and was clearly more interested) in promoting his new record label. Not a tear was shed by he, and during that show's lengthy tribute to Michael, he sat stoically in the audience with Rev. Al Sharpton.

The following day, Jackson tried to defend himself against the criticism he was suddenly receiving for his seemingly lack of compassion and self-serving attitude, and ended up making matters worse. He has given one undigestible interview after another in recent weeks and continues to come off like a devilish monster that never truly cared about Michael.

Let's get rid of this clown.

Last night, Jackson appeared on Larry King Live and again, was painful to watch. His voice, when talking about Michael sounded very insincere and his body language suggests that, to him, losing his son was nothing more than a financial loss. Of course, Joe says the "right" things and never actually incriminates himself. Michael has long accused his father of abusing him as a child, but Joe Jackson continues to blatantly deny anything remotely resembling abuse of his sons. He even went so far last night as to proclaim that "Michael was raised properly" and that he "never made any mistakes in raising him."

Does this guy even believe his own garbage?

True, Joe transformed his five oldest boys into the Jackson 5 in the mid-1960's which led to their enormous popularity and dominance of Motown Records in the next few years, but his tactics were always questionable. He was a known adulterer during his boys' meteoric rise to fame and was, by all accounts except his own, a strict disciplinarian. By the time Michael evolved into an unstoppable, enormously popular solo artist in the early 1980's, he was gaining more and more independence and fired Joe as his manager. Daughter Janet did the same thing a few years later, which may have, in the case of Michael, turned Joe sour in his feelings towards his son.

In two high-profile interviews (with Oprah Winfrey in 1993 and Martin Bashir in 2003), Michael detailed his father's shameless abuse and how it also came in the form of verbal insults that led to his self-consciousness about his appearance. It is safe to say that Michael's rapid and dramatic change in appearance can be heavily attributed to Joe. During the King interview last night, Jackson painted himself as the "good guy" who always had Michael's best interests at heart.

Ironically, he was clueless when King asked the current whereabouts of Michael's body as well as what the families' private autopsy revealed. He denied wanting to transform Michael's three children into performers and seemed a bit annoyed at those questions as well as questions about Michael leaving him out of his will.

I found it funny that Joe continuously mentioned that he wasn't able to get close to his son due to the "securities that barred [him] away" from Michael. He seemed unaware that this was because Michael truly didn't want to be around him!

Joe Jackson is an illiterate speaking, disingenuous, self-serving tyrant that deserves to be assassinated. He's arrogant, deceitful and wildly out of touch. Yes, he brought Michael and the boys to the world. But he also destroyed his son Michael and scarred him for life.

Joe Jackson -- damn you to hell!

Michael's Groundbreaking Debut: Pure Genius

CLEVELAND - Call it denial if you want, but the horrific pain of losing Michael Jackson a few days ago has caused me to desperately seek solace and refuge from unprecedented grief.

In other words, I'm trying to focus on the great times that Michael gave the world.

His first major entrance into our world took place in 1969, when he and his four older brothers (who were newly signed to Motown Records) appeared as The Jackson 5 on the then-popular Ed Sullivan Show. Watching Michael, who at the time was just 11 years old, is a real treat. His command of the microphone and entire stage is palpable and his voice is pure heaven.

The brothers performed "I Want You Back" with Michael actually being the embodiment of some of the song's lyrics; he was the "pretty face that stands out in the crowd." A born showman and the ultimate performer, Michael's gifts during this national introduction of he and his brothers are obvious and substantial.

Talk about a prodigy.