Michael Jackson, Child of America, Gone
"You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back, where there is love, I'll be there..."
"I'll Be There" was one of the first songs that introduced us to that legendary performing/recording act of five brothers, The Jackson 5, featuring the angelic voice of a small, skinny kid named Michael. Centered mostly around little brother's vocals, these Gary, Indiana, siblings further busted up the pop and r&b charts with such memorable Motown hits as "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," "Mama's Pearl," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Sugar Daddy," and later, "Dancing Machine," and their music became the soundtrack of the early seventies, it being impossible to have not owned at least one of those infectious singles. A mere year or so later, the pre-teen Michael Jackson (marketed as being two years younger) became a solo artist, with his own run of child's view singles that included his first monster hit and release, "Got To Be There," followed by his cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin," "I Wanna Be Where You Are," and the theme song to the movie Ben starring Lee Montgomerey.
Some time between the brothers' hits "Enjoy Youself" and "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" and right around the time Michael starred in The Wiz alongside the 5's Motown sponsor, Diana Ross, the first serious stories of The Jacksons' childhood surfaced, tales of intense rehearsals, parental abuse and emotional neglect; it was shocking since these boys appeared on every home's entertainment device for years, thus becoming somewhat extended family to many. That was the first controversial tabloid exposé the still rising star had to survive, but sympathies especially went out to Michael, his having been the most popular and familiar face of the act as well as one of his family's youngest children. After signing with Epic Records in 1979, the celebrity made a major "comeback" with what was the beginning of an endless stream of smashes, starting with "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," "Off The Wall" and "She's Out Of My Life." Under the supervision of Quincy Jones, the producer/architect behind an emerging late seventies/early eighties champagne r&b sound, the album Off The Wall and its associated hits established Jackson as a young African American icon.
The album's follow-up, the international sales phenomenon that was Thriller, gave Jackson seven more hugely successful hits in his duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "Human Nature," "P.Y.T.," and his Vincent Price duet, "Thriller" (an eighth, "The Lady Of My Life," was rumored to have been prepped before the government's crackdown on the music industry's promotions practices began). The LP soon displaced Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon, Carole King's Tapestry and Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters as the biggest selling album ever, and its relative videos cast Michael Jackson as an actor -- strutting down a boulevard on lit, multi-colored squares, assuming the role of mediator in a gang fight, and dancing with zombies in what became a world event for the debut of the mini-movie Thriller. At the top of his game as well as the world, Michael won eight Grammys for the hit-packed album, and he showcased his famous moonwalk dance moves on Motown's 25th Anniversary special. Virtually, the next day, every kid on the planet was trying to emulate his or her pop hero, and for many years, he really was the King of Pop, all due respect to The King.
It's after this point when things started reeling out, his Bad album having included many hits, though none that touched the heart as what came before. "Bad," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Dirty Diana," and "Smooth Criminal" all seemed forced, though "Man In The Mirror" with its honest, positive message of changing the world for the best from within each individual was one of his finest offerings. The whole idea of Michael Jackson now being "bad" in any sense of that word was ludicrous, as was the album cover that featured a thuggish, mysteriously lighter-skinned Jackson. His growing immodesty and contrived crotch-grabbing contradicted everything we knew about him, and that emerging, fabricated image probably was the first red flag that something was very wrong. Perhaps those around him did not re-orient him from fear of losing their jobs or offending, and probably, this was the last, best moment in time that some kind of intervention might have been effective.
From then on, though pretty good albums and decent singles were released such as the beautiful "You Are Not Alone" and "Heal The World" (after which he named and created a charitable foundation), Michael Jackson's career and personal life decisions did almost nothing more than provide fodder to the tabloids. The list they were able to choose from was long and disturbing: marrying then immediately divorcing Lisa Marie Presley; converting his home into Neverland; having numerous plastic surgeries that resulted in stranger physical appearances; allegedly acquiring a hyperbaric chamber and, apparently, the bones of the "elephant man," Joseph Merrick; adopting Bubbles the chimp; securing an arranged marriage and pregnancies with Debbie Rowe; naming his son "Prince Michael"; arranging for interviews during which he asserted his heterosexual desires a little too insistently -- something we never really gave much though about until allegations of sexual abuse with children occurred, which brings us to those stories of Macaulay Culkin, Jesus Juice and sleepovers with children that takes us to the endless lawsuits and eventual loss of his millions and collapse of his career.
Today's death of Michael Jackson accompanies the death of a little more of this country's innocence. And it's symbolic that his heart finally just gave out. Ultimately, the adult Michael was responsible for his own actions and will be remembered for them accordingly. But due to his abusive upbringing and unimaginable, disorienting success as an artist, he probably just couldn't handle his life in any practical way. All we know now is that he suffered from something, and his passing is tragic because it happened at the bottom of a downward spiral, his never really being able to redeem himself in the eyes of the public -- something we seem to require before a forgiveness and acceptance back into the flock. Beyond the reams of his documented eccentricities, Michael Jackson was a huge talent who'll be missed, and he was one of our better, kinder kids whose life and story spun out of control, those seeds probably planted in his misplaced childhood. Just a thought -- shouldn't we have been our disturbed brother's keeper when it was obvious he really, really needed one?
Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ragz2008
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This is such a well meaning review, but I think Mike Ragogna is overreacting to Michael growing up and grabbing his crotch at musically apt moments. His fans certainly didn't mind. When Elvis merely swiveled his hips, many cried obscene! and this business of crying fie! upon crotch grabbing is no different.
"Today's death of Michael Jackson accompanies the death of a little more of this country's innocence." Don't worry. This country is exactly as innocent as Michael Jackson. No jury will convict us. Our heart will just stop beating.
Clever and well done, though we'll have to see about the latter.
You're assuming this country has a heart. History says otherwise.
I am still in shock about this. I feel the same way I did when Diana and John Jr passed: Just gobsmacked!
I have been listening to Michael every since his Jackson 5 days. I remember how my friends and I sung along to ABC, The Love You Save and Rockin Robin.
His OTW LP was THE BOMB!! And still is. Nobody knew wha was in store. Michael RIP. Your demons are now behind you.
Very sweet, yeah, it's absolutely a culture shock although, really, not surprising considering everything that's gone down.
Michael grew up on Andrew Jackson Street and became more famous than the former president. The nation should honor the great entertainer by putting the face of Michael Jackson on the twenty dollar bill. Michael did more for the nation than Andrew who was a slave owner.
Now that's one original thought!!
If Michael Jackson represents America, we are on the fast-track down the tubes!
Well, if the tube fits....actually, it's more of a cautionary tale at this point, isn't it...
I’ve listened to Michael Jackson’s music since I was 2 and grew up loving his songs and music videos – from the Off The Wall album to Dangerous. It devastates me to constantly hear that we
have lost one of the greatest pop icons – if not the greatest – in music history and in world history. Through Michael’s music and videos, the 1980s and 90s were the BEST periods in the history of song. His music fits every music genre known to man that I bet every kind of music club will be
playing his music. The base/ beats to hits such as “They Don’t Care About Us” (the Brazilian
version) and “Thriller” got me dancing every time since they were very catchy. I don’t want to
believe that he has left us that I can’t even look at the dates under his name whenever it’s broadcasted on TV; otherwise, I feel like a part of my youth has died. Michael Jackson,
God Be With You!
He was a part of so many people's lives, his extreme detractors don't really get that yet. It's good that we at least had his music for a while, and there are some great songs that will always stay with us.
Bright lights can cook the life out of a delicate being. He offered the life to us and we took it. Thanks may not be enough, but would he have had it any other way?
Yeah, so many of our great artists have the worst time adjusting the part of their souls that generates the art with the part that wants fame and success...
Much of art is fraught with inner pain. Examples abound.
I think only now will we know the real facts of Michael's life. The people around him will now give their own versions of what they saw and experienced. Michael had everything that any man could want except women. He was rarely seen with women companions in fact throughout his public life. Besides, Liz Taylor, Diana Ross and his two wifes there is a huge void, particularly for a man that had million of women who would jump at the chance of being with the Pop Icon. Something in his childhood, caused him extreme discomfort with females? His folly with having children/ boys spend the night at Neverland suggests something much more sinister happened in his youth. Everything does have a reason. It just doesn't happen. Something happened to Michael as a kid that haunted him for his entire life. A problem that he never dealt with, but instead kept it hidden to the World. Like all famous reclusive people who pass away only now will the stories surfice. Micheal may have been a great, loving person but he was unhappy inside. It is just too obvious. What type of abuse really took place in Michael's youth, physical, mental, sexual? I say this because I have seen the outcome of this abuse with my own extended family. It happens, but most of the time very few people ever know about it or find out until it's way too late.
So true, and it will be interesting to see what gets revealed...
It is plain to see where this country places its priority. Sure MJ was a good entertainer, nothing more, just another entertainer that did well in his field. While other people in this country are suffering from terrible diseases, no jobs, homeless, Americans decide to rally around an entertainer like he was some deity. He was a entertainer, not a deity. Americans need to get their priorities straight, entertainers are just that entertainers and are much less worthy of attention than ignoring the problems this country faces.
But isn't one of the problems that also needs addressing not letting fellow citizens spin out to that extreme?
like it or not, pop icons play a larger role than politicians, doctors, pulitzer prize winners in our national psyche.
" . . . a good entertainer, nothing more, just another entertainer . . . "
It is better to keep silent and be thought a f 00l, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.
Michael Jackson was far more than 'just another entertainer.' He was a philanthropist and humanitarian whose music raised the social conscience of more than a few listeners.
Perhaps you missed the part of the article that tells you he created and named a charitable foundation, Heal The World, after one of his singles. Perhaps you've simply forgotten his direct involvement in the effort to end world hunger by co-writing the single "We Are The World" and performing it with several other artists to raise money for Africa. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you never even knew of his charity work with AIDS victim Ryan White, or his involvement with End Hunger Network.
Show some respect, give credit where its due, and keep the venom to yourself.
Your article provoked the deepest pain as did Deepak Chopra's. I never believed those stories about him. Michael was a child forever. Only his family knows what it was that pulled him down into himself. They are the one's that should have been there for him to help.
Yes, and his friends, close celebrities, and anyone surrounding him that witnessed the events like employees and extended family. Sorry if the piece was disturbing to you, and I share your belief about him being a child forever and not believing most of the gossip about him. But a lot of it was true, sadly, and those were signs that something needed to be said or done to help him out.
Opps,
I posted to the wrong reply. See my heartfelt reply to LeBelAge. Peace be with you.
It obvious that Michael Jackson needed help for years, but how could the public have helped him?
I think anyone and everyone around him that enabled his self-destructive behavior were irresponsible in the very least. If it's true that he was this eternal child, which I believe he was, then I believe he needed some kind of supervision, like any other child, especially one as deeply troubled as he apparently was. But probably no one was brave enough to confront him out of fear of losing their jobs or favor in his eyes, and there were the predators who needed him to stay exactly as he was for their financial gain.
They could have stopped buying tickets to his concerts or his CDs but that would never happen. They kept feeding his addiction to fame and whatever else that includes. His fans think all that screaming and adulation is harmless.
This blog entry says it all:
http://bit.ly/5wR7p
There is nothing worst than watching a train hit the "walking dead". Sadly, Michael could not pull himself off the track. Survival takes an enormous amount of energy and intervention. I've been there and my family member is a survivor.
How his family could have saved him???..., I do not know. How my family member was "saved"...I convinced medical practioners the family member had no rights and all care and mediation was my call.
I can empathize with the road blocks his family encountered dealing with the enablers and vultures
surrounding Michael. He was stuck on the tracks. My God, how could anyone save him!
He who loves him and knows him best has written the final chapter.
Thank you for this very sympathetic blog.
I think you could say it was death by a thousand cuts, none of which on their own was fatal but together they were lethal.
With celebrity icons such as Presley, Monroe, Dean and now Jackson there were common factors that led to their deaths.
The hangers on, the drugs (uphs! sorry prescription drugs) the loneliness, lack of trust, constant push from record executives, the media that boosts people on the way up only to then knock them down in pursuit of sensationalism.
In Jackson's case, the fantasy world that led him to change his image and regress to child like behaviour was obvious to see yet no one seemed ableor more importantly willing to help him.
He was a sensitive soul who was already damaged by his abusive childhood. Any psychiatrist could have foretold how the future would turn out but those around him did nothing.
Death of a remarkable man by commission & ommission.
Yes, beautifully said!
Mr. Ragogna,
You have just become my first "I'm a fan of". Your article hit the mark absolutely. It was concise, eloquent and true. It actually offered some explanation of my own feelings tthat I have never been able to articulate in my own head about Jackson over the years. You did by far an excellent job of communicating the important things with grace and respect, about this ethereal man and his very short life. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your extremely kind words, I really appreciate them. It's unfortunate to have to write such a piece...
I loved this blog.Thank you.
Thanks, but sorry it had to be written...
Excellent summary, Mike.....years ago, I saw Guns-n-Roses at the Sportsstadion, Koeln, Germany. The lead singer, Axel Rose, was wearing a T-Shirt that had a message that rings so true then and now....It depicted the dying, bloody Christ and had the caption "Kill Your Idol". Such a true commentary of our American pop culture! This is exactly what is so perverse about our over-adoration of celebrity followed by our licentious pleasure in watching them (or causing them to) fall. Michael was a sad thread in the tapestry of our cultural penchant to raise people to heights they really don't deserve, only to delight in watching the inevitable fall.
Putting aside the 'delight in watching the inevitable fall' for a moment, it's the 'raising people to heights they really don't deserve' that is the real problem. The celebrity usually takes if from there and causes their own decline. Who is ever prepared for that experience?
Absolutely correct, RButler. Yes, Michael was great - but as a musician? Come on, let's be real, people. It's pop music. My next door neighbor as a child was the first african american to win a major international piano competition. Musically, Michael is a rank amateur in comparison to this guy's talent (check out Awadagin Pratt at awadagin.com).
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