Friday, June 25, 2010

I Know You're Tired of Seeing this, BUT.... R.I.P. Michael Jackson

The title of this blog says it all.

For months after his death (and even before we knew he was Really no longer with us), all we heard about on the news, radio, and in print was Michael Jackson's death. It didn't matter what else was going on in the world, the news of his death was the most immediate and urgent news that could be reported on. It didn't matter that the United States was fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It didn't matter that Neda Agha-Soltan and others died fighting for reform in Iran over President Mahmound Ahmadeinejad and the Ayatollah. It didn't matter that we hadn't yet discerned the fate of Laura Ling and Euna Lee as they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea. And it certainly didn't matter that Farrah Fawcett passed the same day. As the great philosopher Dave Chappelle once said, "He made Thriller, man... Thriller." So why wouldn't we talk about him--even incessantly?

He is arguably the great musical icon of the past century. Thriller, Billie Jean, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, Beat It, Bad, Jam, and MANY MORE and you expect people Not to talk about the man? Ha! I say that every year this day, each television station should be required to play one Michael Jackson song or video clip for... the rest of this century. And each radio station should have a few minutes, or an hour, where they pay homage to Michael Jackson. I grew up on this stuff, man! Ha, you probably thought I was going a totally different way with this one, but nope! M.J. is the man and should be commemorated accordingly. However, even I get tired of seeing his face on the television all of the time or hearing how a Jackson family member is going to speak about how much he meant to the family--that is, until I listen to another one of his songs :)

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