sometime in 1995-96, i joined for a public speaking and personality development course 'born to excel' conducted by the eminent entrepreneur prof. c.f. joseph. it was held at the indian cultural centre every evening. it allowed me to meet a lot of prople and get over stage-fright. for the finale to be held at hotel ramada, all the students were supposed to speak out on a subject. another program on the schedule was for all of us to stand together on the stage and sing a song, for which we practiced everyday. the song selected was 'heal the world' by the king of pop, michael joseph jackson (dont know whether he indeed converted to islam in 2008 taking up 'mikaeel'.., whatever, what's in a name).
mj, for me, was an icon who revolutionised music by producing uncompromised compositions. he pushed the milestone of pop music to unbelievable heights through the 80's and 90's. the energy, the perfection, the vision...oh hell... it was unbelievable.
he was born in indiana in 1958 to a steel mill employee who often performed for a R&B band. to teach his children not to leave their windows open while they slept, joseph walter jackson scared the shit out of them by wearing a fright mask and screaming and shouting at them while they were sleeping. this incident had scarred the young michael for life. he started at the age of 11 with the the jackson 5 in 1969 with a mop of bush hair. he went solo in 1971.
while performing a complex dance step, he broke his nose and the subsequent blotched rhinoplasty lead to breathing difficulties throughout his life.
1979 saw the release of off the wall which reached 3 on billboard 200. his second album, thriller, released in 1982, stayed on the top 10 of the billboard 200 for 80 weeks. the album turned from being a leisure item to being a h
ousehold necessity thereby becoming the highest selling album of all-time. thriller ushered the mtv era. pyrotechnics accidently set his hair on fire leading to second degree burns while he was perfroming a pepsi cola commercial. he started to become self-conscious about his appearance. prez reagan awarded him for his charity works against alcohol and drug abuse.
an image to promote his sci-fi flick captain eo made tabloids to scream that he slept in an oxygen chamber to slow the aging process. reports of his eccentricities were that he slept with a pet chimpanzee that shared his toilet and cleaned his bedroom; that he had bought the bones of the elephant man - these helped him in earning the name 'wacko jacko'. he was diagnosed with vitilgo and lupus making him sensitive to sunlight. the treatments lightened his skin tone. his periods of weight loss became a recurring problem. bad released in 1987 with five tracks reaching number one on billboard hot 100, whivh was a record.
his autobiography moonwalk was released in 1988 which was also the name of a movie which he starred in with joe pesci. he bought the 2, 700 acre land at California for $17 million and named it 'neverland ranch'. when elizabeth taylor handed him the 'artist of the decade' in 1989, she nicknamed him 'king of pop' which i truly belive in. then came dangerous in 1991 which had 'heal the world' - the song that made me a mj fan. he did his best for underprivilged children and hiv/aids victims through his charity organizations.
1995 saw the release of the double album history: past, present and future that became the best-selling multiple-disc album of all-time. he released blood on the dance floor in 1997. he was listed by guinness world records for his support of 39 charities, the highest by an entertainer. 2001 saw the release of invincible.
thorughout his career, he was awarded 19 grammy awards and was inducted twice into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame.
this is the king of pop that i know. the rest of the stories are about him are...well... crap.
my favourites have been - heal the world, they dont care about us, wanna be startin something, billie jean, beat it, cry, we are the world, liberian girl, black or white.
one of my classmat
es at heart animation was a good frined named stephen... a hard-core mj fan. he did the moonwalk to perfection. i even remember how he, unbashedly performed the crotch grab in front of our class and how we boys howled while the girls shrieked out. stephen had the vintage dont-mess-with-me look on his face, the black jeans, white shirt and even a shiny belt... and of course the break dance to the dot.life is short.
but, artists and their creations live forever.
mj, i love you for your music, regardless of all the controversies.
he is not to be remembered for the molestation charges.
he is not to be remembered for his freaky life or eccentricities.
he is not to be remembered for... damn... for a lot of other things...
instead...
he is to be remembered for the powerhouse entertainer that he was, is and will continue to be.
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