I was trying to decide between seeing “2012″ or “The Boondock Saints II” … Standing there…oogling at the red flashing dots on the marqui, when i think to myself  “Chat, you dumb son-of-a-bitch.  You haven’t seen ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ yet.”

Says the same guy who would rent “Moonwalker” several times in the same month as a child.  Says the same guy who wore a WHITE fingerless glove on his left hand- complete with masking tape around his fingertips!- through a good portion of grade school.

Sure fingerless gloves were all the rage back then.  But everyone else wore them on both hands, and they were usually black.  I wore mine on my left hand.  And it was white.  I was making a statement.   A bold, loud and proud statement.  And that statement was “Michael fucking Jackson”

I remember as a kid, I modeled my walk (regular forward walking) after the way Michael Jackson would walk through a croud of screaming fans.   You know what i’m talking about…that pop/step kind of bounce-walk, where he would pop up a bit on his toes with each step.  It was a dramatic and confident walk.  It was a walk that commanded attention, like a real superstar.  I copped that walk as a child.  So to this day, I have to credit my swagger to  MJ

I can even credit my very first date to Michael Jackson.

Kind of an interesting story…heres the short version.

I had just turned seven years old.  I was at a new school and needed to make some new friends.  My parents threw me what will most likely always remain “my most memorable birthday party”.   I had all the kids there and there was a limosine parked in the driveway.  We were told that there would be a surprise guest.  Everyone was trying to see who was in the limo through the tinted windows.  No one could see anything.

The suspense was building. Speculation occurring.  I had no idea.

My mother was working at a fitness magazine, so I was thinking it was an athlete or something.  Eventually the doors opened…and out came Michael Jackson.  Or THE most convincing Michael Jackson impersonater you could imagine.  I mean this guy was for real.  He must have actually had a few nose jobs and bleached his skin a bit.

He turned  my bedroom into a wardrobe room for all his costumes that he somehow suck back there.  These little kids were all actually getting down on the living room/dance floor. He would throw a smoke bomb and come Moonwalking out of the cloud wearing an entirely new costume.  Had all the moves down perfectly.  I remember, he even did the one  that was so contraversial at the time…thats right…the crotch grab/howl.  Right there in front of a bunch of kindergarteners.  It was brilliant.

Of course, as much as I wanted to believe that this was actually Michael Jackson at my birthday party, there was the nagging sense that it probably wasn’t.  Either way, at 7 years old…this was WAY better than a clown or something.  I was trying to suspend disbelief.

More importantly, that party gave me a social status boost.  And I met the girl who would be my very first crush/ puppylove girlfriend.   I went from unknown new kid, to being somewhat popular.  Everyone knew me now, and it got everyone talking.  “Oh, you weren’t there?  Guess what you missed? Motherfucking Micheal Jackson showed up.”

She came up to me and said, with classic hot-chick snobbishness, something like “Everyone thinks that you really had Michael Jackson at your birthday party, but I know it was a fake.”  Even then I liked a sassy woman, intent on giving me some shit.  I  I returned with “So what?  It was a good time and everyone had fun.  Let them think it was real.  No use in spoiling it for everyone”

And that was my first experience with
That mixture of enamorment and intimidation.  In awe of her, and amazed by the fact that she liked me too.  Shortly after, we went on my very first “date” where my mother escorted us to Hard Rock cafe and then to go see Ghostbusters II.  So there, I suppose you could say that Michael Jackson helped me land my first date.  My first kiss on the cheek.  A Michael Jackson impersonater at least.

This was in 1989.  When “Bad”, “Thriller”, and “Off the Wall” were the most important works of art in my life.  When “Thriller” rarely left my cassette deck.

I was just a hair too young to really become a Nirvana fan before Kurt Cobain died.  And even when I was making music, singing in bands and whatnot, I was more vocally influenced by Michael Jackson.  Even though we played guitar rock.  So if there is a most significant celebrity death of my generation, or at least my life thus far, this is it.

The show was called “This is It”.  As in…the end.  The final encore.  He was closing the book.  Michael Jackson had completed his work, and actually changed the world along the way.   I don’t know what more can even be said about the show.  It is what you would expect from the most talented, experienced entertainer of all time.

What kind of show would the best performer, with the best dancers, pyrotechnicians, video artists, sound engineers and an endless supply of money.  Incredible.

One of the things that blows my mind is how effortlessly he seems to be able to project his voice.  The way he can so easily command a range that most singers would have to throw their whole bodies into.
Amazing performance.  Amazing performer.  It will be a long, long time before anyone else can take the crown.  They really have their work cut out for them.  His music will definitely live forever.

I think that specifically people right around my age, who were introduced to “Bad” and “Thriller” so young, have a powerful connection with and a special place in our hearts for Michael Jackson.

Alright…seriously, that is about as emo as were going to be getting on this blog.

The point is…it was a little startling that I was not even considering MJ’s final performance over flashy computer generated “end of the world” destruction and a sequel that would have been more appropriate 8 years ago- when I vividly remember a time where Michael Jackson was everything to me.  Am i officially jaded now?

I ended up seeing it, and its like “LOVE” the Cirque du Soile Beatles show…except where the star was actually in the performance.  But every bit as theatrical.

I saw “LOVE” live in Vegas, and it was  the only time I ever really cried for reasons other than sadness.  It was more like an overwhelming sense of appreciation, and beauty.   I can imagine I would have have close to the same feeling had I gotten to see Michael Jackson live.