A Round of Sound

This isn’t exactly the kind of post I figured I’d use this blog for, but when one of the greatest musical icons EVER dies, I think a post is pretty necessary.  First of all, yeah, the guy had a tough adulthood with all sorts of controversies and bizarre moments that to an extent overshadowed his brilliance as a artist and performer, but this is a music blog so that’s what I’m going to talk about…his music.  It’s hard to really add any more to what has already been said all over the news about Michael, but I will say I truly think what Michael Jackson did as a performer is underrated, especially by my generation and younger.  He was a transcendent superstar, and those don’t come along very often…I can think of maybe 3 or 4 from the last half century…maybe.  He was the first big superstar of the MTV generation and took it by the reigns.  I still remember as a kid watching MTV do a yearly (or so) countdown of the greatest videos of all time, and “Thriller” was a no brainer to be #1 every single time.  Clearly Jackson was immensely talented as an artist, but where he really stood out was as a performer.  Off the stage he was a very shy and quiet guy but he felt at home on the stage.  Despite all his troubles, there was no denying his passion for his fans and how much he truly appreciated and loved everyone of them.  In this day and age, I don’t know if there will every be another artist that puts that much passion and energy into his performances, but anyone that does, has MJ to thank for leading the way.  Of course, he was a musical icon dating all the way back to his Jackson 5 days and beyond bringing us some of the greatest and most memorable American tunes ever, not to mention his dance moves which were groundbreaking, but he was also a cultural icon and up until a few days ago, a living legend.

I’m reminded of a Simpsons episode where Michael Jackson guest starred in one of the classic episodes from the series.  He didn’t want to receive credit for guest starring so a sound alike received credit, but it was revealed later that it actually was Jackson in the episode. Seventeen years later and of all the different guest stars The Simpsons have featured on the show, I don’t think anyone has or ever will top Jackson’s appearance.  Enjoy this song from that episode (note: I believe the sound alike did actually sing this song while Jackson did the spoken word voice-overs in the episode, but you get the gist), and go watch some MJ videos…they shouldn’t be too hard to find.

[“Happy Birthday Lisa” – The Simpsons :: Season 3, Episode 1]