On the Death of Michael Jackson

My first thought upon hearing of Michael Jackson’s death was of Elvis. It seems likely that, as with Elvis Presley, Jackson’s premature death will prove to have had more to do with unfortunate lifestyle choices than mere bad luck. Neither Elvis nor Michael were originators, but both were innovators who merged talent, good looks, and modern marketing to become, for a time, the most popular, yet hip, musicians on the planet. Michael Jackson was also arguably the last musician whose popularity extended to such a wide swath of demographics.

I still think Off the Wall was a better album, song for song, than Thriller, the 1982 album that everyone knows. Off the Wall was one of the last big albums of the disco era. But Thriller had something for everybody. The lead single was “The Girl Is Mine,” ironically capitalizing on the popularity of Paul McCartney; by the time they did their next duet, on “Say Say Say,” it could be said that it was Michael doing Paul the favor. (“Say Say Say” was actually recorded first, but released in 1983.) “The Girl Is Mine” sounds comically awful today, and barely makes the Top 50 on Jackson’s iTunes catalog. But it went to number one on Billboard and hooked both the pop and the adult contemporary audience. Then came “Billie Jean,” the best song on the album, and the one with the great video with Michael stepping on a giant yellow electronic touch pad. Meanwhile, he was getting airplay on rock stations with “Beat It,” for which Michael and Quincy Jones had gotten Eddie Van Halen to play guitar. I heard that song before I heard “Billie Jean” because I was up at Penn State, and usually listened to the popular “Quick Rock.” Penn State had no Top 40 station at the time. I heard “Billie Jean” on a trip home and, for the first time ever, called a radio station to make a request. But Quick Rock said they were a rock station and would only play “Beat It.” Sure enough, though, within weeks they broke with their format and played other Michael Jackson songs, such was the level of his popularity. It’s also well-known that CBS records had to threaten to pull all its videos from MTV to get them to play Jackson. MTV also thought it was a rock station, but considering the audience boost it got probably was pretty happy about acquiescing.

Who knows what combination of genes, harsh parenting, and media attention was responsible for the weird entity he became. Like Elvis, he did some good music after his peak period, my favorite being “Butterflies,” the hit from his 2001 album Invincible. That has been the only studio album Michael Jackson released in the last 14 years, whereas Elvis was always busy professionally. Michael got friendly with a chimp, was accused of child molestation, went off to Bahrain, lightened his skin, bought the Beatles catalog, and occasionally made music. Still, in the case of both superstars, the last period of their lives somewhat diminished their earlier selves, making us forget how cool they once seemed. Jackson dubbed himself the King of Pop. Although this always seemed to me one of the first things that made him seem less cool—who gives himself a nickname like that?—it was a conspicuous tribute to the King, Elvis Presley. It’s too bad that Michael imitated Elvis in other, more unfortunate ways. Yet in the aftermath of his death, it’s the triumphant moments everyone recalls. Maybe in death Michael Jackson will become cool again.