Strange Days

Yesterday was such a strange day. First, in the morning came the news of Farrah Fawcett's death. After her lengthy battle with cancer it came as no surprise but sad nonetheless. As a child I can remember staying up past my bedtime on Fridays to watch 'Charlie's Angels', and it was a game with my sisters to pretend we were the angels battling criminals. I was always the 'smart' one, Sabrina, and as my older sister became a teenager she tried to emulate Farrah's hairstyle...even though she had dark brown hair. Of course, as a child, I was totally in awe that Farrah Fawcett was married to "The Six Million Dollar Man" in real life. I really thought she had it all in the mid-1970s.

As the day progressed yesterday I was shocked to hear that Michael Jackson had been rushed to the hospital with a cardiac arrest. I was certain that he would receive the top medical help and would recover, but I was wrong. Apparently when the paramedics arrived he had no pulse and was not breathing. Not good. Not good at all. My jaw dropped when I heard the word that he had died. Michael Jackson dead. It can't be real.

Michael Jackson is another part of my childhood. I can remember as a small child watching him with the Jackson 5 perform as guests on the "Sonny & Cher Show", and I remember his first solo single "Ben" being on the radio and loving it, only to hear my parents say it was about a rat...what? I'm still a bit confused about that one.

It was his solo album "Off the Wall" that really made an impression upon me. I was just beginning to listen to the radio intently as most pre-teens did back in the late 1970s, when music videos first came out. Michael Jackson's videos for "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and especially "Rock With You" really were my favorites. Most videos at that time showed a band playing and were boring, but Michael Jackson's videos popped. I can remember when his videos were on television I could not take my eyes off of them, and they even provoked me to dance along at home.

Then came "Thriller". While I never purchased, or received, "Off the Wall" (although I can still picture the album cover from staring at it in the newspaper advertisements all those years ago), "Thriller" was purchased. I was in highschool and I can remember being in a shopping mall and hearing the whole album being played in a department store. It was everywhere. Everyone had it. It seemed like every song became a hit and it saturated the radio. Then the videos came out.

I can remember when the "Thriller" video was released and it was major news and buzz. There was a long version of it that was like a movie short, but then most video shows would only play the short version. Squeamish as I was back then (and still am) the "Thriller" video scared me. Honestly, it really freaked me out. "Bille Jean" was not scary and I liked the beat, and so I preferred that video.

I can remember a friend loving Michael Jackson during that period -- she had his posters up in her locker and she had a crush on him. While I liked his music, I just didn't find him sexy. He had changed. He no longer looked like the Michael Jackson from "Off the Wall". He seemed more feminine and delicate.

As the 1980s progressed my taste in music changed and I started listening to 'alternative' and 'college radio' music like R.E.M. and I turned my back slightly to Michael Jackson. Although, I loved the song "Man in the Mirror" during my university days and can remember dancing to it in my dorm room and at clubs. In fact, it was that song that was in my head yesterday evening as I tuned in the the cable news channels to get the latest on his death.

It's been almost thirty years since "Off the Wall" was released. In those years Michael Jackson morphed into a strange -- almost creepy -- looking person who displayed odd behavior. What happened to him? For me, when I think of Michael Jackson, I will always picture the beautiful young black man dancing in the "Rock With You" video and pictured on the cover of "Off the Wall". That was Michael Jackson at his finest.