I don't think I can remember one person who wasn't amazed by Michael's artistry. Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Roberta Flack, some of the greatest artists in the world, all told me how in awe of him they were. I come from a musical family but it wasn't until I heard Michael Jackson that I decided to become a musician. The Jackson Five were so exciting and so talented. As a ten year old, I decided to get serious about music because Michael and the Jackson Five had me that excited. Hey, they were my age and they were already professionals, I actually felt like I was late and had some catching up to do!
In my neighborhood in NY, we dressed like them, wore our hair like them. I'm sure it was the same all over the country. He and his brothers really defined our childhood. I never played with him but I never minded that because it allowed me to really stay a fan forever without being concerned with playing the bass or writing songs. I just enjoyed his records like everyone else. I eventually went on make music in a more jazz and R&B vein than him but I always felt like I carried that spark that Michael Jackson instilled in me. I used to make Miles listen to Michael Jackson records! He loved "Shake Your Body Down To The Ground"! He said, "Man, that's some bad s**t!!" For young African-American kids, he was the defining voice of the seventies. What's incredible is that he went on to be the defining voice of the eighties as well. And this time, it wasn't just for African-American kids, it wasn't even just for kids. EVERYBODY bought "Thriller" - from the grandmothers right on down to the 5 year olds. Not many artists have ever had that sort of universal appeal, if any.
I heard that, in the seventies, Sammy Davis Jr. always left the door open at his Hollywood Hills home. And if you were visiting Sammy, you'd often see young Michael Jackson, letting himself in to go into Sammy's video room to study Sammy's extensive video collection of the old dance geniuses like Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, the Nicholas Brothers and Sammy himself. Sammy's collection of photos and videos is legendary. Imagine what a young genius like Michael Jackson learned from watching those tapes. If you listen to the old Jackson Five records, you hear the J5 hits, of course, but to fill out the album, the Motown producers would have Michael and his brothers do covers (remakes) of Motown and other R&B hits of the day. It's incredible to listen to Michael doing songs in all those different styles. He would sing like William Hart from the Delphonics on one song, then like Smokey Robinson on the next. He even did a cover of the Bobby Day tune, "Rockin' Robin". This was an incredible vocal history lesson for Michael, who's capacity to absorb all these different styles was scary. In the eighties, Michael put it all together. In his slender frame, he embodied the entire black entertainment tradition. From the Nicholas Brothers through Sammy Davis Jr., Little Richard, Sam Cooke, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Smokey Robinson, the Delphonics, Stevie Wonder, and on into the future.
Watching MJ was like taking a history lesson and a lesson on the future at the same time. If that weren't enough, MJ then went and single-handedly revolutionized music videos. It's amazing that today, some twenty-five years later, everyone who makes a pop music video still feels obligated to include a "group dance" sequence like the one MJ pioneered in "Beat It". That's how influential and ahead of the times he was.
I truly feel sorry for people who only know the Michael Jackson of the later years. It's unfortunate that they will only see the "out there" Michael Jackson who was very obviously dealing with demons created by a childhood that none of us can ever imagine or understand. I feel sorry for people who only know Michael Jackson as "Wacko Jacko" - because they've missed witnessing a display of talent that, most likely, the world will never, ever see again.
Rest In Peace MJ,
Marcus Miller
http://marcusmiller.com/news_entry.html?newsid=300&color=1
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