Michael Jackson RIP

Okay, let's get this out of the way: Michael Jackson was definitely a few sandwiches short of a picnic. I get that. However, that doesn't change anything. The guy was a musical genius with historic impact, and his passing is a very sad thing.

As for the allegations against him, I think they can be ignored. Remember: being weird is not proof of being a pedophile, and Michael was found not guilty in court. The LAPD never made anything stick (and we all know they tried like hell!). Plus, if I remember correctly, many of the alleged 'victims' were from scam artist families so, unless some actual proof comes up, I'm willing to give Wacko Jacko the benefit of the doubt on the Jesus Juice stuff (even though his 'sharing your bed' confession completely creeped me out).

When I think of Michael Jackson, I think of how much he changed music. I think people forget that, when Thriller was released, the cards were totally stacked against black artists. Billboard and the whole music industry segregated music with a pop chart and a 'black music' chart. MTV straight out refused to play videos by black artists. In fact, most white people hadn't heard any music by black artists since the Disco Sucks movement, because the radio stations played either pop/rock or 'black music'.

Michael shattered all of this. After Thriller, you couldn't talk about pop music without talking about him, and MTV had to drop their racist programming or become irrelevant. Radio soon followed. With Michael paving the way, the door was opened for Madonna, Prince, the rap crossover, and - ultimately - the end of the odious 'black music' charts. Given that this musical segregation didn't end until 20-25 years after the civil rights movement got us all drinking out of the same water fountain, it was clearly Michael's talent and success that led to its demise. Every white person should take a second and imagine their iPod without any black artists, dance music, R&B, or hip-hop/rap on it. Before Michael broke these barriers down, that's what the musical landscape was like. Whitebread.

Plus he was a star if ever there was one. Every video Michael released, especially from Thriller, was a huge event. A gather-round-the-TV kind of event. Of course, videos aren't anywhere near as relevant now. When Michael did the moonwalk, or wore the zippered jacket, or did anything, everyone was talking about it. Fashion changed because of him. He also brought dancing - real dancing - into music and music video. As for live shows, with few exceptions, a rock or pop concert used to be a bunch of people standing on a stage, barely moving, playing instruments, and singing their stuff. After Michael, you had to put on a SHOW. It was all about a mixture of fashion, dance, special effects, and music. The big production tours of today got their start with MJ.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Michael hadn't happened, that the history of pop music since the early 80s would have been completely different (and a lot less interesting). Although I didn't buy his albums after Thriller, I loved most of his songs and it wasn't until Invincible that I got any sense he was resting on his laurels. I would have been very interested to see what his comeback would have been like, and what his next set of music would have sounded like. With popular American music having spent the last ten years circling the drain, maybe someone of Michael's stature could have pumped some talent, energy, and creativity back into music.

Bottom line, I think he was a great performer, writer, and singer, and I'm sad the guy isn't around anymore.