man on the moon

As I write this, it's raining over MTV.

Given the events of the past couple of days, it's kind of appropriate.

If you've been off-planet since yesterday, then I'm sorry to inform you Michael Jackson has left us.

No, he didn't transform into a spaceship and fly off, as in Moonwalker.


He passed away after suffering cardiac arrest in Los Angeles.

Long live the King of Pop.



The network is running a live tribute to Michael Jackson, with celebrities calling in and sharing their memories, while presenting some of Michael's classic MTV moments.

It's impossible not to reflect on my own favorite Michael moments at this time, so let me take a brief moment to share my own recollections from the vault.



I saw the video for Thriller for the first time when I was about three years old. By then, the album and video had catapulted Michael Jackson into the pop music stratosphere, as did his now-mythical Motown 25 performance. While I was swept away by Michaelmania at that point, Thriller scared the hell out of me, and has to this day. Rick Baker's werewolf makeup was truly terrifying, and director John Landis imbued the video with all of the flash and production value of a horror feature. I refused to watch that werewolf sequence for a good fifteen years following.

And yet, I had the View-Master reels for it.

As big a fan as I was, my mom had years on me. She had been a fan since the Jackson 5 days, so whenever Michael showed up on MTV, both of us parked ourselves in front of the set to watch. When Michael released Moonwalker on VHS, we wasted no time in tracking down a copy and watching it. By then, I had the Moonwalker storybook, so I knew the plot, but I didn't care, because Smooth Criminal had to be seen to be believed.


When one of our local UHF stations started airing reruns of the 1970s Jackson 5 cartoon, I was a loyal viewer. I recall it airing in a block with the Alvin Show (the original Chipmunks cartoon from the '60s) and getting my musical comedy fix each day. (Around that time, ABC began to rerun the series on Saturday mornings as well to capitalize on Michael's superstardom.)



I remember when my mom and I bought the Bad album while in Brooklyn. We came home from visiting a cousin and immediately placed it on the turntable. I remember reading the lyrics and singing along, and thinking it was a really good album, but not quite Thriller. The videos were pretty amazing though, including the Martin Scorsese-directed Bad and the aforementioned Smooth Criminal. And Man in the Mirror...oh, such a touching song. A few years ago, a co-worker and I tried our hand at it at karaoke. Such an...interesting rendition.

I think the best licensed product that bore Michael's name was undoubtedly Sega's Moonwalker arcade game. In the game, as in the second half of the Moonwalker video, Michael has to rescue children from the evil drug dealer Mr. Big. In each level, Michael--in his Smooth Criminal suit--fought through waves of thugs, using punches, magic blasts. Of course, most people remember the "dance button," which, when used, caused every bad guy (except bosses) to join Michael in a big dance number, and then die.



My brother and I first came upon that game while at a Holiday Inn in Morgantown, PA with our parents. We made a weekend of it, just getting out of dodge and visiting the outlet mall. My little brother and I spent a lot of time and quarters on Moonwalker and some other game called Street Fighter. Moonwalker got the most of our attention and money, not just because of Michael's name and likeness, but also because it was a solid beat-'em-up.

Chances are, if Michael was attached to it, I would go see it or buy it. Why else did I see Free Willy? His theme song, Will You Be There, was huge--albeit maudlin in hindsight (rampant sentimentality was a trap for Michael, and would become more pronounced in his later work), and all the kids at school were talking about that whale movie. It was cute, but really, Michael drew us all there. Dangerous had dropped at the time, and while it wasn't as massive a phenomenon as Thriller, it had a set of hit singles and big video premieres on Fox. The list of celebrities apppearing in those videos was incredible: Michael Jordan, Eddie Murphy, Kris Kross, Heavy D, Iman, Magic Johnson and Naomi Campbell. Hell, having Michael in his Whatzupwitu video helped Eddie Murphy secure a network television premiere. I remember coming home from whatever activities in which I was involved at the time--Scouting, karate, or some such--just so I wouldn't miss them.

And speaking of Fox, who didn't see the Simpsons episode with Michael as Leon Kompowsky, a mental patient Homer meets who acts like the King of Pop? Sure, it seemed like an obvious grab for publicity, but Michael's voice acting was natural and warm. The scene where he sings Ben to Homer still grabs me every time I see it (although it's since been revealed Michael didn't actually do his own singing in the episode; versions of the episode's songs with his vocals do exist somewhere).


It seemed like everything really came together by the time Michael was featured in the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. Here was the biggest start in the world, on its biggest televised stage, appearing with a flurry of fireworks after being prefaced by a pair of doppelgangers rising from video screens in the stands. I can tell you what all of us talked about at recess the next day. Even now, people still bring up that halftime show in conversation, at least in my circles.


Then came the bad times. But this column isn't about that. No, this is a hastily produced tribute to an icon, a global entertainment titan, much like what's happening in Times Square, and the programming you'll see in the next few weeks. Perhaps I'll talk about HIStory one day, but for now, I prefer to remember a Michael Jackson on top of the world, palling with royalty, and rolling around with a smartly dressed chimp for a pet. Michael Jackson was one of a kind, and for a time, we appreciated him for it. Those memories, and my experiences with his music, are what I choose to remember this day.