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A legacy beyond the tabloids
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Published: June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson's death put an abrupt end to a career that spanned unheard of highs and distressing lows.
It also leaves unanswered the question of whether he could return to the top.
The signs were promising. Tickets for 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena sold out quickly. The shows were to begin in July.
A comeback at this stage of his life and career would have been extraordinary, but there was little about Jackson's life and career that wasn't.
And although his obituaries will inevitably go over his phenomenal sales figures and his equally phenomenal fall from grace, let's take a moment to consider Jackson's music.
Jackson's vocal on "I Want You Back," the No. 1 Jackson 5 single that introduced him to the world, is simply too powerful, too confident, too damn good, to be sung by an 11-year-old.
And if you wanted to imagine that it was a fluke, you could flip that 45 over and play "Who's Lovin' You," a slow blues number that Jackson absolutely nails with an assurance that would remain foreign to all but the very best singers.
Jackson's transition into musical adulthood was smooth, as he and his brothers, now called The Jacksons, appropriated disco and Philly soul for late '70s hits such as "Blame It on the Boogie" and "Shake Your Body."
Then came 1979's solo album, "Off the Wall," and Jackson's impact was officially undeniable. The album's influence spread far beyond the pop and R&B audiences. Critical favorites such as The Jam and Talking Heads soon were incorporating elements from "Off the Wall" into their modern rock to good effect, both artistically and commercially.
Jackson's ambition came to full flower on 1982's "Thriller," with its canny mix of dance, pop, ballads and even hard rock. But its success did him no musical favors. Each subsequent album would be an attempt to top the unstoppable "Thriller," and so would be even more calculated to cross all genre and demographic lines.
It wasn't that Jackson couldn't make a good record anymore, but just as "Bad" and "Dangerous" didn't match the sales figures of "Thriller," neither did the material have the magic of "Billie Jean," "Off the Wall" or "Rock With You."
By the mid-'90s, his music was overshadowed by the mess of his personal life - child molestation charges, financial crises, the children he claimed to have fathered.
"Invincible," his last album, released in 2001, sold millions but was by Jackson's standards a flop.
It's easy to dwell on Jackson's defeats, but if you want to remember him, don't pore over the details of his life that you already know. Listen to "I Want You Back." Or "Dancing Machine." Or "Off the Wall" or "Billie Jean" or "Smooth Criminal" or "Remember the Time."
For all we've heard about Jackson, all the great majority of us truly know about him is what's in his music. And that speaks in ways a tabloid headline never will.
Listen again to "Who's Lovin' You." Remember him that way.
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