It Does Matter If You Are Black or White

In the hours and hours of media coverage since Michael Jackson died, there has been an awkward silence surrounding the real reason MJ was the “King of Pop.” To become royalty in the entertainment world, particularly in America, there is one thing you must have – sales, billions and billions of sales. Was Elvis dubbed “The King” for the kick-ass rock and roll of his early years or for becoming a ubiquitous brand and earning an unheard-of $1,000,000 a picture for some of the worst movies ever made?

Flip forward to the two giant figures of ’80s and ’90s – Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. What set them apart from everyone who had gone before? They were major black figures who could persuade white kids to part with their cash and Madison Avenue loved them for it (so M Jackson kept changing his skin tone, but he was weird ok – that’s between him and whatever shrink had the dubious, though lucrative, task of unravelling that knot).

In a memorable ’60’s piece Tom Wolfe described watching French skiing great Jean Claude Killy and Mohammed Ali do a personal appearance at a motor show. The fans flocked to Ali, but the suits from Ford were more impressed with the draw of Killy, not because of the numbers of people he drew, but because of who they were – richer and ready to buy – they didn’t see too many in Ali’s crowd who they believed could keep up the payments on a new Lincoln Town Car.

I remembered that piece as I listened, somewhat bemused, to the superlatives thrown around about MJ’s music during the tributes. I just did not hear the praise justified on the records. Yes ‘Billie Jean’ is irresistable, but is it really better than ‘Dock of the Bay,’ ‘Heard it Through The Grapevine’ or ‘Tears of a Clown’? Then I realised what was not being said was that  ‘Bad’ and ‘Thriller’ were huge, huge not only in the black neighborhoods, but in the suburbs where the white kids wore the glove and did the moonwalk. Sadly, in the secrecy of their restricted country clubs after a few martinis their parents did too. 

So, while James Brown, Robert Johnson, Count Basie and others who made and changed the music, had to leave this world without a Staples Center send off, the kid who fronted the band that alternated with the Osmonds on The Andy Williams Show, brought America to a halt for most of Tuesday. He may not have the greatest voice or the greatest songs, but he could dance and boy could he sell. But MJ’s legacy is in who he sold to – a new white audience who didn’t care whether he was black or white. He was Michael.

Image via Wikipedia

MJ and a couple of big fans.

That alone is a giant legacy.