From the early beginnings at the age of 11 with the Jackson 5, right the way through his 1980’s success, into the 90’s and beyond, Jackson has always been at the forefront of the music industry. It seemed that not a day would go by without some news being reported on him. Not always positive, but now is not time to dwell on that. The time now is to remember just how influential his music was.

His personal life may have been filled with accusations, filled with bizarre and odd behaviour; a monkey called Bubbles, a marriage to Elvis Presley’s daughter; he once owned the Beatles back catalogue. He had an amusement park in his garden. Cliff Richard may have been labelled the ‘Peter Pan of pop’ but a case could surely have been made to give that title to Jackson. Fortunately though it is as the King of pop that he will and should always be remembered.

Michael Jackson (Image via Wikipedia)

I don’t think I could do justice to the real story behind his life so I am not going to bother. Instead I will share some of my fondest memories of Michael Jackson.

The first album I ever owned by Michael Jackson was Bad. I used to find that quite a humorous title because, being aged 7 at the time, I realised it was actually very good. There was something about those songs, something about the style that gripped me. It was between then and his next solo album (1991’s Dangerous) that I started to learn more about this musical genius. Looking back to his earlier solo stuff and then even further to the Jackson 5 stuff. It was amazing.

They used to show the Jackson 5 TV programme in the UK on a Saturday morning when I was growing up. It was on early but I never missed it because I was always up early because I played football. Eating my breakfast, watching the Jacksons; great. I remember his famous world tour, sponsored by Pepsi.

I saw the film Smooth Criminal in a very small cinema many, miles away in Fort William, I was blown away. Of course by this time I knew more about the man behind the music. The jokes were doing the rounds, to some he was a laughing matter, someone to be mocked, but irrespective of that his music was untouchable.

It seemed though, as time went by, that Michael Jackson personally was going slightly off the rails. He almost became messianic, or at least pretended he was. Who can ever forget the Brit Awards in 1996. There he was on stage, surrounded by children, singing ‘Earth Song’. He was standing posed in a position very reminiscent of Jesus on the cross. The song itself seamed very preachy.

It was at this point that Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of Britpop band Pulp, invaded the stage. Jumping on to the front of the stage and wiggling his backside to the audience. He latterly claimed he did it as a protest against the almost messianic performance by Jackson. Perhaps it was wrong for Cocker to jump on stage, but it did seem somehow justified to many who saw it.

It could be argued, that one incident was the catalyst for Jackson’s musical downfall from then on in. The hits were not coming, his personal life was becoming more problematic. The media on many occasion were right there to put the King of Pop down. Despite all of his problems, one thing remained intact; the reputation of his music.

One thing that is for certain, Michael Jackson was a legend, his music should keep that legendary status going on for many more years. Let us not forget the music. Yes Michael Jackson was certainly ‘Off The Wall’, he may well have been ‘Dangerous’, but he was always a ‘Thriller’ and one thing is for certain, his music was certainly not ‘Bad’.

Michael Jackson: August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009. R.I.P