King of Pop Laid to Rest

In honor of Michael Jackson’s passing, and his memorial service being held today, I have decided to do a list post of my Top 5  favorite MJ Songs.  They are based more on the memories I have of the songs, rather than their musical qualities, so please bear with me!

#5 - Dirty Diana - I loved the fact that this side showed a ‘grittier’ Michael.

#4 – Black or White – This was YET another of his ground breaking videos… Graphically, it was amazing – watching one person morph into someone completely different, yet so smoothly that you had to wonder, ‘Are they different?’  The song brought every listener into a unified group.  It, to me, was a fantastic show of how racism, which in that time was so much more prevalent than it is now, was wrong and had no benefit whatsoever.

#3 – Smooth Criminal – Okay..  Gangsters dancing in a pool hall??  Come on! Creative, classic, just a great song/video overall.  When I hear the song now, I still have it stuck in my head for hours..  just humming away.  LOVE IT!

#2 – Rock With You – Old School Michael.  I don’t remember this song for the song itself, but I had a friend in college (Go ‘Canes!) who was a *huge* Michael Jackson fan – even in the nineties!  He used to love this song, and Off The Wall was, and probably still is, his favorite album.  I just loved to hear him sing and watch him dance to it.. even though it sounded *nothing* like MJ..

#1 – Thriller - I can remember coming home from school on the day the video premiered.  My best friend and I were in *love* with Michael and couldn’t wait to see what it was going to be all about.  We huddled around the television, Mtv (when they actually played music) was tuned in and the volume was up just a bit louder than usual.   When we got the first glimpse of MJ in his red leather suit – squeals galore!  Even though he was with a ‘date’ the video provoked such a ‘thrilling’ feeling in our little hearts.  As Jennifer Garner did in whatever movie that was, we learned the Zombie dance and were proud of it!  It remains to be my favorite video of all time.

Honorable Mentions – P.Y.T. and Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’ were both really great dance hits.  Again, they stuck in your head for a while after you heard them.   To me, that’s a great feeling.

Scream was also quite a good song and video.  It was great to see Michael and Janet in the same video – almost historic.  The ’space’ type theme was also pretty cool when you broke it down – the black and white made it crisp and clean.

I know that Michael had a questionable personal life, but I am very happy to say that I was able to see these videos when they first came out.  I am pleased that so many people were able to overlook some of those mistakes that he had made in his past, if only for the day, in order to celebrate what he did actually bring to the world – entertainment, creativity and the desire to bring his vision to the world.

Tags: King of Pop, Michael Jackson, MJ, music