On Easter weekend in 1983 my sister and I went to our Nanny and Papa's house. We spent the whole week there and lets face it....it was pretty boring. Of course in the 80's you could just go out and come back later and no one really cared. They lived close to the beach on Vancouver Island and I spent most of the time splashing around down there. The greatest thing about that time was the allowance that I had saved up and with a little bit of Easter money I could finally get what I had wanted since the past November.

Michael Jackson's Thriller!

It was the greatest moment I ever remember in music. The greatest. We went to the mall and I bolted right for the records. (they had records back then) I could smell the plastic wrap and I couldn't wait rip it open. The old lady that rang it through looked annoyed as I stared glowingly at the cover. And there was mike in that amazing suit. Leaning back all casual. I couldn't wait until we could get back to the house. I ogled the album the entire ride back and planted myself on the floor in front of the gigantic record player. I lifted the top, that was the size of car hood, and tore through the protective plastic. I put the record down, placed the needle and went from start to finish in one seating. It had the words inside the sleeve, so I had that out and I followed along every word. I tried to remember to the best of my ability the moves that I saw on commercials, or when they talked about him on the news. We didn't have cable so all I could go on was what I remembered. I danced around the floor, I sang as loud as I could. They made me put on these huge headphones so that the rest of the family didn't have to hear this popular music. For me....it was everything. Michael was the greatest thing I'd ever laid eyes on. The way he moved, the feelings that he gave to each song.

I'd always been a music freak. My Mom would remind me later that I was a big Long John Baldry fan when I was 3. That's what got me into playing the piano at 5. MJ changed everything for me after that. My parents would have people over and they would mention Michael and my Mother would put on Billie Jean and I would do the entire video step for step. Earlier that year is when Michael was on the Motown 25th show and did the moonwalk for the first time. What really drew me in was the way people reacted in the audience. As a "centre of attention" guy this really intrigued me. People were freaking out. It was incredible. Everywhere you went in the early 80's was guy with one glove, or a sequence jacket, or pants with zippers all over them. And everyone else had a mullet!
In 1984 the Jackson 5 went on the Victory tour and much to many of our surprise they announced they would play three shows in Vancouver. I seriously freaked out and I saved every penny I could to see them. The night came and my stepfather (the worst person in the f*ckin world) took me downtown to B.C. Place. We parked his shit brown station wagon and headed to the show. I didn't know how concerts worked, or scalpers, or whatever. I could feel the excitement, the energy. Just thinking about the fact that Michael was in the building that I was next too was enough to send me flying. In my pocket I had 110$ and I was prepared to spend it all! As long as I could get a t-shirt. But f*ckface Earl didn't. (I'm trying not to swear in honor of MJ) What kind of a selfish assh*le drives and hour with a grinning child only to withhold the biggest thing that has ever happened to them? He didn't care that I could afford to go in, he didn't want to spend the money to sit with me. The WORST person ever! I'll tell you more about him later, but this was another brick in the shithouse childhood he gave me. And I'll never forget it. I'll never forget hearing the noise of the stadium from outside as the Jackson 5 took the stage. That feeling deep in my gut as we pulled out of the parking lot and the prospect of this being a joke disappeared. He cursed me as I bawled the whole way home. I didn't care. Everytime he raised his hand at me after that it was hardly as painful as wealthy dentist deciding that he didn't want to go in so that a child may fulfill a dream.

So much that MJ did was impressive to me. His words about the world from a guy who'd never been apart of the real one. His effort and professionalism was unprecedented. Not to mention that his numerous musical works. He changed the world of music, videos, live shows and inspired almost everyone in music today. One way or another he was special. A friend once said to me, "think what you want about Michael Jackson, if I told you he was at the corner store, you'd run as fast as could to be there. "

You know that man that was on the cover of magazines, dangling his kids out of windows and had mutilipe noses? That wasn't the Michael Jackson I bawled my eyes about today. The one that choked up Usher, the one whos' daughter wanted the world to know that she lost her father. It was this guy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzNiZ4CjSsc

When a door shuts... 1) my 5yr old daughter's favorite song is Black and White( she can dance almost the entire video)
2) the day MJ died my friends had a beautiful baby boy! Congrats Kelly and Sandy...I can't wait to see him dance