Thursday, June 25, 2009

I Loved Him Too

Today Michael Jackson died at age 50. He is a rock and roll icon; no question. Although my mother and father wanted me to appreciate and listen to mostly only classical music, I remain today strictly a "rock and roller."

I "loved" Michael Jackson no matter the color of either of our skins. I was in college when Thriller was released as an album and as MTV videos. I sat in the school commons in the TV room and waited with that full room to see the Thriller video. I did not use my limited funds to buy the album when it came out, but I knew all the songs from the videos and the dance places; i.e., bars. Tomorrow I will go to Best Buy and purchase Thriller rather than download it from iTunes, if that is possible.

As I watched the news tonight and felt that I was not being represented as a legitimate fan of Michael Jackson, I remembered something else. I got my old box of 45's out and I searched until I found it. It is the 1972 45 of Michael Jackson's Rockin' Robin. I showed it to my husband and told him my story. That is the first 45 I ever owned. In 1972 from my AM radio and my girlfriends at school, I got it in my head that I had to have that 45. I spoke to my father about it, and I was not a "daddy's girl." Yet, every night when he did not come home with that 45, I complained bitterly. I think it took about a week, and he finally relented.

My Dad and I are working on our love issues. I challenge anyone, however, to tell me that I did not "love" Michael Jackson from day one.

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