I was a teenager when Thriller came out. So technically I guess I should have nostalgic feelings towards this album (and era), but I don't. At that point, my musical tastes leaned towards mainly rock, with a special weakness for blues and older R&B. Contemporary soul had no interest for me, and it was easy back then to get tired of the endless jokes about where MJ's other glove went.
But I was five years old when I got my first record player (a GE portable) for my birthday. And what was my first record? The Jackson Five's Looking Through The Windows album. I was a huge J-5 fan then, and even now, I still think MJ's best stuff is from that time (and before).
So I'll always have a soft spot for the King of Pop, in a way. My father used to bring me copies of Right On! magazine when I was a kid, and Michael and/or his brothers were ALWAYS on the cover (or so it seemed). The six-year-old version of me would look at pictures of the Jackson family lounging around the pool in Encino, CA and wish I could be a part of that action.
For sentimental reasons, the Motown MJ will always be cool with me.
Where I was when I found out (reprinted from another thread):
I was standing in a bookstore when I get a call on the cell phone. My friend David tells me that the grim reaper paid a visit to Farrah Fawcett, Sky Saxon, and MAYBE Michael Jackson. I ask my friends in the bookstore if they'd heard this, and they respond in the positive.
At this point, MJ's death is still a rumor.
Then I walk out on the street and see three women leaning against a post. The FIRST thing I overhear is "he's dead," meaning MJ. Then I get on the train, and about five unrelated people are blowing up their phones, talking about the King of Pop himself.
As God is my witness, I didn't hear this much street talk when Obama was elected president, and he used to live here!
Later, I'm killing time before the ? & the Mysterians show. I'm in a used record store, and they still have a full Jacksons section, with Michael, Jermaine, maybe Janet, everybody. By this time, MJ's death has been announced. If I were to come back to that same store tomorrow, I wonder if the Jacksons section will be totally cleaned out...
