I don't think I quite realized the impact Michael had on my life until the afternoon of June 25, when the news anchor at the t.v. station in my city told everyone Michael had died.

After the shock, and the surrealism wore off, and as I began my personal mourning/grieving process, I soon developed a profound sense of nostalgia which lead me to feel (as I told Michael's mother in a condolense card I sent to her through another fan website) that I had just lost a 'good friend'.

Having been born three years after Michael, I had always felt blessed to have been born so closely in age to him, and to have had the opportunity to grow up with him and his brothers. During those early years, I remember listening to the Jackson Five on the radio; seeing their Saturday morning cartoon show on t.v., and hearing Michael singing his classic solo hits 'I'll Be There', 'ABC', and 'BEN' (among others) on the radio. I even remember watching 'BEN' (the movie by the same name), and relating to the lonely little boy in the movie...

After his "Thriller" era, I lost track of Michael for awhile what with being busy with work, and other activities necessary to sustain my life. It wasn't until June 25, 2009 that a window of opportunity was opened for me to reacquaint myself with the beautiful man, and his music, and to realise a deep endless love I have always had for Michael, his music, and who he was/is as a human being...a love which I now express (when the opportunity presents itself) through my fan fiction characters in my stories on this website.

As I watch what is happening in the world, I can't help but give Michael a silent, heartfelt "Thank you" for the inspired lyrics in fantastic songs dealing with racism, and human relations especially "BLACK or WHITE" (where he says "I'm not gonna spend my life bein' a color), and 'They Don't Care About Us' (where he says: "If Martin Luther was livin' he wouldn't let it be...).

On the anniversary of what would have been his 60th birthday, I'm wearing one of my favorite MJ tee shirts, (one with an image of him from a concert performance of 'Thriller' during his BAD concert tour, and I will be expressing my endless love for Michael with more words on paper in one of my current fan fiction stories :).

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Lovely is the feeling now
Fever temperatures rising now
Power ah power
is the force the vow
That makes it happen
It asks no questions why ooh
So get closer closer now
to my body now
Just love me
till you don't know how ooh
Keep on
with the force don't stop
Don't stop till you get enough
Keep on
with the force don't stop
Don't stop till you get enough
Keep on
with the force don't stop
Don't stop till you get enough
Keep on
with the force don't stop
Don't stop till you get enough...

Every time I listen to this track from Off The Wall (Michael's first solo album since leaving his “Little Michael” days, and entering young adult hood), I find myself impressed by Michael's ability to sustain, and sing a clear falsetto for a majority of the song.

Having grown up with Michael, and remembering the clarity of his singing voice when he was the little brown skinned lead singer of the Jackson Five; I also find myself impressed by not only the breath control he uses, but also the range of notes he is able to reach.
I think I read (or heard ) somewhere that Michael's vocal range was 3-4 octaves. If I'm remembering this correctly, that in itself is impressive.

I have to be honest, before Michael Jackson set a standard for the quality of short films, and music videos, I can't think of any music videos I actually liked...the songs associated with the videos may have been some of my favorites, and I may have liked a particular artist, but the videos themselves were just not anything that impressed me...or had a particular impact. When Michael came along, and changed things, so did my opinion change.

In the short film for Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, there is definite early evidence of Michael's creative imagination at work. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Michael is joined by not one,but two dancing images of himself (an example of the use of 'split screen' or another perhaps computer-generated technique). I also enjoy the fascinating use of a back ground of crystalline squares, and orbs...as though someone had spilled a box of jewels, and put Michael's image in front of it.

Michael released this song in 1979, at the height of the disco era. I'd always loved disco music, and was pleased to see Michael on the same list of disco artists as The Bee Gees, and Donna Summer...to name a few. 1979 was also the year I graduated from high school...How time does fly...


Journal entry (c) 2018

Girl, close your eyes
Let that rhythm get into you
Don't try to fight it
There ain't nothing that you can do
Relax your mind
Lay back and groove with mine
You gotta feel that heat
And we can ride the boogie
Share that beat of love
I want to rock with you (all night)
Dance you into day (sunlight)
I want to rock with you (all night)
Rock the night away
Out on the floor
There ain't nobody there but us
Girl when you dance
There's a magic that must be love
Just take it slow
'Cause we got so far to go
You gotta feel that heat
And we can ride the boogie
Share that beat of love
I want to rock with you (all night)
Dance you into day (sunlight)
I want to rock with you (all night)
Rock the night away
And when the groove is dead and gone (yeah)
You know that love survives
So we can rock forever, on
I want to rock with you
I want to groove with you
I want to rock (all night) with you girl (sunlight)
Rock with you, rock with you girl (yeah) (all night)
Dance the night away
I want to rock with you (yeah) (all night)
Rock you into day (sunlight)
I want to rock with you (all night)
Rock the night away
Feel the heat feel the heat
Rock you into day (sunlight)
I want to rock-rock the night away.

Although I will be including one verse of each song in each entry, there are just some songs that you can't help but want to include all the verses. I'm sure there'll be at least one (perhaps two) more songs from Michael's incredible catalog of music for which I will be posting all the verses.

Anyway, to continue with my blog entry: By the time Michael released Off The Wall back in the late 1970's, it was clear (to me anyway) that Michael's musical talent, and range had expanded to include not only the pop, and soul music performed by him, and his brothers during the early years as the Jackson Five, and later as the Jacksons (with such hits as “Dancing Machine”, “Shake Your Body”, “Enjoy Yourself” & “Blame It On The Boogie”), but had also earned him a spot as a performer of disco music along side such artists as Donna Summer, and The Bee Gees ( the latter group whose eldest brother Barry ( was pleased to find out later) had been friends with Michael.

Having come into the world in the early 1960's, and grown up during the 1960's and 1970's, I recall listening to the above mentioned artists when they would play their songs on the local radio station. Of the artists, my favorite (of course )was Michael, and 'Rock With You'.

Of all the musical styles, disco music was one of my all time favorites, and Michael's vocal style on Rock With You was one that would even have qualified him to join the ranks of Barry White, and others known for vocal styles which contained a certain sensual quality which drew the listener in, and held them until the music faded out at the end...

One thing that has always impressed me about Michael (from the early days of The Jackson Five)is the sincerity with which he performs a song (I'm reminded of him as a young boy during an interview saying : “I don't sing anything I don't mean .”) Another thing is the joy he pours into every performance. You can see this joy throughout the Rock With You short film, as Michael (looking gorgeous in his silver glitter-covered casual top with matching pants/and glitter-covered boots) sings with a mature sensual quality to his voice (a quality which reminds me of when he was a little boy, and someone had commented on the maturity with which he sang at that young age), as he moves, and grooves to the music, back lighted solely by what appears to be a single spinning light.

The late 1970's may have been the end of the disco era, and Off The Wall, and accompanying short films may have signaled the end of Michael's primarily performing as lead singer for The Jackson Five , and The Jacksons; and Off The Wall may not have been the success Michael had hoped it would be, but the production, and release of his 'Rock With You' short film with its joyful, sensual, makes you wanna slow dance style , in my opinion earned Michael the title of not only “King of Pop, Rock, and Soul Music...But Disco music as well...



Journal (c) 2018