The Michael Jackson legacy and reaction
Michael Jackson. Such a mundane name. Such a singularly incredible entertainer — at least until a few years ago, when he more or less disappeared from the stage when his health started failing him.
The legacy can be summarized in song titles and ineffable images. “ABC.” “Rock With You.” “Billie Jean.” The Moon Walk. “Thriller.” That single sequined glove. “Bad.” “Black or White.”
But then came the weird behavior, the child molestation accusations, the pigmentation problems, the plastic surgery. At age 50, he had been in the public eye for 40 of those years. He arrived as an adorable ball of energy with the Jackson 5. He became a gangly teenager, then a fireball of a performer and pop culture icon. He revived top 40 radio in 1983 and forced MTV to air black aritsts that same year. To this day, you can hear MJ on the radio or snippets of his songs sampled by others.
Loading ...Silas “Si-Man” Alexander, the night jock at Majic 107.5, recalls working at the Record Bar in Milledgeville in 1983 and watching with amazement the types of folks who bought “Thriller.” Rockers with nose rings. Little old ladies. Young kids. “It would just keep on selling. Nobody has had that broad of an appeal ever,” he said.
More recently, he’s been jockeying parties at local nightclubs. “I play ABC by the Jackson 5 every week at [Sandy Springs club] Taboo,” he said. “Any Michael Jackson song and it’s on and poppin’! And this is 2009, still going strong.”
On air right now (at 6:30 p.m.), with the L.A. Times reporting his death, V-103 has Wanda Smith on the air (with Frank Ski stuck in traffic.). The station is playing “Human Nature.” Even over on 94.9/The Bull, the country station, Lance Houston said, “Your heart just sinks when you hear about it.”
“It feels like a piece of me has passed away,” Smith said on the air.
Listener Courtney, on V-103: “I’m only 18 years old. It’s real sad. Everybody has been texting me…I want to break down in tears.”
Mark Arum is doing a live show this evening on 750/WSB-AM on MJ.
When I caught up with comic and syndicated morning host Rickey Smiley (heard locally on Hot 107.9) this evening, he was still shaken by the news. “This is devastating,” Smiley said. “I’m really just numb. I really just want this to go away. I wasn’t prepared for this.”
“For a lot of black folks,” he continued, “this is so personal. He’s our Elvis.”
Smiley said he grew up listening to Jackson 5 albums with his grandma and as a musician, too, he especially appreciates Jackson’s “Lady of My Life” and “Remember the Time.”
Smiley plans to dedicate tomorrow’s show to MJ. “I’m going to play some of his songs and let people call in,” he said, ” express what Michael Jackson meant to them. Give people a chance to grieve.”
Lee Cagle, program director at 95.5/The Beat, said the station, which focuses on current music, will throw in some old-school Michael Jackson, including a 9 p.m. special music mix of MJ. And tomorrow morning, the morning show will be all about Michael Jackson.
“Listen to Ne-Yo or The-Dream,” he said. “They were clearly influenced by Michael Jackson. So his legacy lives on with the current generation of singers.”
The news networks are wall-to-wall MJ right now, of course. Fox News at 9 p.m. subbed out Sean Hannity with good ol’ Geraldo Rivera. ABC is airing a special 20/20 on Michael Jackson at 9 p.m. tonight. CBS will have its own special on at 10. Biography Network will air a best of at 10 p.m. Saturday. Kiss 104.1, Majic 107.5, V-103 and even hip-hop heavy Hot 107.9 threw out their regular playlists and played Michael Jackson songs all evening.
Atlanta-based Ne-Yo, on CNN, said, “I wouldn’t be here without Michael Jackson… When I was growing up, he could do no wrong. Everything he did was magic.”
Just plucked through a few random YouTube videos. Here’s a compilation of his dance moves.
And a montage of photos of MJ to a… country song:
And another montage using “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ” as the backer:
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
135 comments Add your comment
Reality
June 26th, 2009
12:55 pm
So not only was he a sick and disturbed pedophile, he was also a drug addict. Wow, what a great role model.
Denise
June 26th, 2009
1:17 pm
I am done with this blog. Michael Jackson was a legend, an icon and there will never be another like him. Thriller is the number one album of all time, of all time!!!. Bigger than the Beatles (whose rights he bought by the way), bigger than Elvis. Regardless of what you say about him or how you feel, no one on this blog can take that away. No one can come close to the career of Michael Jackson, and that is just a fact. 40 years of music. He influenced several generations, basically made MTV what it is today because of his videos. He transcended race and was a gentle soul. Hate on him if you want to, no one will be able to change that fact. So, for all of you judging him, hating on him, basically ripping him apart in death, I pray that when judgment day comes for you, you will not be so bitter and hateful. Life is too short. Have a good day everyone
Rev. James
June 26th, 2009
1:18 pm
Don’t worry, DENISE.
You will join Michael in the eternal Lake of Fire soon enough.
Carlene Carpenter
June 26th, 2009
1:20 pm
I am and always will be a fan I am 45 years old and from Maine and when I think back to the 80s and school and friends and dances and parties Michael Jackson comes to mind his music will live on. He will always be the KING OF Pop and nothing the Tabloids say about him negative will ever take that away from him. My condolances go out to his family he was a big part of my life and I will miss him Love You Michael You can rest now
MJ Fan in Decatur
June 26th, 2009
1:31 pm
Dear Denise,
Why don’t you and “Life Partner” Bernice pack up your mini-van, drive your obese, homely selves back to New Jersey and start your own softball team since you hate it here so much?
Maybe there is a carpet outlet there that will “sponsor” your team.
Your Yankee mother should’ve gotten rid of you with a coat hanger before your were born.
Corliss
June 26th, 2009
1:34 pm
Michael, like so many other “geniuses” was a phenomenal talent@at the same time was his/her own worst enemy(see R. Kelly, Marvin Gaye, Michael Vick, Britney Spears, Elvis, Heath Ledger, OJ, Kurt Cobain, Tupac, Hammer, et al). All of them, by their actions not only hurt themselves but everyone around them. It’s sad when people talk about how he left behind 3 kids: when you’re half a billion dollars in debt, what exactly are the kids getting? Self-Loathing was also something all these folks had in common: including Michael. All the $$ in the world can’t make one fulfilled. You can rent all the happiness in the world for a while but it’s true: ultimately, you can’t buy it.
Denise
June 26th, 2009
2:05 pm
Thank you MJ Fan in Decatur. I believe you just threatened me. I just reported your comment. Keep it up.
Denise
June 26th, 2009
2:07 pm
Rev James, is that a threat? I just reported you as well. Thanks.
Perez Hilton
June 26th, 2009
2:12 pm
His legacy? He was a pedophile that died of a drug overdose. No more.
Ramblin Rick
June 26th, 2009
2:46 pm
Report this Denise…. your a tool. Thats not a threat, thats a fact. I am guessing you are fat, unemplued 300+ black woman who blames “the man” for all your problems. Get off the blog and go for a mile walk… in traffic.
P.S. Please report me.
R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett
Ramblin Rick
June 26th, 2009
2:47 pm
Harsh MJ! but freakin hilarious
Sandra
June 26th, 2009
2:55 pm
Denise, you are a very ugly person in addition, to nothing about obviously also being a complete hypocrite.
I have just reported you for all the racist, hate-filled, venomous, cruel, vicious insults you have been making on this blog about other people all day long.
This blog is supposed to be honoring a beloved icon and person who has now left us, and all you can do is show the EVIL in your heart. You do indeed seem likely destined for eternity in a very bad place. How can someone be as bad as you?
Please have some respect for the deceased, Denise.
Denise
June 26th, 2009
4:13 pm
Sandra, are you really Ramblin Rick or Buck? If you are not, did you even read their blogs and their hateful responses. And by the way, Rick, I am not black. And Sandra, mind you business. You obviously have a problem with the truth to not see how cruel most of these other response have been. You must be a girlfriend of the white trash Ramblin Rick or white trash Buck. Go back to your trailer homes.
Denise
June 26th, 2009
4:14 pm
Oh, by the way, f you Sandra!!!
BUCK
June 26th, 2009
4:25 pm
I don’ know what all this fuss is about, he’s looked dead for years. His body just caught up with his face. Oh by the way, Paul McCartney asked if he can have his songs back now.
Elbert
June 26th, 2009
4:26 pm
Denise, please go away. This blog is about Michael Jackson, NOT YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BUCK
June 26th, 2009
4:31 pm
Wow Denise, The “F” bomb from a “lady”. And I’m white trash? That’s the pot calling the kettle white if I ever heard it.
Don
June 26th, 2009
6:58 pm
HEY Ramblin rick you are a joke why dont you meet me at lenox mall and say the punk ass things you post online?
Ramblin Rick
June 26th, 2009
9:06 pm
No thanks Don, I stay away from the ghetto malls. Why don’t you come meet me up in Barrow County? We’ll have a rope waitin’ on ya boy
Corliss
June 26th, 2009
11:47 pm
Hey Ramblin Rick:
“WE’LL have a rope?” whats the matter? You don’t got the nuts try to lynch someone yourself? Let me guess, you’ll just stand there & watch. Please, Im sure the unemployed Black woman you’re speaking about is either Nadya Suleman or Kate Gosselin(by the way,tax dollars are going to pay for THEIR kids,too). Trust me, it’s the MAN’s fault they got knocked up too. You’re not a racist(don’t flatter yourself),just an idiot who still thinks Robert E. Lee is going to save you. MJ is no less dead than Lee is. Keep right on blogging. No one w/half a brain should be the slightest bit offended by you. Your game is weak & transparent. You’re talking an awful lot but really not saying anything.
Go try to bully/piss off someone else, it don’t/won’t work here.
Iron Sheik
June 27th, 2009
12:16 am
Corliss is gay and f@ggit. I will fock your arse and make u humble. You stupid negga
LadyMuzik
June 27th, 2009
12:27 am
To party pooper: I dont believe OJ killed them but that doesn’t mean I dont think he may
have had something to do with it directly or indirectly.
LadyMuzik
June 27th, 2009
12:38 am
To Reality: He was a great role model for millions of children, gave them hope and belief in themselves and thats more than most parents are dishing out to their own children. Children learn from adults, not just one adult but all the adults that they come in contact
with. WHAT KIND OF ROLE MODEL ARE YOU?
LadyMuzik
June 27th, 2009
12:53 am
I was raised to have respect of all aspects of life even if it was something that you did not like or agree with. “If you cant say something nice and respectful about someone, Dont say anything at All” Everyone here should remember:”What goes around comes around” and “You Reep What You Sow”. How will you defend yourself before God for your disrespectful comments during a very sad time in Millions of people lives. Be careful what you wish on other’s because it can be YOUR fate instead of theirs. Role models dont say or teach hurtful things that children can learn to hurt other’s.
Corliss
June 27th, 2009
10:04 am
Hey Sheik: go seduce a camel. You Sand “Negga”.
Ramblin Rick
June 27th, 2009
11:11 am
Corliss can you please speak English? I don’t speak “ghetto”. PS your black and unemployed with bad credit. and you probably “date” fat ugly white women. I’m not responding to u anymore because you are black and below me. enjoy a life of poverty and dodging bill collectors.
RIP Farrah Faucett
Corliss
June 27th, 2009
1:13 pm
Hey Rick, If you’ve got to blog on this the way you do, you probably don’t have a job yourself. By the way, if you’re not responding to me because Im Black, then I must be doing this blog a service cause there are other Black people who blog on this as well. So if we never hear from you again, then I’ve done a public service. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, either. By the way, I speak better English than you ever will. Go back to Barrow County, put your coloring book & tablet paper down and read a book with polysyllabic words. If anything Rick, you are beneath ME.
Don
June 27th, 2009
3:49 pm
Hey Ramblin bitch, like i said you are a coward it takes a KLAN of your people to hang 1 person me and you one on one i would kick your ass and the rest of you red necks in Barrow co!
The Toad
June 27th, 2009
7:59 pm
What a bunch of Hipocrits; When Michael was a live everybody i knew (black and whit) thought he was a pervert. Now that he is gone everybody thinks he was the greatest entertainer of all time. Yeah right!
Kay Kay
June 28th, 2009
10:25 am
To the sick a@# people who have to spew out his or her hate when posting a comment, go somewhere else with that. Better yet, crawl back under the rock from which you came from. No one needs to go around with that much hate in his or her heart. No one wants to hear that right now. This forum is to celebrate the life of Michael Jackson and send condolences. If you don’t like him (a man who is dead), then get yourself some help! People are not in a position to judge and we don’t want to hear your negative bullcrap.
Parker
June 28th, 2009
2:29 pm
If Michael brought ONE smile to your face in his lifetime then he is a hero.
Happiness counts even in small increments. I will always love how his songs
made me feel…so forget all the increasingly poor accounts of him.
JimC
June 28th, 2009
6:13 pm
Michael Jackson is not a hero. He was a sicko pedophile who rented kids from money-hungry parents who should be flogged. Miss him? Hardly.
Love ya MJ!
July 1st, 2009
3:17 pm
Michael we miss you and will always love you. RIP!
mj fan for life
August 19th, 2009
7:59 am
R.I.P michael i will love u forever. my prayers go out to ur kids and family. u were the greatest entertainer that will ever live. have fun up there ur moonwalking with the angels now.
Dawood
August 22nd, 2009
1:28 pm
P Diddy had very precisely described the genius of Michael Jackson: “He showed that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life. He made me believe in magic.”
Check other notable tributes paid to Michael Jackson by peers:
http://www.tributespaid.com/category/m/michael-jackson