"MJ"

At three or four years old I was watching music videos like they were cartoons. My mom taped the "Thriller" video for me back then and we'd watch it over and over again. By the time the year 2000 hit, a Jackson 5 and the Thriller LP were the only records my father had left from a stacked collection he built prior and after my birth. I wrote a poem a while back that I ended up including on Side B of my Master's thesis titled Tape Decks. I included a link to the poem below. Michael Jackson definitely had an impact on my interest for the music video. Early on, I picked up on shows like Yo MTV Raps (late 80s) and BET's Rap City (early/mid 90s) because of my interest for videos during the mid-80s.

Today, BET's pathetic, lazy programming holds up to the low standards that its shaped its programming into over the past decade. Each year they get worse and it shows especially when one of our great musical contributors passes on, for example, James Brown and Isaac Hayes. Give it a couple more days, and it will be back to the same old business. Garbage broadcasting, no JB, no Michael Jackson, no Isaac Hayes, nothing. With that said, I've included a link to a youtube video recording of a young Michael Jackson and Diana Ross below. I don't like how MJ handled the controversy that surrounded his musical success throughout his adulthood, but I acknowledge the part his LPs played in my parent's lives during the 70s and for me during the 80s. Rest in peace MJ.

"Chocolate" by Lee R. for Tape Decks, Side B, 2008©: click here

Michael Jackson & Diana Ross: click here
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