Do You Remember?

I know, I know...everyone is sick of all this Michael Jackson coverage in the media. I do love MJ, but I find myself a bit frutrated by the culture of fan worship in our world, especially for someone who had such glaring flaws. But I would be remiss if I did not recall some of my memories of his music in my life. If only I had pictures of myself during these moments!

We Are the World: How many of you remember watching the televised performance of this song? All those celebrities on one stage, singing about making the world a better place. Classic. As a kid, I remember being excited to see Cyndi Lauper among the philanthropic crowd, with her crazy hair and strange yet enjoyable voice. And of course Lional Ritchie was there too; mom and dad had his cassette tape and played it often in the ole' Mercury Topaz, so I was pumped to see my buddy Lionel on tv! And every artist was cooler if they plugged their ear with their hand to hear themselves better. For awhile there I would put my hand on my ear when singing, just because I thought that's what you were supposed to do!

Heal the World: Super Bowl XXVII. I was in fifth or sixth grade, and I distinctly remember watching this halftime show. Michael popped up from each scoreboard, and then magically popped up on the stage and stood there for an eternity without moving a muscle. He then went into a few of his classics before the debut of Heal the World. And then the entire stadium began to raise posters that made the stands look like a mural of cartoon children from around the world. It was the bomb. The next day at school, we were all singing Heal the World and talking about how awsome it was when Michael stood over the air vent and his shirt flew up.

Thriller: I was in ninth grade and on the junior high dance team. When we found out that a pep rally and basketball game were scheduled for October 31st, we knew it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We proceeded to learn the Thriller dance step for step, got to work shredding up perfectly good clothing, and rounded up as much black eyeliner and Aquanet as we could get our little hands on. I'm sure that same situation has happened at schools across the country, but to us, we were the ONLY dance team on the planet to have EVER thought of dressing up as zombies and doing the Thriller dance at a sports event during the Halloween season. We were SO original. And it was stinkin' AWESOME. And no one will ever burst that bubble for me, got it? ;)

Beat It: It was junior year in college, and our class was sponsoring a lip-synch competition as a fund raiser. Two of my girlfriends had learned the Beat It dance in high school show choir (jazz hands, baby) so it was an easy selection for a last-minute act. We dressed as gangstas, complete with plastic knives as switchblades. And we totally lost the competition. But to this day if that song comes on a dance floor, you better beat it, 'cause I'm gonna bust a move.

Greatest Hits Album: Senior year in college, Spring Break. My two best friends from high school and I had made our way down to South Padre Island, Texas, for one last hurrah and we were now on the home stretch of making our way back to our respective colleges in Oklahoma. Meredith, in a moment of musical genius, must have known that the last hour or so of a road trip is always the worst, so on came MJ. We wrapped up our trip with a good Michael sing along. We have always enjoyed songs that are impossible to sing (think Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer), so you can just imagine the sound of Michael's trademark "Whoo hoo"s coming from our lips. Few things make me happier than singing loudly and badly in a car with good friends.

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough: Remember those pictures I just posted of our visit to the Peabody Rooftop Pary? That evening, as we walked out onto the rooftop, felt the breeze off of the river, and took in the crowd, the cover band was belting out this song. It was just one of those moments: dear friends, refreshing weather, delicious drinks, handsome hubby, fabulous city, and Michael. It doesn't get much better.


Michael Jackson was talented man. A crazy man. But a talented man. And very few people in our generation can deny that he provided much of the soundtrack to our lives. So if you haven't already, run along to Pandora and make yourself a Michael Jackson station. It will put a shimmy in your shoulders and a smile on your face. Guaranteed.