Today as I watched the trial of the man accused of killing Michael Jackson, I went online to watch the We Are the World Video. http://youtu.be/M9BNoNFKCBI What a masterful piece of work that is.
When I worked in Orlando in my early 20's, Michael Jackson's Thriller was a hit, and he was the biggest thing since the discovery of bread. I was a DJ in a club called the Giraffe, inside the Royal Plaza Hotel at Lake Buena Vista. I remember going up to the penthouse on a tip that MJ was in the hotel, and knocked on the door of the "Michael Jackson Suite" - then sure enough his faint little voice from the other side said, "who is it?" After thinking about it for a second... I ran. Really fast... hoping security wouldn't catch up to me. What a cool story it would have been though ... had he answered the door that day. Usually he rented out the park for an evening with all of his young friends. One of them being McCauley Caulkin.
Now fast forward to October of 2001. My friend and I were at the United We Stand show in DC right after 9/11 ... standing in a circle smoking - and sure enough, the kid from Home Alone, McCauley Caulkin walked up and bummed a smoke from one of my XM co-workers. She said, "no you can't have a ciggarette, you're McCauley Caulkin!" :) Of course he pleaded his case ... he was of age blah blah blah... so she ended up giving him one! We hung out with him and watched Michael Jackson's entourage arrive to Fed Ex Field. It was a crazy scene. We saw black SUV's with tinted windows and special agents hanging off the sides. I got to see Michael perform that night. He only did a couple of songs, one was a post 9/11 number which included everyone who performed that night. "What More Can I Give" did not get the press coverage it deserved, but the sound issues in the stadium really put a damper on MJ's 9/11 project.
http://youtu.be/IkRDozfX-xI
I did get to hear him sing Man in the Mirror and how much do I love that record? Yep... I am kickin' it old school and just called it a damn record. There I was, sitting 6 rows back watching this superstar just took my breath away. He gives such a passionate performance. The following link is the audio of it.
http://youtu.be/GRdW5fRsW5o
So, it's official... I miss Michael Jackson. Even though I always felt there was a bit too much drama around him, he seemed like a sweet soul. Troubled yes... but we can't deny the big amount of love he had in his heart.
I saw the photo of him lying dead on a gurney yesterday, which was issued as evidence for the trial, and I think that was the first time it really hit me, that we'll never get to see Michael dance again. We'll never hear that beautiful voice belt out I'll Be There again. Don't know about you, but I feel lucky to have lived in the same era as him. When you factor in Elvis Presley too, we really did get to see the music industry change as a result of these two men. It's just disturbing that they both died such strange and lonely deaths. All I can say is... The King of Rock & Roll and the King of Pop MUST be hanging out somewhere, perhaps on a different plane. I would like to think so anyway.
If that indeed were the case... let's hope that Elvis spared him a good ass whoopin' for breaking Lisa Marie's heart. Michael went through enough while here on earth. He doesn't need karate expert Rock Gods throwing down with him in Heaven!
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