Will Hines Dot Net

I was never really into Michael Jackson, but I respected how powerfully pervasive his popularity was.

1) My friend Greg Lancaster could reproduce with impressive accuracy Michael Jackson’s dance from the Motown 25th Anniversary show where he did the moonwalk the first time. We had all been about 12 when that special was on and I for one didn’t give a crap about it. Bloom County made fun of Michael Jackson and so therefore so did I. But I guess Greg had been spellbound. In the fall of 1988, during our freshman year at UConn, at a party with people who would become my best friends in the world though at that time they were mere acquaintances, Greg at one point started to do that dance routine. I think it was as a joke at first but quickly became a non-ironic impressive display of a really hard thing. It was a weird but joyful party and the start of four years in which being happy was more important than being cool. The room was going nuts and everyone cheered when he got to the moonwalk. In my mind I made a mental note “A lot of people really like Michael Jackson.”

2) In 1996 my then-girlfriend, who was not a particular music junkie at all, sang with jarring precision Billie Jean. She knew all the background gasps and ooohs and aahs. She was normally a very cool cat, maybe even shy — but at any rate a mellow California girl not given to outbursts of loudly expressed silliness. But we were driving a rickety car from Santa Monica, California to NYC and the stereo flat-out died. Hours later we tried singing songs out loud. She suggested Billie Jean and rocked it out. I made a second mental note “People really remember Michael Jackson.”

3) Yesterday at the UCBT offices as we were hearing the news, my brother Kevin burst in with an amazed expression — like a guy coming into a horror movie to report that the zombies had toppled the statue of the mayor. He had left to go home about five minutes before. “EVERYONE is talking about Michael Jackson outside. I walked by a guy and I just heard him say into his cell phone ‘LaToya’” Even LaToya is on people’s minds. Then I heard that news of Mr. Jackson’s death would be above the fold on the New York Times — a placement normally reserved for heads of state or the results of tragic murders. I thought again “Yep, people really liked Michael Jackson.”

For what it’s worth, there’s no combination of human beings gathered in a group who aren’t glad to hear “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough.” Here’s the demo version of “Don’t Stop” that Michael recorded with his brothers. It was released on a special version of Off The Wall. an album so good it makes the whole decade of the 70s seem better. This demo is GOOD (doesn’t get going until about :50).

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