Good lord.  The passing of Michael Jackson just came out of freaking nowhere.  The deaths of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett may have been complete bummers, but they were hardly shocking.  They had both been suffering from major illnesses for years.  But the King of Pop buying the farm was one great big pop culture facepunch.  I debated whether to post an actual song by Michael or one of Weird Al's parodies, but since I just put up an Al mock-up two days ago, I am opting for the former.  Pat's got you covered if you want the high weirdness.

I was not what you would consider a Michael Jackson fan.  I was never that big on Thriller, and I hated everything I heard off of Bad.  I may have poked fun at him at times by making up names like "Baron Noseoff von Oneglove."  And although I never automatically bought into any of the things people accused him of, let's face it - he was, well, out there.  I mean, sure, eccentricity is hardly rare among famous people, but the "Wacko Jacko" moniker wasn't completely unwarranted.

But man, could that guy sing.  And holy hell, could that guy dance.  You look at many of the videos he made, being surrounded by some of the best dancers in the business, and he made them look like rank amateurs.  Seriously, go watch the "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" videos again.  NO ONE moved like he did.  Come on, he took a song written about a fictional RAT and made it compelling - when he was friggin' fourteen.  And I've made clear twice before that I dig his 1979 release Off the Wall, so it's not like I have to make some big stretch to pay tribute to him with a song I like.  So here is the album's opener, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."

Love him or hate him, you can't deny him his talents or his accomplishments.  You simply don't achieve what he achieved without doing something right.  Be at peace, Mikey.

Michael Jackson
1958-2009

Watch the video for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" on YouTube.  This would appear to be on a dedicated Michael Jackson YouTube channel put up by Sony, so it's legit, and good on them.  (Are you paying attention, Warner?  Duh, of course not.)  Again, I wish those major labels wouldn't compress the living crap out of the clips they post.  But at least these will stay up.

Wikipedia blurb