RIP Michael Jackson. WTF?

Michael Jackson is dead. Still seems somewhat surreal, right?

Given the monstrosity and tragic spectacle that Michael Jackson has devolved into since the early 1990s, it's easy to forget that before his face became the stuff of nightmares, before he was accused of molesting young boys, before he demonstrated his Susan Smith-like parenting skills by dangling his baby from a balcony, before he turned himself into the punch line of a joke that was far more funny-sad than funny-haha, Michael Jackson was a fucking genius.

For me and many others in and around my age range, my childhood was unmistakably marked and influenced by two artists; Madonna and Michael Jackson. It's almost impossible to think of me growing up without also thinking about what Michael Jackson song was on the radio at the time, what video had just been released, or which of his amazing dance moves my friends and I were trying desperately, and unsuccessfully, to emulate in our basements. And when MJ busted out the moonwalk whilst performing Billy Jean at the Motown 25th anniversary in 1983? Unreal. Hell, I watched that shit today and I still felt something, 26 years later. Click below to hop into the DeLorean and go back in time to experience the magic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RuxoCDfbjU

Given the current state of our pop culture, with ten thousand channels, blogs, twitter, facebook, and the giant, raging herpes sore on the genitalia of the world that is reality television and the utterly useless and talentless famewhores its churned out like Paris Hilton, Heidi and Spencer who all contribute absolutely nothing of any merit, artistic or otherwise, it's easy to forget just what it was like when MJ was in his heyday.

I was too young to fully appreciate significance of The Jackson 5 or Michael Jackson's brilliant first solo album, Off The Wall as they were happening, but if you're like me, you took to his next album, Thriller like OctoMommy to fertilized embryos, you could not stop til you got enough. And rightfully so.

Given the infrequency that networks like MTV and MuchMusic play music videos now, it's easy to forget what a cultural event the release of the video for Thriller's title track was. MJ had already made his mark on the relatively new medium of music videos with the West Side Story-inspired Beat It and the awesomeness of Billy Jean (seriously, who didn't think the sidewalk lighting up was the coolest shit ever?) but with his 13-minute mini movie that was Thriller, MJ revolutionized the music video. He bent the music video over, prison raped the shit out of it and and made it his bitch for life.

Thriller was directed by film director John Landis who MJ sought out after seeing his 1982 film An American Werewolf in London. My little friends and I were obsessed with the video and rented The Making of Thriller to feed our appetites for all things MJ. No other music video has had the same impact as Thriller and it's hard to imagine any other video ever will. Plus, how awesome is the choreography? Totes. Along with kicking down a door Law & Order-style, learning the choreography of Thriller is on my list of things to do before I peace out to the great big martini bar in the sky.

After Thriller, Michael Jackson released many more influential and significant videos, Bad, Smooth Criminal, Leave Me Alone, Remember The Time, Scream and Black and White just to name a few. In fact when Black and White was released from the Dangerous album in 1991, the video premiered simultaneously on MTV, VH1, BET and FOX. It was directed by John Landis, with whom MJ had collaborated with on Thriller.

After the release of Dangerous in 1991, it was all down hill for Michael. He was wearing a pair of Bad Idea Jeans that he seemed unable to remove. He had already been showing signs of being one strange ass dude for years already, so much so that when he was accused of child molestation in 1993, it didn't seem so far out of the realm of possibility for some of us. By the time he was subsequently accused of similar charges in 2003, I was long off the Michael Jackson bandwagon and I handed in my glove. That's it! I was officially done. Even though MJ was found not guilty in 2005, he could never rid himself of the stench of those allegations. Showing up to court in insanely elaborate outfits and pajamas certainly didn't help convince anyone that, even if he wasn't a child molester, he was still, at the very least, crazier than a shithouse rat.

As much as I was shocked by Michael Jackson's unexpected death, a part of me had already come to terms with it years ago as I often said that my MJ, the one I knew and loved, died in 1992. Gone was the boy whose poster on my wall I'd kiss (haha lame) whose style I tried to adopt with my very own sparkly glove and socks, whose safety I seriously fretted about to the point of tears after he was burned shooting that Pepsi commercial. In his place remained this mangled-faced tragic circus sideshow who, with every certifiably insane thing he did, proceeded to shit all over his own legacy. But Michael didn't die in 1992 so now, as we look back at his life, all the batshit craziness gets just as much, if not more attention than his amazing musical accomplishments. I suppose he has himself to blame for that. I still feel sad though, like his passing officially signals that my childhood is officially, for reals, over forever. Someone get me a vodka soda STAT!

I'm glad I was born when I was and got to enjoy the majesty of the King of Pop as it was happening and not experience it only through stories and video clips so that I can truly understand and appreciate the indelible mark on and contribution to pop culture that was Michael Jackson. We'd be hard-pressed to find a pop or R&B artist who wasn't influenced by MJ in some way. Hell, without Michael Jackson, there'd sure as shit be no Justin Timberlake and for that alone I am grateful.

Below are a bunch of photos from MJ's prime. In addition to making me smile, they make me feel old. For reals.