Remembering The Times: Memories of Michael

As one of the first generation of kids who embraced those five flamboyant brothers known as The Jackson 5 in the pre-rap music ’70s, especially the perky innocence of the Afroed rug-rat that was Michael, it is difficult to comprehend that the “King of Pop” is now dead.

In those long-lost years before brother Jackson became known as a parody of his former self, his gorgeous voice and staggering image seeped into the fertile imaginations of America’s chocolate city children. ”We embraced the J5 like family, like imaginary best friends or make-believe boyfriends,” wrote soul historian David Ritz in his 1995 liner-notes for the four-CD Jackson box-set Soulsation! ”We loved their bounce and joyful rhythms.”

Many current artists from Jay-Z to Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake to Usher, viewed M.J. as the guiding light that inspired their own ambitions. Missy Elliott once gushed, “I would sit in class and look out of the window hoping I’d see a limousine pull up outside. I’d hope to see a glittery glove on the limo door and it would be Michael Jackson and he’d say, I’m here to get Missy.”

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for her to think of M.J. lying in a coma, taking his last breath.

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