Everybody Else Is Doing It, So I Will Too.

I never considered myself a Michael Jackson fan. I am a grunge rocker from Seattle, after all. But tonight I find myself drunk off PBR sobbing while I watch his memorial service on my worn-out, rabbit-eared television (FYI this is only Robin talking).

Since Michael Jackson died nearly two weeks ago, the span of his music career has been whored out over every media outlet imaginable. I recognize and enjoy almost all his music from when he was ten years old, to the end of his life, yet I never realized a lot of these songs were his, though it's obvious now. His work has always been like background music to my life, a sort unobtrusive soundtrack.

I clearly remember having this epiphany once before, though. I was at a dance club with friends, which I rarely do. I remember being severely annoyed by the crappy "music" when all of a sudden something new and fresh came on. I started nodding my head, rocking my shoulders, maybe doing a little hand wave, when suddenly the lyrics to "Billie Jean" smacked me upside the head. "Michael Jackson, duh!" More than 20 years after this song was first released, it was still the hottest, most danceable music in the clubs, (in this humble grunge rocker's opinion). But it was! It got everybody on their feet dancing, and I swear it was not just nostalgia. I mean let's face it. I was not even two-years-old when "Thriller" came out, and I assume most of my fellow head-nodders were about the same age. It's hard for babies to be nostalgic! It was just great music. And I think that is my main point. Much of his music is timeless. He was a true professional, a true talent, I believe he truly cared about people in his own way, and I now know I am a Michael Jackson fan.

So there!