Ninja Monkie Bacchanal

By now, most of you have heard that Michael Jackson has died. Oddly enough, he died the same day as Farrah Fawcett. Both were icons of their respective decades. This post is about Michael as he was my THE icon of my formative decade: the 80’s. I needed to wait a day to fully collect my thoughts.

Michael was a musical genius. And yet, as with most geniuses, he had a tortured personal life. Rumors of abuse by his father; bizarre man-child behavior; charges (and an acquittal) of child sexual assault. But he also sold 750 million albums. 750 million!! And what a musical legacy: Thriller, Beat It, Billie Jean, Off The Wall, Smooth Criminal, Dirty Diana...the list go on and on.

So how do we choose to remember him? Musically or personally? Or Both? I am going to remember the music. In that respect, he will be missed.