Michael Jackson's music

Michael Jackson was a superstar. He was the first true global superstar of pop music. And, seemingly, he was a survivor as a child-star turned mature/serious artist, moving from The Jackson 5 to release Off the Wall and then Thriller and Bad. They are the masterpieces - Dangerous had moments too - but those three albums are defining moments in pop music (particularly Off the Wall and Thriller).

With the help of Quincy Jones as a producer/supervisor/mentor, Michael Jackson redefined mainstream pop music. The highlights are too many to mention but I still love listening to the drum groove/opening moments of Billie Jean and the instrumental track of Thriller is dazzling - still and always.

I grew up with this music - in many ways it sat above everything else I actively listened to. I never owned Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad or Dangerous. I didn't need to - so many songs from those albums were released as singles, were pioneering videos...

The first MJ release I purchased was the double HIStory compilation. I bought the remastered CD releases of the classic albums much later.

But I did queue up to buy tickets to see his concert. Auckland, 1996. It was an amazing show. Michael was still hugely popular but the first cloud was hovering; for many his name was ruined, his image tattered. I defended that concert wholeheartedly - it really was amazing. Totally over the top in terms of theatrics, but you get what you pay for and the audience got what it expected.

Michael Jackson's death comes just a few months after The Prince of Pop turned 50. There was an attempt to spark some interest in his music - commercially - to celebrate that milestone. It didn't really work.

But I bet a lot of people are fishing out Thriller and Off the Wall today/tonight/this weekend. Maybe one of the now numerous greatest hits compilations too?

Well, why not. It's great music. It still hovers above so much in pop music, sprinklings of influence are obvious and it's a marvel still just taking in the hugeness of the production and scope of the music. It was widescreen pop music for a generation learning to adapt and evolve with the creation of a multimedia world; a global village connected by technology, sceptical of it and fearful of where it may lead, but buying in all the same.

And it made sense to buy in to Michael Jackson's infectious music. It just became hard to when the scandals overshadowed his career.

There's no point in addressing the court cases and settlements, the allegations and court findings. They have been covered over and over. I like to think that Michael Jackson had a hand in at least a dozen amazing songs; at least a dozen shining examples of just how huge pop music can be - a blend of soul, R'n'B, disco, funk and rock.

Of course the last two decades will dominate people's thoughts of Michael Jackson the man. But the three decades of music should still be allowed to sit - and hover above - for what it is. The type of work we will never see again.

He died. And his heart probably gave out because of the stress he has lived with - and the stress he has put his body through.

I don't need to worry about that. I don't need to think about Bubbles the chimp, the skeleton of the Elephant Man, the oxygen tanks, the glove, the plastic surgery, the shameless documentaries, the fanatics making fools of themselves outside his court cases. None of that seems worth thinking about.

In the end - which, apparently, is now - I would rather think about:

Billie Jean, Thriller, Black Or White, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Man in the Mirror, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock with You, Wanna Be Startin' Something, Burn This Disco Out, Bad and The Way You Make Me Feel..

Picture: Fairfax