DC ROCK CLUB
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Friday, June 26, 2009

The King is Dead. Long Live The King! (Part 1)

Jimbromski gets credit for the headline, though out of respect for MJ I decided not to use his alternate title "Wacko Jacko's Heart Go Smacko"

Of course, a mere 16 hours later, this is all old news. The King of Pop passed away yesterday at the age of 50. I am not going to bore you with a history of MJ's life. I am sure there are 5000 other stories, blog posts, etc.. that could do a much better job than I could even think of doing. However, I will share a few personal memories of perhaps the greatest pop star to ever have a pet chimp.

I remember back in 1983 when MTV released the "Thriller" video. It really was the heyday for MTV, and I distinctly remember staying up to catch the almost 14-minute long video, watching from the comfort of my parents bed (I was 12 years old). More a short film than an actual video, it was truly an unbelievable moment in music history. I remember everyone talking about it at school the next day and its release just before Christmas 1983 set off an even greater stream of Michael Jackson frenzy.

That next summer (1984) I got the privilege of seeing MJ live on the Victory tour, which I already posted about here. However, something else happened that same summer which few people (outside my immediate family and those who were there) know about. That summer, we rented a large beach house in VA Beach with a bunch of other families and their kids. At the end of the week, I spearheaded an operation to act out the entire "Thriller" video as entertainment for the adults. Of course, I was to play the lead as I already had a nice jew-fro going and my skin was a light cocoa color due to a whole week in the sun. It was a totally ridiculous attempt, but I think we pulled it off. I remember using 2 Q-Tips as "fangs" for the scene when MJ transforms into the Zombie. I also remember my then 6-year old brother getting smacked in the head when we were doing the zombie line dance. He went running off camera in tears.

Did I say camera? Well, yes, the entire performance was filmed by my pops on his fancy new VCR recorder (the thing was like the size of a small piece of luggage). The video still exists today at my folks house. If any of you techies out there know how to convert a VCR tape to digital, I promise (to my utter embarrassment) I will post the video here on the blog.

Luckily for us, we pre-purchased tix (thank you Potsy) to tonight's sold out Who's Bad tribute at the 930 Club [btw, they added a second show]. Of course, there will be a proper review of that show coming soon. The funny thing is, I picked this show days ago, kind of as a joke. I guess I am like the Grim Reaper of rock. So if I were a cheesy crooner named Neil , I would probably go to the doctor and get a physical. Next up for RC, Superdiamond!

6 comments:

Potsy said...

I have the technology. Hand over that VHS cassette.

sacklunch said...

Whoops, looks like PostRock used a similiar headline. I swear, jimbromski sent me that title last night.

Okay Potsy, I will dig up the videotape. I am sure your grad school training can come in handy for the conversion.

Potsy said...

Best potential title I've seen thus far:
"The Thriller is Gone." Wish I had thought of that one.

Jumbo Slice said...

I can't wait to see that video of a young, Jew fro'd Sacklunch dancing with q-tips in his mouth.

I was a big Thriller fan and to this day I still catch shit from my older brothers for buying a single white glove. I would've bought the Thriller jacket if I had the money. However, I was only 11 at the time and did not possess the necessary buying power.

Peggy Fox said...

Hey all,

I'm looking to interview somebody who was at the 1984 Victory Tour today. Anybody up for that? Please give me a call or email! Thanks.

Peggy Fox
wusa9.com
202 895-5508
202 487-5691.
pfox@wusa9.com

Caroline said...

Idea: Tonight at the 9:30 Club, a member of DC Rock Club gets dangled over the balcony the way MJ hung his son Blanket over the balcony. It'll be a nice tribute.