Opinion Remember the Time?

Part of the reason was his immense talent as a musician and as a performer. He had a record-breaking number of hits and was a master of the spectacle. His 1996 show in Mumbai – which drew fans from all over the country—was breathtaking in its sheer scale and slickness. But the other reason for the tremendous response to his unexpected death this week is most likely the fact that he embodied and affected the times in a manner that forged a connection with people beyond music.

Much has been written about his signature style (the padded shoulders,the rhinestone studded glove),his moves,his troubled childhood and the scandals and controversies surrounding his personal life.

He was the first major performer to have the electronic media and the format of the music video at his disposal (Elvis and The Beatles had to make movies). Technically advanced (recall the transmogrification of faces in Black or White) and elaborately mounted his music videos were as eagerly awaited as the songs they launched.

For us Indians too Michael Jackson had a special significance. Thriller was released in 1982. It sold millions of records and won 13 Grammys at the 1984 Grammy Awards. It marked Jackson’s breakthrough to the top of the pop world.

Even the cognoscenti who tended to turn up their nose at Jackson’s music for its mainstream,danceable quality would have agreed that his rise represented a remarkable achievement for a black man in the biased music industry. And despite his occasional lapse into cheesiness there was a strong dose of rebelliousness in the eighties hits.

These came at a time when India was experiencing the early loosening of media control Television had gone colour,Doordarshan was flirting with the idea of openness and the arrival of video had raised the possibility of access to foreign and independent local programming. Bad,Beat It,and Billie Jean were playing on our television sets.

It was a time of mutual promise.