On hearing of Michael Jackson’s death I found myself downloading some of his music and viewing his performances on YouTube.

When Jackson was at his absolute height of fame, releasing Thriller I was spending a great deal of my time in nightclubs, doing all the youth type things. If you’d asked me if I liked Michael Jackson I would have said no. I would have believed my answer to be honest, but in fact when Michael Jackson was played I loved it on the dancefloor, the strange thing is I didn’t really notice this anomaly. At the time I was only into groups that were “cool” and had a sense of authenticity about them. Michael Jackson was more from the showbiz world and someone I would have turned my nose up at.

I don’t listen to pop music at home now at all unless it comes on the radio. However listening to Michael Jackson’s music I can see now that it was no coincidence that he worked so well on the dancefloor.

In the later years his life was overshadowed by various allegations and his own eccentric behaviour. However if we put that aside then we see that as an entertainer he really was unparalleled.

Personally I believe he was a harmless individual who was very immature. In time we will come to see the pillaring he received as being indicative of a terrible failing of ours not to simply allow people to be different.

He was the victim of an angry small minded mob. If we think of his attempts to change his appearance as being like that of Frankenstein’s to create the monster, then we have played the role of the torch carrying mob in the Shelley’s tale.