The obligatory Michael Jackson post

It's really tempting to make a reactionary post tearing the guy down, especially after seeing so many people come out of the woodwork this weekend and act like it was 1987 again, but I'm not happy to see him go, and it's never a good story when a parent leaves young children behind. But I can't join in the praise for Michael Jackson, either. The Jacko I knew and liked disappeared about 20 years ago.

Where have all these admirers been? Jackson hasn't been musically relevant for years--heck, he hasn't done anything of note in years. I'm sure questions are going to be asked along the lines of, "Why wasn't anyone looking out for him?" But his long-term drug abuse was no secret. Anyone who really cared about his or his kids well-being should have stepped in years ago.

And you know what? I'm sure people did, or at least tried to. But ultimately, Jackson himself bears responsibility for how his life turned out (though he sure seems to have gotten a lousy start thanks to his father). Jackson was a self-aggrandizer who was capable of being a lot colder and more calculating than the Neverland image he--yes, he himself--cultivated.

Even if I could separate the man from the child abuse allegations, there's all the other stuff, like his maneuvering to get the Beatles' catalog from Paul McCartney (I don't know if the true details of that will ever come out, but I'm backing the Beatle) and his ridiculous insistence on being called the King of Pop. Plus the anti-semitism, the tired martyr-like posturing, and the increasingly self-important videos. How can you root for a guy like that?

And even if I could separate the man from the music, well, how much music is there? His output as a recording superstar sure looks a lot smaller when you really look at it. Sure, everyone loved "Thriler" (my wife insists she never did, but I'm skeptical), and "Off the Wall" was a great album, but since then? I won't deny his huge post-"Thriller" success, but I moved on. And how much of "Thriller" and "Off the Wall" was Quincy Jones, anyway?

OK, so this is starting to sound like a big rip job. But I did like Michael Jackson's music, and I think I'll play some this week. But I liked his music in the Jackson 5, and I'll be playing it this week not because it offers the younger, simpler Jacko, but because I like it better.

I bought a Jackson 5 compilation CD a few years ago, finally replacing a 20-some year-old cassette tape, and listening to it made me feel good, but also sad. I was saddened because Michael Jackson sounded so vital on those early records, only to become...well, you know. It amazed me then, and still does, that a 12-year-old could sing a poignant love song like "Never Can Say Goodbye" so well. That song gets me every time, and even knowing what I do about what happened to Jackson, it never sounds less than authentic. That's the other amazing part of it: that Jackson was such an effective vocalist at 12, yet somehow devolved to the point where you couldn't take him seriously even when he sang about childhood.

So, yes, I'm sad about the death of Michael Jackson, but I've been sad about the loss of Michael Jackson for a long time.