For want of Michael

Like Dave Brockington, I was a bit embarrassed to find myself almost completely without Michael Jackson music on my computer the other day. Out of the 10.3 days of music on my iTunes, I had only two songs by Michael and one by the Jackson Five. (Thank goodness for Pandora.) Of course, I once had both "Off the Wall" and "Thriller," on vinyl. But unlike most of my other important vinyl albums, I never bothered to obtain it in CD or mp3 format.

Why is this? Both of these are brilliant albums. I think I prefer "Off the Wall" at this point, just because every song on it hasn't been played to death. But even listening to songs from "Thriller" over the last few days has reminded me just what a great sound that was. Just about every song on that album is a perfect marriage of funk, rock, pop, and soul.

If you haven't watched it in the last few years, the USA for Africa single "We Are The World" is amazing. I forgot about some of those folks. For God's sake, Bob Dylan was there. And Kenny Loggins. And Kim Freakin' Carnes. It's interesting to see the star rankings, too. Only a few artists got more than a few words: Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Dylan, and of course Michael.