Flashback Friday – (on Thursday) Michael Jackson and Madonna

I usually do my Flashbacks on Friday (hence the title) but I won't have time.

Tomorrow is August 1st.

Okay, I’m having a hard time believing Michael and Madonna are both turning 50 in August!!

I have written before about how I was supposed to marry Michael when I was younger. Then I saw his Jheri-curl on cover of the “Thriller” album and the trill was gone (plus his obsession with Webster concerned me).

My parents were sick of hearing me talk about Michael Jackson all the time. One of my earliest memories, maybe I was 5, I was listening to the radio in the living room and yelled into the speaker “play the Jackson Five.” The next song was... the Jackson Five. I jumped up and down and had to tell my parents. I was so excited. I can’t remember basic Italian sentences but why I remember this incident I don’t know.

Anyway, the first album I ever had was the Jackson 5’s “Looking Through the Window” which my parents gave me for my birthday (also in August like Michael's). I don't think they had any idea what they were getting into. I asked my dad to play that album on the stereo pretty much everyday for a while. I still have it.

I couldn’t find the original cover, only re-issues online. Trust me when I tell you the Jackson brothers were looking good, esp. Michael and Jermaine (sorry Tito). Eleven years ago the company I was working for organized a press conference for him. It broke my heart to meet him. My parents thought it was funny. "After all these years you finally got to see him." But he looked crazy. As I looked up at him (he’s tall, over 6 feet) I noticed his nose looked like it was going to fall off due to multiple surgeries. How is it someone who was my complexion is now fairer than John McCain?

I choose to remember the good years before, Bubbles, Webster, Neverland, an awkward kiss with Lisa Marie and pedophile trials, with the clip below. Happy birthday Michael Jackson. You were the love of my live for almost 10 years. ☺

In the first clip of this compilation I think he’s like what 6? Amazing. “The Love You Save” is one of the best pop songs EVER.





I can’t believe the woman who sang “Everybody” will be 50. I wish I had bought that SEX book. A good copy sells for over $200. Remember how controversial it was? It came out in 1992. Steven Meisel shot all the photos. Fabien Baron art directed I think and I remember Big Daddy Kane and Isabella Rossellini were in the book. Random.

I know some people have issues with Madge. However, I love dance music and she’s been jamming since 1983. It's pretty much unheard of to have that kind of relevant longevity in the entertainment business. Like I said before, I didn’t get her whole “passing the torch to Britney thing.” Please. There is no comparison.

Madonna was/is the one driving her own career not a bunch of producers or stage parents. Plus she could be pretty damn funny. When she sang “Like a Virgin” she was in her mid 20s and everyone knew she had slept with half of downtown Manhattan. She was being ironic.

When tying to figure out which clip to post, I had a hard time choosing. Take a Bow, Respect Yourself, Borderline, Like A Virgin, Frozen, something from “Confessions on the Dance Floor”, or Music which featured Ali G “aka Sacha Baron Cohen” years before most people in the States had heard of him.

I was working with a former co-worker during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame awards years ago in NYC when Madonna walked by. My co-worker and I are 5"2. We were floored by how petite Madonna was. I assumed she was taller; she projected height. I doubt she’s over 5"4.

In the end I went with one I haven’t seen in a while. The shot of the towers at the end is sad. Happy Birthday Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone.