Seriously? KPCC will be doing a show on Jackson? Good to know you guys will sink to any depth to copy the mainstream radio.
I guess there's really nothing to cover in Los Angeles. No one would want to hear a show on the city's growing tagging problem. Oh wait you guys just had Bratton on "claiming" how he's cleaned up L.A. So I guess L.A. doesn't have any crime to cover.

Last year, I helped lead a community 80's sing-along night outside of the LA Music Center. When I finally got to "Thriller," I said to the crowd, "And here's the song we've all been waiting for; you know this is why you're here!" The "Thriller" music started and the roar of the crowd was absolutely staggering. People started doing the Thriller-dance where they were standing! I'll never forget that moment. Such a love of the song, the music and the man who brought it to us.

I may not have approved of many of MJ's actions, words, etc., but there's no denying the amazing and indelible musical and cultural mark that he made on America!

There's a special place in hell for those who molest children.

Can you hear that? That's the sound of my radio turing off.

Thank you for playing even snippets of Jackson's music--talking for an hour about the man's overwhelming theatrical talent makes far less sense than setting aside 15 minutes to play a selection of his best music. Any chance that could happen?

Thank you David for playing those songs and for trying to evoke just some of the truth about this muse from heaven. How ugly of anyone to still be throwing rocks at this man when not only was he proved innocent, but it was so obvious that this man never forced himself viciously upon anyone. This was not a man of violence or harm. Anyone who goes back and reviews will see that it was the ADULTS surrounding those children who were in the throes of greed and manipulation, in order to try and crucify him while gaining something for themselves. It was obvious that young people sensed nothing of fear or sickness from this man. All of the negative reviews and condemnations of him are from spiteful ignorant hearts that don't even have the capacity to empathize with what that human being was put thru. Our society in its remnants of definite racism tried to destroy him because he was too wealthy, he was too talented and he was too innocent and different.

He was a muse from heaven. His music brought so much joy and energy and discovery of SOUL within people as they listened to it. He was a child of our world and we condemned him after first seeing the truth about him. It was like we were so opened up in our hearts by his music, that we just had to tear him down because of our own lacking of soul.

Those who loved him and defended him and believed in him are truthful and open hearted people.

Thank you David for seeming to at least start this review of him with an open heart.

Friday, June 26, 2009
The meaning of BIG!!

Me thinks that Michael Jackson has defined the term BIG in technology.
When was the last time you heard about anyone bringing both Google and Twitter to the grinder?

NEVER!

not until today that is.

If you tried to look up anything Michael Jackson on Google this morning, you got timed out.

Twitter message base could not keep up with the Michael Jackson chatter.

They were both too busy with that single subject.

Those are unintended, (NOT) creatable results that define breadth and depth of popularity.

I was trying to find some MJ videos (Billy Jean), on YouTube and Yahoo this morning and got timed out at every turn.

Farewell Michael Jackson; you brought us and taught us the meaning of moving feet and the beat for decades!

steve, age 51.

Just wanted to say that I am Michael Jackson's age and him dying is like losing a life-long friend. We all grew up together. My daughters ages 14 and 17 love him (my oldest is a singer/composer), but best of all, when my 6 year old heard him (not knowing anything about him) she totally flipped for his music. He lives on in the generations to come. God bless you, Michael.

He was a pedifile and a child abuser

I separate the man from the music, the music is not dead, the predator is

Smart! He knew how much Paul was going to bid and he secretly bid higher. Then he sold the Beatle Songs right to Nike so he could buy a friggin monkey and play with little boys. The guy ruined music. His music was bland BLAND! and his videos were the downfall of MTV. Pop Shmop. The guy was also just a moneytree for all his handlers. Feel sorry for them. they don't have their mealticket anymore.

Michael Jackson was a global figure. I went to Vietnam
in 1993 and in Hanoi and small villages, people asked me 3 questions: how old I was, how much money I made and if I knew Michael?

Just to address Ann Powers's point that the young kids don't know who Michael Jackson is, when my 11-year-old son heard "I'll Be There" on the way home from camp yesterday, he started crying.

Michael Jackson is dead. Does this mean the Recession is over, too?

You're very short sighted if you think there will be no one else like him.

To use your own words. People said the same thing about Elvis.

Lazarus? Who do help "Beat It" over there that you're still on the air?

Larry come back from vacation NOW!

MJ was one of those celebrities I grew to resent seeing in the media: Michael appearing in court in pajamas? dangling babies? wearing masks and waving. Don't show him anymore!

Some of his music is awesome. I could do without all the hiccuping.

I feel out of it because to be honest, i feel nothing about him dying. I do feel for his fans and family, especially children (hopefully, they can lead normalish lives now).

When Stevie Ray Vaughan died I cried for the loss to the music world. He was so not done. When Freddie Mercury died I cried for the fact he couldn't share his illness with us. I cried for all the joy he had brought me with his gift. Michael Jackson, sad to say, I had grown tired of as a person. So many people tried to help him still bring his gift to the world, but he was too far gone.

Talent at the forefront? Since when does talent trump degenerate and inappropriate behavior? Perhaps in a world where 45,000 people are allowed to starve to death a day. Or one where 6% of the world's population consumes 80% of the world's resources.

Consider the following:

* A grown man entertaining 5-12 year old boys in his bed

* Having a king's fortune (75 mill a year on the Beatles catalog alone) yet still being 400 mill in debt

* Bringing 3 children into HIS bizarre world with no mother and now no father (without having to touch an "adult" female"

* Walking away from being convicted on evidence that anyone else would have been convicted in hours on

* Turning himself into a textbook example of "when stretch jobs go really bad"

*Putting a baby @ incredible risk (high rise dangling)
again, you and I would be pen pals from prison

*All of the good things he could have done but didn't because he was a slave to his degenerate behavior i.e. running off to Dubai where he could get away with his sickness

And finally,

The fascination the media and people have with this type of individual in the name of celebrity. Trust me, if K.C. and the Sunshine Band had done P.Y.C. "Pretty Young Thing", they still wouldn't be touted as the Kings of Pop.

I was in Kathmandu, Nepal when Thriller came out. Nepal was quite an isolated country at that time when it came to western culture and music. My dad didn't know very much about western music, nor seemed to care, but one day as we were sitting down for dinner he mentioned the music of Michael Jackson. It was at that that I decided my dad was cool!

Michael will be sorely missed...even in Nepal.

I am 44 years of age, don't own any Michael Jackson music, and never have. However, this man's music has left significant markers on my life. I've seen his music fill dance floors at weddings, 80s new wave dance floors, house parties and everything in between. There's no doubt he was a complicated personality for various reasons and all the scrutiny is appropriate. But the impact his music and--for better or worse--his personality had on pop culture completely warrants all the discussion his death has spurred. Are there more pressing issue in this world? Yes. But someone whose countless songs provided a "time out" from the rigors of every day life deserves one of this own.

Hi! Cliff from Westwood here.

Don't know if you'll get to the Oscars with so much to talk about regarding Michael Jackson, but a couple of things. I'm very excited about the move to 10 Best Picture nominees. A few points I've been talking about with my friends:

-This is the way the Academy Awards did it for more than a decade back in the 1930s, and some of the best films of the era (Grand Illusion, The Great Dictator, even It Happened One Night, which was a surprise winner) got nominated, when they probably wouldn't have stood a chance against the big, "serious" dramas and epics.

-Whether it's a boost for big blockbusters or small independent films, it's a way of bringing some variety into the race. Quality action films, animated movies, and foreign films should get their shot too!

-Looking at films over the years that might have been nominated: Singin' in the Rain, Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Lion King, I think it's worth opening up the tent.

Anyway, I think unless the wrong movies start winning, embarrassing the Academy, the Academy will stand by it. It's a good decision.

I'm surprised that hack Lopez likes Jackson. I would have thought he would have placed Jackson with the priests who liked to diddle boys.

Talking about Michael Jackson is fine, but it also shows vividly how utterly corrupt and twisted America's pop culture has made all the sycophantic morons who talk about him to the exclusion of everything else, and who elevate his celebrity to such ridiculous heights. It's so sad that things are passed over and marginalized which have changed the whole world and the future of it, while tabloid trash is venerated--like the news dominated by the death of Gert Frobe who played one movie role (Goldfinger) on the day that Nobel physicist Richard Feynman also passed. Society at large is one gigantic booger-eating Homer Simpson; no wonder it gets raped by cons and corporations and out of control lobbyists! Hell, no one cares about anything real.

Please stop! This has all been discussed . . . to death. I'm saddened by Michael Jackson's passing on. I liked him. I'm nearly 57 and got to see it all, enjoyed the antics and wanted to see more. I can't stand to listen to some of these people embarrass themselves. Ack! Just put people on with something new to tell or who are amusing.

I remember when I was in grade school begging my Mom to buy the Thriller album when it came out. To this day I still have that record and wouldn't part with it for anything. Despite his personal life and indiscretions, his music was amazing. I'll always enjoy listening to his music.

We also lost a very brave woman to cancer yesterday. What about her? I know that Michael Jackson was important to rock and roll, but Farah Fawsett was important to those people who are suffering with cancer. She was a survivor who was brave enough to tell her story to the world. Don't forget her in the mix of news. As soon as Michael Jackson's death was revealed not a mention of Farah's good fight. Shame on you, especially here in LA.

Michael Jackson got me through law school. I would blow off steam trying to learn the dance on the Thriller video. I had a party and we played the album the whole night- so much that I had to hide it. That memory was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of his death. He really brought joy to those stressful days!

is there anybody out there who can talk about Michael Jackson's influence on Bollywood? From what I understand he pretty much created contemporary bollywood dancing.

Last thought on the "Molester", when looking at the ills of the world, children really are the victims. Hunger, illiteracy, poverty, abandonment, you name it. The catholic church shells out billions but really, how many priests went to prison?

I'm sure Mahoney the Molester is grieving today, it's always a sad day to lose a kindred spirit.

I'm 57 and Michael Jackson is. The only artist whose music offerings I have continously purchased over the past 4 decades. RIP MJJ

In response to Nancy on down, trying to deny pop culture's significance is the kind of elitist snobbery that makes NPR listeners a punch-line. Yes, it's gross how the media slobbers over celebrities to the exclusion of hard "real" news, but it's a fact. Celebrities are part of human history for just about as long as there's been people. Shakespeare was a pop star, just a few hundred years ago. Deal.

I have enjoyed David's week with his energy and sharper edge than Larry, I'm a fan! Sorry to say, but sometimes Larry strikes me as the amusingly vague uncle at a family picnic.

"Hack" Lopez? Harsh, the guy had a movie based on him! Have you? : )

It´s a sad feeling, as if one of your friends has parted away...

Michael Jackson rest in peace

Hey Greg, the movie was horrible. The only one who was excited was Lopes in the back of the theatre.

It is bad karma to speak ill of the dead. Be kind with your words as they will come back to haunt you.

It was indeed a very sad day yesterday. Whether it's Farrah Fawcett or Michael Jackson, we have lost two great icons of our generation, but I am sure they are both in a better place now.

OK, I didn't say it was a <i>good</i> movie! LOL
Hopefully Lopez didn't like it, either.

Did anyone see The Windmill Movie, opening at Sunset 5 today? Interested in hearing thoughts.
I found it very real and deeply moving.

If anyone contributed to Bollywood dancing, it's Michael Peters. Unfortunately, I have not heard him mentioned in any tributes to the Thriller video. It was Jackson dancing, but Peters' choreography who made it such a smash hit. He was a very gifted choreographer who died too suddenly several years ago.

Why are they doubling the number of best picture nominees? Why can't it be seven or eight? Also, if what you say is true -- that people watch the show if the movies nominated are popular -- why not let the industry nominate five and the movie-goers nominate five? It could be like baseball players are nominated for the All-Star game. Then on Oscar night, people could call in or text their choice from the five, with the text proceeeds going to some charity. People would be more investd in the outcome and it would make the preening stars look like they've come out for more than just additional adoration.

radio with IQ??? your IQ just dropped to 50...sad day for us loyal listeners

Screw you guys, I'm not resubscribing. The past 2 days of Jackson coverage on KPCC is embarrassing. You EVEN INTERRUPTED MARKETPLACE MONEY FOR SOME MUMBLING SPOKESMAN. Jesus Christ.