I remember watching this live as a kid, when it first aired.

I was ten, and I was a Michael Jackson fan, like almost every other kid in America. I had “Thriller” on cassette, and a poster on my closet door. I realize this was due in part to my MTV addiction and suburban upbringing.

But this video still kinda gives me goosebumps (even more so now that I am pregnant and emotionally vulnerable), nostalgic goosebumps, for a time when this music was new and exciting and Michael Jackson still mostly resembled his original self.

The music of Jackson’s first two solo albums with Quincy Jones has aged pretty well. Though I’d argue that “Off the Wall” is actually the superior record, and the one I would download if I wanted to spend money on music right now.

I don’t have much else to say on the subject. I haven’t been interested in Michael Jackson since I was about eleven years old, and more recently I’ve found him to be an objectionable human being at best. But I believe that when the dust settles, he will ultimately be remembered as a tragic figure, a worst-case scenario emerging from the deadly cocktail of horrific child abuse, stratospheric fame at an early age, untreated mental illness, and lots of money.