Ex’pression College | All Access

June 30, 2009

“The King of Pop is Dead! Long Live the King!”

While in a meeting last Thursday a colleague turned to me and showed me a message on his iPhone. The words read, “Michael Jackson has died at 50!” Like most of the world who heard about the death of “The King of Pop” that afternoon, I was shocked and saddened by the loss of such a talented, if not tortured artist. Michael Jackson was only 18-months older than me, so I literally grew up knowing his name and his music from the age of 5 when I first saw him perform with the Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show. Throughout my lifetime, I had watched Michael Jackson evolve from a cute, über-talented kid fronting his family’s pop group, into a force of nature who’s music, dance moves, and music videos would challenge everything that had been done before, and set the bar HIGH for everything that was yet to come.

But unlike most of the hundreds of millions of people around the globe who mourned his death last week, I actually had an opportunity to spend some time alone with Michael in the studio many years before.

The year was 1992 and I was the head of music at game company SEGA of America. I had recently begun composing and producing the soundtrack for the first Ecco The Dolphin game when it was announced that Mr. Jackson himself would be visiting the company to get an inside look at this “new” phenomenon known as video games. When the day of his visit finally arrived everyone was nervous and excited, having only tabloid stories and pictures from which to draw conclusions about this strange and elusive man-child. To everyone’s surprise, Michael arrived with just two other business consultants in a Ford Explorer – no limo, no body guards, no entourage, no chimpanzees – nothing! Just a curious and creative young man who was always looking for new and innovative ways to bring joy and the celebration of music into people’s lives.

When Michael finally arrived at the small, humble studio I occupied at SEGA, he asked everyone else to leave the room so he could just sit and listen to what I was working on, and talk “shop” with a fellow musician and composer. Needless to say, I was thrilled but more than a little nervous to have him hear my music in it’s raw state. I mean, c’mon, this is MICHAEL JACKSON, for Pete’s sake! But any lingering hesitation I had quickly melted away as the music filled the studio and Michael began to groove to the pulsating rhythms coming from the speakers. I could tell that his body movements were completely unconscious and that this was the way he “listened” to music – with his entire being! He asked me a lot of questions that day, about my musical influences, how I created certain textures and sounds, and what my writing process was like. As we sat next to each other at the console that afternoon, I realized that MJ was just an incredibly gifted musician whose entire life had been under a microscope, and who simply longed to inspire and thrill people with his music. The rest of his “life” as a mega-superstar was WORK!

A few weeks later I received a signed copy of the Dangerous album in the mail from Michael. “Thanks Spencer! Love Michael” were the four words he wrote, but having looked the man in the eye and shared the most personal “gift” of music that the universe had bestowed on each of us, I know he meant those words with all his heart.

For 45 of his 50 short years, Michael Jackson inspired people and changed lives around the globe with his music. That was his gift and legacy to the world and I, for one, am extremely thankful for it!

Rest in peace, my friend.