Tommy Mottola | 10:08 p.m. Tommy Mottola, a former head of Sony Music, called Mr. Jackson “the cornerstone to the entire music business.”
“He bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and pop music and made it into a global culture,” said Mr. Mottola in a telephone interview. Mr. Mottola worked with Mr. Jackson until the singer cut his ties with Sony in 2001. “No one has ever done what he did in his time — and no one will ever do what he did after his time.”
The year was perhaps 1980 or 1981. A cousin of mine had returned from USA. Along with the usual imported 'stuff' like socks and jeans and tops, he brought with him a cassette of songs. "Its this thin guy who has a voice like a girl. His dances are amazing and I love his voice. A new guy called Micheal Jackson". He had loved his stay in US and hated having to have returned. To remind himself of the good times he had, he played the cassette all the time. I was pretty ignorant about pop music, so far we had listened to Abba and Boney M and to be frank, half the time I could not understand what was being said. I loved the beats of the songs and am pretty certain that the song I loved best was "Dont stop till you get enough". It is still the song I love best. It was years later that we got to see his videos and recordings of his stage performances. Much later, after the advent of the www everything you wanted to know about anyone was for the asking.
I doubt if there is any other singer who is as well known all over the world. There may be loads of people who dont care whether he lives or dies, but everyone KNOWS who Micheal Jackson is. THAT I think is the most major achievement of this great singer. He may have been reviled a lot and with good reason too, but nobody can deny that he was a great singer and entertainer who made sure everyone knew about him.
RIP MJ
