Michael Jackson's Passing

I was never a Michael Jackson fan, though I liked the Jackson Five, and the art of his sister, Janet.

He had a powerful influence on music in the mid-1980s, though, that came just as the world was getting tuned into personal stereos (remember the original cassette-playing Sony Walkman?). The sound of music being played in public places was just then becoming overly ubiquitous. Consequently, it was his voice that was the voice of America to young people all around the world during that decade.

Perhaps the most profound thing he did was work as the central figure, along with composer-arranger Quincy Jones and composer-performer Lionel Richie, on We Are the World.