Farewell Jackson
So farewell Michael Jackson.
Sad that he'll be remembered by a whole generation for his increasingly bizarre behaviour and not for the thrill of Thriller. (I can still recall the excitement of catching the full 14-minute video on television in the days before video recorders, DVD or YouTube, when you had to be tuned in at just the right moment.)
It's hard to align the Jackson of those groundbreaking video performances with the shambolic masked figure of latter years - although even I'm struggling to understand why his death merited both Newsnight and Newsnight Review.
Like a lot of Scots of a certain age, I saw him at Glasgow Green when he performed there in 1992.
Last performance
Again, a spectacularly theatrical show in the days when everyone else was still plodding through stadium rock gigs, it began with Jackson springing from a trapdoor onto stage in a storm of fireworks and ended with a stuntman wearing a jetpack flying over the crowd.
It was his first Scottish concert in almost two decades - he'd last appeared in Glasgow as part of the Jackson Five in 1977 and, though we didn't realise at the time, also his last performance in Scotland.
Coming just two years after Glasgow 1990, you'd think people would be used to cultural extravaganza but as one of the first gigs on the green, it also sparked a rash of complaints from locals about the noise and disruption who urged the city council not to allow him to return.
His last musical performance, perhaps, but not his last appearance.
Bizarre expedition
He did come back in 1997 for a bizarre househunting expedition which involved a heavily disguised Jackson and his entourage driving across Scotland, hotly pursued by the press.
Now the waiting begins for thousands of fans who bought tickets for the 50 gigs due to take place this summer at the 02 arena in London.
The promoters - AEG Live - say they'll make an announcement shortly about the refunds, but with millions already spent on staging the show, and the complications of fans buying tickets from many different sources, it could take some time to resolve.
Not London’s South Bank, but the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow - every bit as lively in cultural terms as its namesake. I’m Pauline McLean, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Scotland’s arts correspondent, and I’ll be blogging here about arts events and issues happening across the country.
Comment number 1.
At 30th Jun 2009, FinInGermany wrote:"...he'd last appeared in Glasgow as part of the Jackson Five in 1977...". Hmm, might want to check your sources on that one Pauline. Pretty sure it was March 1979 when I saw them with my girlfriend in The Glasgow Apollo - postponed from February if I remember correctly due to Michael being ill. Was quite an experience, being one of very few white faces in the place. Boy, did we dance our little legs off that night...
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Comment number 2.
At 22nd Aug 2009, dennisjunior1 wrote:Pauline:
Yes, it was a good farewell to Michael Jackson....
=Dennis Junior=
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