Eastern Eye newspaper asked me for my ‘Celebrity Playlist’ – from the March 26th 2010 issue. Wanna know what songs I picked – check below!

cross-posted from swamimusic.com

On the 25th June 2009, Swami were on tour in Toronto when the unthinkable happened. The world lost an icon. Being huge fans, Swami were able to start their performance the following day with an acoustic cover of one of MJ’s many classics – "The Way You Make Me Feel".

We’ve obtained some footage from a fan who was there. Enjoy…… RIP MICHAEL JACKSON.

So in 15 hours or so from the time of writing, it will be a new decade here in the UK. I for one welcome it with open arms and happily say "Good Riddance!" to the Noughties. Click the "Read More" link to find out why:

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RIP MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON 1958-2009

So where were you when you heard the news? Just like Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Tupac, John Lennon and more, this is the question that will be asked for years to come. What were you doing when we lost the greatest entertainer the world has ever known?

I was in Toronto on tour. We had just moved into a new hotel somewhere downtown for the last two days of our trip, and I had no wifi there, so was disconnected from Twitter and all the means by which I would usually be the first to hear any news. Suddenly, a barrage of calls and texts urging me to turn on the news. I turned it on and my world has not been the same since.

I know you all saw it too and most of you were shocked. Some didn’t care. Some cruel individuals immediately set out to make jokes. Me? I cried. I’m still crying on the inside. Not only had Michael almost made himself the living personification of childhood itself, he was also the personification of MY childhood.

Since I could walk and talk, and until I was a teenager, my life almost completely revolved around MJ. My room could have been considered a shrine. I listened to his music every day, and if I wanted a break from it, I’d listen to the Jackson 5, or Janet Jackson, or 3T, or something somehow related to Michael. I even remember buying Brownstone’s album purely because it had been released through Mike’s label. If I wasn’t listening to music, I’d be watching Moonwalker, or playing the Moonwalker video game. My cousins would tape hours and hours of video from MTV when it was "Michael Jackson Day", with backstage footage from the Dangerous tour. I’d spend hours trying to style my hair like Michael’s or learn impossible moves from his videos (Smooth Criminal forward-lean, anyone? Yes, I fell flat on my face a number of times).

I remember my excitement at asking my father for tickets to the HIStory tour and him saying yes. That concert was just insane! I must have been grinning like a cheshire cat for weeks! I remember running out to the shops the day Blood On The Dancefloor was released, and the day the Ghosts video came out. Years before that, I remember being very small and watching the Black or White video premiere on Top Of The Pops, the only time in the UK that the full uncensored, car-smashing, crotch-grabbing version was played on terrestrial TV.

I could go on for hours and hours about all the things I remember, and in the days after his passing, me and my bandmate Sups (also a huge fan) did exactly that. Quoting Michael without even thinking – "Do you remember the time……" We shared our memories. We sat in a hotel room singing MJ songs acoustically until we decided that, at our show the next day in Toronto, we would sing "The Way You Make Me Feel". (little did we know then that thousands of MJ fans were already planning to convene in the same location we would be performing at for a mass public tribute, and would all stay for our performance too……ever had 5,000+ people watching you and singing along with every word?)

The thing is, my memories of Michael were shared by millions of people. But as Sups said, "He made you feel like you had a personal connection with him", and it’s absolutely true. How many artists can you say that about? Really, when you think about it?

Michael……I hope you knew that there were those of us that never stopped believing in you. Throughout the trials, public and media hostility, and the times you felt alone, we were there, never faltering, knowing the truth and defending you wherever we could. We would do anything for you. We have never, and will never stop loving you. You gave us a sense of identity. You were a role model for any of us that ever felt lost or alone. Most importantly, you gave us the hope to carry on.

I hope you can rest safe in the knowledge that in death, you will forever be larger than life without the pressure of living up to the impossible standards that you yourself set the benchmark for, and we artists worldwide have been trying to live up to ever since.

To the media – choose your words, and pictures carefully, because we are watching you. There are those of us that have grown up absolutely disgusted with the way you have treated Michael, and other icons, and we don’t forget. We have the power over you, because we aren’t children any more. Unlike Michael, most of us don’t have the status or the money to hold on to our childhood, much as we might want to. We are forced to live in a grown-up world, but there are people and things we will always hold close to our heart, and we won’t let you continue to slander a man, who despite his flaws, was a good, kind, genuine, warm human being, and a king in all of our hearts. 

Oh yeah, one more thing.  I have watched literally thousands and thousands of music videos in my life and I have yet to see anything that matches the brilliance of the full extended Moonwalker version of  "Smooth Criminal". That video really makes me think that Michael was sent to us from another planet. I don’t believe there will ever be anything better.

We’ll always love you Michael. Rest In Peace, the true King of Pop.