In memory of a Thriller...and an Angel...

I know this is billed as a sports blog, but sometimes you just have to acknowledge events in the wider world...

Today was a sad day for the entertainment & music world, particularly for people of my generation; babies of the late 60', early 70's, who grew up to become 80's teenagers and hit the world running in the 90's....

Michael Jackson, the king of pop; Farrah Fawcett, the sweetest of Charlie's Angels; they both passed away today. The former, a momentous surprise; a 'where were you when...?' moment for those of us too young to have experienced that when Elvis died in the 70s; the latter an inevitable end to a long, painful and highly documented battle against the dreaded 'Big C'.

Charlie's Angels was an iconic TV series of the 70s; the first to really empower women and portray them in strong, central roles and counter the undoubted TV sexism of the era. Farrah was my favorite, and who can forget that poster... Having lost both parents to cancer, I know exactly what the family has gone through and my thoughts are with them...and I know from personal experience that she, and they are better off now...

1982 was when Michael Jackson hit my radar...aged 13 with my shiny new copy of 'Thriller' in hand...I didn't know much of him as a child superstar, this was when he and I came of age. Undoubtedly troubled (a superstar from the age of 5 is destined to be little else), he was a performance genius. I liked his music, his style and a big regret is that I never got to see him perform live. I never really believed all the accusations from a few years back; to me he was a lonely star that never really had the chance to grow up. Maybe the company of kids was his way of reclaiming that youth - misguided in this day and age, maybe...but I don't believe his intentions were sinister. Perhaps I'm wrong...I'm sure stories will appear in the coming days, weeks and months - what the truth is perhaps we'll never know...

I'm pretty sure of one thing though, he was a special talent who defined the music of a generation, who transcended cultures and generations, and as the ecstatic crowd in this 2001 performance of my favourite Jackson song shows, could transfix an audience like few others...