Friday, June 26, 2009

Three That We've Lost

It has been a surreal morning. When I went to bed late last night, I went to bed with this thought. A great chunk of my American life’s popular culture memories are shifting right before my eyes.

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson as we all know by now, have died recently and it has really got me in a pondering mood today. It’s eerie because they always say these things come in threes. Yesterday afternoon, Brit Boy and I were sitting watching Wimbledon on television and I was sort of in my own world a bit with headphones on listening to my music. Then the Jacksons’ song came on, “Blame It On The Boogie”, and I said to Brit Boy, ‘I can’t wait to see Michael next month and I hope that on our night he just happens to bring his brothers onstage for a reunion.’ We both laughed and thought how cool that would be. Brit Boy and I were going to one of the Michael Jackson concerts in July and we were so looking forward to it. I want to pay tribute to all three of these iconic people in my life. So here goes.

Ed McMahon was a staple of American life. He was best known as Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show sidekick, but he also hosted Star Search which was a predecessor of some of the talent shows that we see on television now. My greatest memories were of being a kid in the 70s and watching The Tonight Show. I would get a chance to see it on Friday nights and during the summer. I was probably the only kid in my elementary school getting excited around midnight about watching Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson, and Doc Severinsen welcoming guests to the show. (smile) Before discovering The Tonight Show, I thought that everyone went to bed after all of us kids were sleeping. I thought the world stopped. LOL. Ahh, innocence. (smile)

Farrah Fawcett was an icon of my 70s childhood. Brit Boy and I often relish our memories of our 70s childhoods and 80s teen years. What a great time it was. (smile) We always say that those 70s shows of our childhood were truly iconic and really define the era. To us, and I’m sure many others, those shows will never get old. I wanted to be a Charlie’s Angel and the Bionic Woman when I was a little girl. I would act out each episode after I saw them. I loved it because these shows had women doing things that I would love to do. They were so cool. (smile) When I found out that Farrah was married to Lee Majors(the Six Million Dollar Man), and realized how that fit with him being the Bionic Woman’s television boyfriend, I was in 70s kid girl heaven. (smile) It was my own mini six degrees of Kevin Bacon with a few less degrees. I just loved her.

And last, but definitely not least, there’s Michael Jackson…the King of Pop. I am like most people in the world today….completely stunned. Brit Boy and I found out about him going into cardiac arrest on Twitter, right after we learned of Farrah Fawcett’s passing. And incidentally, we found out about Ed McMahon on Twitter too, so social media is really making its presence know. Once we heard about it, we turned on CNN, Sky News, and the BBC to get the latest and we watched until late into the night. We were both absolutely stunned.

Brit Boy and I had bought tickets to one of his London comeback shows and were to see him exactly four weeks from today. I was getting ready to share the news here on my blog today in fact. Neither of us had ever seen Michael Jackson perform live and now that will never be.

I grew up hearing his music with his brothers and his solo work and it truly was a soundtrack of my life. I had my “Big Three” of my teen years that I had always wanted to see and in the last couple of years, I had finally seen two of the three…Prince and Madonna. I hate that that circle won’t be completed, but I hate more that a musical legend is gone. No matter what some may think about the controversies in his life, you can’t deny his sheer talent and his musical contributions.

I have one more memory about Michael Jackson and his brothers. When I was a little girl and my dad was still alive, he used to always think that everyone was the Jackson 5. My dad didn’t watch much television and so when he would walk through and we were watching a music group on television, he would ask, “Is that those Jackson boys?” (smile) It didn’t matter who it was as long as they were male and singing. (smile) My dad was a character.

So I just wanted to give my two cents on the passing of three people who were a big part of my collective memories as I grew up in America. But I know that I’m not alone in my memories around the world. Michael Jackson and his brothers have had me dancing my whole life.

Thanks to Ed, Farrah, and Michael for entertaining me and many others for all these years. Rest in peace to all.

Please check out Brit Boy's post too for his Michael Jackson tribute.

12 comments:

Operaton You said...

It was so hard to let that sadness into my heart since I've been feeling so badly lately. So sad.

Thank you for continued support. I so appreciate it as I go through these challenging times! Thanks a bunch!

Ilina said...

Soundtrack of our youth indeed. Mac Daddy and I talked about getting tickets to Michael's 2010 show at any cost. The one thing we both wanted to do was see MJ live in concert. Today I am remembering just how many great songs he had.

Ivanhoe said...

I believe that things do come in threes and this week was just another proof of it. I was sad enough to hear about Farrah, we heard rumors here the night before that she was very close dying and her friends & family were gathering in a hospital. But MJ was a complete shock. Too bad we will never be able to see him live.
It has been a very strange week...

Windmill said...

Hi,

Indeed, this is really sad!

Please join Saturday Saved.

Read more about it at:

http://dfoolonthehill.com/?p=3948

Thank You,

Mike Golch said...

With Ed and Farrah you knew the end was coming.Michael was a surprise.The King of Pop's death as was The King's death were far too soon,as both were addicted to pain killers.

SE'LAH... said...

The world has definitely just changed, again...

great tributes.

Dori said...

Vchelle,
I know exactly what you mean about the sadness. You are definitely in my prayers my friend. Lots of love :)

Ilina,
Absolutely the soundtrack and much of my dance steps my whole life :) Yes, Brit Boy and I have been looking so forward to July because we knew we were going. It was going to be the absolute highlight event of our year. You're right...you start naming his songs and it goes on and on :)

Ivanhoe,
Yes, it does come in threes. I saw Al Roker on the Today Show when I was online and he said that someone said to him it's a case of the elderly, the sick, and the sudden that we have just experienced. So true. I was expecting Farrah because I had been hearing about her courageous fight, but it was still hard to believe. And yes, Michael is just the ultimate stunner. It still doesn't seem like it happened. I will always have that regret that we missed seeing him by exactly four weeks. It has definitely been a strange week.

Windmill,
It is so very sad.

Mike,
Well, I remember seeing Ed recently on Larry King talking about his house and then to see that he has passed, it really got me reminiscing. As for Farrah, yeah, I knew that she was sick and all that I could think was, 'wow, she was one of my heroes when I was a little girl' and it really saddened me. Michael was truly a shock. As you said, it was far too soon and it just makes me sad because you never know what someone is going through inside. It has made my mind more aware through all of this. Still, Michael's musical genius and influence will go on forever. May they all rest in peace.

Se'lah,
The world certainly has. My husband and I said the same thing. There is this shift. Personally I just mourn a bit of my cultural life and memories receding with these passings. I'm so glad you liked my tributes.

The Fitness Diva said...

Rest in peace to them all. Seeing tributes to Michael are making me cry at the drop of a hat.
I will miss him greatly.

Mervat said...

You have written a wonderfully touching tribute to all three. I love how in talking about them you also talk about memories of your childhood and your dad. Beautiful.

j said...

Dori -- You've expressed my feelings about these deaths very well. It's like having a bit of our youth disappear, in addition to being a very sad thing.

Mrs Sweetwater said...

Dori, will you keep one of the tickets as a very valuable momento ?

those tickets are like platinum now.
he was such a teriffic entertainer that they can't ever take that away from him. regardless of how nasty this sorting out is. he will always remain the king of pop.

great post, come visit me sometime oldfriend - who never stops by anymore. ;(

Dori said...

Fitness Diva,
So true. I just get tears in my eyes every time I see a tribute to him. It brings back such great memories and something special left with him. His music and videos/mini movies will live on forever.

Mervat,
I'm so glad my tribute touched you. Remembering them all was like stepping back through my life. So glad you like it :)

Jennifer,
It means a lot to me that my words resonated with you. It is a disappearing of our youth and we lost three great people who gave us so much of our collective memories. I will certainly miss them all.

RE Ausetkmt,
Yeah, we were talking about that and decided that we are going to keep one of them for sure. It will be a fabulous momento as you mentioned. We just can't pass that up. Three weeks from now we were going to be there at the O2 in London seeing Michael and dancing all night. It was gonna be the height of our summer. It is still so surreal that he's gone.

You are so right. They can never take his true talent and what he could do away from him. That will certainly live on forever :) I'm gonna be dancing to and listening to Michael Jackson until I'm an old lady.

I'm heading over right now to pay you a visit my friend. Have a great weekend! :)