Remember the time

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All hits
Michael Jackson represented two different faces to me, even in the 1980s. He was always a bit odd — the one glove was odd, and the fire at the Pepsi commercial became a staple joke. But he also starred in the video that the MTV generation was dying to see: “Thriller.”

We didn't have cable at my house, so we gathered at a friend's house to watch the big debut. And of course, we loved it — Michael was a magical entertainer then. We watched “Beat It” and “Billie Jean” and loved them.

The one cassette tape I remember my father buying was the “Thriller” album, and it seemed that every song was a hit. -George Malone

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In the seventh row
“Thriller” brings to mind a 10-year-old girl sprawled out across her parents' rust-and-tan comforter — she didn't have a TV in her own room — glued to the fledgling MTV (much to her mother's dismay) in hopes of catching the entire airing of the 14-minute mini-movie video. When it finally appeared, after one too many Martha Quinn news blocks, phone lines lit up across Newport News, Va., as like-minded young girls called to alert their friends that the video was on, and to talk about how absolutely adorable Jackson was.

Fast forward to college at UNC-Chapel Hill, and a revival of the Jackson 5 era. At the Tri-Delt house, tunes like “ABC” blasted from J.J. Miller's aged white Datsun, which had been in no less than six car accidents between her sophomore year of high school and her junior year of college. More than likely these fender benders were a result of her trying to change Michael Jackson tapes while driving.

After Sept. 11, I heard another friend from college had been lost on the 89th floor of the second tower. The numerous obituaries about Mary Lou revealed that she had spent $1,500 on seventh row seats to see Jackson, her favorite pop star, the weekend before the tragedy. Although we hadn't spoken in a couple of years, I can imagine her electric smile as she danced away to tunes by the King of Pop, and I'm so glad that she had those good memories to take with her. -Katie Cannon

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