Veil & Subdue Blog

In the midst of analyzing Michael Jackson’s legacy to music in general – and specifically to how he paved the way in crossing the “black/white” barrier in many areas of entertainment – I wanted to point out one other music genre that he was the first to cross: Goth music.

 Michael was pop and funk and flash, but he was arguably also one of the first mainstream entertainers (let alone one of African-American descent) to bring the camp/horror aspects of Goth music into the radios and TVs of mainstream America. For what else would you call the song and accompanying mini-movie-video called Thriller, a work of entertainment that dealt not only with a metamorphosis into a werewolf-like creature (“I’m not like other boys,” he said to his unsuspecting date), but also included a sublime and chilling narration from the Late Goth god Vincent Price as well?

 That Michael was aware of the line he was walking is evidenced in the warning he insisted be included at the beginning of the video; that he basically didn’t go for all that occultish stuff, and that he was sorry for scaring everyone. Wink!

 Michael may have been the King of Pop, but he was also a Lord of Goth…camouflaged in red jacket and sequined glove. Hell, how could someone who owned “Elephant Man” John Merrick’s bones not be Goth? The lad was dark, my friends.

 As we say goodbye to the man and embrace the eternal myth…let us give proper respects to a man who safely and deftly brought a slice of good old-fashioned Goth sensibility to the masses.

 You will be missed.