I feel a strange mix of sadness and relief at the death of Michael Jackson. It’s sad to see a man die prematurely, whether he’s an international star or the guy next door. But, much sadder is the fact Michael Jackson would never have regained the respect of popular culture had he lived 100 years.

Two remarkable notes from NPR this afternoon: first) a collage of people from places as diverse as Beijing, London and Nigeria, all singing Michael Jackson songs and two) the amazing financial impact the death of one person can have on the world. AEG Live, who were producing Michael’s comeback the the O2 in London, stands to lose as much $120 million and Amazon, who sold out every piece of their Michael Jackson inventory within minutes of his death.

It’s probably too much to ask — the mainstream media are already talking about who gets the kids, who gets the money, who gets the body — but maybe his death will eventually take the focus off his fall from grace and sharpen our sights on what a great musician and entertainer he was.

Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
Jackson 5 - Got To Be There
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean

For most American teenagers, turning on to Electric Light Orchestra in 1975 was just about right on time. Even though they’d put out four albums previously, it wasn’t until Face The Music that most of us has even heard of them.

Of course, it was Evil Woman that caught our attention. That huge orchestral chord, Jeff Lynne’s lament of the fool followed by Richard Tandy’s piano riff made for an absolutely perfect pop tune. To this day, I can remember sitting in my mom’s office in the front of the house, listening to Top 40 radio, the snow crashing down outside, hoping for a day off from school tomorrow.

Even though it takes far too long to get to the nougat in the middle — that would be the unmistakable guitar riff — Fire On High is one of the most intriguing instrumentals in the rock and roll canon. Remember when it was the theme song for CBS Sports Spectacular?

I’m a middle-era ELO guy — from Face The Music to Out of The Blue — so, even though I can almost listen to Don’t Bring Me Down for the shear disco fun of it, I’m partial to Sweet Talkin’ Woman.

They are the three best ELO songs.

ELO - Evil Woman

ELO - Fire On High

ELO - Sweet Talkin’ Woman

You Are So Beautiful is the first song I recall hearing by Joe Cocker.

I remember visiting my sister and (future) brother-in-law when they were living in Fredonia, NY, in a trailer park across the road from Lake Erie. They had rented themselves a “doublewide,” she was just beginning her teaching career and they sometimes offered to take me off of Mom and Dad’s hands for a few weeks at a time.

My brother-in-law had a pair of green Koss headphones about the size of basketballs that he’d let me use for late night listening sessions. I remember laying on the floor, in the dark, listening to I Can Stand A Little Rain and being simply floored by the innocence and vulnerability of Cocker’s voice. And the string arrangement. The string arrangement killed me.

I once began to edit together some video footage of my oldest son when he was very little, using that tune as the background. I’ve lost all those tapes since we moved, weirdly enough, but the song reminds me of him.

Hitchcock Railway came later in life and was a tune that got a lot of spins when I was spinning classic rock in the bars in the 1980’s (before the phrase classic rock was invented). I discovered it on a A and M Records compilation and liked to play it between But Anyway by Blues Traveler and the Bob Seger version of Bo Diddley. I used Feelin Alright in the opposite way: to bring the tempo down from Blues Traveler, maybe as a segue from But Anyway to Young Americans.

They are the three best Joe Cocker songs.

Joe Cocker - You Are So Beautiful
Joe Cocker - Hitchcock Railway
Joe Cocker - Feelin’ Alright

Great photo the Robert Altman Archives (c) 1999

You’ve Made Me So Very Happy was one of the first singles I remember owning. Like all the singles Columbia made through the 60’s and 70’s, the vinyl was pretty darn soft so the song turned scratchy within a few spins. (I remember doing radio in the late 70’s and early 80’s, when we still used records, avoiding CBS product because you knew the first 3 seconds of the song would be burned by repeated “cueings”.

My brother-in-law, a true to life, horn-playing, motorcycle riding hippie introduced me to the rest of the “Sweat” catalog, inadvertently, by letting me listen to his record collection (which included the Chase albums, as well). Later in life, Blood, Sweat And Tears’ greatest hits was always a chart-topper when my younger brother and I would have late-night, somewhat chemically distorted listening sessions.

Agree or disagree, the three best Blood, Sweat and Tears songs:

Blood, Sweat And Tears - And When I Die
Blood, Sweat And Tears - Hi-De-Ho
Blood, Sweat And Tears - You’ve Made Me So Very Happy

Miss Congeniality: Lucretia MacEvil

One of the earliest concerts in my repertoire was Three Dog Night at the Chemung (N.Y.) County Fair, sometime in the neighborhood of 1975. I had yet to know cool from corny but, at 13, thought I was getting there, sitting in the stands with my parents, who had cotton in their ears. Yeah, I knew cool.

The three best songs by Three Dog Night, subject to your agreement or otherwise.

Three Dog Night - The Family Of Man
Three Dog Night - Let Me Serenade You
Three Dog Night - Sure As I’m Sittin’ Here

I had the pleasure — and I sincerely mean, pleasure — of meeting Johnny Cougar Mellencamp back in 1983 (or thereabouts) when he was touring behind American Fool. He was just starting to be huge at the time, touring as an opener for Heart. (I got to meet Nancy Wilson, too, which was a darn fine pleasure, as well. Such a nice lady).

JCM was a nice guy in his own right. Still young, with the ruffian-on-video good looks that won him so many lady fans, confident but not cocky, self-effacing but not at all a pushover. A real down to earth kind of guy, just like he seems.

I wasn’t much of a fan of American Fool — maybe a little too much Jack and Diane overload on MTV at the time — but I thought Scarecrow was brilliant.

So, for no particular reason, the best three tunes by John Mellencamp, in order of preference. Rebut if you like.

John Cougar Mellencamp - Minutes To Memories (from Scarecrow)
John Cougar Mellencamp - Jackie Brown (from Big Daddy)
John Cougar Mellencamp - Let It All Hang Out (hidden track on Big Daddy)