Who's Bad?

This is one of my favorite pictures of Michael Jackson...before the multiple plastic surgeries and general weirdness took over. Michael died on June 25, 2009, at the age of 50 from an overdose of a combination of several prescription drugs. His physician has been charged with manslaughter. I have always been a fan of Michael and The Jackson 5. I watched their cartoon every Saturday morning in the late sixties and followed Michael pretty religiously until the late eighties when things started falling apart for him. No matter what ups and downs his personal life took, no one can deny that Michael Jackson was a creative genius and, boy, could that man bust a move!! As I was once a dancer in a previous life, I have always appreciated Michael's talent and even learned the Thriller choreography in a modern dance class at BYU. Just yesterday, I bought a DVD of all of Michael's music videos...guess I just "can't stop til I get enough!"When I heard that an MJ tribute band was appearing at the Granada in Lawrence, I called Mal and made a date. Debbie went with us and we had a great time. (Notice their matching t-shirts!) This is Michael Jackson number one, Joseph Bell. He had the look and

the voice down but nobody can move like Michael!"Smooth Criminal"

There were only about 150 people at the Granada last night so we got up real close. I think I was the oldest person in the audience until a couple of silver-haired gentlemen came in just before the show started!

Here's early MJ..."I'll Be There."

This is Michael Jackson number two, Taalib York. He is, by far, the better of the two impersonators. Here he is performing "Beat It." And here he is performing...the title track off the best-selling album of all time..."Thriller."

We stayed after the show to visit with the band members and talked first with Taalib. He started "Who's Bad" about four years ago and after two years, left the band to pursue a solo career. They invited him back to join them on the road as their schedule had picked up dramatically since Michael's death in June. (Did I mention that he loved the girls' shirts and requested that the bus driver take them to the nearest Target on the way out of town?!?) Here the girls are with Jay, who plays the trumpet, and Nick the drummer. Overall, Who's Bad puts on a great show and it's fun to take that trip down memory lane but, in the end, no one can compare to the real Michael Jackson!