Underrated: Michael Jackson

How can one of the greatest recording artists of all time be cast aside? How can someone sell more albums than just about any other musical act and still be underrated?

Three words: Touching little boys. No matter how popular or famous you are, touching little boys will kill your career. And maybe Michael Jackson didn't touch little boys. The point is that most of the world thinks that he did, and in the court of public opinion, that's just as bad as actually doing it.

If you can just push the molestation accusations out of your mind...as well as the creepy looks because of all the surgeries, the awful parenting, and the general creepiness (it'll be a big push), you'll see Michael as he was back in the 80's, a decade that he ruled with an iron (gloved) fist.

Go on Amazon.com and take a look at all of Michael Jackson's albums. Now click on any of those albums and chances are you are at least familiar with a few of the tracks, and you most likely know all the words to a song or two. I would bet money that if I picked 20 Michael Jackson songs and started singing the choruses to them, everyone reading this would be able to sing along with me.

Face it people, as much as you may or may not like the King of Pop, he has earned that nickname. People used to compare Michael's fame and popularity with The Beatles and Elvis. Last time I checked, that's some pretty exclusive company. And yet everyone seems to have pushed Michael Jackson from their minds, mostly because of his personal problems.

How rare is it that a musician writes even one of the best songs of all time? It's realistically debatable that Michael Jackson wrote an entire album's worth of the greatest pop songs ever. Add to that the fact that the man invented the Moonwalk and has his own Sega game...

...and yet no one really talks about him much.

Why? Touching little boys.

Now I know that there's a phase every few years where it's "cool" to like Michael Jackson again (Remember when Alien Ant Farm covered 'Smooth Criminal'?), but for the most part, Mr. Jackson is a joke.

Maybe he touched little kids and maybe he didn't. But he's homies with the Home Alone kid, and that scores a few cool points in my book. So go home and pop in your copy of Off The Wall and appreciate that you were alive in a time to properly enjoy a true musical genius.