In 1984 I shared a San Diego duplex with a guy named Andy.
We had this thing going on where we’d let someone come and sack out on our sofa for a while until they could get back on their feet and man, we ended up with some oddballs. This was in conjunction with a local church – we were listed as a “hospitality house,” so if anyone came along who’d been evicted or otherwise found themselves suddenly homeless then the church would give us a call.
One day they called about Brian. “He’s okay,” they said. “No criminal stuff, he’s just a guy who got kicked out of the apartment he shared with a roommate and he’s broke.. he’ll be sleeping in the park tonight if we can’t get him a sofa somewhere for a few nights until he gets paid again.”
Fair enough. I went to the church and picked him up. Nice guy. We got to talking..
“I have to be totally honest with you,” Brian said.
“I appreciate that, Brian.” I wasn’t sure what I was in for. Maybe he’d lied to the church counselor and really had just gotten out of prison. Maybe he’d just escaped from prison. Perhaps he was an alien visiting from the planet Xl9ppht (we actually had one of those.)
Maybe all of the above.
“Well, okay..” Brian took a deep breath. “You’ve seen Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video?”
It was 1984.. so of course I had.
“Yeah Brian, it’s nineteen eighty-four.. of course I have.”
“Okay..” He took another, even deeper breath and dug his fingers into the car seat, as if expecting that I’d ram the car into a telephone pole upon hearing whatever news it was he was about to tell me about Michael Jackson’s Thriller video. By the way, in 1984 “telephone poles” were these wooden poles that they strung telephone wires on – I understand they still have some in rural areas.
Brian continued.. “There’s this red jacket that Michael Jackson wore in the Thriller video and, uh.. I bought it.”
“You bought it? Whoa.. when we get to the house can I see it? That’s a cool jacket, man!”
He seemed relieved that we were still on the road and I hadn’t yet thrown anything or yelled. But perhaps I just didn’t get it yet. Truth is, I wasn’t sure what he was saying, so he explained further.
“No, I don’t have it yet.. I put down two hundred dollars on it. They’re holding it for me and I get it when I pay off the rest, which is another two hundred because it was four hundred all together.”
“Wait, you mean it’s not ‘the’ jacket he wore in the video? Because I’d think that would be worth a whole lot more than four hundred bucks.. maybe four thousand.”
Brian looked at me like I still wasn’t quite getting it. Which I wasn’t.
“No, it’s a replica.. but it’s genuine red leather and really good quality and I bought it..” he hesitated again, knowing full well I was about to get it once he spelled it out slowly and used simple words.. “I bought it using my half of the rent.”
I slowed the car down to a simmer.
“You mean, this is why your roommate kicked you out? You spent two hundred dollars on this jacket instead of paying rent?”
“Yeah, and you see, I’m being honest with you that I spent the two hundred, which is why I’m broke and don’t have a place to live and on top of that I need to pay the balance off when I get my next paycheck so I won’t be able to rent a room anywhere for a while. But Dave, I have to have that jacket. I HAVE TO.
Andy wasn’t going to like this. I once saw a kid about 15-years-old steal something out of my car and go into a 7/11 store. I just walked up to him and took it back without saying a word. Andy and I were at a laundromat and when I told him about it he wanted to go beat the kid senseless. I told him it didn’t matter and wouldn’t be worth the trouble because I had my item back and all was fine. I talked him out of it, but barely.
I was hesitant with Brian. “Man, we might just have to figure out something else to tell Andy.. he might throw you out when he hears this.”
“But honesty is the best policy, Dave.. I was upfront with my roommate, I was honest with you and I’m not going to lie to your roommate Andy.. I’m going to tell it like it is, no matter what.”
The guy was pretty strange, getting kicked out over a Michael Jackson jacket and risking losing the digs the church had painstakingly set him up with, but I had to credit him for his bravery – he sure didn’t care what anyone thought of him.
Andy came close to throwing him out, as I knew he would, but there was something about the naive innocence of this guy that had us feeling like we’d rescued a weird, helpless little puppy. A couple of weeks later he showed up after work triumphantly wearing his brand-new, genuine red leather Michael Jackson “Thriller” jacket and grinning as if the king of pop himself had walked up and flung the real thing over his shoulders. Then, just as he’d promised, he found a room to rent when his next payday rolled around, but we stayed in touch and stayed friends for a few years after that.
No matter what you may think of Brian, this story is more about the influence Michael Jackson had in 1984 and continues to have posthumously. I was never a fan, with the exception of “Billie Jean” because of that damned catchy beat. I’ve not spent a lot of time thinking about Michael over the years, except when anyone got to talking about him (which was often) or I heard something in the news (which was a lot) or one of his songs played on the radio (which was all of the time.) Then I’d think back to my helplessly weird little puppy-friend Brian, and that stupid jacket.
We’ve had our Rudy Vallees, our Frank Sinatras and Elvis Presleys over the years, and they’ve all had their Brians out there somewhere, who’d forfeit rent and sleep on a park bench for the opportunity to score some concert tickets, a signed eight by ten glossy or a replica of a jacket.
I don’t get that kind of maniacal fanaticism, but I don’t think I’m supposed to. Somehow it wasn’t meant for me, it was meant for the minions like Brian, and this week they mourn the loss of a god. As for me, I WAS going to say that I’m a bit sad someone else has passed away at too young an age, but I’ll get over it – then I watched some of the videos and listened to a bit of the music, and I have to admit that it’s going to take me a bit longer to get over it than I thought.
The original Billie Jean music video
Additional note – Okay, after a somewhat melancholy review of videos that I haven’t watched in years, I’m reminded of the sheer talent that his man had. Of course there’s the great THRILLER (complete with red jacket) but I’d completely forgotten about the raw energy and brilliance of THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL.
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