Failed Michael Jackson Impersonator

Mixed Media on Paper -1985

This is a very large drawing. Approximately 6' vertical and 8' horizontal. In the Post Thriller era that became the languid in between era of when is Michael Jackson going to release a new album? I had to traverse Market Street in San Francisco five days a week. As the time grew longer and longer between the release dates of Thriller and the record that would be known as Bad, strange creatures began to appear all up and down Market Street. Such was the King of Pops power to inspire that flattery known as imitation. These charlatans badly pranced, preened and spun upon flattened and dirty refrigerator boxes, moon walking to the noise that spewed from much too loud ghetto blasters, while wearing their approximated Thriller era costumes from the Saint Vincent De Paul Thrift Store.

All of these homemade costumes included the white glove effect. These had to have come from little old lady estate sales. These were the gloves they had worn to church for many years, the exception being their funerals. Clearly they all needed a better Dresser. From the estate sale these gloves had quickly landed in the thrift store and were easy pickings for street life, who then proceeded getting them dirty with pavement pirouettes.

After all this time, I think they were mad. Why would anyone even ponder the idea of impersonating Michael Jackson? The man was completely sui generis and massively gifted to boot! There is no way that the most talented mimic could even come close to approaching the level of brilliance required by this task, let alone guys on the street who saw themselves as entitled to the money of passersby who had simply stumbled across their numerous lame reenactments while once again on their ways to the drudgery of the high rise office. Just because one had to wear a suit, it didn't mean that one had money. Likelier you were suffering with four roommates to be able to afford the astronomical rents.

These imposters were as close to Michael Jackson as those grown men who play army are to the Battle of Antietam.

All of them were worse than Mimes. And after that it went Bad.