Lots of emails, calls, blog posts.  Are you going to write something about Michael Jackson?  Did you know him?  Did you ever meet him?  Did you work with him?  What do you think about all that has happened?  

I’ve already written about Michael Jackson in my book and it has nothing to do with anything leading up to his death.  There is nothing for me to say other than a great talent has been lost.

Then, after I posted a link to his last rehearsal footage and made the comment that we had missed out on what would have been an amazing live show, this question was posted on my Facebook page – “Out of all the shows you’ve seen in your days in the entertainment field, who would you say put on the best show? Or to make it easier, the top five. “  This was a question that was easier to answer.  Much easier.  And Michael is most definitely on that list.

My list is probably a little different than most people would have expected for a 20+ rock radio veteran.  So, here it is in no particular order:

• Prince – I first saw him perform at Flippers in Los Angeles.  I don’t even think I was old enough to be in the club and had to be snuck in by his record company personnel and manager.  I had never seen such raw sexuality in a performance and such unabandoned passion with a guitar.  I love to watch this man perform live.  I think his performance and talent were completely lost on a Super Bowl audience.  He’s definitely not a chips and dips kinda guy.
• Lyle Lovett – I swear I would run off with this man. I sent him a note once simply addressed to “Lyle Lovett, (his town), TX” and I’ll be damned if the US Post Office didn’t deliver it.  It was a note letting him know how much I admired his talent and recent performance at the Woodlands Pavilion.  Don’t ask me why I felt compelled to write a note, you would never understand why I think he is one of the sexiest men alive on the planet today.  Within a couple of days he had left me a message on what a fan he had been on mine while I was on the radio and left a phone number.  You would have thought I was 12 years old and David Cassidy had called me.  I called him back, left some long, rambling, stalker type message and never heard from him again.  I’ll go see him every chance I get but I think he’s still scared of me.
• ZZ Top – First it’s the hometown connection and then it’s just the great showmanship and the music from the earlier days, when there was more blues to it and less circus.  There are lots of memories of shows, interviews, hanging out – all in the early 80’s in Houston.  Their music brings up the feelings of why I got into rock and roll in the first place.  It was a magical time.
• Crosby & Nash – Their first performance together, a surprise on stage at Rockefeller’s in Houston, when David had just gotten out of prison.  It still sends chills down my spine when I hear To the Last Whale.  There was great anticipation throughout the first half of the show, a Graham Nash solo concert,  that Crosby might be in the house and make an appearance.  Their manager, Bill Siddons, and I sat a table knowing what was to come.  However, we could never have predicted the raw emotion that came with the performance.  Graham came back after a short intermission, sang a song of two and then the lights went out.  Within a minute or so, a recording of To the Last Whale began to play through the speakers, as the lights faded slowly back up, there stood Graham and David singing in perfect harmony with tears streaming down their faces. 
• And…hands down, the best ever, Michael Jackson.  I’ve only seen him once live, it was during the Bad tour at The Summit in Houston in April of 1988.  It didn’t hurt that I was a part of the entourage from his hotel for a couple of the nights they were in town as a guest of his manager Frank Dileo.  It was surreal and fascinating to take a peek inside his world and spend a few hours there.  The body guards, the decoy vans, the freeway closed, the hotel floors blocked, etc.  I’d seen this before with other rock stars but not even close to this level.  And the other rock stars could not come close to his level of performance either.  It was a memorizing, intoxicating, exhilarating and exhausting show. 

It’s just a list, and taking a recent look at that post on my Facebook page, there are a lot of others who have an all time top five.  A five that left a lasting impression.

What do we take from all of this – from the lists on my Facebook page and from the recent news? 

Don’t conform.  Do your thing.  Follow your passion.  Let your talent shine.  Have fun.   Give people their money’s worth.  Create a quality, memorable product or service.  Learn from mistakes and critiques.  Don’t surround yourself with ‘yes’ people.  Drugs are bad – prescription or otherwise.  Take care of your mind and body.  And push yourself to heights you never though you could achieve.  In the words of KISS’ Gene Simmons, remember that life is too short to not have anything but delusional notions about yourself. 

Hold for applause.  And fade out…..

Back in the early 80′s, when I ruled the rock airwaves in Houston, ZZ Top’s management company was located on a large patch of land off of I-10.  We all used to joke and make fun because the band’s manager, Bill Ham, bought a couple of goats to keep the grass at bay.  He was, to us, notoriously cheap, and this was a great way to save money on a lawn service. 

Apparently Google has figured this out and it is now considered curious, yet brilliant. 

Bill.  I take it all back.  Brilliant.  Ahead of your time.  Maybe Google can hire ZZ Top to play a lunch time concert.  It’s the least they could do.  And invite the goats.

The story:  http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/ariel-schwartz/sustainability/google-rents-goats-lawnmowing-needs