There are already too many sudden tributes to the late King of Pop, so I won’t belabor mine.

But, to be fair, I wasn’t a Michael Jackson fan at all when I was growing up. I was a metal head and you just didn’t do that back then.

Then he blindsided us with Thriller.

(photo courtesy of the Associated Press/Kevork Djansezian)

In a way, Jackson tricked us and pulled us in by sticking an Eddie Van Halen solo into the middle “Beat It,” one of the seemingly countless hits off the 1982 award-winning album. It worked.

By then, I had begun to broaden my musical horizons, and had started to get into some Steely Dan and a little jazz. And when I first heard “Billie Jean” off the Thriller album, I was blown away.

Written and arranged by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones, the song was a production masterpiece, up there with cuts from Steely Dan’s Aja and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack — albums which, whether you like them or not, you have to respect for their musical genius and production.

“Billie Jean” made me listen to Thriller beyond the Van Halen licks, and to appreciate much of the album, which was Jackson’s sixth.

So, whacky as it may have gotten, and whatever happened in recent years, respect the man for his talent, his innovation, and the remarkable music he put out there — music even a metal head came to appreciate.

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