very well written piece indeed. good read too.

Excellent stuff. Once again it proves just how good of a site Cluas is, in showcasing the writings of many great writers. Well done Aidan, a really good article indeed.

'Bille Jean ' is just a f**king great song full stop ! thats all I have to say !

Cool artical. I flew through it and wanted more! Always a good sign. The James Brown comparison really highlights how he has left such a glorious path with no way back.

Aidan you hit the nail on the head with your piece and it was very well written. Jackson was huge in our house as kids (between watching Bonnie Langford teaching the dance moves from 'Beat It' on Saturday morning TV...to hiding under the bed at the end of Thriller cos I was s**tting it) the boy/man was a legend. The horrible thing is that we've watched the public mental deterioration of a grown man that actually never grew up. Can you imagine how fu*ked up you would be if you were pushed out on stage like that at 5 years old, beaten with a belt for not doing it right and never knowing what it feels like to be anonymous, to be a child - identity crisis? Of course he has. His life has been one big circus with him as the centre piece...his parents should be in court along side him. Of course if the allegations are true then it's horrendous and he has to pay for it and nothing can excuse it, that goes without saying. I just think the whole thing is an example of what our obsession with celebrity and fame can create and it ain't pretty.

Great piece Aidan, thanks for the trip down Jackson lane. Very well written. You know, i wonder how differently things would have worked out for Michael if he had been born somewhere like Kilarney, to Betty and Petter o'Toole, with a scatter of other spogs alongside... Jasus, i'd say he'd be a fierce Irish Dancer...the legs on him!

thanks for the kind words, folks. fairynuff, as a kerryman my mind boggles at the idea! I think he'd be on the kerry team, and then gaelic football would be an olympic sport :D (actually, those o'tooles are fairly dysfunctional too, so he may not have fared much better!!!!!)

Aidan, I know its a bit late to be commenting on this, but I just wanted say you dealt with a delicate subject in an unflinching yet very humane manner. Well done.

...to follow up, just heard the news: "Pop star Michael Jackson has been found not guilty of all charges at the end of his four-month child abuse trial. There were cheers from fans outside the court as the verdicts were read. The singer had strenuously denied molesting 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo. He was also cleared of giving alcohol to the boy, now 15, and conspiring to kidnap him and his family. The star left the court in Santa Maria, California, without speaking to the many fans gathered at the entrance. But his lawyer Thomas Mesereau said: "Justice was served. Michael Jackson is innocent." The BBC's Peter Bowes, who was in court in Santa Maria, said Mr Jackson held a tissue up to his face and showed "muted emotion" as the verdicts were read. Judge Rodney Melville told the singer he was free to go, and also read a statement from the jury saying: "We the jury feel the weight of the world's eyes upon us." The jurors had asked to be allowed to return to "our private lives as anonymously as we came", he added. At a subsequent news conference, an unnamed male jury member said: "One of the first things we decided, that we had to look at him as just like any other individual. Not just as a celebrity. "And once we got that established, we were able to deal with it just as fairly as we could with anybody else." Another juror said: "We expected some better evidence, something more convincing - but it just wasn't there." The verdicts on the 10 charges were reached after about 30 hours of deliberations over the last week. Hundreds of reporters and supporters gathered for the verdicts, with scores of fans bursting into tears as the decisions were relayed on loudspeakers. Mr Jackson was in court with family members including father Joe, mother Katherine and sisters LaToya and Janet. He waved to fans as he left the Santa Maria courthouse, surrounded by minders and family members. He walked straight to his car with little emotion and without the expected statement to the waiting fans and media. Santa Barbara district attorney Tom Sneddon, who led the case against Jackson, said he accepted the decision. "We did the right thing for the right reasons," he said. He was "not going to look back and apologise for what we've done", he told reporters. "We've done a very conscientious and thorough job." Mr Jackson's former wife Debbie Rowe, who defended the star in court, said she was "overjoyed that the justice system really works". Fan Tara Bardella, 19, who came from Arizona two weeks ago to wait for the verdicts, said: "This proves that justice can prevail in America." Raffles Vanexel, 29, from Amsterdam, said: "I cried as a little baby, it was the most beautiful day of my life. "America is celebrating, this is a party and Michael Jackson is going to come back with something incredible." Mr Jackson's trial began in February and the jury retired on 3 June. More than 100 witnesses took the stand, including Gavin Arvizo and his mother Janet. Gavin told the court the singer had put his hands down his trousers and fondled him at Neverland. The trial was sparked after British journalist Martin Bashir made a documentary in which Jackson admitted sharing his bed with children. The star could have been jailed for more than 18 years if convicted on all charges."