It was in 1983 I think. My friends (I can't really recall but it must be Azmy, Baha, Amran and Zamri waiting for a movie to start at 3pm at the nearby Cathay) and I were having lunch at one of the stalls in Padang Kanak-Kanak in Ipoh, when I saw a Jukebox. I decided that the place could do with some music and so I made my way to the machine. I was browsing through the selections of music when I chanced upon a song that I've read in the newspapers which apparently was already huge hit in the US. Unfortunately, in ancient time Malaysia (unlike today), such hit songs would take their own sweet time to come to Malaysian airwaves. So naturally I chose the song.
Listening it for the first time then, I remembered vividly my friends asking me then: "Lagu apa ko pilih ni Mior???" But I was hook, line and sinker. The beat was simply infectious. And thus began my fascination with the singer's beautiful music and to a certain extent, his eccentricities. Oh yes, the song was Beat It by Michael Jackson.
And today the music dies. RIP Michael. And Al-Fatihah. (he converted to Islam last year)
