had to be there

My lovely bride & I were just checking in to our hotel, stopping on the way to Cape Cod, & the news had literally just broken. Everybody in the place- young, old, black, white, brown, whatever- gathered around. Whatever his oddities, his peccadillos or indeed his larger sins, his quirks & his faults, he touched us all.

Pure & simple.

I owned "Got To Be There" on vinyl when I was a kid & the needle hardly ever left it.

I was not a huge fan of some of his later stuff, or certainly of his later antics, but his genius cannot, & will not, be denied.

He lived the ultimate irony~

He was a boy who never grew up yet who also never had a childhood.

A sad, sad life lived & ended too soon, but before it did, he left us with so, so much good music.

I hope the tunes outlast the punch-lines.

I know all the songs have been posted everywhere else & I'm oh-so-very-late to the party, so here are some somewhat rare or less mainstream remixes & mash-ups that hopefully will bring a smile to your face & a beat to your feet...