Pop music, when viewed within the grand scheme of things, quickly feels, looks, smells quite meaningless. If Michael Jackson’s great legacy is reduced to his paving the way for the megastardom of Madonna, Justin, Britney, et al, then maybe we should just let him go without trying to frame his impact. ?

Jackson, however, is too important to the history of pop music to write off with such a cavalier air.

Yes, the short, sharp pop tune was his trade, and no, he’s hardly Stravinsky or Miles Davis. He might not even be Sly Stone, in terms of obvious musical significance.

Jackson’s genius offered us a bridge between Berry Gordy’s Motown empire — a brand of genius with pop songs that could appeal across color lines but still retain a strong connection to race, a soulfulness, and a cultural identity — and what would come next. Sadly, what came next was disco, but even within that vapid framework, Jackson, both with his brothers and without, made meaningful art.