Michael Jackson is dead. The King of Pop is gone. For almost a week, news of and reactions to his sudden death dominated every news channel, newspaper, tabloid, blog, YouTube, facebook, and whatever medium that our world is connected with. You couldn’t walk around without seeing the gloved one’s face, represented in its plethora of transformations (and colour); or hearing his signature high-pitched shrieks and yelps being played. It is as if everyone is a born-again Michael Jackson fan.

It was 1979 that Michael Jackson had exploded into the scene as a solo artist (he was part of the Jackson Five act in 1968, but few people really remember him that way).

Under the guidance of legendary music producer, composer and arranger Quincy Jones, the album Off The Wall became the first album to top the charts all over the world, with the best-known award-winning, disco-funk single “Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough”.

Off The Wall also paved the way for many of today’s funk and soul songs, with many R&B, soul and funk musicians cite Michael Jackson as their influence.

It was also 1979 that a certain company in Japan marketed the first portable music player – the Sony Walkman. While journalists and reporters were already using portable sound devices during that time, they were more for recording than playback. The Walkman presented itself as a dedicated, portable personal stereo that made listening to music a personal experience.

When the Sony Walkman was introduced 30 years ago, it completely revolutionised how the world listened to music. It provided a reliable and portable music source people could take anywhere they went.

Well, sort of. Because compared to the ultra small and light portable music devices we have now, most famously the iPod, the Walkman of 1979 and throughout the mid 80s was a huge brick. It was the size of a small book, but it was cutting edge technology in its day. And with the Walkman gaining mass appeal, Michael Jackson’s songs went wherever people went.

People now had the freedom to enjoy music anytime and anywhere. As a result, demand for music was higher than ever. In just a few years following the introduction of the Walkman, pre-recorded cassette tape sales exploded. The concept of listening to music ‘on-the-go’ was a huge hit; with the Walkman having created a new industry and a new, portable form of entertainment. In 1983, worldwide sales of cassettes began surpassing those of LPs, which were the primary release format for recorded music during that time.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that in 1983 came Michael Jackson’s Thriller, the album that would define his career. A potent mix of disco, R&B and funk, its nine tracks spawned seven hit singles, which concurrently hit the Billboard Hot 100 top 10, including "Billie Jean", "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'”. Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, with almost 110 million copies sold to date.

Michael Jackson became the defining popular culture icon during the eighties to the nineties, and the Sony Walkman, in its numerous incarnations, the conduit of his music.

The two “men” began undergoing a series of transformations: the Walkman becoming ever smaller and its features bigger; Michael Jackson becoming whiter and the shape of his nose ever weirder. They were not without their share of highs and lows.

Although the popularity of these two “men” started to slip in recent times – Michael Jackson due to his increasingly erratic and bizarre behaviour, the child-molestation lawsuits; the latest versions of the Walkman could sell nowhere remotely as well as the commanding iPod – their individual legacies in the industries that they pioneered in were undeniable. Michael Jackson transcended boundaries of race and gender, introduced novel techniques in music videos, and paved the way for modern pop, hip hop, R&B, funk and soul. The Walkman gave unprecedented accessibility to the consumption of music.

As the cliché goes, “All good things must come to an end”; Michael Jackson is gone, but he has cemented his position as one of the all-time greatest in music. The Walkman is now officially 30 years old, and is the grand old dame of the ubiquitous iPod. An extraordinary tale of two “men”, a tribute to two trailblazing giants that have changed our world forever.
 

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