Hey, remember Michael Jackson? He was such a hip guy, with those zany dance moves, that massive afro, the pet monkey, and the video about the zombies. That’s how we like to remember him anyway. The latter version of the King of Pop rather resembled a melting clown. No one needs that image tattooed on their mind’s eye. 

The great news for weeping Jackson fans around the world, with their “We Love You Michael” t-shirts, and their wonderfully forgiving nature, is that before he drifted into a long, silent slumber, he had left behind some pop records for those around him to cash in on. The first of which shall be a single, called – rather appropriately – “This Is It”.

It will be hurtling into a vinyl record shop near you on October 12th. Or, if you’re one of those futuristic people who prefer gadgets and gizmos to a good old fashioned crackle, you could probably just download the thing.

The single, of course, will be followed shortly afterwards by an album, crammed with new interpretations of old songs, a few remastered classics, and backing vocals here and there provided by the star’s brothers – once The Jackson Five, latterly The Jacksons. Plus, there will be a film – also conveniently called “This Is It” – dedicated to Jacko’s final days, going through dance routines, and mentally preparing himself for those big comeback concerts.  The concerts that never happened, damn it. That’s coming out on October 28th.

Of course, all of this is nothing new. Following the lead of Elvis, Tupac, and Biggie Smalls, chances are that MJ will enjoy a sudden upsurge in output, now that he’s not around to dictate what does and what doesn’t seem fit for release. So we can probably expect a few “discovered” tracks over the next few years. Pretty much all of which remained undiscovered for so long, because Jackson decided that they were rubbish, even to his poorly withering ears.

But, slight cynicism aside, the melty-face one never did receive the send off that his musical output warranted, and a hunch suggests that a Michael Jackson cast-off could conceivably challenge the greatest hits of a lesser artist, so we shall await the new material with tentatively open ears. The album – coming out on October 26th – for those of you who are interested, is going to be a two-disc affair. That’s a lot of music for a dead man.

Here he is back in the good old days, the genius…

Follow hecklerspray on Twitter