Okay, it's not news but I found myself singing the old Michael Jackson song "Got To Be There," this morning, I found out later that it was his first U.K hit. My mind then turned to what MJ has turned himself into, not the media circus but his appearance.

As a parent you obviously want the best for your children and you put up with their faults and you love them whatever they do - okay Nathalie is only twelve and she may turn into a monster when she grows up but hopefully I'll still love her - and whatever they become.

When I look at Michael Jackson though I think of the little boy of TOTP with his brothers doing Rockin' Robin, the Thriller video, the baby dangling in Germany and then his face. Why would a young(ish) black man (I think we are the same age) want to change his face so dramatically that he is somehow, physically at least, a cross between a Negro and a Caucasian?

I know people who have had nose jobs, boob jobs (to make them smaller for health reasons), I had a cyst removed from my face two years ago, but to go that far is beyond my comprehension and I like to think I'm fairly intelligent.

I wonder how much was his idea and how much he has been lead by those around him, I only mention this because having read Peter Gurainick's superb two-part biography of Elvis Presley it's easy to see how even the most publicly confident people can be led along a path to their personal and professional suicide.