I've been a dedicated MJ fan for 40+ years...ask me anything!

[summer]

Here are answers to some of the questions separately. I put all the answers to the questions about seeing Michael on stage, album releases, tours etc in the longer ”era by era” posts. I still have HIStory, Invincible and This Is It eras to write, and the 2003-2005 allegations,trial, Number Ones era, so I’ll post them as soon as I have typed them.



1. How do you cope with the fake Michael Jackson songs. Like……you know?

I was SO EXCITED to get to hear ”new” MJ songs after his death. Even though just hearing his voice made me cry my eyes out and I couldn’t listen to his songs other wise because it made me too sad. But the idea of NEVER getting to hear him again was absolutely unbearable. So because of that, I was excited to get SOMETHING! I was SO SAD that I just needed SOMETHING. Something to get me excited again. Something to look forward to again. I loved the cover of the ”Michael” album. It reminded me of the Dangerous cover. Really REALLY liked it. Still do! And then… I listened to the songs and I was like…..WTF?!!! This is NOT Michael singing?!!!!! I knew it was Michael on: Best of Joy, Much Too Soon, Hold My Hand, Hollywood Tonight, The Way You Love Me, Another Day and Behind The Mask. That was OBVIOUS. But the rest….seriously…WTF?!!!! I was SO OFFENDED that people tried to make us believe that was Michael!!! I had been studying music since I was about 6-7 years old. I went to a performing art school, majoring in music (not that I ever wanted to become an artist but because I loved music) ..MY EARS ARE TRAINED. I GREW UP ANALYZING MUSIC because that’s what I had been taught in school since I was 9 years old. I have been listening and STUDYING Michael’s voice for DECADES…since I was a little kid!! I know EVERY SINGLE NUANCE of his voice!!! So it just felt absolutely INSULTING to have people trying to tell you ”that’s him”!! NO IT IS NOT!!! I listened to the songs a few times and just came to the same conclusion every single time: Nope, nope, NO!!!! So I never listened to those songs again. Ever. And it was SUCH a disappointment to know they were coming from the Cascios because that was the one family that I thought would NEVER betray Michael or try to take an advantage of him….and then here we are. THAT was really difficult to take. It just made me feel so INCREDIABLY sad. Like…did he have ANY real friends?!!!!! Were they ALL the same?!!!! And then to know I would have NEVER EVER done anything to betray him or use him…but I never got a chance to be his friend….but all these people who betrayed him and used him got to spend time with him….it just made me really sad.



2. What are your thoughts and your feelings towards the biopic in progress?

I’m excited! Especially now that I know that Jafaar will play Michael and have seen some pics from the set….WOW!!! Really think they are on the right track! I just hope it will include his adult life until his death too. It feels there have been so many things done about his early days so something that includes the later eras would be welcome. But Bohemian Rhapsody was AMAZING so I have faith that this one will be great too. And since Jafaar and Taj and Prince are involved, I know they won’t make Michael look like some sad cartoon character. That has always bothered me the most in everything I have seen before…where MJ is made to look like this serious, sad, odd, weak person when he was anything BUT! He had SUCH a great sense of humor and his LAUGH is almost like one of his trademarks and he was STRONG and RESILIANT and HIGHLY INTELLIGENT and GIVING and KIND and had such a great spirit! So I have faith they will show him as that considering the right people are involved! And I do hope they include the allegations. The media is going to mention them at every article anyways (as we have already seen), regardless if they are in the movie or not, so it would be a missed opportunity in my opinion if they were not included. Make the audience feel what MJ felt. Show them what it was REALLY like for him. Make them hurt and cry for him the way they hurt and made him cry while he lived. I think that’s the best way to make the general public understand him. If they can feel the pain through the movie.



3.Any MJ posters that you recall being a fave? books etc.

I had this huge poster with a photo of Michael from the Bad tour. He didn’t have the silver shirt on but a red one. And his arm is up and he’s singing in it and sweaty and it is in a close up…so close you can see the sweat. And I just LOVED that poster!!! It was on my room’s door..on the inside of course, so that I could look at it! I just thought (and still do) that Michael was the most GORGEOUS HUMAN I had EVER seen so that poster just made me go I think I most likely still have that poster somewhere. As for books… I remember buying Taraborelli’s ”The Magic and the Madness” around 1991 and it was thick like a brick but I read it like in two days!! I know better now, but back then, I actually thought it was pretty good. (The very first version.) I kept going back to read parts of it and it was like an encyclopedia. I also bought Katherine’s book around that time too and I loved that too. And of course Michael’s own book ”Moonwalk”.



4.Thoughts on when m released Dancing The Dream?

I knew it was out but it was SO DIFFICULT to find!! You couldn’t get it ANYWHERE!!! Finally I was able to borrow a copy from somewhere (I have no idea from where)….and I made my dad copy the whole thing for me at work!! I just wanted to get Michael’s poems and get to read them!! And as always…I was so impressed by it. Not only a talented songwriter, singer, dancer, entertainer, actor….but a poet too!! And I loved the pictures in the book! Later on in 1994, I was FINALLY able to find a copy at a book store in Germany! Like, just randomly found it there and immmediately was like ”AAAAHHHH!!!!!” And yes, OF COURSE I bought it!



5.Best song from Bad?

If I only had to choose one…Well, I can’t!! But I’d say Smooth Criminal or Man In The Mirror…if I HAD to choose only one or two. Love both of those songs!! Man In The Mirror live is SOMETHING ELSE!!! And I loooove Smooth Criminal and the video to it is GENIUS!!



6.When would you say MJ was at his most famous? Was it during the Thriller days, the Bad days or around the Super Bowl performance?

I’d say around the Super Bowl. His fame just grew and grew and he was such a PIONEER and such a VISIONARY and everyone was basically just waiting to see what he does next!! Everyone LOVED him! Like I said…he was like the KING of the world!! Only God knows what he could’ve accomplished if there wouldn’t have been the allegations.



7.Was the fame that MJ had back when he had just died comparable to the fame he had in the early 90’s, or even the 80’s?

No. Because back then everyone loved him for the right reasons. After he died, all the worms and snakes who had ridiculed him all his life came out to tell everyone how they really actually loved Michael and the media kept yapping about how unfairly he was treated all his life and it was like ”Well gee..THANKS!!! A bit LATE now!!! You all kept TORTURING him while he lived and all of you are a part of the reason he DIED!!!! You could’ve said you loved and appreciated him WHILE HE LIVED….Maybe he would still be with us today, had you done that!!!! A bit late now!!!” (And now the same media people who were telling what a wonderful person he was after he died…once again slander him at every turn. And yes, I’m ONLY talking about the media (excluding the radio stations because they play his music almost daily), not the average person, because I haven’t come across a person who wouldn’t love Michael yet or would have believed the LN lies. Not one. (In real life that is.)



8.Back when the Bad album came out, did people think it was a worthy successor to Thriller or did people think it was a downgrade?

They absolutely thought it was a worthy successor and by no means a downgrade! He took it to yet another level with a new look and new sound and the ”Michaelmania” was definitely BACK immediately!



9.Are you able to talk more about the times you met Michael? Do you remember how the conversations went and if there are photos from those days?

I unfortunately never got to meet Michael. As in ”MEET” him so that I could have had a conversation with him or even say him. But I’ve seen him lots of times and sort of interacted with him. I was SUPPOSED to meet him in Prague before the HIStory tour show but……as faith would have it…nothing came of it. I’ll write more about that in the HIStory era post. I did get to go to an amusement park with him though once. That was such an amazing experience! I’ll write more about that too in my HIStory era post which will be the next one I’ll write and post here! And the last time I saw him was in London 3 months before he died and he was RIGHT in front of me but since I’m REALLY shy, I didn’t say anything. I just smiled like an idiot. Like, I was pretty much this emoji: Or this: I tried to hand him a letter I had for him but he didn’t take it. Later on I’ve wondered if he thought I was just trying to grab him because I was trying to reach out as far as I could so that he could take it without anyone grabbing his hand (that was my reasoning and I knew I wasn’t going to grab him…but of course HE didn’t know that ) or if he thought I was asking him to sign something. So right away afterwards I was like (I need the head bang against the wall emoji ) ”YOU IDIOT!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!!! He probably thought you’re trying to grab him or were begging for an autograph!!! Whyyyyyy did you do that?!!! And why didn’t you SAY anything to him?!!!” Like if REGRET was an emoji….it would be the banging head against the wall one! I have one photo from the amusement park and photos and videos of when I saw him for the very last time. I saw him several times at his hotels…at the London Sony demo and the Killer Thriller fan party, etc. (will write more about those too later on in the era posts! ) I guess it was sort of my own fault in a way that I never got to meet him to even really say hi. I WANTED to meet him…REALLY BAD..but I also didn’t want to bother him. (Nor would I ever have had enough money to travel to everywhere he went even if I would have wanted to..I was lucky to be able to scrape together enough to even go to the ones I did go! ) He kept saying how he can’t go anywhere so I wanted to give him his space. Not at all judging any of the fans who followed him everywhere he went and I was very aware that a lot of fans got to meet him that way so I guessed he didn’t mind… But everyone has to do what they think is right and I just couldn’t do it. I personally wouldn’t have felt good about meeting him that way. Again, that was just against MY own principles. Not judging others. I did go to his hotels to catch a glimpse and see him wave at the window. I figured that at least he can choose if he wants to see us or not. If he doesn’t want to, he won’t come to the window…if he does…he will come to the window. That was sort of my “compromise” with myself and as far as I felt comfortable. So when he left the hotel to go shopping etc…I never followed. Or lie to get into places where he was that would’ve other wise been off limits. It just didn’t feel right to me, so I never did it. Have I regretted it and gone through all kinds of ”what if” scenarios and ”You idiot…why didn’t you just do it, everyone else did too and he got to know them that way and they got to spend more time with him” conversations in my mind…especially after he died…Yes. A lot of times. But I’m a pretty shy and quiet person and like I said…I had such huge respect for Michael and his space so even if I would have wanted to…I don’t know if I could have done it…EVEN while knowing I probably missed out on a LOT of great opportunities to meet him and spend time with him. But as I said…at the end of the day it is ME who has to live with myself…so I can only do what feels right to ME and what I’m comfortable with. But do I have regrets? Yes. Many. Would I change it if I could go back…knowing myself..probably not because I know I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. (Talking about standing in one’s own way…!)



10.Do you think that supporting m for over 4 decades shaped your mind, thoughts, values & core beliefs /how you are as a person? Did you see him as a teacher of sorts?…If so, what did he teach you that pethaps other artists at that time couldn’t?

Absolutely, 100%!! I absolutely saw him as a role model. He just seemed so STRONG and WISE and KIND….like just an overall good person. I loved that he lived such a healthy lifestyle and didn’t drink alcohol or smoke or anything and was a vegetarian. I was never interested in alcohol or smoking or drugs but as you got older, it was like you were EXPECTED to drink or you were “weird” and “no fun”, and I just didn’t want to drink or do any of that so MJ was the reason that helped me fight the peer pressure. Like, even though Michael didn’t know me..I just wanted to make him proud of me. I know it sounds weird and I don’t know if anyone can relate, but I just thought that I wanna be the best I can be to make him proud! He always talked about studying hard and working hard and I remember hearing him having said ”Even if you’re a janitor..be the BEST janitor you can be! Do your work with pride and try to learn as MUCH as you can about it!” (Something along those lines.) So that really stuck with me and inspired me! And Michael always reminding about the importance of being kind and to ”be like children…to have the innocence of children and look at the world through the eyes of wonderment and magic”…that stuck with me too. As in, be kind…and be ”innocent” in a sense that you never try to use people or take an adantage of them or stab them in the back and all that (while still not being a doormat either). And ”be the voice of the voiceless”…as in…stand up for those who can’t defend themselves or who are being mistreated or who have been abandoned and forgotten by others…Stand up for what is right, even if you’re the only one standing and help those who are too weak or defeated to defend themseives. Try to promote peace. Try to do everything in your power to make this world a better place…do your part and try to inspire others to do theirs. Try to be tolerant. Through Michael I learned about climate change and the need to treat our planet well….before it even became a “thing”. I became aware of world hunger, poverty, racism, police brutality….I could go on and on but basically in a nut shell: Be a good, kind human being. Work and study hard. Be the best you can be and help others. Oh and be a PIONEER! And…Michael made me start running!! Because I wanted to be at the FRONT at his shows(this was in the 90’s when everyone still had an equal chance in getting to the front, if you just went there to wait early enough) …so in order to get there…you had to be able to run fast and run the whole way from the gates to the front at that pace too so that you could outrun other fans…So…I ran every day to be in good enough shape to get to the front!! So that was my motivation for running!!! Michael just inspired me in every possible way! Like, I even remember him talking about how children are so creative because they have not learned society’s limitations yet. For them, anything is possible. So for example, when painting a picture…”the sky doesn’t have to be blue”. Or something along those lines. So that has stuck with me too…to try to think outside of the box. And of course: ”Study the greats and become greater.” There are SO MANY things I learned from Michael. About history, art history…you name it! I even learned another language, just to be able to read and understand the articles about him in the magazines!! I just can’t recall ever hearing much anything from other artists that would’ve inspired me or taught me much anything.

 

[summer]

This is awesome! Happy to provide some insight.

I was in the stores for Day 1 releases of Bad, Dangerous, History, BOTDF, Invincible, and even some of the greatest hits packages. There earlier releases were definitely packed with people waiting to buy. I would say all the way through History. I would go to record or even department store, and people would be not only buying the released album, but also his older albums. It was hard to find all his stuff. What I remember the most is that there were all types of people buying the albums...young, old, black, white, you name it. It was also cool to see people buying all types of media...tapes, records, CDs. That's something you don't really experience anymore with music. People literally swamped around the music section, talking about their favorite artist, album, etc. I miss that. History had a big release and I had reserved it. There were a lot of people buying that album. The later albums did have the massive turnouts, but still sold well for the stores.

I didn't have cable growing up, so I used to always try to go to my friend's house just to watch MTV. Fortunately, they played MJ all the time, so I saw most of Michael's videos a lot, even without having cable. And I was always there for the "worldwide" premieres of videos like "Black or White" that made it on Network TV. I used to rent VHS copies from my local movie rental store of the "Making of Thriller" and "Moonwalker" all the time. Once the Dangerous short film VHS came out, I bought that as well as the History one. It was so cool being able to finally watch these videos over and over again.

The energy was INSANE when MJ appeared. Even just a hint of him appearing would blow the lid off the entire arena. If a video of him played or a sound que indicated he might be on his way out, the crowd went NUTS. Everyone things how awesome it is that MJ stood so still for so long during Dangerous or the SuperBowl...but he literally had to do it just to wait for the crowd to come down! It was such a cool feeling. Just tremendous excitement, noise, and energy that really didn't even let go until the concert was finished!

Thriller definitely stood out to me as a music video unlike any other. It was literally a movie like a blockbuster is today. It had its own screenings, "behind the scenes" video, merchandise, etc. And then the content itself was just incredible. A mixture of genres, moods, performances...it was just insane.

I never attended any fan clubs in person. But I did subscribe to a French Michael Jackson fan magazine called "Black and White." My family used to live in France during the summers, so I could read French pretty well. This was a great fan magazine with a lot of awesome articles, information, and incredible pictures. I never attended a fan club in person.

There were a lot of new MJ videos coming out during Dangerous and History. It was so cool to be alive when these videos would come out and hear people reacting/talking about them. Kind of like how people talk about TV shows or episodes today. All my friends would talk about them at school. I remember the ones that were the biggest "hit" with my peers were "Black or White, Jam, Remember the Time, Earth Song, You Are Not Alone, Scream, and They Don't Care About Us." It was cool because everyone would talk about MJ...what he was doing in the video, what the song was about, and what he looked like. I remember having the HARDEST time trying to watch Ghosts. It was a couple of years before I could get a hand on a copy to watch b/c it was never officially released in the US. I finally got a copy on VHS in France that I had to transfer to a USA format just to be able to watch it. It was just so cool in general to talk about the work of Michael Jackson instead of the rumors or negative press about him. Now, I feel like whenever people talk about MJ's work, they do so with an asterix. I hope the movie changes that.

I was excited for Invisible. I had been waiting for YEARS for it to come out because he was recording for so long. We would keep catching wind of him recording here or there, or he himself would hint at a release. Like the World Music Awards in 2000, or his appearance on Wetten Daas in 1999. I was more excited for that album than I had been since Dangerous. It had been far too long since his last full album and I was excited for a fresh/modern Michael Jackson. The rumors/hopes for the album were out of control. And by then, the Internet was coming alive, so it was easier to follow news about the release online. When "You Rock My World" leaked online, I went nuts. I thought the song was amazing and a cool song that was an homage to his Off the Wall era, but with a modern take. This is what I wanted! I bought a CD in every color and raced home to listen to it on my stereo from start to finish. I wanted the album to redeem Michael. By that time, he was no longer "cool" in America and people were starting to question his musical relevance in the midst of the popularity of artists like Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Brittany Spears, etc. I did like the album a lot. I really loved how hard it opened (like most of his albums do) with Unbreakable. I thought Heartbreaker was good, but long. I didn't care too much for Invincible. I thought for a title track it should/could have been stronger. I liked the ballads better, which was a first for me on an album. I wanted more songs that I knew would blow the world up, but I just didn't hear them. And the rumors had been that this album was so different, so futuristic, that I was let down in that regard. I thought it felt a bit "dated" in the sound even though it had just come out. But I still enjoyed it and listened to it nonstop. I desperately wanted there to be music videos made. The leaked concept for Unbreakable involving Mel Gibson sounded awesome. I liked the video for You Rock My World, but didn't like his appearance because his mouth seemed partially paralyzed and he had had more nose work. I was starting to get concerned that he was not going to be back on top again. But I remained a devoted fan and still loved the music. The energy around the release was still big. The Times Square record signing was massive. It was cool to see him ring in the bell for the NasDaq. And of course the MSG concerts were just incredible. But, for me, it was just missing that touch of Michael "magic" that his other albums had.

You make a great point about MJ standing still on stage not being JUST a “move” but a necessity too! People would scream their heads off as soon as they saw him!! It’s hard to describe the sound and it can be hard to really understand it and understand exactly HOW LOUD it was, unless you have experienced it yourself in real life. The screaming was DEAFENING!!! But in a good way!

 

[summer]

I randomly came across this thread. I rarely visit any more, but as there are people asking genuine questions, I hope you dont mind me answering some of the questions too. For those who may not know me, I'm from Ireland and been a fan since Thriller era. I went to the Dublin History concert, met fans from MJNI the UK fanclub, then joined that fanclub. Then joined the online fan communities in 1999, and started travelling Europe and America to see Michael. From 1999 to 2009 I was a very active member in both the online fan communities and real life fan communities.


Very similar experience to Spidey At the time of first album release in 2010, like many fans I was following all the updates online. It didnt have the same excitement as Invincible but at the time it was seen as something positive. But then fans who I knew both online and in real life were having negative reactions, so that was it for me. I have not bought ANY posthumous album, and have made a conscious decision to not listen to any post humous music. That first album caused such a huge split in the fan community which has never healed and is part of the reason that many people became less active on this forum and others.

Cautiously optimistic. I know I am not the target market, I have not decided if I will watch it. I want it to be like Jacksons An American Dream, as in a neutral way for Gen Z and Gen Alpha to find out about Michael. Theres now a generation who have grown up without him in this world, and are not tainted by first hand experiences of the mainstream bias against him from the 190's and 2000's.

It was amazing. I was the typical MTV kid, that was my main source of music information. I also bought all the music magazines each week, Smash Hits and Just 17. Back then I could only get albums for birthdays and Christmas so I had to wait until Christmas for the album. It was never out of my cassette walkman for months. I carried it everywhere.

I remember the Black or White premiere on UK music program Top of The Pops. I taped it on VHS video and watched it over and over. I loved the new direction and image.

I watched that on tv and taped it on VHS. I watched it over and over and I think I still have the VHS video somewhere. I found it amazing, it was the first time I saw Neverland, and I loved hearing him speak and in his home. At the time I was just focused on him, but it was only years later, that I started to realise just how wrong and inappropriate that whole thing was.

I had a huge Black or White promo poster on the back of my door, the one with him posing with the panther. I didnt have much money to buy things, so most of my posters came from Smash Hits magazines. I bought a lot of books from second hand book shops. At that time the paperback Moonwalk was one of my main books.

I loved it and it was a birthday gift, as I didnt have the money to buy it. I loved it and still have my original copy.

I have the original first pressing of Bad on cassette, so I have the spoken into version to IJCSLY. To a young teen, that was just

As a teen growing up in Ireland I would say Bad Tour to Dangerous Tour. Bad tour in Ireland was just something else, the hype the mainstream media, everyone talking about it. Then the momentum kept rolling with MTV. They did Michael Jackson weekends, had tour documentaries and so much more. The songs were on mainstream radio and tv. We had the weekly UK Top of The Pops on Thursdays, Saturday morning kids tv shows, music magazines. He was everywhere. Basically the way Taylor Swift is now, but Michael did it without the internet and all with analogue TV and radio and print magazines.


Absolutely not. My thoughts about the post death fans and the hype in 2010, 2011 are for a different day and different thread.


In Ireland and I guess Europe in general, while Thriller was epic in every way, it was BAD that made him a global megastar. It was BAD that give him mainstream success in Europe.

I have posted in other places about meeting Michael and talking to him. For those who dont know
1. I met Michael briefly outside the Dorchester Hotel in London in 2000.
2. I was at the Invincible CD Signing at Virgin Megastore in New York November 2001. I was also part of a group of fans who talked to him outside The Four Seasons Hotel the next day.
3.I met Michael briefly when he was shopping in Berlin the day before The Bambi Awards in November 2002. Parts of this time are on YouTube and you can see the top of my head and hear me say I came all the way from Ireland.
4. I was part of a group of fans invited into Neverland in April 2005, the day of the Roses of Love project. There is a video on YouTube about this, and you can see me in the group of fans at the gate.

I was so upset about not going to Bad tour. My parents said I was too young. I wasnt even brought to the area to experience the atmosphere, even though we were only about 2 hours drive away. That was the first time I realized that my parents had no understanding about how much he meant to me.

It felt like it was his turn to shine again. I was at the press conference in London at The O2. I remember getting text messages that he was coming to London and it wasnt just like previous visits, that he would be announcing something. It felt like finally we can put the negative issues in the past, that he was back in the news for the right reasons and that the main stream world would once again see him as the global superstar.

We were all so happy, to finally have our Michael back on stage, and that he knew that no matter what we supported him.

Like many others I followed the updates daily here on MJJC and on Twitter. We got updates from the fans in LA and it was just the most incredible joyous thing.

I was also at the Lanesbourgh Hotel in March 2009, where he stayed for the press conference. It was just so amazing to be there again, to have the fans there for a happy reason. It was a crazy feeling of happiness, knowing he was going back to LA and that we had this amazing summer to look forward to. I remember that last morning, saying goodbye to him, how everyone was just full of excitement.

I lived in London so lots of my fan friends were making plans to stay with me when they had concert tickets. We were all rearranging our lives and planning t be at as many concerts as possible. I had tickets for about 12 different concerts and was aiming to get a lot more. Those months from March to June was just indescribable, we knew so much than the general public about concert preparations and we just couldnt wait until opening night and have our Michael back on top of the world.

You were sooooo lucky to get to meet him!! And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer fan too!! Remember the night at Michael’s hotel after the press conference?!! He seemed SOOOO HAPPY!!! ”Those sweet memories…will ALWAYS be dear to me..” Were you at the O2 when we released the balloons during the vigil? I was crying the whole night so my memories are a bit blurry. I do remember that Motsey and Mayah and Andy were there and Gary also for some time…and I think Pez too….

 

[SoS]

Thanks for this thread...and what a good idea you had to do this and quite generous of you!
I have sort of strange questions because I came into Jackson world during the J5 era (I think I'll change my username to Granny_MJ) and lost track after life started 'lifing' in my 30's which was the Bad era which I pretty much missed.

Although whilst at the grocery store, I did see him on the cover of Newsweek and believe it or not, I looked at that picture and wondered if perhaps he may have had vitiligo, because I had seen several people who had vitiligo so it was easy to recognize that pigmentation.

If you happen to have ever heard of, Indian Earth, (which was popular back then), I remember wondering whether he had used it in that photo I saw.
It was an Indian clay that blended with your complexion to create one "color", evening out the skin tone.

Other than hearing songs on the radio, and reading, Dancing The Dream (which I saw in the library), I had my head down working on a lot of things in life and life was "lifing" for me a long time, so I lost track of MJ, until the early 2000s when I saw him protesting Sony, then found a site called Steady Laughing, and in 2003 when I saw him on LWMJ then a few months later in handcuffs!

So even though its a little (actually quite very) embarrassing I actually have some random 'trivia' type questions that (I think) all fans on this site know except me,

so its really more a, "everything you ever wanted to know about MJ after the Bad era but never knew who you could ask who wouldn't judge you", type thing.

Recently, I asked one of my questions in a thread but it quickly became derailed just enough that I never really got an exact, simple, straight answer so I'll make it question #1 for you

and that question is...

1.
At what point (era?) did MJ add, 777 to his whole thing ... wardrobe? ... or did it show up in other things? concerts? music? album covers?...or ...or...or? IOW, when and how did you ever FIRST see 777? Did 11:11 come into play at the same time? What about 711? or 117? Or are those just post-death associations? I never could get the straight of where any of these numbers originated with MJ.

2.
When (if you HAPPEN to randomly know) was the FIRST concert where YANA girls were a thing? IOW, was it London? or where? I wonder was it done at every cocert during the HIStory tour?

3.
Do you happen to know whether Dancing the Dream was advertised during the Dangerous era, (or at concert concession stands or magazines, or somewhere else?) so that fans were made aware of Dancing the Dream when it was orignally published? Or do you think everyone learned about it randomly like I did?

When did you first ever see, or hear of or read DTD?

(I knowwww. . . I'm gettin' greedy here! but thaNK you SO MUCH for this!)


4. OK LAST question is more related to your post, and that is ...

which of the times you met MJ did you feel was the most interesting or 'quality, or just the most (lacking the right word here) 'fulfilling' to you as a dedicated fan?

OK well, I guess that's enough work I've put you through for now. Thanks again for this thread!!

 

[zinniabooklover]

[...] I have sort of strange questions because I came into Jackson world during the J5 era

Not meaning to derail the thread but just wanted to pop in quickly and say, yeah, me also. Got into J5 from day dot and it was always about Michael. Even back then.

(I think I'll change my username to Granny_MJ)

and lost track after life started 'lifing' in my 30's which was the Bad era which I pretty much missed.

It does that, doesn't it?

 

[summer]

Thanks for this thread...and what a good idea you had to do this and quite generous of you!
I have sort of strange questions because I came into Jackson world during the J5 era (I think I'll change my username to Granny_MJ) and lost track after life started 'lifing' in my 30's which was the Bad era which I pretty much missed.

Although whilst at the grocery store, I did see him on the cover of Newsweek and believe it or not, I looked at that picture and wondered if perhaps he may have had vitiligo, because I had seen several people who had vitiligo so it was easy to recognize that pigmentation.

If you happen to have ever heard of, Indian Earth, (which was popular back then), I remember wondering whether he had used it in that photo I saw.
It was an Indian clay that blended with your complexion to create one "color", evening out the skin tone.

Other than hearing songs on the radio, and reading, Dancing The Dream (which I saw in the library), I had my head down working on a lot of things in life and life was "lifing" for me a long time, so I lost track of MJ, until the early 2000s when I saw him protesting Sony, then found a site called Steady Laughing, and in 2003 when I saw him on LWMJ then a few months later in handcuffs!

So even though its a little (actually quite very) embarrassing I actually have some random 'trivia' type questions that (I think) all fans on this site know except me,

so its really more a, "everything you ever wanted to know about MJ after the Bad era but never knew who you could ask who wouldn't judge you", type thing.

Recently, I asked one of my questions in a thread but it quickly became derailed just enough that I never really got an exact, simple, straight answer so I'll make it question #1 for you

Heeeeeeeyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!! So good to see you again on here!!!! We had so much fun on the LITD thread back in the day!!! Glad to see you’re still around! Had to laugh at the ”Granny”….girl….you ain’t the only one!! But I’m like The Nanny, Fran Fine…”Forever 25”.

and that question is...

1.
At what point (era?) did MJ add, 777 to his whole thing ... wardrobe? ... or did it show up in other things? concerts? music? album covers?...or ...or...or? IOW, when and how did you ever FIRST see 777? Did 11:11 come into play at the same time? What about 711? or 117? Or are those just post-death associations? I never could get the straight of where any of these numbers originated with MJ.

Great question! I’ve never really thought about it but now that I did….I think the first time was during the HIStory era. Didn’t his jacket that he had on for the HIStory promo video that he filmed in Budapest have 777 on the side of the sleeve? I’d say that was the first time….Before that he’d use the number 1998 with three circles underneath it and an arrow pointing right underneath the circles (if I remember correctly) when he signed his name. I never knew what the signifigance of that number was (if anyone knows..feel free to answer! ) but my guess was it maybe had something to do with him wanting a family and maybe the circles represented the number of kids he wished to have by then. But that is TOTALLY only pure speculation on my part and just a very WILD guess so please do not quote me on it because your guess is as good as mine! I heard somewhere that the 777 stood for his name Michael Jackson (both names having 7 letters) and him being the 7th child of 9. But I have no idea if that was just some fans guess on what it meant or if it that really was the meaning behind it. I think Michael Bush maybe could know the answer.

2.
When (if you HAPPEN to randomly know) was the FIRST concert where YANA girls were a thing? IOW, was it London? or where? I wonder was it done at every cocert during the HIStory tour?

The first YANA girl was in Prague in September 1996. It was the first show of the HIStory tour. I know that because I was there and saw it live. However, he always brought a girl up on stage during the previous tours too (Bad and Dangerous), but it was during ”She’s Out Of My Life”. He’d sing..then stop and go ”Can I come down there?” (meaning the steps leading down from the stage to where the audience was and where the girl was waiting for him…and then the girl got to walk up the stairs to Michael and he would dance with the girl abd most of the girls acted just like the YANA girls.

3.
Do you happen to know whether Dancing the Dream was advertised during the Dangerous era, (or at concert concession stands or magazines, or somewhere else?) so that fans were made aware of Dancing the Dream when it was orignally published? Or do you think everyone learned about it randomly like I did?

When did you first ever see, or hear of or read DTD?

(I knowwww. . . I'm gettin' greedy here! but thaNK you SO MUCH for this!)

I would say it did get advertised or other wise I would not have known about it. I mean, back then, there was no internet so your only source were rock magazines, TV, newspapers and radio. I honestly have no recollection where I heard about it first or any ads about it. Somehow, when I think about it, the paintings and the artist come into mind first who did some really beautiful artwork for the book and also did big paintings for Michael for Neverland…and I don’t know if it came through the artwork that I learned about the book? I honestly can’t remember. I think the artist’s name was David Nordahl. An absolutely amazing artist!

4. OK LAST question is more related to your post, and that is ...

which of the times you met MJ did you feel was the most interesting or 'quality, or just the most (lacking the right word here) 'fulfilling' to you as a dedicated fan?

OK well, I guess that's enough work I've put you through for now. Thanks again for this thread!!

I never met Michael as in ”met MET” him…as in…would’ve been able to actually have a conversation with him…but there still were a lot of times that still were meaningful and fulfilling. Getting to go to an amusement park that is closed to public with him was so special and showed what a truly KIND, giving and generous person he is! He didn’t have to do it, but he did. I’ll forever love him for that! I’ve never seen any other artist or celebrity do that or wanting to share anything with their fans, especially in such a generous way, and especially on their free time, and ESPECIALLY without it being a press opportunity! But Michael was famous among fans for being generous and kind and giving! The press or others outside the fan community just didn’t know about it because as I said…Michael didn’t do it for cameras or press. He did it from his heart. And even though I didn’t get to talk to Michael, I was still able to see him because he was just a few feet away. We all understood how LUCKY we were and how KIND it was of him to do that and how SPECIAL that was, so we respected him and didn’t rush to him or try to grab him because none of us wanted to ruin it. Munich 1999 was special too. The night before the MJ & Friends press conference. Michael literally spent the WHOLE evening on the window with us and he showed Prince and Paris to us. That was the first time I saw Prince and Paris. (The last time I saw the kids and first time I saw Blanket (now Bigi) was in London 2009 before he died because the kids came to the window too. ) And also the evening before the MJ & Friends concert was special. Maybe the most ”fulfiling” one as a fan was London 2009 though. Mostly because I’m just so grateful I got to be there and see him one last time before he died and I hope he recognized me, not because of me as a person..but as a fan from way back..from DECADES ago and who had been there through thick and thin…just so that he’d know we are all still there and never left and still love him. If I was able to accomplish that and make him feel loved and able to let him know we’re all still here…then that’s all that I wanted and all that matters to me. That makes me feel fulfilled. He had to endure such HELL so I hope he at least was able to feel comfort and was able to feel the love if he saw (hopefully) familiar faces from down the road in the crowd. If I was able to do that, then it doesn’t matter that I never met him, that’s more important to me.

 

[summer]

Not meaning to derail the thread but just wanted to pop in quickly and say, yeah, me also. Got into J5 from day dot and it was always about Michael. Even back then.





It does that, doesn't it?

You’re sooooo lucky to have experienced the J5 era!!!! How was that? Did you ever get to see them in concert? Any memories or experiences from around that time or from later on from The Jacksons era that you could share?! (And SoS too!!) It would be sooooo interesting and cool to hear about that because we have heard so little about how being a fan was then and maybe seeing them for the first time on TV or hearing them on the radio or getting to buy their album etc. So if you guys don’t mind sharing..I’d love to hear your memories! Anything you can remember or think of from those eras!

 

[Moonstreet]

Heeeeey girl!!!!!!!!! SOOOOO GREAT to see you here after all these years!!!!! Always so comforting to see familiar faces from way back when, especially the ones I met during MJ travels, still around!!! We really had the BEST time, didn’t we?!!! Such wonderful, wonderful memories!!! The lack of sleep…having no voice from having chanted and screamed so much…but being OH SO HAPPY every single time we had seen Michael!! Miss those times SO MUCH! The happiest I have ever been!

Oh goodness, sometimes it feels like a dream, another life, those times were just such a magical bubble world. Most dont realize it was soo much more that seeing Michael and being around him. People watch the videos of him but dont understand how special and amazing it was just be with the fans.

Reading your posts, brings it all back, its all still inside us, its crazy to think the press conference was 15 years ago.

Ah the old school days of yesteryear where we sat in front of tv for hours with our finger ready on the record button of our video player to record MJ videos. I accumulated a full vhs tape of MJ videos that way.

Oh wow ,your post brings me right back. Its so cool to hear how others were doing the same as me. We were all so disconnected back then, everyone thinking we were the only ones doing stuff like this.

You were sooooo lucky to get to meet him!! And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer fan too!! Remember the night at Michael’s hotel after the press conference?!! He seemed SOOOO HAPPY!!! ”Those sweet memories…will ALWAYS be dear to me..” Were you at the O2 when we released the balloons during the vigil? I was crying the whole night so my memories are a bit blurry. I do remember that Motsey and Mayah and Andy were there and Gary also for some time…and I think Pez too….

Aww thanks, Yes I do remember that night. Such a moment in time, pure happiness and joy and just such a felling of expecatation. He knew we supported him, he knew we cared.

Yes I was at The 02 for the balloon release. I stayed outside, I couldnt go into the building, knowing he should have been on the stage at that exact moment.

Thanks for this thread...and what a good idea you had to do this and quite generous of you!
I have sort of strange questions because I came into Jackson world during the J5 era (I think I'll change my username to Granny_MJ) and lost track after life started 'lifing' in my 30's which was the Bad era which I pretty much missed.

Im going to answer your questions as I find them interesting, but just know that I have a hard time with people like you. Just being honest, but thats another thread for another day. I'm not going to derail this one as others might be interested in the answers to you questions.

1.
At what point (era?) did MJ add, 777 to his whole thing ... wardrobe? ... or did it show up in other things? concerts? music? album covers?...or ...or...or? IOW, when and how did you ever FIRST see 777? Did 11:11 come into play at the same time? What about 711? or 117? Or are those just post-death associations? I never could get the straight of where any of these numbers originated with MJ.

Honestly I never noticed. Its something I see with after death fans. All these symbols and analyzing things was never something that was part of the fandom I knew and experienced. I remember seeing the 1998 and the line underneath on his signatures in various places but it was never something I cared about. My focus before the internet was the music and dancing, and then when I saw History concert and joined fanclubs, my focus was Michael the person, seeing him in real life, supporting him, giving him gifts, getting his attention and making him smile.

2.
When (if you HAPPEN to randomly know) was the FIRST concert where YANA girls were a thing? IOW, was it London? or where? I wonder was it done at every cocert during the HIStory tour?

During Bad Tour and Dangerous tour he brought girls up on stage during Shes Out of My Life. It was something I grew up knowing about as I watched MTV and the tour documentaries. I taped them onto VHS video and would watch them over and over. Those girls' dont get as much attention from the after death fans , but they exist. The YANA girls get more attention as there is more footage of History tour online. And yes it was done at every concert on the History tour, it was a pre arranged part of the show. And it was half random, half planned. As in there was one of the stage crew whose job it was to pick the girl each night. They looked for girls who would be small and slight, who were near the front, and who would have a good experience. When the girls were pulled out, they were taken off stage and to the side and basically lost their place at the front row. Most of the time they could barely see the stage. So while yes it was an amazing thing to happen, I know fans who refused to be picked as YANA girls, as the concert experience was basically over once you left the stage.

3.
Do you happen to know whether Dancing the Dream was advertised during the Dangerous era, (or at concert concession stands or magazines, or somewhere else?) so that fans were made aware of Dancing the Dream when it was orignally published? Or do you think everyone learned about it randomly like I did?

I wasnt part of fan clubs and the fan community with it was published. I most likely found out about it from music magazines like Smash Hits. or from other mainstream media or in book shops. At the time he was a big name, so it would have got a big PR campaign from the publishers.

When did you first ever see, or hear of or read DTD?

(I knowwww. . . I'm gettin' greedy here! but thaNK you SO MUCH for this!)

I got it when it was first published, new from the bookshop.

4. OK LAST question is more related to your post, and that is ...

which of the times you met MJ did you feel was the most interesting or 'quality, or just the most (lacking the right word here) 'fulfilling' to you as a dedicated fan?

Good question, as many dont realise that meeting Michael was different every time, depending on the situation

Most interesting or 'quality, or just the most (lacking the right word here) 'fulfilling' to you as a dedicated fan?
Thursday November 8th 2001 at approx 7.30pm Michael was staying at The Four Seasons Hotel, New York. It was the day after the Invincible CD Signing, with the huge chaos in Times Square and the thousands of people wanting to see him. There were about 10 of us fans outside the hotel, mostly from Europe, with 1 American girl. I'm not going to go into details, but we had time with him when he was in the car, he talked to us, we made him smile and laugh. It stands out in my memories as it shows that to most people he was a commodity, a thing, people only caused chaos in Times Square as they wanted his autograph, they wanted him for TV ratings, they wanted something FROM him. They wanted Michael Jackson Superstar. Us 10 fans that night outside the hotel, we just wanted to talk to him, ask was he ok, ask how the children were. We cared more about the person, Michael the man, the father. The hotel wasnt a secret, people in the queue at the cd signing told us he was at The Four Seasons. But out of the thousands in Times Square the previous day, 10 of us made the effort to go to the hotel and see him the next day.

 

[summer]

Oh goodness, sometimes it feels like a dream, another life, those times were just such a magical bubble world. Most dont realize it was soo much more that seeing Michael and being around him. People watch the videos of him but dont understand how special and amazing it was just be with the fans.

So this!! Those were the happiest days of my life! I always travelled to see Michael alone, but I was never alone once I got there! It was SO EASY to make friends! I loved meeting people that I had been talking to on the fan forums in real life! And vice versa, meet people at the hotels and then continue talking on the fan forums. It really was a community and you could be just the way you were and were accepted and there was just so much love and…it was just the best!! And when someone was lucky enough to get invited up to Michael’s room and meet him..everyone would gather around afterwards to get to hear how it was! There was no jealousy, people were happy and excited for the lucky ones! And that was also one way for us all (Michael and the fans) to communicate with one another. Michael would tell the fans to tell the others something and the fans who met him were able to tell him a message from fans. There was also Teddy Lakis, who probably only fans who went to his hotels, know about who would communicate with MJ and the fans. (Or I remember in Munich, after the MJ&Friends show when Michael had hurt himself, Grace came down in her PJs to let us know that Michael was in the hospital.) If Michael wanted to sleep or needed the fans to be quiet for any reason, he’d send Teddy to tell us that. And we respected that. And if someone didn’t, or had come later and didn’t know about that and would be loud, ALL the fans around those fans would immediately make sure to let them know and go ”SHHHH!!!!!! Michael is sleeping!!! We have to be quiet!!” Or the same thing was whenever the children were taken into the car or out of the car when Michael was coming or going to the hotel. Fans knew to be quiet and not scream to not scare them. If someone did do that, others would go ”SHHHH!!!!! NOT while the kids are out!!!!” Once the kids were in and Michael came out, that’s when it was okay to scream again. Sometimes Teddy would be talking to us and his phone would ring and when fans realized he’s talking to Michael, they’d all start shouting ”Hi Michael!!!!! We love you!!” so that Teddy couldn’t hear a thing at first!

So yeah….it was SO MUCH MORE than just ”fans screaming at Michael” or Michael doing some quick mandatory wave. It’s hard to explain it and hard for others to understand the dynamics and how it was if they have not experienced it. You had to be there to know what it was like and how it really was like family and a community and so many fans knew each other. I miss those days so much! NOTHING like it!!!

Reading your posts, brings it all back, its all still inside us, its crazy to think the press conference was 15 years ago.

Oh wow ,your post brings me right back. Its so cool to hear how others were doing the same as me. We were all so disconnected back then, everyone thinking we were the only ones doing stuff like this.


Aww thanks, Yes I do remember that night. Such a moment in time, pure happiness and joy and just such a felling of expecatation. He knew we supported him, he knew we cared.

Yes I was at The 02 for the balloon release. I stayed outside, I couldnt go into the building, knowing he should have been on the stage at that exact moment.

I can imagine!!!! I did go in because the others wanted to go in and it was SO DIFFICULT!!! I thought I’m going to collapse right at the entrance and have a complete break down because as soon as I went in all the menories came flooding in! The last time I was there..I had been SO HAPPY!! SO EXCITED!!!! And Michael had seemed so happy!!! And 3 months later…he’s GONE!! I was literally CRYING MY EYES OUT!!! Like sobbing so much I was literally shaking! I had ”One Day In Your Life” playing in my head the whole timr when I was there…”You’ll come back and you’ll look around you…one day in your life…you’ll remember the love you found here…you’ll remember me somehow…”….”I wil stay in your heart…and when things fall apart…you’ll remember one day”…

Remember how besutiful the balloon release was? That was such a great idea from Motsey! How we all wrote messages to Michael on the balloons and then released them! That was so healing and helped so much! And remember how after we had released the balloons these doves appeared all if the sudden like out of no where and it was 50 of them (and we had released 50 balloons) …and they disappeared as quickly as they appeared! And no one knew where they came from! No one knew anyone having released sny doces, let alone 50 of them! I think it was Andy who got a picture of it snd pistee it here on the forum too! That was SUCH a weird, but somehow comforting phenomenon!

Im going to answer your questions as I find them interesting, but just know that I have a hard time with people like you. Just being honest, but thats another thread for another day. I'm not going to derail this one as others might be interested in the answers to you questions.


Honestly I never noticed. Its something I see with after death fans. All these symbols and analyzing things was never something that was part of the fandom I knew and experienced. I remember seeing the 1998 and the line underneath on his signatures in various places but it was never something I cared about. My focus before the internet was the music and dancing, and then when I saw History concert and joined fanclubs, my focus was Michael the person, seeing him in real life, supporting him, giving him gifts, getting his attention and making him smile.


During Bad Tour and Dangerous tour he brought girls up on stage during Shes Out of My Life. It was something I grew up knowing about as I watched MTV and the tour documentaries. I taped them onto VHS video and would watch them over and over. Those girls' dont get as much attention from the after death fans , but they exist. The YANA girls get more attention as there is more footage of History tour online. And yes it was done at every concert on the History tour, it was a pre arranged part of the show. And it was half random, half planned. As in there was one of the stage crew whose job it was to pick the girl each night. They looked for girls who would be small and slight, who were near the front, and who would have a good experience. When the girls were pulled out, they were taken off stage and to the side and basically lost their place at the front row. Most of the time they could barely see the stage. So while yes it was an amazing thing to happen, I know fans who refused to be picked as YANA girls, as the concert experience was basically over once you left the stage.

Yup! I can verify that! I was one of those who always were like ”OMG i hope they do NOT pick me!!!!” Yes, I wanted to meet Michael and hug him but I did NOT wanna go on STAGE and be FILMED!!!” I HATE cameras and I’m shy so the idea of being in front of 50,000 people AND in front of cameras….that would’ve been like my wirst NIGHTMARE!!!

I wasnt part of fan clubs and the fan community with it was published. I most likely found out about it from music magazines like Smash Hits. or from other mainstream media or in book shops. At the time he was a big name, so it would have got a big PR campaign from the publishers.

I got it when it was first published, new from the bookshop.


Good question, as many dont realise that meeting Michael was different every time, depending on the situation

Most interesting or 'quality, or just the most (lacking the right word here) 'fulfilling' to you as a dedicated fan?
Thursday November 8th 2001 at approx 7.30pm Michael was staying at The Four Seasons Hotel, New York. It was the day after the Invincible CD Signing, with the huge chaos in Times Square and the thousands of people wanting to see him. There were about 10 of us fans outside the hotel, mostly from Europe, with 1 American girl. I'm not going to go into details, but we had time with him when he was in the car, he talked to us, we made him smile and laugh. It stands out in my memories as it shows that to most people he was a commodity, a thing, people only caused chaos in Times Square as they wanted his autograph, they wanted him for TV ratings, they wanted something FROM him. They wanted Michael Jackson Superstar. Us 10 fans that night outside the hotel, we just wanted to talk to him, ask was he ok, ask how the children were. We cared more about the person, Michael the man, the father. The hotel wasnt a secret, people in the queue at the cd signing told us he was at The Four Seasons. But out of the thousands in Times Square the previous day, 10 of us made the effort to go to the hotel and see him the next day.

I love that!!! I heard so many stories when he did similar things. Like remember when he was in London and just came outside late one night and sat at the steps and talked to the fans for like ovrr an hour?! I wasn’t there but I rememer those fans telling us about it and showing pics! Or when he came to the window in the middle of the night one time and chatted with the fans. I think that was in Munich. Again, I wasn’t there but I heard about it. All those fans were sooooo lucky!!!

 

[Spidey]

Thanks so much for the information
Just a quick follow up @Spidey did you interact with MJ during the process?

No, sadly, my last "interaction" with him was in the year 1999.

 

[Spidey]

There was no Thriller on Victory Tour. A 40+ years dedicated fan should know this

I'm writing my experience attending the Victory Tour based on my (quite vivid) recollections as someone who was only 5 years old. I'm interpreting my thoughts and feelings at the time, not as a fan looking back filling in blanks . So there are some details that are quite hazy. I still haven't actually watched the Victory Tour again. I don't want to "spoil" my memories.

 

[Spidey]

Yes, I’d love to hear that story too!!

Sure! That was one of the greatest moments of my life.
I was in middle school, 6th grade. I was in "choir" and we had a musical performance one Saturday morning at an amusement park (King's Dominion) in Richmond, Virginia. I remember we had to leave super early on buses b/c it took about 90 minutes to travel to the park and we were supposed to be there an hour before opening. I think the park was to open an hour later to regular guests, so we were to get there early enough to rehearse before performing for the day. I think we had 2-3 shows scheduled. For some reason (I can't remember why), we were REALLY late getting to he park. I remember it was chaos because we were supposed to stay as a group to get through the ticketing area. But there were already LINEs of people and people were already heading inside. So it must have been right around opening hours when we finally arrived and were checking in. Because of the huge groups of people, I got separated from my main school group. But we all had on the same t shirts and I had my ticket, so I wasn't too concerned. I figured I would go through the entrance, give my ticket, and then see everyone waiting. I managed to get through security just fine and was then in a courtyard of sorts where everyone kind of begins their day in the park. It was flooded with people, all over. I was standing still, looking around for my group with people shuffling all around me.
SUDDENLY, two big black dudes come running toward me. I thought maybe they were security coming to find me. But instead, they were clearing people out the way. They were polite, but very loudly shouting "Move Aside" and "Excuse Us." They were coming right at me, but I was startled and just stood still. They moved around me, each going to separate side. I stared ahead, because now I could see clearly with the cleared path ahead of me. Suddenly, this figure is running right at me. I remember it vividly b/c it scared me. This person was dressed head to toe in black. Black pants, black buttoned dress shirt (un tucked) and some sort of weird black towel/scarf thing wrapped around their head and faces. There was a hand holding the face covering over their nose and mouth as they ran. But what stood out to me where these BRIGHT WHITE tennis shoes. I couldn't tell if this was a man or a woman, but the white shoes were running so fast, that's all I could keep my eyes on. And they were running right toward me! I didn't even have time to move this person was running so fast. And I think the person running was having a hard time seeing b/c of the scarf/towel thing on their head. Never thing I know, I go flying. I land straight on my back, starting up at the sky. Suddenly I hear..."Oh no! Are you okay?" And this person is reaching down with their hand extended toward me. The voice sounds soft and kind, but nervous. I look up and immediately know who it is. Michael Jackson's eyes are behind the face covering. I just see his hand extended toward me and his eyes staring at me! He says again..."Are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Suddenly, I'm lifted up to my feet. The big black dudes have come back and grabbed me under the arms. I am now standing, staring at Michael. I can't get words out. I nod. He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, "Okay. I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Then one of the black dudes says, "Mr. Jackson, we have to go!" Michael puts his hand on my head and rubs it and says, "Have fun!" Then he runs off.
Looking back, he must have been in Virginia doing something to do with Dangerous. Perhaps he was checking out Teddy Riley's recording studio in Va Beach? It would have only been about 90 minutes away. Or perhaps he was in Richmond for something. I have no idea. All I know is that it was him, without a doubt.
The second time I was in his presence, wasn't as direct, but just as cool. I'll write about that soon.

 

[wendijane]

My gratitude to you for continuing to share your recollections and experiences.
It's highly appreciated & thank you @Spidey. These parts especially spoke to me like ...wow.

I think we had 2-3 shows scheduled. For some reason (I can't remember why), we were REALLY late getting to he park.

As fate would have it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I land straight on my back, starting up at the sky. Suddenly I hear..."Oh no! Are you okay?" And this person is reaching down with their hand extended toward me. The voice sounds soft and kind, but nervous. I look up and immediately know who it is. Michael Jackson's eyes are behind the face covering. I just see his hand extended toward me and his eyes staring at me! He says again..."Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"

Honestly. The image is wild here!! It is so vivid. You just brought him all back to many of us i'm sure.

Looking back, he must have been in Virginia doing something to do with Dangerous. Perhaps he was checking out Teddy Riley's recording studio in Va Beach? It would have only been about 90 minutes away.

Many thanks for this one.This part of your story particularly thrills me! Like many, I have been a supporter since the Dangerous days so it was very, very , very connecting to read this very vivid account of your memories.

Or perhaps he was in Richmond for something. I have no idea. All I know is that it was him, without a doubt.
The second time I was in his presence, wasn't as direct, but just as cool. I'll write about that soon.

I can't wait you know

 

[SoS]

I appreciate ALL and ANY responses to my questions SO MUCH because of being one of the "O Fs" (origina fans) and YES @summer we did have a major blast in the LITD thread! and THANK YOU for sharing! It always amazed me to learn of fans who knew when and where he was going to be showing up.

Its fascinating to read ALL the post-Bad MJ experiences, and the support he's had along the way if fascinating too because I was pretty much unawares as I really saw whatever was happening in the news as something he and his legal teams were triumphing over...despite some concerns like why they didn't fight that Chandler nonsense but I certainly saw MJ's life as something that didn't need my attention ... until that LWMJ thing and everything that followed.

Yes, being a child when Michael was a child was really special to me.

Just to paint a picture, back then,(@zinniabooklover I'd be curious to know if your world was anything like this) in the early 70s when TV had only 6 channels, no cable TV, nothing but else to do in the house except play record players and radios to hear music. We all pretty much listened to the same radio stations, so when the adversement came on, "The Jackson Five!! Coming to town!! it was like Christmas day except even better! ALL the kids would run outside and start screaming, "The Jackson Five are coming!! Who's parents are gonna drive!!?"

I will probably repeat for any who've read about my introduction to the J5, which I mentioned recently, that I never saw them on Ed Sullivan or American Bandstand until they were on ABS the second time, by then I was 9, until then I heard them on the radio which was always kept on top of the kitchen refrigerator, and I'd grab the broom to sweep and dance on my mother's freshly waxed floor, and so whenever Michael got to the part, "sit down girl! I think I luuuv ya!" I'd let my socks slip forward and land on my butt, and on, "no! get up girl!" I'd grumble about him not making up his mind and I'd scramble up, and on, "show me what you can do!" I'd shimmy around the apartment. I figured that meant we were "married" until I heard, "Maria" (great song if you havn't heard it!) which is how I knew it was "over"! (and he ultimately married a Marie eh) :lol:

And seeing them on TV for the first time me and my brother were at our cousins house, there were 9 of them, there were six boys and three girls and their last name began with a "J" which had 7 letters and they were a family business (barber and beauty shop) and ironically the one born August 29th was the greatest dancer anyone had ever seen, his dance style in the early 70s was like a combination between 90s MJ and Gene Anthony Ray from the FAME TV show. Because of my cousin, a bunch of us kids danced on a local show, a take-off of Soul Train that was syndicated in 27 cities! and it was mostly fun (but for a weird Producer) and so, I feel it sort of explains why the Jacksons reminded me of my cousins and our mothers' father was from the same part of AL as Mrs J, Russell County, a little town called, Hacheccubbi, so our ancestors probably shopped at the County Feed Store lol , so its easy for me to feel 'familiar' with them and care as much as I do.

All that to say, the first time I saw them on TV, me and my brother were at our cousins' playing "school" in the play room when suddenly we heard coming from the family room some of the most terrifying screaming, my cousin one year younger yelled, "FIRE"! and we RUSHED into the family room where the TV was turned so we only saw the back of it, and the teenagers sitting on the sofa screaming, talk about preplexed, we looked at eachother in relief, and so we mozied around and sat on the sofa with the teenagers and there they were the Jackson Five on American Bandstand we all looked at eachother and shook our heads at how they made it seem like a severe emergency, then we got into it and started screaming too.

I went to my first concert at 13 and two more concerts as the J5, and so, I think it was 1976, the one where Natalie Cole opened for them,after the concert, I was following my teen friends as one of them saw a tour bus in the lot after the show and screamed, "the Jackson Five's tour bus!" and so we tore across the parking lot, and after knocking, the door flew open and it was Natalie Cole smiling ear to ear, "I'm not the Jackson Five but you all can come on in" which we did as she showed us all the fab features of her home on the road, and then the Triumph where I was up front in front of the center microphone, and I remember that before they came on stage, I wanted to see the audience from Michael's perspective, so I turned my body all the way around (which wasn't easy the crowd was SO tight!), to see the audience from the pov of the stage and it was phenomenal to see fifteen thousand people out there and then in 1984, the Victory were the last ones as the Jacksons.

I've never been to a Michael concert. That's probably why I get really jazzed readiing about Bad and beyond and appreciate it so much, I hope it will continue...

Please ..

 

[Moonstreet]

It always amazed me to learn of fans who knew when and where he was going to be showing up.

My story goes back the 1990's and being a teenager watching MTV. They used to show Dangerous Tour documentaries and behind the scenes. They would interview fans and they would talk about how they were from various countries and were going to different concerts over the summer and how they all just met each other at the concerts.

This just blew my mind, I was about 16 and had no idea you could go to concerts in different countries and people just became friends from going to concerts.

I would watch them in awe, longing to be one of them, wondering how I make this happen, what would it be like to have friends who did these cool things. I would see all the footage of the fans outside Michaels hotel and saw that it wasnt just about going to the concerts, there was so much more.

It wasnt until I went to History concert in Dublin , on my own that I actually met some of those same fans. By then I was working and had my own money , so I took their advice, joined the fanclub MJNI and started going to fanclub events.

It just went from there, first going to the fanclub events, meeting other fans, becoming penpals, getting the fanclub magazines, finding out about things in advance so that I could arrange vacation time from work. Back then it was the early days of mobile phones and internet , so we would exchange phone numbers, and people would exchange information over text message.

It was really those who had this fire inside them, something that drove them to want to be around Michael and connect with others. Thats really it. The more you were open to making friends, and being a nice person, the more people would be open to exchanging phone numbers and sharing information. It went two ways, if I hear anything, I'll text you, it was as simple as that. It was just networking, but far more fun than for work or professional purposes. But you had to make the effort. You couldnt just stay at home and think people would text you with information, if you were not actually going to things and you couldnt expect people to exchange phone numbers, if you were not sociable and just sat in a corner and didnt get up to dance at party. You had to be interested in the social scene and doing things with other fans for the other 50 weeks a year that Michael wasnt going to an event.

Also just to point out, I lived in Ireland and London was the main hub of fan activity. Going to London for a weekend or few days is normal for Irish people, the flights are cheap and its only 1 hour flying time, so it would be like people taking Southwest flight to LA or New York for the weekend to go a show or concert or event.

Its fascinating to read ALL the post-Bad MJ experiences, and the support he's had along the way if fascinating too because I was pretty much unawares

Most people, unless you were part of the online fan communities were unaware of what we were part of. It really was like an off the grid, underground social scene. But really what we were doing was no different than what the fan communities for NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and later NSYNC were doing. The only difference was they were mainstream and accessible as they appeared in shopping malls and high schools.

as I really saw whatever was happening in the news as something he and his legal teams were triumphing over...despite some concerns like why they didn't fight that Chandler nonsense but I certainly saw MJ's life as something that didn't need my attention

And this is what I have issues with. Again I wont derail the thread but just making my view known.

 

[zinniabooklover]

Yes, being a child when Michael was a child was really special to me.

I agree. I can't explain it but it was so lovely.

Just to paint a picture, back then,(@zinniabooklover I'd be curious to know if your world was anything like this) in the early 70s when TV had only 6 channels,

oh, this made me scream with laughter! I'm in the UK, we only had 3 tv channels, lol. I mean, please ...six channels!!!

no cable TV, nothing but else to do in the house except play record players and radios to hear music. We all pretty much listened to the same radio stations,

Yep! Different world, lol.

It's funny you mentioning your cousins bc I always felt Michael was like a cousin to me or maybe a sibling.

 

[summer]

I appreciate ALL and ANY responses to my questions SO MUCH because of being one of the "O Fs" (origina fans) and YES @summer we did have a major blast in the LITD thread! and THANK YOU for sharing! It always amazed me to learn of fans who knew when and where he was going to be showing up.

Its fascinating to read ALL the post-Bad MJ experiences, and the support he's had along the way if fascinating too because I was pretty much unawares as I really saw whatever was happening in the news as something he and his legal teams were triumphing over...despite some concerns like why they didn't fight that Chandler nonsense but I certainly saw MJ's life as something that didn't need my attention ... until that LWMJ thing and everything that followed.

Yes, being a child when Michael was a child was really special to me.

Just to paint a picture, back then,(@zinniabooklover I'd be curious to know if your world was anything like this) in the early 70s when TV had only 6 channels, no cable TV, nothing but else to do in the house except play record players and radios to hear music. We all pretty much listened to the same radio stations, so when the adversement came on, "The Jackson Five!! Coming to town!! it was like Christmas day except even better! ALL the kids would run outside and start screaming, "The Jackson Five are coming!! Who's parents are gonna drive!!?"

I will probably repeat for any who've read about my introduction to the J5, which I mentioned recently, that I never saw them on Ed Sullivan or American Bandstand until they were on ABS the second time, by then I was 9, until then I heard them on the radio which was always kept on top of the kitchen refrigerator, and I'd grab the broom to sweep and dance on my mother's freshly waxed floor, and so whenever Michael got to the part, "sit down girl! I think I luuuv ya!" I'd let my socks slip forward and land on my butt, and on, "no! get up girl!" I'd grumble about him not making up his mind and I'd scramble up, and on, "show me what you can do!" I'd shimmy around the apartment. I figured that meant we were "married" until I heard, "Maria" (great song if you havn't heard it!) which is how I knew it was "over"! (and he ultimately married a Marie eh) :lol:

And seeing them on TV for the first time me and my brother were at our cousins house, there were 9 of them, there were six boys and three girls and their last name began with a "J" which had 7 letters and they were a family business (barber and beauty shop) and ironically the one born August 29th was the greatest dancer anyone had ever seen, his dance style in the early 70s was like a combination between 90s MJ and Gene Anthony Ray from the FAME TV show. Because of my cousin, a bunch of us kids danced on a local show, a take-off of Soul Train that was syndicated in 27 cities! and it was mostly fun (but for a weird Producer) and so, I feel it sort of explains why the Jacksons reminded me of my cousins and our mothers' father was from the same part of AL as Mrs J, Russell County, a little town called, Hacheccubbi, so our ancestors probably shopped at the County Feed Store lol , so its easy for me to feel 'familiar' with them and care as much as I do.

All that to say, the first time I saw them on TV, me and my brother were at our cousins' playing "school" in the play room when suddenly we heard coming from the family room some of the most terrifying screaming, my cousin one year younger yelled, "FIRE"! and we RUSHED into the family room where the TV was turned so we only saw the back of it, and the teenagers sitting on the sofa screaming, talk about preplexed, we looked at eachother in relief, and so we mozied around and sat on the sofa with the teenagers and there they were the Jackson Five on American Bandstand we all looked at eachother and shook our heads at how they made it seem like a severe emergency, then we got into it and started screaming too.

I went to my first concert at 13 and two more concerts as the J5, and so, I think it was 1976, the one where Natalie Cole opened for them,after the concert, I was following my teen friends as one of them saw a tour bus in the lot after the show and screamed, "the Jackson Five's tour bus!" and so we tore across the parking lot, and after knocking, the door flew open and it was Natalie Cole smiling ear to ear, "I'm not the Jackson Five but you all can come on in" which we did as she showed us all the fab features of her home on the road, and then the Triumph where I was up front in front of the center microphone, and I remember that before they came on stage, I wanted to see the audience from Michael's perspective, so I turned my body all the way around (which wasn't easy the crowd was SO tight!), to see the audience from the pov of the stage and it was phenomenal to see fifteen thousand people out there and then in 1984, the Victory were the last ones as the Jacksons.

I've never been to a Michael concert. That's probably why I get really jazzed readiing about Bad and beyond and appreciate it so much, I hope it will continue...

Please ..

OMG the J5 era sounds sooooooooo EXCITING too!!!! I’m JEALOUS!! I had to laugh at the hearing they are coming to town and running outside to tell all the others and ask ”Who’s mom is driving?!” because I’m old enough to know how it was back in the day with information! It was pretty much exactly as you described!! And not having all these channels and internet and all that numbing your senses 24/7, so TV specials etc were REALLY special! I wish the younger folks could experience it! TV and radio used to bring families together. We’d watch shows together on Saturday nights. My dad refused to get cable because he said I need to go out and play or tead and not watch TV all day )he was right of course and I’m grateful he was wise enough to not give in!). He also refused to get me a TV in my room so that we all watch TV together instead of everyone being in their own rooms. Wasn’t until later when he finally gave in and I glt a TV & VCR to watch my MJ videos in peace!

How was the J5 concert? How was seeing them LIVE?! Do you have any pics or tickets or articles etc saved from it? (You don’t have to share the oics, etc. just wondering if you managed to saved any ”memorabilia” from that experience/era? ) Do you remember any songs making a particular impact on you or anything that particulary stuck in your mind? Were you a ”Michael girl” or did you have a crush on any of the other brothers?

I did the same thing you did with turning around to see the sea if people at a show! I remember doing it during Heal The World a couple of times…just seeing all the lights..seeing everyone enjoying the moment in harmony….a breathtaking sight! Made me so happy for Michael every time!

I’m trying to write my HIStory era experiences as we speak…I’ll post it once I’m done.

 

[summer]

My story goes back the 1990's and being a teenager watching MTV. They used to show Dangerous Tour documentaries and behind the scenes. They would interview fans and they would talk about how they were from various countries and were going to different concerts over the summer and how they all just met each other at the concerts.

This just blew my mind, I was about 16 and had no idea you could go to concerts in different countries and people just became friends from going to concerts.

I would watch them in awe, longing to be one of them, wondering how I make this happen, what would it be like to have friends who did these cool things. I would see all the footage of the fans outside Michaels hotel and saw that it wasnt just about going to the concerts, there was so much more.

It wasnt until I went to History concert in Dublin , on my own that I actually met some of those same fans. By then I was working and had my own money , so I took their advice, joined the fanclub MJNI and started going to fanclub events.

It just went from there, first going to the fanclub events, meeting other fans, becoming penpals, getting the fanclub magazines, finding out about things in advance so that I could arrange vacation time from work. Back then it was the early days of mobile phones and internet , so we would exchange phone numbers, and people would exchange information over text message.

It was really those who had this fire inside them, something that drove them to want to be around Michael and connect with others. Thats really it. The more you were open to making friends, and being a nice person, the more people would be open to exchanging phone numbers and sharing information. It went two ways, if I hear anything, I'll text you, it was as simple as that. It was just networking, but far more fun than for work or professional purposes. But you had to make the effort. You couldnt just stay at home and think people would text you with information, if you were not actually going to things and you couldnt expect people to exchange phone numbers, if you were not sociable and just sat in a corner and didnt get up to dance at party. You had to be interested in the social scene and doing things with other fans for the other 50 weeks a year that Michael wasnt going to an event.

Also just to point out, I lived in Ireland and London was the main hub of fan activity. Going to London for a weekend or few days is normal for Irish people, the flights are cheap and its only 1 hour flying time, so it would be like people taking Southwest flight to LA or New York for the weekend to go a show or concert or event.

Most people, unless you were part of the online fan communities were unaware of what we were part of. It really was like an off the grid, underground social scene. But really what we were doing was no different than what the fan communities for NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and later NSYNC were doing. The only difference was they were mainstream and accessible as they appeared in shopping malls and high schools.

And this is what I have issues with. Again I wont derail the thread but just making my view known.

Sooooo lucky!!! It’s so funny, I was never even aware of the fan clubs really! Or what they really do. I’d think it was mainly due to the internet not really being a thing yet. The ones I had been a member of during the Bad era were so lame and useless that maybe that’s why I thought there is no point in being a member. I got like one newsletter and that was it so I was like ”What’s the point?!” And when internet became more popular, I was on the fan forums so I didn’t feel I need a fan club..but again, like I said…also didn’t really know about what they do either. I was chatting at MJIFC first and that’s (the chat) where I mostly got my information and met other fans. When that closed, there was the Sony chat, King of Pop Discussion board…When the KOP board got too crazy I went on the MJJF board and was also a staff member for a while. After MJJF I moved to MJNI and then back to MJJC. So those were my main sources for information to know when MJ was going to be somewhere.

Do you know if anyone is still in contact with Robin from MJNI…or if he’s still around? He was really nice and always helped!

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

What unreleased songs were the fans excited about in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, versus now?

 

[summer]

What unreleased songs were the fans excited about in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, versus now?

Hmmm….good question….because I don’t really think unreleased songs were a thing before the 2000’s actually? You know, before internet and the ability to actually share songs were a thing. Back in the vinyl days, I don’t even know how that could’ve been possible to share or leaks songs rhe way they do now. I’m trying to think if I can remember any songs leaking in the 90’s and nothing comes to mind… I think the first unreleased song really was Xscape…and it pretty much ruined MJ’s attempts to release it, which made me SO ANGRY because it’s SUCH a great song!! Someone also leaked the whole Invincible album to the internet before it was released so that SUCKED too!! I can only think of hearing For All Time and Fall Again…but I think thise were on the Ultimate Collection if I remember correctly, so technically not ”unreleased” I guess. Hold My Hand was another leaked song.

But I remember when we saw the video of Michael’s deposition where he listed all these songs, everyone was excited and wanted to hear what ”Buffalo Bill” etc. sounded like

 

[summer]

HIStory era:
(Only a part of it. I’ll put the HIStory tour concerts in Part 2)

Once again there was a huge buzz going on before album release! ”Michael Jackson is going to release an album!” AAAAHHHH!!!!! The wait between Bad and Dangerous had felt like FOREVER so the possibility of getting a new album ”ALREADY”…I was EXCITED!!!!! I think it was about a week before the album was officially released (at least if my memory isn’t COMPLETELY failing me..but it could’ve been just a couple of days too) you were able to listen to the whole album in the record store. They had this table with sort of bar stools in front of it with headphones attached to the table to be able to listen. I couldn’t resist the temptation to listen but it was also torture at the same time because I was in the middle of a record store listening, so I had to try to keep my ”cool” and my reactions to a minimum. But I can still remember hearing the album for the first time there and being BLOWN AWAY by it and I remember that Earth Song especially immediately got me! I couldn’t WAIT until I was able to get the CD in my hands and was able to listen to it from start to finish at home IN PEACE and get to study the booklet! When I FINALLY was able to go buy it…the way home from the record store felt like FOREVER!!! It was TORTURE!!! But in a good way!!!! I kept playing the CD non-stop after that!! LOVED it!!





Then later that year I heard that Michael was going to be performing on this TV show called ”Wetten, dass..?” in Germany. I was able to win a trip from Sony to go see him. So I called my friend and off we went!! We travelled with the Sony people, so…when we arrived at the airport, there was a driver with a sign saying ”Sony”, ready to take us all to our hotel. Turns out that Michael’s people had been using the same black cars with tinted windows, so when we arrived at the hotel (we stayed at the same hotel as Michael )…fans came running towards the cars…and I was just thinking ”Nothing to see here!! We’re just fans too!!” When we got out they realized we were ”no one important” so as quickly as they had run towards us…they quickly ran back to where they came from. So we get out, the driver takes our suitcases out…and this guy comes and takes our suitcases and I panic and I’m like ”Hey…..!!!!! He took our bags!!!!!!!! Hey..!!!!!! HE TOOK OUR BAGS!!!” thinking he’s stealing them!! And the Sony people laughed and were like…he’s just taking them into the hotel for you. And I was like ”Oh..!!!” (Me and my friend were both pretty young and had never stayed at a five star hotel before so we had NO clue how it all works. ) So we get inside and the guy who had taken our bags comes to me asking me what room I’m in and once again I’m panicking and like ”I DON’T KNOW!!!” and the Sony people once again have to help. So we get into our room..and…yeah…you can imagine our reaction!! Wow!! There’s a knock on the door and the suitcases arrived..the guy takes this thing out of the closet and puts them on that thing and me and my friend try not to laugh. We just thought all that was SO funny because we didn’t think it was necessary. But by that time we had figured out that he’ll bring our suitcases up and we probably need to give a tip too…so we give him a tip, he leaves…and we CRACK UP!!! We check out the room and once we go into the bathroom….we LITERALLY almost PEE IN OUR PANTS from laughing so hard when we see there’s a TELEPHONE next to the TOILET!!!! Like…WHY?!!!! Like…do people ACTUALLY use it? And WHAT FOR?!! To call to get someone bring them more toilet paper? Or to come wipe their butt? At that point we were just literally rolling on the floor laughing!! We just got a kick out of it all and thought it was just TOOOOO FUNNY!!!! So we started joking around and started taking photos of each other sitting on the toilet pretending to be talking on the phone and coming up with reasons why we would need to call someone from the TOILET…and just DIED laughing. And we’d take photos of each other in the empty bath tub with clothes on and with (empty) champagne glasses in our hands. We just got a kick out of it all! We thought it was just HILARIOUS!! And we’d RUN across the room and THROW ourselves onto the bed…while the other one took photos…trying to catch the other while they were in the air to look like we’re flying or levitating. We were just having a BALL!!!! So we finally checked the view from the window and saw that there were TONS of fans directly below us. We knew Michael was staying in the same hotel but I didn’t understand the concept of actually waiting outside to possibly get to SEE him yet. Like, I didn’t know or understand that you actually could see him that way. So instead of standing outside…we went to see Cologne and saw the beautiful cathedral and walked around a bit.



Then it was time to get ready to go to the show. Since we were Sony’s guests, a driver was going to take us. The show was outside of Cologne, in a city called Duisburg. So we got to the venue, and the Sony people tell us that we’ll get front row seats. So we head that way…and this guy there tells us that all the seats in front of the stage are reserved for fans because Michael wants the fans there. We try to explain that we ARE fans and we’re with Sony but they don’t let us take any of the seats, let alone front row seats. Yeah….imagine my disappointment. I’m supposed to be in the front row….but I can’t get there. Even the Sony people try to tell them that we’re with Sony…no chance. ”It’s only for fans.” So my friend and I feel completely lost and try to find seats SOMEWHERE. ANY seats. But pretty much all the good seats anywhere in the front even behind the fans are taken. So we decide to go up towards the back. We figured we’d be able to see Michael better from there since we’re higher. So we get settled and I take my banner out. I had made a banner at home that says ”KING OF MUSIC”. The media had been making fun of Michael calling him ”self-proclaimed King of Pop” and it made me SO ANGRY…So I thought ”Self-proclaimed?!!!! Self-proclaimed my a**!!! I proclaim him the KING OF MUSiC in that case!!! So you can all EAT IT!!!” I knew the show will be televized so I thought ”HA!!! I’ll show you, you stupid idiots in the media!!!! Eat THAT!!!”



A bunch of people performed before Michael…including Cirque du Soleil. They were awesome! After their performance, they came into the audience and were standing almost directly behind me on this platform because apparently they all wanted to see MICHAEL too!!! So finally it was Michael’s turn….The host wasn’t even able to really announce him when everyone already was SCREAMING!!! So ”Dangerous” starts and the audience goes NUTS!!!!!! They had also set up a huge video screen outside for fans who weren’t able to get a ticket and there were THOUSANDS of fans!!! I was told they had never done anything like it for anyone else before!! I was watching Michael and singing along and held my banner up the whole time and my pink Disney heart with baby Minnie and Mickey on it. Once the song ended, I kept jumping up and down like an excited kid and kept cheering!!!! Michael then left the stage…and the host was trying to calm the audience down but everyone kept screaming for Michael!!! After several minutes, the audience finally calmed down and the show continued. And then…it was Michael’s turn again..it was his world premiere for Earth Song and once again the audience goes NUTS!!! So I sing along at the top of my lungs and sway to the beat with my banner and pink heart..and then Michael gets on the cherry picker…and he gets closer to me!!!! AAAAHHH!!! Then the song ends and when Michael says ”I love you all” I scream ”WE LOVE YOUUUUUUU!!!!” at the top of my lungs!!



So the show is over…our driver takes us back to the hotel…and the Sony people tell us that there is an after show party in the hotel and all of Micharl’s people are going to be there and we are invited as well. So we go to our room to bring our stuff there and then go where the party is. There’s security at the door but the Sony people tell them that we’re with them so they let us in. There are these high, round tables with white table clothes, without chairs, a buffet with all kinds of food (but I was WAY too nervous to eat anything so I literally just took two leafs of salad ). And you pretty much could get any kind of beverage you wanted…so I took a glass of orange juice.

At the back of the room was a big screen and there was a couch in front of it. As we got in, the Sony people started mingling and me and my friend stayed by ourselves. ALL of Michael’s people were there: Michael Bush, Karen Faye, Charles Bobbit, Benny Collins, all of the dancers….and I was just SOOO nervous because I’m so shy!!!! I kept saueezing my elbow so hard from being so nervous that i had a bruise on it the next day! They started playing Michael’s performance from the show from earlier on the video screen and all the dancers were on the couch or standing around it and watch themselves perform and it looked like they were having a lot of fun. I kept watching from further away and tried to see and Benny Collins happened to be standing next to me so he was like ”Michael was great, wasn’t he?!” and I was like ”Yeah!” and he told me to go closer to the screen so I can see better and he probably realized I’m really shy because he said again ”Go ahead! It’s okay! You can see better if you’re closer!” I thought that was so nice of him! So me and my friend went closer to where the screen and all MJ’s dancers were and I had to try NOT to watch it like I’d watch it at home like ”OMG Michael!!” and stare at the screen like: . Anyways, so then we were told that Michael is going to go to an amusement park the next day and he has invited fans to go with him. We knew we were leaving the next day so we were like ”Oh no!!! I hope we can make it!!!”



So the next day we get driven to the amusement park and only his fans are let in, no one from the press is allowed in. They tell us that we are allowed to take pictures with our own cameras if they are normal cameras and not the press type with big lenses. So then Michael comes to greet us all and then leads us through the park to different rides and we’re allowed to go on all the rides for free! At one point we all start singing ”You Are Not Alone” for him and he listens and smiles. It’s getting later and later and our flight back home gets closer and closer….so me and my friend have to leave! I KNOW!!!! NOT FAIR!!! We RUN back to the entrance and get driven back to our hotel and the Sony people are like ”How was it?” And we talk a bit and they also ask us if everything was okay with our room and if we liked the minibar with all the candy. And my friend and I look at each other and go ”Oh…we didn’t know if we were allowed to take anything so we didn’t eat any of the candy.” So then we left and while we were at the airport…my friend and I kept going over the whole weekend and were both like ”NO ONE IS GOING TO BELIEVE US if we tell them we were at an AMUSEMENT PARK WITH MICHAEL JACKSON!!!” Like imagine calling friends and family like ”I just saw Michael Jackson perform, were at a party with all of his people, stayed in the same hotel as him and then went to an amusement park with him. And how was your weekend..?” Like….NO ONE is EVER going to believe us!!!!!!



About a month later I heard in the news that Michael had collapsed during rehearsals in NYC and was taken to the hospital! I was SO SCARED and SO WORRIED about him!!!! I PRAYED he’s okay and I’ve never felt more relieved than when they finally showed a picture of him leaving the hospital and told us he’s okay!!

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

because I don’t really think unreleased songs were a thing before the 2000’s actually?

Well, in the Prince camp it came up quite a lot. Bootlegs were a constant

 

[Mister_Jay_Tee]

What did fans back then imagine would come next after Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, etc?

 

[zinniabooklover]

Hmmm….good question….because I don’t really think unreleased songs were a thing before the 2000’s actually?

Bootlegs.

 

[librariangirl:)]

It always amazed me to learn of fans who knew when and where he was going to be showing up.

Me too especially pre-internet! Even though I must admit it was never my scene, I remember the fans camping outside the concerts etc. and having conversations with them and they were crying and stuff because there was some negative press about how MJ looked...to be honest, I found it a bit unhealthy (even as a teenager). I also met some "follower fans" there, who's whole lives revolved around following MJ around. They were all very nice, but I found it sad really.

 

[Moonstreet]

Sooooo lucky!!! It’s so funny, I was never even aware of the fan clubs really! Or what they really do. I’d think it was mainly due to the internet not really being a thing yet. The ones I had been a member of during the Bad era were so lame and useless that maybe that’s why I thought there is no point in being a member. I got like one newsletter and that was it so I was like ”What’s the point?!”

I knew about those fanclubs too, but I was never allowed to join them. My parents were not into pop culture and didnt understand why I wanted to connect with other fans. I grew up being told fanclubs are a scam and a waste of money. It was only after History concert when I was earning my own money that I joined MJNI.

Do you know if anyone is still in contact with Robin from MJNI…or if he’s still around? He was really nice and always helped!

He totally dropped out of the fan community in Invincible era. From UK fan friends I found out that he went into politics and completely disassociated from the fan community and Michael. It was before 2003, so I think the fan stuff and Michael was just a teenage and college interest for him and once he left college that he found a new passion in politics. I heard that over the years fans have seen him out and about and does not want to even talk about the MJNI days. Maybe something happened behind the scenes, I dont know, but it was around the time MJNI just went odd too.

What unreleased songs were the fans excited about in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, versus now?

For me, it was non album songs that were not played on mainstream radio and tv. Growing up, I never heard anything before Thriller. I knew about the albums and music and performances from Moonwalk and other books about Michael but I had never heard most of music.

The rare songs back then were the collabs he did on other albums, like with Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Siegfield and Roy, or when someone like Blackstreet did the remix cover of Billie Jean.

In the 1990's and early 2000's bootleg shops were big in Ireland. They sold all sorts of bootleg videos and music cassettes as well as second hand vinyl. They lasted until dvds, so I have some videos and some dvds. I didnt have a lot of money so I was very selective on what I bought.

Going to the MJNI fan events was a way for me to hear rare music. Thats where I first heard Mind is The Magic, Elizabeth I Love You and others. I would then come back to Dublin and find a way to get those songs. Some songs were on official albums, so I would order them from HMV. Some were ripped from performances like Elizabeth I Love You, so I would hunt in the bootleg shops to see if that performance was on a bootleg dvd.

It really wasnt a thing to leak unreleased songs. In the fan community back then, it was an honour code, it was seen as stealing from Michael. Im sure there was plenty buying and selling of stuff, but it was never open and out and known about. Taping things from TV or copying from already released albums was ok.

Collecting albums released in different countries was a big thing. Thats where alot of the rare songs came from. Albums would have the same standard songs on the general world wide release but then would also have a different song or remix just for a specific Sony Market, like Japan, Australia and Europe. You could get these albums on import special order from HMV.

There was also various official compilation albums released by Motown at various times, they mostly coincided with something major that Michael was doing solo, like a tour or album.

The first time I became aware of album leaks and unreleased song leaks was during 2000 and early 2001 during the recording and preparation of Invincible. There was a studio tech called Stewart Brawley who joined KOPBoard and was leaking songs. He was sending song files to certain fans on KOPBOARD through private messages, and then these files were shared in the fan community. It was all very secretive and mostly done through MSN messenger, not out in the open, but then people would talk about the leaked songs on the forums.

Everyone knew that Michael was upset about the leaks, but it was mostly contained in the fan community and wasnt known about in the general public, so most people rationalized it and thought it was part of the built up and excitement of the new album.

By the summer of 2001, almost the whole album had been leaked but mostly only poor quality snippets.

I was one of the few fans at the time who didnt listen to any leaks, or snippets, even though so many people said they could send them to me.

After Invincible Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad Dangerous were released as special editions, with extra songs, so that how we got some unreleased songs.

The next big leak was XSCAPE. This time Michael was very upset and issued an official statement to the fanclubs and fan communities. This time it was seen as a bit more serious than the leaks from Invincible. It divided the fan community, many not seeing or caring about Michaels feelings. Again I never owned the original XSCAPE file, although some friends did and they would play it in their house or car. It upset me to hear it, which they knew, so they would skip it in the playlist.

The big thing for unreleased songs was TUC. Its hard now to describe how amazing this was for the fan community. It was really seen as gift from Michael to us , an official release of demos and extra songs. It really was a huge deal in the fan community, and especially when it was released

Number Ones official compilation was released and we got One More Chance.

The next big leak was Blue Gangsta. Again shared on MSN messenger mainly. Leaks were becoming a bit more accepted in the fan community but a divide was starting. It was still very secretive and you had to be in the know and part of certain fan circles to get the files sent to you.

What did fans back then imagine would come next after Thriller, Bad, Dangerous, etc?

For me, during those times I wasnt part of the fan community, so I was a young teen with real knowledge of anything.

History era was just so huge, but then afterwards he was doing various performances, so I never thought about whats next. Its hard to explain, he was part of our day to lives, so there wasnt this big expectation or push for new music. New music wasnt the main focus of the fan community, Michael the person was. We knew from early 1999 he was working on new music, we knew he was recording, but it was a gradual buildup to Invincible in 2001. We would hear about this person or that person meeting with him or going to the studio but that was about it.

 

[laconcombremasque]

What unreleased songs were the fans excited about in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, versus now?

1) this thread is PURE GOLD. thanks to everyone for the generous memories, the questions and the answers.
2) at the time of Dangerous release, it was known that an unreleased song « somebody put your hand out » existed, as it was possible to win the "not for sale" promo tape, which included also a Dangerous album medley on side 2. Winning this thing, either through a radio competition / game or in a shop (if you bought a pack of Pepsi bottles in my case !) was an valuable thing, because else… how in the world would you get to hear an unreleased song in a pre-internet world ?

The moment when the tune was briefly played as an interlude during the worldwide broadcast Bucarest concert was thus kind of an appreciated « Easter egg » !

 

[Moonstreet]

1) this thread is PURE GOLD. thanks to everyone for the generous memories, the questions and the answers.

Happy to answer, but I know that some may not like the answers.

2) at the time of Dangerous release, it was known that an unreleased song « somebody put your hand out » existed, as it was possible to win the "not for sale" promo tape, which included also a Dangerous album medley on side 2. Winning this thing, either through a radio competition / game or in a shop (if you bought a pack of Pepsi bottles in my case !) was an valuable thing, because else… how in the world would you get to hear an unreleased song in a pre-internet world ?

The moment when the tune was briefly played as an interlude during the worldwide broadcast Bucarest concert was thus kind of an appreciated « Easter egg » !

I was never aware of Someone Put Your Hand Out, like most people I only heard the snippet on the Bucharest concert, which I had taped from tv. It wasnt until I joined MJNI and they were selling it in their merchandise shop that I bought the cassette. I still have it factory sealed.

 

[SoS]

My story goes back the 1990's and being a teenager watching MTV. They used to show Dangerous Tour documentaries and behind the scenes. They would interview fans and they would talk about how they were from various countries and were going to different concerts over the summer and how they all just met each other at the concerts.

This just blew my mind, I was about 16 and had no idea you could go to concerts in different countries and people just became friends from going to concerts.

I would watch them in awe, longing to be one of them, wondering how I make this happen, what would it be like to have friends who did these cool things. I would see all the footage of the fans outside Michaels hotel and saw that it wasnt just about going to the concerts, there was so much more.

It wasnt until I went to History concert in Dublin , on my own that I actually met some of those same fans. By then I was working and had my own money , so I took their advice, joined the fanclub MJNI and started going to fanclub events.

It just went from there, first going to the fanclub events, meeting other fans, becoming penpals, getting the fanclub magazines, finding out about things in advance so that I could arrange vacation time from work. Back then it was the early days of mobile phones and internet , so we would exchange phone numbers, and people would exchange information over text message.

It was really those who had this fire inside them, something that drove them to want to be around Michael and connect with others. Thats really it. The more you were open to making friends, and being a nice person, the more people would be open to exchanging phone numbers and sharing information. It went two ways, if I hear anything, I'll text you, it was as simple as that. It was just networking, but far more fun than for work or professional purposes. But you had to make the effort. You couldnt just stay at home and think people would text you with information, if you were not actually going to things and you couldnt expect people to exchange phone numbers, if you were not sociable and just sat in a corner and didnt get up to dance at party. You had to be interested in the social scene and doing things with other fans for the other 50 weeks a year that Michael wasnt going to an event.

Also just to point out, I lived in Ireland and London was the main hub of fan activity. Going to London for a weekend or few days is normal for Irish people, the flights are cheap and its only 1 hour flying time, so it would be like people taking Southwest flight to LA or New York for the weekend to go a show or concert or event.

Most people, unless you were part of the online fan communities were unaware of what we were part of. It really was like an off the grid, underground social scene. But really what we were doing was no different than what the fan communities for NKOTB, Backstreet Boys and later NSYNC were doing. The only difference was they were mainstream and accessible as they appeared in shopping malls and high schools.

And this is what I have issues with. Again I wont derail the thread but just making my view known.

THANK you SO MUCH for sharing your experience(s)!!! Its exciting to read about how excited young folks were about Michael Jackson because those of us who really grew up as he was growing were doing what he was doing, working for a living, trying to figure out our next and best moves, living own lives as 'adulting' became more and more challenging. Just for perspective, it was 1979 when OTW came out that I finished high school, couldn't stop playing it, two years straight, until Triumph. Umph indeed! That was the best Jacksons album ever ever ever. And by then I was 20.

And its exciting because the night of the Triumph concert, sweating my face off amid levels of noise I was no longer accustomed to, and close up to the stage too? oh it was barely bearable, where the sound is much better when you stop up your ears, type of LOUD, and I wasn't anymore into NOISE at that point in my life, (as I explained recently in a different thread, I was at the concert by a sheer supernatural acts) as, even though I couldn't stop playing the Triumph album,

I considered myself to have grown out of running off to concerts in crowds of screaming people, especially teen girls OMG, sorry, it was just no longer my idea of a good time at that point, I was "mellow" now lol as it had been some years since the last time I'd enjoyed massive crowds and life had become quiet and reflective (and had completely changed overnight) but I had been praying for MJ, why you ask, well, several reasons, one, my favorite subject was always psychology because of the effects of things I saw on people around me, and I felt the way he'd grown up was too unnatural for him to, without support, be able to access normal levels of 'balance' because of the simple fact that nobody, not anyone in his family or any else, had been in his situation and there was nobody for him to turn to for experienced advice, exactly.

And when you think about how most 12, 13, 14, ... etc. etc. year old boys MUST DEVELOP supreme social skills to garner romantic attention, it seemed a natural developmental necessity of developing complex social skills, social, meaning, one on one interpersonal communication which comes through trial and error and not, anything you say because you're entitled, sort of thing... remember "Can You See Chess?" what he call that person, was it numb skull??? :lol: or was it, "nim com put" lol because they weren't working fast enough for him? :lol: his 'brat' side would scare me :lol: ...

and develop social sensitivity (not just internal sensitivity) because otherwise, a boy may grow up thinking of everything and everyone as an entitlemenet, which would be disastrous for a strong ego structure, and if no one had the incentive to support him in that way, (vs. everyone benefiting for him being stuck or pigeon-holded as this or that)

PLUS the fact that at ages, 12, 13, 14 .. etc. etc. boys are getting their first jobs and learning to grow their skillsets, getting first pay checks after throwing newspapers or mowing lawns, if I am correct MJ was 12 with a first paycheck of $250k.

Conventional wisdom always said that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, or, too much of something can be as bad or worse than not enough of something. Also, I prayed for him because my dad used to always say that a man who has two girlfriends really doesn't have one at all. I wondered what he meant by that. Then he said, in fact, the more girlfriends a man has, the lonlier he is. And when I saw in Ebony where he said he was so lonely and with throngs of females chasing him constantly, it made me sadder and sadder for him in that way. In fact, my empathy for his lonliness is something I would later tell a therapist who responded by crying her eyes out even though we were supposed to be talking about my extraordinary life. When I asked her why she was crying... her answer was shocking...and another story..

and so ...as I was watching all these people screaming like mad and I mean fully grown "he-man" type men as well as of course endless numbers of girls, and I remember thinking, "just WOW what is going on here??!!!!". It was the single most intriguing thing I'd ever experienced, it had even beat out watching my cousin, the Aug 29th born dancer, getting chased by girls and boys on his way home from school, it reminded me of it a LOT too. It struck me as just a normal consquence of being amazing.

The intriguing thing was everyone screaming, "Michael!!!" "Michael!!! Michael!!!! ALL night long!!!, it had to be seen to be believed...........and I couldn't help but wonder how it made him feel, and being so close (back when stages were no more than 8 to 10 feet off the ground and we were a mere probably 10 feet from the guard railing), looking at his face the whole time, he seemed completely "unfazed" like an extreme professional, it was amazing to me how people screaming his name over and over didn't distract him not one bit, what-so-ever, and I was a theatre student at the time, learning as much as I could by watching the master up close, (no didn't pursue it, I found its not for the faint-hearted like me lol) and the fervor in everyone's energy made me feel SO PROUD of him, like "just WOW", and I did wonder if Michael Jackson might just become the "1 singular sensation" (just like the song from A Chorus Line: ONE singular sensation, every little step he takes, ONE thrilling combination, every move that he makes, ONE smile and suddenly nobody else will do, you know you'll never be lonely with you-know-who, ONE moment in his presence, and you can forget the rest, for the guy is second best to NONE Son, oooooh! sigh! give him your attention, do I, even have to mention, he's the ONE) so reading ALL these stories I feel SO proud of him all over again like that night (sort of like "a mother") since I always go back to that night of seeing those people up close, screaming and yearning for a phenom just a few feet away.

I must add, especially every time I see such diverse fans' experiences as yours, (and you were so independent and determined, its cute to me tbh and I can't help but to wonder what your parents felt about all of it), and all the stories showing how far he came from way back then, especially with the fans who feel he saved them in some way, and some he even saved their very lives, I can't read those stories anymore....its just too touching for words.

I don't feel you'd be derailing the thread at all to help me understand or expound (a bit) upon why it seems to bother you that we only knew about MJ what we read in the papers and saw on TV :chinrub: (or is it that I figured he didn't need me that bothers you?) being that there wasn't very much choice in the matter. I'm curious to know more? :chinrub:

I have since the old days learned that even back then, there were indeed fans who somehow knew what radio station he'd be showing up at, or what hotel he was staying at and such, but I came from a seriously enforced "mind your own business" kind of world, and we were also in something of a "celebrity" community where we knew people "of note" and were very respectful of the fact that they were actually humans like everyone without exception, and many parents including both mine, were in their own way very strict about not "idolizing" anyone but God, and letting the rich entertainers of the world live their lives while you live yours, sort of thing, you could easily hear, "hay they made their money off you already" type of thing, and they'd even snap the TV off in your face if you even looked remotely "obsessed", so yeah, no, I wouldn't have been following anyone around as they conduct their business unless invited, sort of thing.

My dad refused to get cable because he said I need to go out and play or tead and not watch TV all day )he was right of course and I’m grateful he was wise enough to not give in!). He also refused to get me a TV in my room so that we all watch TV together instead of everyone being in their own rooms. Wasn’t until later when he finally gave in and I glt a TV & VCR to watch my MJ videos in peace!

I know exactly what you mean! Same here in many things you've said here! Our dads weren't terribly different in those ways.

How was the J5 concert? How was seeing them LIVE?! Do you have any pics or tickets or articles etc saved from it? (You don’t have to share the oics, etc. just wondering if you managed to saved any ”memorabilia” from that experience/era? ) Do you remember any songs making a particular impact on you or anything that particulary stuck in your mind? Were you a ”Michael girl” or did you have a crush on any of the other brothers?

Growing up, I considered myself to be something of a, Pippy Longstocking type, I didn't like boys until my mid teens and had plenty enough attention in that area, and wasn't really inclined to 'crushes' on celebs, and I think the fact that they all reminded me so much of my family and in fact it is one of probably 10 reasons why I never even wanted to meet them, especially Michael because he seemed to be so sensitive that I would fear that my attitude toward him might inadvertantly make him feel like to me he's 'no big deal' because I can't help but see him as a mere human

and I don't know how to deal with someone whom I have to worry about possibly crushing his ego....it would crush me, and yes he was a huge deal and yet, I could see he was quite mortal too, which I felt more inclined to treat him as such because anything else is imho, just too much.

And I knew everyone else had given him probably a bit too much of it, primarily because of the nature of things, the guy up front, be it the sports star or, or, or, and especially because he was associated with big money, I also didn't ever want to be in a position for him to wonder if I was only intersted in that, that would also crush me,

, so if given the opportunity, I'd likely be more inclined to leave than stay if only to show him everyone's not like that.

However, I always had a vivid imagination (and still do) they all made great imaginary friends for me and for my friends. To my awareness, none of us 'crushed' on them as such, I think too, its because they were clearly such consumate professionals, we'd be more inclined to 'study' them,
but loved them like family at the same time, like siblings. I mean you could see how fine and lovely they all were and it sort of didn't matter in that way.

All the J5 concerts were fantastic, and by the time the Triumph concert came about they were The Jacksons, and as mentioned, I had made it to the Triumph concert by supernatural means as I keep emphasizing because it was actually a spiritual experience about me and God not so much about Michael or the Jacksons, and it was the way it all ended up being.

OK, so, as mentioned, I'd been praying for MJ to be able to be balanced and handle all the excesses of his success, and if only I could let him know he wasn't alone, with feeling alone, if that makes sense, because it broke my heart that the man who brought everyone else together was lonely, just too much for me,so I felt that if prayer would possibly help (I was so naive yes and probbly still am somewhat) and so prayer, I felt the blessed assurance that God would tell him for me, and I was able to freely let it go.

So, one day I'm walking home from working all day at the women's clothing store where I did their window displays and a neighbor offerred me a ride. When I got in the car, the radio was so loud and full of static and this static was up to extreme volume and just before asking him to please turn it down, through the static, I heard the commercial, "The Jacksons! One Night Only! Be There!" and immediately I got that 'quickening' within, y'know, that excitement and no sooner than I felt it, I felt it go away and intrigued me by the fact that the excitement left me, "you're too old for that stuff now, and besides that, you can't go anyway even if you wanted to, its too far away and the whole nine yards of truths, of why I can't go and I heard 'the voice' say, 'GO' and I told 'the voice' that "if you want me to go you have to make it happen because, a. I don't want to, and b. I couldn't if I did want to, and so we arrived at my house and long story short my dad had apparently heard the same radio ad and said to me, "I heard the Jacksons are coming to town and I know you like them so I want you to know if you want to go I'll buy you a ticket" and completely shocked by this miraculous thing told me by Mr. Snap the TV Off In Your Face", I ran to the phone to order my ticket when the lady said, "I'm sorry, that show was completely sold out and also was postponed due to Michael needing a hydration break and is rescheduled for two weeks later, and both of those shows have also completely sold out"

so after getting over all that shock, I told God that if he wanted me to go, He will make it happen because there's nothing I can do, I'd be willing to do my part but its out of my hands.

So, I went on with the rest of my day and went to work at the store the next morning when on my way in, a coworker ran up to me, stopped me, by grabbing my right arm and started shaking me as punctuation for each of her words, "hey! I have an uncle who was going to the Jacksons concert and he can't go, if you know anyone who needs a ticket please let me know"....

"Ouch uh ME"! So that's how I wound up there. She also said they were going to be 45 minutes early to be up front on the festival floor. I was like, "great".

The miracle continues when they actually turned out to be 45 minutes late! We were like the LAST ones there! When I looked down on the festival floor it was packed like dirty clothes, it even looked MORE than sold out!

So I told God he obviosly wanted me here for a reason and asked what he wanted me to do now ...

this is where we get to the part/s nobody will believe and I don't have the wherewithall for trying to communicate with random unbelievers....people who need pics..nope no proof...and all that ... but to make a long story short, since I had told God I'd be willing to do my part, I was instructed to go to the very back of the crowd, locate the center microphone and walk towards it like the hands of a clock. Imperceptable yet with definite destination. Although I nearly passed out three times, (the crowd is a lot of why some girls faint from lack of oxygen) I made it all the way up front and by the time I got there I was beyond completely exhausted. The only time I had energy was on those you can't be still on, like Dancin' Machine and Goin' Places, but other than that, I was tired and it seemed the music, the crowd and the screaming only got louder.

I'd seen in her book where Latoya mentioned that looking at them all up close it seemed their minds were zillions of miles away, that much was true. They looked like they could have been putting together their grocery lists although the performances were impeccably in step and perfect timing.

When Michael got to the slowest song in the repertoir, I found myself falling fast asleep, even though my eyes were still open and on Michael, I wasn't actually looking AT him, until I noticed a glint came to his face, and I began to awaken and focus and noticed he seemed to be following his eyes, sort of like against his will, like his eyes were moving in slow motion over towards my direction and his face seemed to be perpelexed or smthg like that and eventually the big dots dropped into mine and we stared at eachother seemed like an eternity, all the sound was suddenly muted, all fifteen thousand people completely disappeared and we went some place very far away just standing alone face to face ...... and all of a sudden,

Michael looked at his hand as if there was an unidentified foreign object in it which he had no idea what it was nor how it got there. Turns out that it was a microphone. He did that look that's on the cover of Jermaine's book. He quickly jumped back into the song and continued on without the audience noticing anything ... then after about maybe 30 seconds or so....a roar and a rush came from the crowd over my left shoulder, that part of the crowd shifted in a lunge forward and toward the stage, my feet were lifted off the floor and landed about a foot or two to my right. The song was, Ben. I hesitate to tell it publicly because I know what you LITDers are thinking but .... not so fast..

Actually what happened imho is that because my energy was different it was a distraction and caused MJ to surprise himself at getting distracted breaking the invisble "4th wall" between the performer and the audience. I felt so bad for the distraction factor that I wanted to disappear into the floor. I didn't want to stand out in that sense and I knew I was aglow drenched with sweat over the footlights and Tito and Marlon had been using my eyes as a "focal point" each time I looked at them, so I did realize the potential for being a distraction to MJ, which I actually did not want because of my theatre training is why the fact that I was asleep when he "noticed me" was ironic.

It is indeed what attracted me to the Did MJ Find Love In The Dark thread, which was fascinating to participate as it unfolded, but I honestly believe that in Michael's self-written things, he sings about many women and I've noticed that in a lot of adlibs he's telling a lot of subtextual stories (have you really listened to the adlibs in ITC?) that I do believe are confidential to the receivers they're intended for and I believe its why we can't understand half of what he's saying sometimes and why fans do not love some of those songs that imho are probably 'message' songs and why he put so much into production, for fans' enjoyment. Do I believe there's an LITD girl? Yes. Do I believe there's any reality to it other than the 'muse' value? No. I'd probably do better to explain what I mean it the LITD thread.

I do believe that moment of the breaking of the 4th wall led to them choosing to do it on purpose because every performer does need to ensure the four walls on stage are secure, so I think doing it intentionally was the solution to making sure it would overcome the distractor factor, so that may be why the girl with the pony tail he famously kissed (no idea what city it was) during the Triumph tour may have been incorporated for that reason, and later the YANA girls to just take out the 4th wall altogether. Am I saying I think it all came from that moment? Well... I can think that if I want to :lol: that something good came out of it for him. The point I believe God was teaching me was how to let go and let God.

Some of you will claim to be "jealous" (I know you don't mean it maliciously) and some will claim its fan fiction (yes you may use it with my permission if you add, 'based on true events') and some of you just won't (want to) believe it at all, so for these reasons I don't typically tell it but it seems I owe this much to this topic at this point.

In advance let me answer, no, nobody invited me back stage.

And, no I didn't make it 'mean' anything, and I hope you (all) don't either..

and everything else you (all) may ask, your guess is probably as good as mine.
But yes, that's my most memorable concert experience

 

[SoS]

The first YANA girl was in Prague in September 1996. It was the first show of the HIStory tour. I know that because I was there and saw it live. However, he always brought a girl up on stage during the previous tours too (Bad and Dangerous), but it was during ”She’s Out Of My Life”. He’d sing..then stop and go ”Can I come down there?” (meaning the steps leading down from the stage to where the audience was and where the girl was waiting for him…and then the girl got to walk up the stairs to Michael and he would dance with the girl abd most of the girls acted just like the YANA girls.

WOW. Thanks for sharing that! So it started with She's Out Of My Life. I remember when he did SOOML at the Triumph concert. Being so close up, it tickled me back then when he'd just lay on the floor...watching him get up was a hoot to me, it was smooth though, but it was funny at the same time.

The rare songs back then were the collabs he did on other albums, like with Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Siegfield and Roy, or when someone like Blackstreet did the remix cover of Billie Jean.

Never knew this before. I wonder where can it be found?

@summer why coudn't/didn't they release Xscape even after it was leaked? I never understood that. I felt the whole world should hear it.