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Being a Michael Jackson fan and missing out on the 80's

I wish I was alive during the 80s.

First place I'd go back to if I got a time machine would be Motown 25!!!
 
Sometimes it's nice to be old (and sometimes not, like when my back hurts, lol). I really am grateful that I got to witness Michael Jackson for myself (well, on TV and through records and the radio) become famous with the Jackson 5 as a child. That music and those images (albeit very vague at this point but recalled with the help of youtube) bring back happy feelings of my childhood.

Then as his solo career really took off with "Off The Wall" - that reminds me of the period after I finished high school (and being a nanny for my 2 nephews for a while). Every time I hear "Rock With You" or "She's Out Of My Life" I am right back there again (making Farina and taking my nephew to school).

Then the 80's came with the incredible release of Thriller and I remember we didn't have cable yet so I think we had to watch the premiere on Network television after the rest of the world saw it (can't really remember) but I do remember it was a huge event! A video made into a mini-movie! Never seen anything like it. And I would think - wow, that is the same little boy who sang with the Jackson 5 when I was little! It was Michael Mania in those years. EVERY SONG ON THRILLER WAS A HIT AND BEING PLAYED ON THE RADIO NON-STOP for months and months. His videos were played on TV endlessly (Friday Night Videos on I believe NBC is what I used to watch because as I said, I had no cable). I remember it became a little too much where I think there was a public backlash. People were like, enough Michael Jackson (I hate to say this but that's what I remember).

Anyway, I feel really lucky that I lived through those times. The 70's and 80's were incredible time periods to be a teenager.:) Musically, anyway. The rest of my teens - not so much.

PS Oh, and I remember we got my little niece a Michael Jackson record player (there's a picture of her posing with it somewhere in my Facebook)
 
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Yeezy2009 said:
I started thinking about this really when I made the thread about Mikes Simpson edisode. That was done in 1991. I was born in 1990. I feel some sort of privelege to of lived when Michael did. Meaning Im glad I got to an age where I could really recognize his greatness and become a genuine fan.

But it still makes me think OMG I missed out on Michael during the 70s/80s and early 90s. I dont want to sound bias for the younger generation but wow I can't explain how much I was looking forward to everythin happening relating to This Is It. I think we that hadn't witnessed a HUGE Michael era before was lookin forward to it the most. A brand new start, a brand new era. Where Michael would take the world by storm just like he did in the 80s and 90s. I was at the age where I could truly appreciate him and his music.

Im jealous of the older fans that got to go to the BAD concerts and the Dangerous concerts. Its a horrible feeling to know you missed out on the Thriller era etc.

Anyone else feel the same?
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Totally. I was born in august of 88, but I feel exactly the same. Too young :(

2001/2002 was when I first hooked onto MJ aged about 13.

I'm so jealous of my parents (my mum is the same age as MJ, and my dad is 61), especially because they weren't really bothered about him, they aren't really into music at all.. until I came along and educated them :p ! They were so lucky to have been there and had the chance to witness him from the beginning and go to concerts etc. and they didn't! :bugeyed One of my mum's excercise songs to do aerobics to was Billie Jean, but thats about it!

Please someone invent a time machine.
 
Rockin. said:
They were so lucky to have been there and had the chance to witness him from the beginning and go to concerts etc. and they didn't! :bugeyed One of my mum's excercise songs to do aerobics to was Billie Jean, but thats about it!

Please someone invent a time machine.
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It's the same with my parents! Sometimes I wish I could swap places with them so I could have gone to the concerts and stuff. I just can't believe they had the chance but didn't go. TII would have been my first and only chance to see him live. :cry:
 
Oh, and how could I forget to mention Motown 25. I don't remember specifics about it (another disadvantage of being old, heh). I just remember there was this anticipation about the event - and it was an event. So grateful I got to witness that too.:)

I never saw him in concert. My older sister went to a Victory tour concert and has photos which I need to ask her to post online.
 
I was born in April 86 so I got to experience the tail end of the 80s Mike. Fortunately my dad is a huge Michael fan and it was constantly his music played in the house. I remember when the Black or White video premiered and I couldn't sit still for days in anticipation-I couldn't wait! Sadly I was too young to attend his concerts-even with HIStory I was only 11 and my mum thought I was too young to be going to a concert. When I got TII tickets I couldn't stop screaming. Filling out the form to get the refund was one of the worst things I have ever had to do.
 
Yeezy2009 said:
I started thinking about this really when I made the thread about Mikes Simpson edisode. That was done in 1991. I was born in 1990. I feel some sort of privelege to of lived when Michael did. Meaning Im glad I got to an age where I could really recognize his greatness and become a genuine fan.

But it still makes me think OMG I missed out on Michael during the 70s/80s and early 90s. I dont want to sound bias for the younger generation but wow I can't explain how much I was looking forward to everythin happening relating to This Is It. I think we that hadn't witnessed a HUGE Michael era before was lookin forward to it the most. A brand new start, a brand new era. Where Michael would take the world by storm just like he did in the 80s and 90s. I was at the age where I could truly appreciate him and his music.

Im jealous of the older fans that got to go to the BAD concerts and the Dangerous concerts. Its a horrible feeling to know you missed out on the Thriller era etc.

Anyone else feel the same?
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I totally get what you're saying. I feel the same, since I was born in 1991. I mean, I'm so thankful that I became a fan when Michael was still alive and in age I could truly appreciate him but it doesn't take away the fact that I never saw him live, or experienced the REAL HYPE of the concerts.. though it was so close!
Those who got so see him performing and lived during the amazingly historical Thriller era are so lucky! I hope they all realise how lucky they actually are :)
 
jsimpson9 said:
My mum was born in 63 and when MJ passed it shook her world cos he had always been there. Her Michael was this amazing genius but beautiful boy who she got to see on TOTP (Top of the Pops)..again as others said it was a different media world - you had to be a lot more patient. My mum said one of the outstanding things about J5 / Jacksons and even OTW MJ was that there WAS a colour barrier (even in the UK) - she tol me that J5 got in all the teen mags - they were the only black icons in those mags and it was the rebel white teen girl who admitted they fancied the group / individual member as there was this unspoken colour barrier. My mum remembers when OTW came out (she was late teens) MJ was breaking those barriers down as the fresh, classy disco music was too good for everyone to deny and this was around the time when colour become less of an issue - MJ helped this because he was so incredible in every way - ignorance and fear werent strong enough to beat 'the force' to quote the song. Thriller is remembered by my mum as the time when everyone would stay in (like we do for the XFactor final) because Thriller was goin to be shown on one of the 3 channels. Michael was a dream pin up with the Llama or Bubbles - a kind of disney / cant do no wrong prince hero, full of innocence and magic.
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Your mom is so right. Michael did break down so many barriers. It was really amazing. At the time I didn't think about it all that much but now it just amazes me what he did. He appealed to all kinds of groups all over the world - not just a certain demographic. It's so nice that you can discuss Michael with your mom like that. :)
 
Here's a Michael Jackson 80's era memory I have (Edit: I was in my early 20's). I remember my sister telling me how to do the Moonwalk and us practicing in our socks. I actually got it (well, not as great as the man himself did it but I got the movement).
 
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I was 12 when Thriller was out and my first love was Billie Jean.....crazy ever since.
But yes...the medias were much more polite then. I remember when Moonwalker came into theaters in my town....it was like WOW ! Everybody went to see Michael on the big screen....it was frantic. And the press was full of amazing coments about his Bad tour...it was fantastic. When I used to go out in the disco in those days, DJs were playing his music and everybody would scream and jump to the dance floor and try to dance like Michael...Those were such good times. The best.Sweet memories...
 
jsimpson9 said:
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I have one thing to say to fans of the 1990s / 00s - you are the most remarkable and be proud of your independent minds, faith and courage..especially if you were in school when you became a fan...it will be your generation of fans that has the privilage of keeping Michael's legacy alive and will live your lives alongside his beautiful children. See that as your mission and you wont feel depressed about not getting to live through the 70s and 80s.
L.O.V.E XX
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That's very true. The younger fans will keep Michael's legacy alive. I'm so happy that they don't go along with the mainstream and are Michael fans now, and were even before his death. Although I was around to witness the Michael Mania of the 80's and his prior successes in the 70's I can't say that I was ever a "die hard fan" of his. I now wish I was. I was just there to see it all happen. It was like being carried away on a wave of Michael Jackson mania. I liked him and his music. I always have - just as a casual fan. The younger fans on here know so much more about Michael than I do. They teach me something new every day.
 
Louise. said:
It's the same with my parents! Sometimes I wish I could swap places with them so I could have gone to the concerts and stuff. I just can't believe they had the chance but didn't go. TII would have been my first and only chance to see him live. :cry:
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By reading your comments, once again I have to say how grateful I am I had the priviledge to actually go to one of his concerts. There was really no chance to see that would ever happen, but MJ came to Chile. He spent here a whole week and he had scheduled two shows for audiences of some 70,000+. By that time (1993) Chile had changed its government some 3 years before and we had our mega concerts for the first time EVER in 1990. So having Michael Jackson in Chile was completely out of this world.

The country was crazy about him, so it was our own Michael mania the months before and after his visit. We, as a little unknown country, felt so honored he had decided visiting us and his shows were THE event of the year. When he arrived it was complete madness, everybody was tuned to tv or radio to "follow him" and hundreds actually followed him everywhere.

At first it would be just ONE show, and that was the ticket I got. Then it sold out and they decided they were ready for another and that would be 2 days before the original. The ones like me who had bought tickets for the original first show felt frustrated, we wanted to be the first, but whatever.

Then, when the day to his first show (the one scheduled later) came, when people were already inside the stadium, just some 5 hours before the opening... THE SHOW WAS CANCELLED!!! It was madness, it was a national scandal!!! No really good or clear explanation was given, it was simply cancelled because Michael's had... a backache (which was never confirmed). Nothing else.

So things turned 180° against Michael. Everybody felt offended by that attitude, for not been given an explanation and some even did very stupid things (such as going to MJ's hotel just to destroy their tickets to show how upset they were about MJ.... bad and sad thing to see).

But then the second (and original first) show came and there we were, happy, crazy, excited and smashed. A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY!!!! I am so happy I didn't buy tickets for that other show, otherwise, I would have missed him!!!!

That show made history in my country. I has never been forgotten and it is one of the major musical milestones we have ever had. It's been 16 years since that show, but the excitement is still alive.

Thank you, Michael...I'll never forget that night.
 
Its bittersweet being at this age. Because I was around when Mike was alive. But wasnt around when Mike was loved by EVERYBODY. :(
 
Louise. said:
It's the same with my parents! Sometimes I wish I could swap places with them so I could have gone to the concerts and stuff. I just can't believe they had the chance but didn't go. TII would have been my first and only chance to see him live. :cry:
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I know :( I wish I was 50 yrs old just so I could experience everything Michael! I just had a chat again today with my mum about this and she really baffles me! I told her I wish I could swap lifetimes with her. What was she doing instead of getting caught up in Michael mania?? Lol. Maybe I need to talk to my auntie..
 
i also am one of the older fans....i was born in 1959,,,,i saw MJ on the Ed Sullivan show with the jackson 5! wow! what a great moment that was! i watched michael grow up ito the musical genusis he was there will never be another Michael Jackson! i have seen many artist come and go but none had the impact Michael made on the public and on his fans! his music will live forever,,,,i have soo many memories of Michael unfortunately i never got to see him in concert but his music will remain in my heart always and will pass it on to my grandchildren someday when i get them!

miss you michael!
 
mary said:
i also am one of the older fans....i was born in 1959,,,,i saw MJ on the Ed Sullivan show with the jackson 5! wow! what a great moment that was! i watched michael grow up ito the musical genusis he was there will never be another Michael Jackson! i have seen many artist come and go but none had the impact Michael made on the public and on his fans! his music will live forever,,,,i have soo many memories of Michael unfortunately i never got to see him in concert but his music will remain in my heart always and will pass it on to my grandchildren someday when i get them!

miss you michael!
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Look!! What a great post!!
This proves once again there is no much point in dates, but in actual love. Yo have had wonderful opportunities, Mary. I am happy for you and I am happy your grandchildren will hear them from first hand.

Bravo!!
 
Well, I may have lived through Michael Mania of the 80's but if it makes some of you young ones who missed that period feel any better I missed out on Beatlemania by just a few years, lol.
 
^^^ :lol: My mom certainly didn't miss out on The Beatle-Mania... she named me after one of their hit songs. :ciao: Maybe I should name my first-born daughter Billie Jean or Diana. :rofl:
 
I was born in 1982 - same year as Thriller released - and I first remember becoming aware of Michael when I was about 4 - my older sister was really into him so that got me into him. I had Thriller on cassette which must have been the first album I got! When I was 4 my sister and I were in a school dance production of Thriller (I was a cat, lol) and Michael was everywhere - all the kids at school wanted to be just like him. I still remember us getting Bad on CD as soon as it was released :) my sister and I would make up dances to all his songs and I still remember us arguing who got to 'play Michael'. Dancing to 'The Way You Make Me Feel' in my sisters bedroom really sticks in my mind!! We'd make our MJ dolls play with our Barbies as well (we didn't have a Ken!!) unfortunately my sister and I never got to see Michael in concert as we were too young back then :( the shows at the 02 would have been mine and my boyfriends first time seeing him. I am grateful that I can remember being a fan in the late 80's :)
 
I remember when i just started school in 85 alot of folk where heavy into MJ. I think by ths time everyone was crazy with MJ after the success of Thriller up to the dangerous Era in 91. I would say by living through the Thriller era and BAD was one hell of a time, even through i was a small kid at the time. But didn't matter what age you where. Everyone loved MJ.
 
It would have been sooo cool to have been around for the "Thriller" era, buy the record, see "Thriller" for the first time on TV....etc. Makes me a bit jealous of those who did have that opportunity. :D My mom has been a fan since Jackson 5. So MJ has always been apart of our family.

I became an MJ fan in 1991 at the age of four during the "Dangerous" era, and I can clearly remember my parents allowing me to stay up and watch the premiere of "Black or White". "Bad" was my very first cassette of Michael's, and "Dangerous" was my second. I can clearly remember my parents taking me to the store to buy both of them for me. Boy was that a thrill!! :woohoo:

But I must say, no matter what era one becomes a fan of Michael, it's such an honor. I'm so proud to have been a fan of him these past 18 years....and will be so for the rest of my life. :love:
 
I don't really think about it much, I'm grateful I got to see him around at all. Even if I was around back then I probably still couldn't afford tickets.
 
I was born in 73 so Michael has always been part of my life. It was great to be a fan when the whole world thought he was cool! I never got to see him in concert though, I had tickets for the O2, only in the last 10 years have I had enough money to go to concerts...that's a great sadness I have that I never got to see him, it had been a dream of mine for over 30 years.
 
I was actually worried I might collapse and miss the concert when Michael came out. I was born in 1990 too, so I missed out on Michael at his peak. In a way, it stands testament to Michael's legacy that, when I became a teen, the press badmouthing him about the trial 24/7, I've still become a mega fan...
 
Us younger fans gotta stick together! I was born in '87 around the time Michael embarked on the Bad tour i believe.

But yeah, to this day I wonder why I was born in that year and not an earlier one.
 
I feel exactly the same. I was born in 1992 and and I've always been so jealous of all the people who got to see him live. All the videos and TV appearances you can catch up on but seeing him live was the one thing I know I really missed out on. And to think I was just three weeks away...
 
Yeah I was born in 1988 and feel like I missed out on all those Jackson 5/The Jacksons/Thriller/Bad and even Dangerous years as I was much too young to understand. At that age I was too caught up in dolls and Bewitched! Lol.

I'm glad I became an avid fan and collector in the early noughties though.. Yeah we missed out, but at least we loved him and respected him immensely and we were there for him during his most trying time. But still, even now, we get to see his work through the years via videos/fan stories/music etc and we must realise that we were incredibly lucky to even live through SOME of the years that this amazing man was with us.

We would have had many more years to come had Dr Moron not been so ridiculously stupid and done an unforgiveable thing. I will always blame him for that.
 
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