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

I was born in '93, I'm 16 so I know how you all feel. It really depresses me that I wasn't able to remember any major Michael release... I was born way too late :(
 
I was born in 85, so missed the J5/Jacksons and thriller era. I dont really remember the bad era, just a few bits and pieces....sometimes I wish i had a timemachine so I could experience all the era's
 
tomthedude said:
I was born in '93, I'm 16 so I know how you all feel. It really depresses me that I wasn't able to remember any major Michael release... I was born way too late :(
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Yeah I think around 94 is the latest date where people can recognize the most personal things about Mike and care. Others may think different though.
I feel happy about living in Michael's lifetime. Thats a blessing in itself.
Being on a forum where there is a flood of new pics when Michael was out shopping or at hotel because he was attending an award show.
WMA 2006 was GOOD!
Being around the buzz of Hold My Hand and seeing Michael in the studio with Will.I.Am.
Being around when justice prevail back in 05.
I kinda remember around Invincible and the 30th anniversary gig thanks to MJNI. Was soo disapointed in that site. Disapearing completely. But I'll always feel disapointed in them and anyone else will if that was there very first MJ site.

But anyone else can just blow me out the water and talk about the Victory/BAD/Dangerous or HIStory. Haha
 
I was born in 77 so I was lucky but I still wish I was born 10 years earlier so I could have actually appreciated all of that yummy Thriller/Bad Era goodness. I was 5 when Thriller came out, so although I knew there was massive hype, I wasn't old enough to really GET it or to go to like a Victory Tour concert or anything like that. I don't even think I had cable tv at the time so the best I had was my ET Storybook record, the radio which was constantly playing a song from Thriller and my cousins VHS tape of Thriller and the Making of which scared the crap outta this 5 year old (well 6 by the time Thriller came out).

I was 10 when Bad came out. Still too young to go to a concert according to my mom, so again, I just remember watching people crying and screaming and fainting at Bad Tour shows when they aired those MTV specials (I had gotten cable TV by then!). So I was there.. but still too young to really appreciate how gorgeous he was then. I honestly remember thinking, wondering what kind of magic spell this man had over these people at the show because I'd NEVER seen anything like that before in my life. I don't even remember the music, I just remember all they showed on these MTV specials were ppl being passed over the crowds and carted away on stretchers! Never seen anything like that before then or since.

Dangerous was released my first year of high school. I thank my dad who had an extensive record collection that included alot of J5 and Jacksons records. So while I was listening to the radio at that time and was listening to current music then, I was also pulling out my dad's old Jacksons records, along with other records he had, and I would play them when I got home from school. That was my lesson in Michael and the J5s history and how I got to know the music that they created before I was born.

So don't feel bad... u can't help when you were born. I still want to curse my mom out for not having me 10 years earlier so I could have been at a Victory or Bad Tour show screaming my head off in the front row. Just be happy that alot of that footage is available in one form or another for us to look at and drool over. You may not have been around then, but the internet fixes it so you still get the epicness anyway.
 
I'm a Sixties child so, yeah, I was a teenager when Thriller came out. It pains me to think I could have been a full-blown fan of Michael ever since... But I wasn't really a fan for twenty years. I kept an eye an Michael a bit but the lion's share of my attention went elsewhere. Thus, it's not the 80s I missed out on but there's still too much I missed out on... :banghead

I think it was the Thriller video that caught my attention first. Music videos weren't shown very much on TV back then. I was so happy I managed to buy the Thriller VHS, which includes the making of part. That was my proudest posession back then and I still have it. Just last summer I found a couple of MJ books on the bookshelf of my old room at mom's. Great! I used to have Michael's cassettes up until Bad, including some early stuff. I wish I still had those. I also had The Jacksons' Victory and a solo album by Jermaine (I forget what it was called but I've seen the sleeve pic around and still recognized it). I also had posters and pics on my walls but nowhere near as many of you who've shared pics of your collections and rooms here.

I'm really glad to see so many young fans so don't feel bad! You didn't miss out on many of the things I, as a returning fan, did. In hindsight I still wish I'd bought tickets to one of Michael's HIStory shows in Helsinki...
 
My mum is 49 and I ask her about what it was like when the Jackson 5 were really popular and she said that they were absolutly huge. She said that they were always compared to The Osmonds and everyone knew that Michael and Donny were going to be the stars. But what she said was that everyone thought that Donny would be the huge star over Michael mainly because Michael was black and Donny was white. People knew Michael would be a star, but no one expected Michael to just go into oblivion like he did.
 
PCR said:
Awwwww :(
I missed the 70's and the Thriller era. I was just this little girl then to fully appreciate MJ. During the BAd era I thought he was this super out of this world celebrety, perfect dancer and completely out of reach. I really got closer while Dangerous and HIStory.

But you see, I arrived too late to the forums, so I feel like I missed the last years of MJ, while we were waiting for This is it :(
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Not to brag guys I was born into it. They really took off when I was about four years old. When I turned five I wanted to be a Jackson. This was in 1972. MJ was going to be my husband and Jackie was so fine. UMMMM. Boy I really miss Michael. You could see then he had something about him that made people feel him.
 
suzynyc said:
Oh, how cool. Which one? Michelle? Lucy? Eleanore? Penny? Jude? Madonna? :D
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Whoah. I didn't know they had so many hits about girls and their names, LOL. She named me after the first one. ;) Thank God. :doh: No offense to any members who own any of the other names, of course. :p

My mom was also the one who first introduced me to Michael and his music. She owned his Thriller tape--yes, his tape, LOL... and I remember taking that thing and listening to it over and over and over again. I practically stole it from her, hehehe. :evil: I remember singing and dancing to his songs... and just wanting to be Michael and own a "Beat It Jacket"... so I could be as cool as he was. :shades: Never got to get one because my family was so poor at the time, so owning one was a dream I had. I remember how sad that made me, and I was so envious of the other kids that owned one.

AAaaaahhhh... and Michael RULED MTV during those times. People thought MTV actually stood for Michael TV. I'll never forget watching "Thriller" with my little brother, and the two of us almost shitting in our pants during! :lmao: I wanted to be a zombie-dancer in that video SO BAD! :wild: I can't count how many times I watched the making of the video as well. Gah. I could seriously go on and on and on, guys. :wub: This post shall be continued.... :D
 
Real good hearing these stories.
Hope more fans share too.
I just drift off into a different world thinkin about what it was like in the 70s/80s while readin em lol
 
jsimpson9 said:
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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Completely agree with this right here. :yes: The older (true) fans never stopped loving Michael--no matter what the media tried to portray him as. :smilerolleyes: The younger fans (I say true again. ;)) of the 90s/00s fell in love with Michael regardless of said crap. You should all be very proud of yourselves for not being sheep. :D
 
jsimpson9 said:
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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Aww that was nicely said :huggy:
I am proud of that I became fan when it wasn't the cool thing to do, but you know, there's always something to whine about :D
 
I was born in 87, the year Bad came out so I have some vague memories of that time but I grew up in the Dangerous/History era. Luckily I was too little to know any of the scandal that had happened until I was older. My parents, especially my mom, was smart enough not to tell me about it or what to think one way or another. Thank God for that because I was able to think for myself by the time I found out. I was glad to have grown up then because his videos put me in awe every time. It wasn't about the awards or the press really on how great or scandalous he was, just the music. I loved how much I could see he loved children and being little at that time I felt extra special. I'm kinda glad I didn't grow up in the Thriller era because every time someone in history is raised up, it's like they do it just for the right opportunity to tear it down. From his music in history I could tell there was some kind of anger or pain he was trying to communicate. I remember watching the Bucharest tour and even though there were thousands of people, in his eyes and spirit you can tell there is this feeling of unfathomable sadness and isolation, like there was a wall between him and the crowd. I learned to care for the environment from him because seeing the video for Earth Song at eight years old branded those images in my memory. I learned from him in these past years how to take anything the media says with half a grain of salt and that fame is overrated. I think a lot of us learned that. So I think those lessons are invaluable compared to growing up and just seeing him praised.
 
jsimpson9 said:
this has made me feel so sad but also comforted because me and my mother have talked alot about this lately. I was born in 81 and have some 80s mania memories. I have video footage of myself on my mum's 21st b-day party hiding behind her skirt when everyone was dancing to Thriller because I was scared of Vincent Prices' voice. I remember the long hot hazy Bad mania summer when an MJ Bad tape in your cassette player was as natural to have as we all have mobile phones now. If you had one you were cool. The market stalls were full of pin badges and scarfs and Lookin' magazine (and Smash Hits) had a regular poster; they were so regular you took it for granted. I remember on 'wet break' and end of term treats at school our teacher would go to the Ritz video store and pick up 3 videos for us to choose...The Goonies, Neverending Story and Moonwalker...there was a big vote and Moonwalker would win because the boys liked the bit where MJ turns into a car and the girls loved Michael. I remember Dangerous coming out and all of a sudden basketball was cool in the playground (Jam video) and Bart Simpson wore an MJ t-shirt. Heal the World was my big awakening to global issues at 10 yrs old.

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.

Post 1993 was a different world for MJ fans. We had little, fragmented magic moments like HIStory statue floating, Earth Song xmas no.1, the HIStory tour,Brit Awards 96, WMA 96/97?, Oxford speech, MJ and Friends concerts all the video releases..GHOSTS was amazing and I dont think it has enough coverage or even discussions by fans...the MJ Sony demo in London 2001/2?, , All incredible. Despite these moments 93' was the end of the bubble burst and MJ was persecuted for the rest of his life by the evil media we all live with. When we have had time to get perspective on this terrible crime I am sure we will be able to get justice for Michael..sadly at the moment we are still living through it.

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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🥰
 
zinniabooklover said:
🥰
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This is a beautiful thread you've highlighted. Honestly, nothing will stop me from being sad about missing out on the 80s (and earlier) of Michael's career. The paragraph about life post-93 made me cry. I'm so sad thinking about beautiful, magical Michael being broken by the allegations and the media just tearing him down relentlessly. It's so sad the way the writer describes it as the bubble bursting. Like I cannot stop crying about this. It's so sad to never know what it was like to see Michael before all of this, when he was purely beloved. I'm so sad for him and for the world. 😢 😭
 
staywild23 said:
This is a beautiful thread you've highlighted.
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I love this whole thread. As ever, I came across it by accident. As per, I can't remember what I was looking for but it popped up and I couldn't resist taking a look. There are several comments I wanted to bump but I went for this one, partly bc it has a UK focus but also bc she does a great job of painting a vivid picture of what it was like.

My recollections don't quite match hers, of course. I remember things being somewhat different but that's to be expected.

staywild23 said:
Honestly, nothing will stop me from being sad about missing out on the 80s (and earlier) of Michael's career. The paragraph about life post-93 made me cry. I'm so sad thinking about beautiful, magical Michael being broken by the allegations and the media just tearing him down relentlessly. It's so sad the way the writer describes it as the bubble bursting.
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Again, my recollections are somewhat different. Certainly things became inexpressibly awful from late '93 onwards, as we know. But it wasn't all bright and beautiful before that. Although, she does say - "Despite these moments 93' was the end of the bubble burst" - so perhaps she means that things started to go wrong much earlier than 1993. Which would be a more accurate story, imo.

But I don't want to nitpick. 1993 was a sea change. Nothing was ever the same after that. And she captured that beautifully. The terrible sadness, that nothing could ever be the same for Michael, there would be no going back for him as far as the press was concerned.

staywild23 said:
Like I cannot stop crying about this. It's so sad to never know what it was like to see Michael before all of this, when he was purely beloved. I'm so sad for him and for the world. 😢 😭
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It's always going to be unbearably sad and painful, isn't it? There's just no way round that. My week so far illustrates it quite nicely. I'm feeling low, tearful and unsettled. Monday I was wandering round the board like a lost soul trying to find a thread where I could post a Jackson's brothers memorial video for Michael. I found this thread - which is uplifting - but it also made me feel even more tearful than I already did.

Otoh, 'Hallelujah Day' popped into my head, I was re-reading the Smash Hits interview (bc I found a transcript, SO much easier to read than the scanned version) and the board introduced me to 'Wait'. Oh, and someone brought the news that, back in 1997, Smash Hits had declared Ronan Keating to be the new King of Pop which was entirely delightful. :ROFLMAO:
 
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I was born in 1990, so sort of cusp 89/90's baby, and thanks to my brothers being born in '78 and '80 respectively, I caught the Michael bug from such a young age, and my mom experiencing them as well being 3 years older than Michael. 🥰 But in the course of those years, I've experienced so many ups and downs, what a rollercoaster of emotions, literally discovering anything and everything MJ that it became such an impact to me, and just seeing these events unfold, I never doubted Michael for a second through it all, and it just hurt my heart and soul what Michael went through, and feeling the loss of him even more...but I feel so blessed to have been in coexistence with all of these fans and with Michael being there is literally something that will never be replicated in reality again. To me, all of these gems and discoveries just makes me fall for him all over again and again.

Always listening to him on the radio and watching his performances, I felt like I was right there in the moment, and my brothers growing up with that as well really make our sibling bonds more special as well.
 
I was born in '85 so the Bad and Dangerous albums were big during my childhood. My earliest memories of Michael and his music were Captain EO and Back to the Future II, but I wasn't really aware of exactly who he was and how insanely popular he was (I didn't even know the Thriller album existed until high school). My brother had the Bad album on cassette which I discovered when I was like 7 or 8 and I was blown away by it. Sadly this was around the time the allegations happened so at some point I was talked into not listening to it anymore and even having my brother break the tape... yeah, pretty awful, I know.

I envy the fans who got to enjoy him pre-1993 and even at certain points after that. It seems like there was a lot of magic in those years that I missed out on due to being gullible and believing nearly all of what the media said about him. Combine that with living with overprotective, fear mongering parents in plain boring American suburbia that would never have let me do the whole "following Michael around" thing fans did, and the fact that I was made fun of a LOT as a kid/teen for the interests I did have... I eventually reached the point where by the time I was in high school I was in full-on "keep your head down and your mouth shut unless spoken to" survival recluse mode and was reluctant to share any interests or develop new ones that appealed to me, Michael included. So Michael... just slipped away.

Unfortunately it took his passing for me to finally, fully embrace what I had been missing out on all along. However, I've met some cool people on here and elsewhere in the fandom, and even made a lifelong friend out of it. I got to travel to places and experience things I never thought I'd ever do. So it hasn't been all bad.
 
MacMandy90 said:
To me, all of these gems and discoveries just makes me fall for him all over again and again.
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It's fab, isn't it? I definitely feel like I'm being given this lovely opportunity to relive some stuff and pay more attention this time around or find more layers in it than I did before or just ... I dunno. It doesn't feel quite like a rediscovery. Feels like, um ... 🤔 I don't know what to call it but, whatever it is, I love it. Just finding that you thought you loved him but, actually, you really love him deeper than you ever knew or thought you could. If that makes any kind of sense, lol.

MacMandy90 said:
Always listening to him on the radio and watching his performances, I felt like I was right there in the moment, and my brothers growing up with that as well really make our sibling bonds more special as well.
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Am I right in thinking one of your brothers bought you a lovely edition of Moonwalk for your b'day?
 
zinniabooklover said:
It's fab, isn't it? I definitely feel like I'm being given this lovely opportunity to relive some stuff and pay more attention this time around or find more layers in it than I did before or just ... I dunno. It doesn't feel quite like a rediscovery. Feels like, um ... 🤔 I don't know what to call it but, whatever it is, I love it. Just finding that you thought you loved him but, actually, you really love him deeper than you ever knew or thought you could. If that makes any kind of sense, lol.


Am I right in thinking one of your brothers bought you a lovely edition of Moonwalk for your b'day?
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It totally makes sense to me dear lol it's a good way to put it.

Yes ma'am and still have the original copy. 🥰
 
It was a great ride being there throughout Michaels prime (Jackson 5 through BAD) but Jackson went downhill rapidly after the 80s.
 
I'm one of those "older" fans who witnessed MJ's magic in the 80s. Well, it was indeed magic. And not only MJ, but all the references about him in the movies, commercials, fashion,... I don't think MJ would have had the magnitude with This Is It he had with Thriller and Bad era in the 80s. It was really huge.
 
BUMPER SNIPPET said:
I'm one of those "older" fans who witnessed MJ's magic in the 80s. Well, it was indeed magic. And not only MJ, but all the references about him in the movies, commercials, fashion,... I don't think MJ would have had the magnitude with This Is It he had with Thriller and Bad era in the 80s. It was really huge.
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That was because in the '80s he had a very big machine behind him.

For example, his record companies/labels spared no expenses when it came to the production of his music videos.

Also, his record companies/labels used to advertise him hugely and on a global level (via TV, magazines, etc).

Michael Jackson used to take the lion's share of Epic and CBS Records promotion funds, which also enabled him to have that giant, costly and theatrical BAD Tour.

These things do not diminish his talent as an entertainer in the '80s, but they certainly contributed greatly to his worldwide success and impact during that period.
 
mj_frenzy said:
That was because in the '80s he had a very big machine behind him.

For example, his record companies/labels spared no expenses when it came to the production of his music videos.

Also, his record companies/labels used to advertise him hugely and on a global level (via TV, magazines, etc).

Michael Jackson used to take the lion's share of Epic and CBS Records promotion funds, which also enabled him to have that giant, costly and theatrical BAD Tour.

These things do not diminish his talent as an entertainer in the '80s, but they certainly contributed greatly to his worldwide success and impact during that period.
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The machinery is not enough. It all depends also on how the public reacts to that constant MJ presence in the commercial media. Back then MJ was received almost like a Marvel super hero. In the 90s however, as soon as his image was tarnished, it was the fall. Not music wise, but simply this constant doubt in people's mind following the accusations in 1992/93 was when the super hero became the super vilain in average Joe's mind. The 2003 accusations killed him eventually, and recently with Safechuck and Robson it buried him even deeper in the people's subconsciousness as a super vilain. No machinery can fix this as long as the accusers hide the truth.
 
filmandmusic said:
@BUMPER SNIPPET you speak of of references in 80s movies, can you name a couple?
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Sure, Beverly Hills Cop - two guys are walking in Thriller outfit on the streets, it makes Eddie Murphy laugh; Eddie Murphy makes reference of MJ in the hotel at the reception; Goonies - MJ is mentioned; Lethal Weapon 2 (I think) - at one point in the dialogue between Danny and Mel they make reference to BAD; The Cosby Show - season I - posters of MJ all over kids' rooms, in one episode they go to BAD concert; Back To The Future II - a digital MJ speaks on a TV screen, BEAT IT song blast when M.J. Fox enters the bar; Back To The Future III - M.J.Fox moonwalks and sings Billie Jean; Alf in one episode sings Billie Jean; etc. Those are the ones I have on my mind right now, but there's plenty more out there.
 
Born in 1984. My uncle bought BAD on compact disc when that first came out. I was hooked as soon as I heard it. I was 4 years old dancing to Smooth Criminal. I somehow remember the debut of the Man In the Mirror music video on TV.

I feel like I already knew how special Michael Jackson was at 3 years old.

I was 7 years old when Dangerous came out and I used my allowance money on Dangerous when it came out. I bought it on cassette and wore that tape out on my Sony Walkman.
 
I started when Billie Jean came out, kids were trying to light up the sidewalks on the street because of the video. What stroke me the most was the Thriller album in its whole at that time, Beat it gave MJ a deep respect, he was definately the Boss

Then Jacksonmania started around mid 84 to 88, it didn't stop a while ! Victory Tour, We are the World, Captain EO and crazy Bad Era, maybe if MJ remained silent between 84 and 87, Bad could have sold as much as Thriller who knows..

When Dangerous got released I get the same feeling as the 83 year, real new creativity : BoW, Who is it, Give in to Me...wow! Even the rock version of Billie Jean at Bucarest suprised me, more "King of Pop" attitude than the Bad Tour version. But before the Chandler case, Sony and/or MJ did actually dial down, more energy but less enthousiasm, to me those Riley's tracks were overused, I liked Bottrell tracks more!

I did enjoy History era but that was it, it wasn't orbit level (Thriller, Bad and Dangerous) but high enough above the clouds just like Off The Wall
 
1989, was in a store with my mom and saw a VHS with this cover:
MV5BOWNjMDA3ZmEtZDQwMy00YjJmLTkxNjgtYTUyYmQwYTI0MTNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTAyODkwOQ@@._V1_.jpg


I was captivated as I asked my mom "Who is that?", she responded "That's Michael Jackson, do you want it?"
A life changing moment.
 
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