Ooooooo!! You two are too MUCH!! Fo real tho!! :lol: :lol:
I don't know MJ all like THAT!! Wouldn't mind knowing. lol But I don't know him like that. I think my friend could have had a chance to find out more about him, but she got cold feet when he asked her if she would come to his hotel to visit him once his day was over. Now that I'm thinking about it, he probably didn't go directly to the airport and leave after completing his schedule. If he was scheduled to leave that day, he would not have told her to come to his hotel and see him that night. My friend was 18 when he was in town and she's the one that started the whole thing when she asked him if she could have a kiss and he told her yes. He would not have said to me what he had said to her about coming to see him. He could tell that I was several years younger than him. Don't forget, he was around 21 years old when he released "Off The Wall." Also, I got a chance to spend time with him one on one. He's super shy one on one
I've learned different things about him from being a long-time fan, seeing him go from being a kid to being a man, listening to the deep things he's been saying from then to now, and from those scattered chance meetings. Even though he's become a much bigger star, he really hasn't changed that much over the years. In some ways he has changed, but in many ways he hasn't. For example, look at what he's saying in the poem "Mark of the Ancients" from "Dancing the Dream" that came out many years after "Off The Wall." "My teacher gave me a glance to ask if I understood this lesson. I sat very still, and my silence told him I did." When I was sitting with him in the limo, he was sitting very still and he was sitting there in silence. He only said a few words. This shows he's very much like what he's saying in that poem. He was acting totally different from the way he was an hour or so before. He was very much like what he said in the poem, "Courage." "When I step out on stage in front of thousands of people, I don't feel that I'm being brave. It can take much more courage to express true feelings to one person." Overall, I was saying that what I experienced with him that day I can see in things he's saying in writing. His poetry is a reflection of how he views things and how he is in many ways.
Also, MJ isn't reclusive like the media has been saying he is. He gets around and he's been very open over the years too, as well as very approachable. We are those regular people he wants to get to know better. Sometimes, just by luck, some people may get a chance to see different sides of him. I guess I caught him on a good day. He was moving around from place to place, but he really wasn't acting like he was in a major rush. If he were in a major rush that day, he would have left immediately after coming out of the radio station, but instead, he hung around for a little while.
Description of the Places MJ Visited in 1979 While Promoting "Off The Wall" on the East Bay side of the San Francisco Bay Area
Location of the Autograph Signing
MJ's autograph signing took place at
"Leopold Records" in Berkeley near the UC Berkeley Campus in an area that is fun to walk around in. In this area of Berkeley, many would hang out on the campus, listen to music outdoors, visit the rose garden that's not far from there, museums, play video games at the arcade that was next door to the record store and other things. There were lot's of fun things to do in the area. Just checking out the people is fun. We used to call this area of Berkeley "Hippie Town."
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Telegraph-Ave-Berkeley.jpg
"Hippie Town" is located on the side of the UC Berkeley Campus where the entrance called "Sather Gate" is located. Some of you have probably seen this entrance in person and some of you may have seen it many times on television or in other ways. Here are some pictures of "Sather Gate" so you can see what side of the campus MJ's autograph signing took place on when he was at the record store. Please note, he wasn't on the campus, he was at the record store across from the campus.
http://spectacle.berkeley.edu/pics/campuspics/sathergate_280.jpg
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Sather_Gate,_UC_Berkeley.jpg
Here's a very creative aerial shot of the UC Berkeley Campus so you can see the whole place at a glance..sorta. You'll soon see why I said sorta. Warning, it may make some of you feel dizzy. lol Someone was really trippin' when they created this, but anyway... lol You'll have to turn your head to the extreme right and upside down to see where "Hippie Town" is, but I would not advise you to do it because you will probably fall out of your chair! LOL
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/107670106_0af4c1cc1e.jpg
See what I mean? Now, enough of that crazy stuff! LOL
Location Where MJ Performed "Rock With You"
I posted the pictures of the UC Berkley Campus so you'll have a general idea of where MJ started his day of meeting his fans in the San Francisco Bay Area while promoting "Off The Wall." After he finished his autograph signing in Berkeley, he went to the teen club called "The New Age" which was located in downtown Oakland on Broadway. Here's a picture of downtown Oakland. It's not a current picture, but it still allows you to see his next scheduled stop.
http://www.business2oakland.com/main/images/AerialfromEstuary.jpg
"The New Age" was located near two theaters. One is called the "Fox Theater" and the other is called the "Paramount Theater." The "Paramount Theater" is where "The Wiz" was performed live on stage once it became a Broadway play and was touring the country. The "Paramount Theater" is still open for concerts and plays. The "Fox Theather" is being turned into an art school. The place where the teen club called "The New Age" used to be has been turned into a large condominum. When "The New Age" was there, it was the hottest spot in town for teens to go out and dance on Saturday nights. It was a bowling alley that was turned into a teen club. It had a huge dance floor and the floor was filled with rows of different colored lights from one end of the club to the other. The rows of lights were placed down into the floor in the same direction that the lanes were when the place was a bowling alley. It was a very fun spot!
Since "The New Age" is no longer there, here are some pictures of the "Paramount Theater" and the "Fox Theater" so you can get a feel of the area of downtown Oakland that MJ went to after leaving Berkeley.
http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/display/5ef81c04-c8d8-40ce-9d5f-7eff404cf688.jpg
http://www.rockandrollroadmap.com/gfx/paramount_oakland.jpg
Did you guys notices that light green building in the picture? The one to the right of the "Paramount?" "The New Age" used to be on the other side of it on the next street over.
This link shows the "Fox Theater."
http://www.foxoakland.org/uploads/images/home_photo.gif
This is a picture of the inside of the "Paramount Theater" so you can see where "The Wiz" was performed live on stage when it came to Oakland years later.
http://www.meyersound.com/news/2007/paramount_theatre/web/paramount_theatre_009.jpg
The theaters are located just a couple of blocks from a placed called "Lake Merritt." I'm posting a link to show you a picture of the lake as well to give you a better feel of the area where "The New Age" used to be.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/18/69699793_e96ccf7e64.jpg
The next link shows an aerial view of downtown Oakland and "Lake Merritt." In this picture, you can really get a feel of where MJ was when he visited Oakland while promoting "Off The Wall." "The New Age" was located on the other side of the tall office buildings to the upper far right side of the picture. The theaters are over there too. At the top of the picture you will see the "Oakland/San Francisco Bay Bridge" in the distance. After leaving downtown Oakland, MJ went in that direction. That's where "KDIA Radio Station" is located. He had a pretty nice day, didn't he? He was all over the place! lol Do you see that island in the middle of the water? The bridge goes right through it. That's San Francisco on the other side of the bridge.
http://www.lcbassociates.com/images/aerial.jpg
Location of MJ's Live Radio Interview
When you're looking at the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Bridge from the north side of it, Oakland is on the left side, San Francisco is on the right side. The Bay Bridge is a huge structure and it's also very long. The island that it goes through is called "Yerba Buena Island." When you click on the first link below and look at the top of the page, you will see "Yerba Buena Island," the Bay Bridge, the bay and "San Fransico." Oakland is to the left of "Yerba Buena Island" but you won't see it in this picture. I'm posting the below link so you can get a feel of the location MJ was in once he got to the radio station. It was a very beautiful sunny day and the temperature outside was nice. It wasn't hot, it wasn't cold and it wasn't windy. It was just right. God is the bomb!! lol
http://www.sfbayimages.com/bay_bridge.html
Here's a closer view of the Bay Bridge from the Oakland side of it.
http://www.interforti.com/STOCKPHOT...alt.jpg&img=&tt=&tfile=tn_400_IMG_3169alt.jpg
KDIA Radio Station, located in Oakland, sits to the right side of the freeway lanes that lead to the "Oakland/San Francisco Bay Bridge" toll booths. There's a road that runs parallel to the free lanes leading to the radio station. In this photo, which seems to have been taken during the morning commute time, you will be able to see the station's radio towers.
http://www.tfhrc.gov/its/pubs/06108/images/fig3_12.jpg
That's exactly where MJ was when I sat with him in his limo. I even remember how the limo driver parked the car when they got there. When the limo driver drove into the parking lot, he turned the limo around and backed it in so it would be easier to drive out when they were ready to leave. Because of the direction that the limo was parked, the toll booths were behind the car and the radio station was to the left of it. I'm describing all of this so you can get a better idea of the direction MJ was walking when he went inside the radio station with his bodyguards and when he came out after completing his live interview.
Here's a picture of the toll boths that are by the radio station.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1082/766710119_39248ffd2f.jpg?v=0
I'm also posting the next link so you can see the Bay Bridge from the San Francisco side leading to Oakland. Although you can't see Oakland in this particular picture, you can still see that MJ's interview at the radio station took place near a large body of water. If you look straight ahead you can get an idea of where Berkeley is too. It's over in that direction. Oakland is in the direction that you see the bridge turning at the top of the picture. To cross the Bay Bridge on your way to San Francisco, you have to pay at the toll booth. So, now you have a feel of where MJ went after he left downtown Oakland.
http://www.boatingsf.com/photos/aerial1/yerbabuena_edited-2.jpg
I'm gonna stop here for now. I'm sure this is a lot for you guys to absorb. LOL. I'm a trip, huh? LOL
Next time, I will post the part about him getting out of the limo to go inside of the radio station, what took place while he was in there being interviewed and what took place after he came out. Keep the visual of him in your minds of the way he was dressed that day and how cute he looks so when I'm telling you the parts about him getting out the limo you'll be able to visualize it. I'll try to be as descriptive as I can so you guys will be there with me. I've reposted jaywonder's picture of MJ to help you out because this is a picture of MJ from that very day.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s278/jay8wonder/082308220625-3.jpg
You know I was feeling like this :wub: lol Just imagine, in one day, while visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, MJ did two interviews, an autograph signing and a performance. Amazing, huh?
Time Frame
I think I may have finally figured out a time frame for when MJ was in Oakland and Berkeley promoting "Off The Wall." I was looking at his "Ultimate Collection" booklet yesterday to see what month he released it. On page 37 it says it was in August of '79. Therefore, MJ released the album somewhere around his 21st birthday. The booklet also said he released "Rock With You" in October of that year. When I had asked some people at "The New Age" what song MJ performed, they said "Rock With You." So, I'm thinking he was in Oakland and Berkeley promoting his album somewhere around October. I know it wasn't in December or anything like that because it wasn't cold outside. None of us had to wear coats that day, not even MJ. As you can see in jaywonder's photo, MJ is wearing a vest.
Well, that's it for now. I'll post the last part later so you can see the cute things he was doing at the radio station. He is such a sweetie.
:flowers:
..lol. How well did you get to know Michael? Or was it just a few scattered chance meetings? Or something else?