I feel genuinely sad when I see things like this.
It was such a special time. To be honest, I became the fan I am today in late 1994 so I really only got the HIStory era to enjoy. Which was a fantastic time. But it was so different to now. You couldn't get MJ news on tap, you got it if you caught it on TV or the radio. You subscibed to fan clubs and you received newsletters every other month by post. But that was it. It wasn't daily, you didn't get all the rumours so it wasn't *so* much about anticipation. Often times you just saw the new music video one day on TV - quite often it wouldn't even be the full thing, just a clip. It was easy to take it for granted actually. I remember just turning on the TV one Friday night and the World Music Awards were on. This was the night MJ peformed Earth Song and got a ton of awards. I had no idea it was being broadcast, least of all that Michael would be there and would perform. I only saw TDCAU video the day we got satellite TV installed and it just happened to be on VH-1.
That 2 year period between 1995 and 1997 was just an amazing time to be a fan. Countless singles, videos, collectables, magazines, interviews, award shows and of course his last tour. I do have memories of both the Dangerous and Bad eras, but for me it wasn't the same level of fandom. Perhaps other fans can share their stories of then...