The Michael Jackson Cafe

hi im new here as well, my jackson story is somewhat typical, i was born and raised in hollywood ca so michael and family were a part of my upbringing at age 7yr i first heard "shake your body down to the ground i loved it, i remember motown 25 when he did the moonwalk i was glued to the tv,then in 1985 my family was living in encino 1 summer day i met janet outside of a local laundry mat my family was washing clothes haha she was so warm gentle, she took me into a 7/11 bought me soda and candy what every kid wants she wanted to know what i wanted to be when i grew up i thought wow she cares i carry that memory in my heart always

You met Janet? That is very cool. That is so nice that she was sweet. I imagine her, and Michael both like that. Thank you for sharing that nice memory with us.

your very welcome i was fortunate to see her velvet rope tour as well as her all for you one never saw michael though hugs to you

How did I become fan? Well, its very random. I knew of the man, I didnt follow his story though, I heard about his death through a message board, thinking it was sick joke, I go on a random site and its all over the internet. I wasn't upset over it, just shocked more like it because the celebs kept dying, but more and more MJ's was on the news, the more I was curious, I always heard stupid crap about him. So finally, I looked into the guy, to get a feel of this man, interviews aplenty and lots of other things, I first become a fan of this man because his absolute pure kindness and beautiful heart, it just BLEW me away, then I got into his music and now that i know how kind of a man he is, it just absolutely killed me on how they treated him and i can honestly say, i do love the guy, he's an amazing man with beautiful music and other so called mistakes he made, i dont really care about...i dont look at the negative, i look at the positive and to me, the good he's done outweighs the bad any day.

i bought my then boyfriend the Dangerous album on cassette... he lent it to me to listen to ...from that moment i was hooked... i saw Michael in concert in 1992..he was awesome !!! i'm am such a huge fan that i named my son after Michael ...i was pregnant with him wen i went to the concert but i didnt know .... I have a daughter too and she is also huge MJ fan

I hope it's not too late to add my story ... I am a couple of years older than Michael, so I can vividly recall when he first emerged as this little kid fronting his brothers and singing on the Ed Sullivan Show. I can remember how mesmerizing he was even at that age, and how excited everyone was about him ("did you see this kid singing on TV last night?!?!?") and how we would look forward to seeing him again (media coverage sure wasn't then what it is now!). I followed him as much as I could after that, but I kinda think TV coverage of him in Canada was not as thorough as it was in the US. I pretty much lost track of him for a few years until Thriller came out - wow, it was exciting stuff! I bought it and memorized every song!

By that time, though, I was busy raising kids of my own and wasn't paying much attention through the Bad, Dangerous, and History eras. Pretty much the only stuff I heard about was the news headlines about his molestation charges - but even then, I'm not the kind of person who automatically believes what the media says, and I withheld judgement (I'm happy to say, otherwise I'd have guilt feelings on top of this horrible grief.)

Fast forward to now... once the news came out about Michael's death, and all the media frenzy since, I decided to familiarize myself with the post-Thriller music and other info about Michael over the years. (Thank God for youtube and the net - I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without it!!) The more I learned, the more I fell in love, again, with Michael the person and Michael the entertainer. He was just such a special person... I totally believe all the good stuff about him and none of the bad. It breaks me up how the world treated him - he truly suffered to give us his love and joy.

Sorry this is so long, but one more thing: I am also an Elvis fan and thought no-one would ever top him. I realize now that Michael is, was, so much more than Elvis, and unlike Elvis, was still creating, still evolving, still magic... and I mourn for what we've lost.

I've been a fan for as long as I can remember. I was only 5 when Thriller came out and I remember inviting all my little friends over so we could have dance parties. It wasn't until Black or White premiered on tv that my obsession went over the top. I was grounded and my parents were out so I was on the phone with my best friend while we watched it together. After it wasover we both paused for a beat and started gushing about how cute he was. I was totally gone on him from that moment on and haven't looked back. Thank the stars for punching my brother in the face otherwise I might not have gotten to know what a wonderful, kind, sweet, magical (not to mention hot as hell), man Michael is.

I went to a friend's house after school one day - must have been around 7 years old. He had what I have since come to know as the HIStory Volume I VHS, which he put on the TV. I was absolutely mesmerised. I begged for that video for Christmas. I got it plus the HIStory album. I remember going out and buying the HIStory Volume II VHS and the BOTDF cassette when they came out. Then my parents surprised me one July morning in 1997 with MJ tickets.

After that I kind of lost interest - MJ wasn't doing anything and I was just a kid. Only became a fan again when I got internet access, which coincided with the Invincible era.

I became a fan when i was 15 way back in 1983 at the time of Billy Jean. I do admit i did not follow him as much when i got married and was busy bringing my family up, however i still listend to his music, but now its all come back with a bang. I love Michael for his music but above all his lovely soul, such a gentle being.