Nostalgia: Earliest Michael Memory?

[Missy]

First off, sorry if this has been done before. :8-26-03fruits_apple

I was just wondering what your earliest Michael memory was? Was it before or when you became a fan? Was anyone living under a rock like I was when I was a kid? :lol

I was a pretty sheltered child and didn't really know many celebs lol! But I remember when 'Free Willy 1' first came out on video in 93, I was 6. I played 'Will You Be There' over and over and over again, just singing away to it when my parents weren't in the room. I remember eventually asking my mum who sang it and she told me it was Michael. I remember thinking 'Oooh Michael Jackson! I've heard of him! He's big!', even though I had no clue what he looked like! :lol

My second memory was a few years later. Michael was on the news in an airport in the UK. I remember so clearly my dad using the 'WJ' name for him and saying he was 'weird'. I remember looking at Michael on TV and just thinking 'there's nothing wrong with him'. I had this strange, protective feeling about him. I must've been about 11. :lol I wasn't a fan or anything, but I remember telling my dad off for judging him and telling him that I thought he looked fine just the way he was. I think it's strange how I felt that way even when I didn't know diddly-squat about him! I think I've been protective of him ever since then, even though I wasn't a fan until after that.

Anyone got anything like this to share? I love hearing stories of the 'old days'. Nostalgia rocks!

 

[etoile37]

Was anyone living under a rock like I was when I was a kid?

Enough room for two under that rock? :lol I discovered Michael Jackson when I was 11 years old. My mom was watching that movie about his life (I recorded it, but I have no idea what it was called! Help!) and I started watching it too. And I was hooked from that moment on. I wanted to know everything about this guy! Before watching that movie, I had just heard his name once. I knew absolutely nothing about him! I would have met him on the street and I wouldn't have known! Now everytime I watch that movie, I get this nice nostalgic feeling. :wub:

 

[Saphster]

I remember thinking 'Oooh Michael Jackson! I've heard of him! He's big!', even though I had no clue what he looked like!

LOL cute story Missy. :lol

My first earliest memory is always the same one....

I think my mom was watching a marathon of Michael Jackson videos on MTV. I remember being in-front of the TV while he was dancing going down this ladder and there were a lot of people around him too. I must have been just a few years old. But, I kid you not, I remember thinking that it was the most coolest thing I ever saw. He was so amazing. I looked at him like this untouchable person. It was hard to believe he actually existed. It was Smooth Criminal. That's why Smooth Criminal is one of my favorites. It was so special to me.

ALSO, this is like my second earliest memory because I remember that it was MTV, and I also remember my mom and I dancing to Thriller. She used to encourage me to get up and imitate a move he had just made...it was the move where they all put their hands on the knees and turned around and walked back like crabs...LOL good times..............thank you Michael.......

 

[CJluvsMJ]

These memories I have are kinda funny and harsh for a 5 year old to be saying about the man who would end up being her idol. :icrackingup

When I was little, my mom wanted me to watch some movies because I was a kid that never went outside much, so she went to a movie rental shop and rented 2 videos: Moonwalker and The Legend Continues
Once she put those tapes in our VCR, I was hooked.
I watched those videos for days and weeks straight after I came home from school.
My mom rented them out so much, that she just ended up begging the movie shop owner to let her buy the videos from him, since I loved them so much.
He finally sold them to her, since no one else was trying to buy the videos, and I kept them ever since. :wub:

Another memory I have is when I saw Thriller and Beat It for the first time, and then believed that there were 2 Michael Jacksons, one Hispanic (I was an ignorant lil kid :lol) and one black, since I only saw MJ in the Bad era.
I told my mom, "The only people I ever saw with long curly hair are Hispanic people, so that guy is Hispanic, and that other one is black!" :icrackingup

Another time when I was 7 when I was trying to watch Remember The Time, my 20 year old brother wanted to watch a basketball game.
He took the remote from me, ready to turn the channel, when I jumped over the sofa, knocked his glasses off, and beat his a**.
A 7 year old beating the crap out of a 20 year old. :rollin
He eventually gave me back the remote...well after I beat him with it. :lol

There are so many memories, I can write a book! :wub:

 

[oldschoolfan]

I remember little things about Michael growing up, I always had that feeling Missy had, I was just drawn in, if someone talked about him,even if it was something bad I'd keep asking questions about him just so I could talk about him. But I had NO idea who he was! The fan craze officially started when I was at my aunties house reading a tabloid and there was something about him in it. It was some bullshit bagging on him, but I was like 'hey hey!!! Michael!!! Yummy yummy!' I went to my aunties every day just so I could sit and stare at this picture. Eventually I asked if I could keep the article, and I haven't looked back since..

 

[LittleSusie50]

My earliest Michael memory is singing to 'Shake Your Body' with my brother in the family den. It was the first cut on an album with various artists.
Yes, I said album LOL. This was in 1979. My brother was Tito and I, of course, was Michael. We took some old brooms and belts and made guitars. My brother said I couldn't be Michael because he didn't play guitar, and I said
'Well this Michael does!' We did this for HOURS, constantly setting the needle back to the beginning. My Mom kept lookin in on us and shaking her head laughing. We were the Jackson 2 I guess. I think we made up dance moves too. So funny!
Shake Your Body is my favorite Michael song to this day. I remember watching the Madison Square Garden performance on television in 2001. As soon as Randy started playing the first chords to that song, I started laughing and crying, because it took me right back to that den in 1979.
Good times. One of many...B)

 

[mjhb29]

My first memory of Michael was when I was 3 years old. I was listening to the Jackson 5 cassettes that my uncle left for me and singing along to ABC and I Want You Back. Around that same time, Disneyland was celebrating its 25th anniversary and there was a special on the tv and Michael was on it singing with Mickey Mouse, who is my favorite Disney character. I was so busy paying attention to Mickey and I thought that Michael was a young kid because of listening to his earlier songs that when my mom told me that it was Michael Jackson, my mouth dropped to the floor. From then on I was a Michael Jackson fan for life.

 

[R e a f u]

Let's see...1989, being 4 years old and watching the Mowtown 25 show with my dad. All the performances were pretty nice, but when I saw Michael, I noticed a few things and processed them as best as I could in my 4 year old little mind:

1. "Hey this guy doesn't sing old people music!" Four Top, the Temptation, Diana Ross, all of them would be catagorized as "old people"(as in my parents) music!

2. "This guy's clothes are really shiny ! I want shiny clothes too!"

3. "This song has a cool beat...not sure what the words mean, but I like it!"(And then at 12 it finally hit me what Billie Jean was about and I was like "ohhhhh!" :lol)

4. "You know what?...This singer is kinda cute :wub:!"

It was at this point onwards that my long standing infatuation with a man, 27(26 years 7 months and 19 days if you want to be technical ) years my senior would start. When I was 6, I promptly told my parents that Michael and I would get married...and build a house...on top of my parents garage *slams head on desk*

Another moment that sticks out for me was the time I spent hanging out at my sister's apartment when I was 10, I brought my Moonwalker video along and she really liked the smooth criminal music video. Every time she'd see me, "You have Moonwalker right?" "Yeah..." "Fast forward to Smooth Criminal!" "But I wanna watch the rest of it..." "FAST FORWARD TO SMOOTH CRIMINAL OR WE'RE NOT ORDERING PIZZA >|!!!" and of course as we all know, big sisters are incredibly scary so I complied...That video is still my favourite out of all his videos. And it's the reason I love pinstripe suits and 20,30's and 40's fashion.

 

[Crazy4MiJac]

I remember little things about Michael growing up, I always had that feeling Missy had, I was just drawn in, if someone talked about him,even if it was something bad I'd keep asking questions about him just so I could talk about him. But I had NO idea who he was!

Same here. :lol

It's funny - most people think that the most-unusual-feature of Michael's is his nose. When I was a child, what stuck out to me was his chin. In my mind's eye, it was exaggerately boxy. I remembered him as "That famous guy with the boxy chin," and I always thought he was beautiful.

Then, the summer when I was 11, I went to see a "Legends in Concert" show. One of the performers was imitating Michael Jackson. I thought he was really neat, but it wasn't until later that same year (this was 2001) when "You Rock My World" came out that I was hooked. I've been a fan ever since.

 

[oldschoolfan]

Haha, Boxy Chin, what a nickname that would have been. I never really looked at his features though, I just wanted his eyebrows! The definition of perfection...

 

[Missy]

Hehe this is making me giggle! :lol

Enough room for two under that rock? :lol I discovered Michael Jackson when I was 11 years old. My mom was watching that movie about his life (I recorded it, but I have no idea what it was called! Help!) and I started watching it too.

Yep, there's definately enough room for two! It's a big rock! :cryptic Is the movie you're talking about the one where it starts from before Michael was born and goes right up to Billie Jean on Motown 25? Or is it a different one? Is it the one that plays past Motown 25? :g

 

[etoile37]

Is the movie you're talking about the one where it starts from before Michael was born and goes right up to Billie Jean on Motown 25? Or is it a different one? Is it the one that plays past Motown 25?

It ends with "The love you save". Are you saying there is more than one movie?

 

[Missy]

It ends with "The love you save". Are you saying there is more than one movie?

Yeah, and I managed to find out what they're called. There's one called 'Man In The Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story' that was made by VH1. It stars Flex Alexander as Michael. I haven't seen it so I can't comment on it. I have a different movie called 'The Jacksons: An American Dream', which I really like. And I have a funny feeling theres one more movie that wasn't so flattering, but again I haven't seen it. I just remember discussing it here years ago. Hope this helps.

 

[Crazy4MiJac]

I didn't care too much for VH1's Man In The Mirror film... it was pretty poorly made. Michael deserves a high-budget flick, and more accurate representation of chararcter (I thought they were kind of - off, but it wasn't bad).


I've got to give a quick shout out to Mike's eyebrows, too, though. They are pretty amazing.

 

[etoile37]

I have a different movie called 'The Jacksons: An American Dream', which I really like.

That's the one I have! I'm gonna have to watch it in English now, I've only seen the French version! :cryptic

 

[DirtyDiana87]

Well my Mom says I've been a fan of Michael since I was 2 years old. She told me that whenever Michael would come on the TV I would get excited and she had to stop whatever she was doing and help me get in front of the TV so I could watch him, however I don't remember back that far. So my earliest memory would have to be listening to his music when I was about 5 or 6 years and loving him from that point on.

 

[oldschoolfan]

I've got to give a quick shout out to Mike's eyebrows, too, though. They are pretty amazing.

:rollin they are SO amazing!

 

[InspirationMoonwalks]

Seeing a commercial for a cassette (showing my age here Well there were CDs then too, but a lot of people still had tapes..lol) of Alvin and the Chipmunks doing famous pop songs...'Beat It' was one of them. This was when I was like 5, 6 years old. Didn't become a fan for like another 9 or 10 years but it must've made an impression on me because I remember it even now. :lol:8-26-03fruits_apple

 

[2bad4ever2009]

My earliest memory was when I was 2 and a half or 3. I was still in florida. My mother had MTV on and my dad was at work. The way you make me feel came on and I thought Michael was a woman chasing another woman around. I didn't understand it at the time. But I watched it until my mother got done in the kitchen just as the video got done. She turned off the TV appalled and put me in my room to play with my toys. I wouldn't become a fan until about 8 or 9 years later. But that video made an impact on me that's for sure....

 

[Sapphire9559]

I love reading these!

Another time when I was 7 when I was trying to watch Remember The Time, my 20 year old brother wanted to watch a basketball game.
He took the remote from me, ready to turn the channel, when I jumped over the sofa, knocked his glasses off, and beat his a**.
A 7 year old beating the crap out of a 20 year old.
He eventually gave me back the remote...well after I beat him with it.

Okay, that just cracked me up - I could just picture it!

Yes, I said album LOL. This was in 1979. My brother was Tito and I, of course, was Michael. We took some old brooms and belts and made guitars. My brother said I couldn't be Michael because he didn't play guitar, and I said
'Well this Michael does!' We did this for HOURS, constantly setting the needle back to the beginning. My Mom kept lookin in on us and shaking her head laughing. We were the Jackson 2 I guess. I think we made up dance moves too. So funny!

This is funny, too! Go to this link on Barry Gibbs' gallery and you'll see Michael with a guitar
http://www.barrygibb.com/media/MJ/index.html

Now my turn, but it'll tell my age. I was about 10 or 11 years old when I saw the Jackson 5 on the Ed Sullivan show on our old black and white TV. I couldn't take my eyes off Michael! Loved his singing from there on out and always was listening for him on the radio. By the time I was 12, I had a total crush - pictures on my walls, the whole deal. I never grew out of it, only got stronger. Of course, now I only have ONE picture of him on the wall or my daughters would never let me hear the end of it!