Today in MJJ HIStory

1977 - Universal Pictures holds a press conference at Astoria Studios in Queens, NY to announce the making of The Wiz. Michael attends the event with Diana Ross, Nipsey Russel and Ted Ross.

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1984 - The Jacksons performs Victory tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia [Pennsylvania, USA] attending 60,000 fans.

1987 - Fan Club magazine featured Michael on their cover.

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Michael Jackson's I Just Can't Stop Loving You was certified Gold by the RIAA.

1988 - Michael performs BAD tour at Civic Arena in Pittsburg [Pennsylvania, USA] attending 16,230 fans.

1990 - Billboard magazine includes a special section commemorating the 10th anniversary of Black Entertainment Television, BET. Among the congratulatory messages is one from Michael Jackson. "I am extremely appreciative of BET's support of my efforts. They have always provided a welcome home for my music".

1992 - Michael arrives in Bucharest to perform a concert on October 1st at Lia Manoliu Stadium.

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Armed guards are dumbfounded as 2,000 fans wait all day in the cold at Bucharest's Otopeni Airport to greet Michael on his arrival. Until this day, this kind of teenage pop hysteria and VIP treatment for a pop singer has never been seen in Romania.

1996 - Michael performs HIStory tour at Amsterdam Arena in Amsterdam [The Netherlands] attending 50,000 fans.

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Michael spend a week in Amsterdam to give 3 concerts on September 28 & 30 and October 2.
Filed under  //   1977   1984   1987   1988   1990   1992   1996  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1974 - The Jackson 5 perform Life Of The Party at the Sonny Comedy Revue.

1977 - In the September 22, 1977 issue of Jet magazine, Michael gave an interview to deny a slew of rumors.

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Now a young adult, Michael’s private life was open to speculation in the press. It wasn’t long before strange rumors began to surface about him, an unavoidable consequence of fame that would become a constant burden for the rest of his life.

Michael deny a slew of rumors that by then had become urban legends: that he had gone skinny dipping with thirteen-year-old Tatum O’Neal, that he was gay, that he had taken hormones to keep his voice or had a sex change operation.

Still a year and a half away from his first nose job, insecure because of his post-adolescent complexion, Michael’s delicate psyche was already having to defend itself against the suspicious scrutiny of strangers.

1980 - The Jacksons' Can You Feel It is released as the first track on their album Triumph.

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Written by brothers Jackie and Michael, the song featured solo leads by Randy and Michael, recorded in March 1980. Released as a single in 1981, the song reached #77 on the pop charts and #30 on the R&B charts in United States, but reached #6 in the UK and #2 in The Netherlands in 1981.

The accompanying video, was noted for its remarkable special effects. Michael created the video's concept, and Tito's sons Taj and Taryll appeared as extras. In 2001, it was voted one of the 100 best videos of all time, in a poll to mark the 20th anniversary of MTV. The title was also used for a 2009 greatest hits compilation.

1984 - The Jacksons perform Victory tour at RFK Stadium in Washington [D.C., USA] attending 45,000 fans.

LA Semaine magazine [Canada] featured Michael on their cover.

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1989 - The Capital Children's Museum honored Michael with the "Best of Washington 1989 Humanitarian Award" in recognition of his efforts in raising funds for the hands on educational museum, as well as for his never-ending altruistic efforts of improving children's lives.
Although Michael is unable to attend, he does send a video taped thank you speech. The award is officially given to Michael at the 8th annual Best Of Washington Celebrity Fashion Show and Luncheon at the Sheraton Washington Hotel (Washington, D.C.).

1990 - In September 1990, Black Entertainment’s Television celebrates its 10th anniversary. A special edition devoted to the Network was featured on September 22 issue of Billboard. Michael Jackson was among those congratulating BET: “I am extremely appreciative of BET’s support of my efforts. They have always provided a welcome home for my music”.

1992 - Michael perform a concert at Calderón Stadium in Madrid, Vicente attending 40,000 fans.

1993 - Michael arrives in Istanbul [Turkey] with Frank & Eddie. He goes to the cinema To watch Jurassik Park!

1995 - Michael was inducted into the Black Entertainment's Television Walk of Fame.

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Michael was in Washington DC, to join the 15th Anniversary celebrations of Black Entertainment Television.

As well as singing You Are Not Alone with the Union Temple Baptist Choir, he became the first inductee in BET’s newly founded Walk Of Fame – created to recognize contributions to the music industry by African American artists.

Robert L. Johnson, BET’s president, presented a special plaque to Michael, who said he was ‘really proud’ and that it was ‘a great honour’. The BET show was screened, on American cable television, on 6th December 1995.

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1998 - Michael attends another Janet concert in Orlando Spends Time with Lisa Marie and her children.

2001 - You Rock My World video is premiered.
You Rock My World, the lead single from INVINCIBLE, opened with a spoken exchange by Michael and Chris Tucker. The pair starred in the accompanying short film as well, with Marlon Brando and Michael Madson guesting and Paul Hunter directing.

Three versions of the promo were released, two edits and the full length version which ran to almost 14 minutes, and echoed some of the mood of Smooth Criminal. In most countries, the promo premiered on 21st September, but American fans had to wait another five days before they could watch it. On September 26, 2001 the clip premièred on TRL in the U.S.A.

You Rock My World, in reaching no.10, gave Michael his first Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 since You Are Not Alone in 1995. It did slightly less well – no.13 – on the R&B chart.

Filed under  //   1974   1977   1984   1989   1990   1992   1993   1995   1998   2001  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1984 -
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Michael Jackson's "Thriller" won Best Overall Performance, Best Choreography and Viewers' Choice at the MTV Video Music Awards held at the Radio City Music Hall, NY. Here, La Toya Jackson shows up in Moonman-inspired fashion to accept her brother's awards.
Michael Jackson, who scored three Moonmen, among his trophies was one for Best Choreography and the all-important Viewer's Choice Award. Both were bestowed upon him for his epic John Landis-directed "Thriller" music video, a groundbreaking entry into the field that substantially impacted the way these silly, little music videos were judged in the wider arts community.

To honor a legend like Jackson for his visionary talent (who, before going off the deep end, would have a prestigious Moonman award named in his honor several VMA years later).

1987 - Michael performs Bad tour at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo [Japan] attending 45,000

People magazine featured Michael on the cover with the story Michael Jackson - He's back. He's Bad. Is this guy weird, or what?

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1990 - Michael Jackson received the first ever "Michael Jackson Good Scout Humanitarian Award" at the Century Plaza Towers in Los Angeles.

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Michael was the first recipient of the award named in honor of him. The Michael Jackson Good Scout Humanitarian Award was presented to Michael in recognition of his humanitarian efforts for all mankind through his fund raising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Prince's Trust, The UNCF, and Childhelp USA.

Walt Disney CEO Michael Eisner presented the award to Michael. Dressed in a gold & black military style jacket and sunglasses, Michael said only, "On behalf of the millions of past, present, and future Boy Scouts, I will try to abide by your motto of being prepared and always extending a hand to others."


1996 - Michael performs HIStory tour at National Stadium, Bucharest [Rumania] attending 70,000.
Filed under  //   1984   1987   1990   1996  

Today in MJJ HISTory

1987 - Michael released his highly anticipated follow-up album to Thriller, titled Bad, worldwide on August 31, 1987 [except in England, where August 31 is a bank holiday] with copies leaving the record shops faster than assistants could fill the shelves. Bad sold 500,000 copies within five days in the UK; a first for any artist in the UK. It debuted at number one in both the US and UK and many other countries around the world.

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Tower Records in London sold 200 copies in the first hour of trading while CBS [Epic] estimated that some 150'000 copies would be sold at the end of the first day's trading. In Amercia, fans stood in line outside shops from New York to Los Angeles and extra staff was hired to cope with the demand.

A hugely successful album in its own right, Bad sold 30 million copies worldwide and became the first (and still the only) album to include five number one singles on Billboard’s Hot 100 sales chart.

The album becomes a tremendous success and yes, Michael made history with it again: "Bad" became the second biggest-selling album ever.

The album’s production had been a complicated affair, not least for the fact that, despite his status, Michael failed to convince the likes of Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and chief rival Prince to record duets with him.

Bad would be Michael’s last collaboration with co-producer Quincy Jones, ending pop music history’s most successful production team.

The album entered the US Pop and Black album charts at number one, holding its position for 6 and 18 weeks respectively and remained on the Pop charts for 87 weeks, 38 of which were spent in the Top 5. This broke a record of 26 weeks in the Top 5 set by The Eagles' "Hotel California". In Britain, "Bad" hold the number one position for 5 weeks and remained on the charts for 109 weeks consecutively.

Michael: "It's very hard to create something when you feel like you're in competition with yourself because no matter how you look at it, people are always going to compare "Bad" to "Thriller". You can always say, 'Aw, forget 'Thriller',' but no one ever will!
The album’s title track “Bad” was released on 31st August 1987 (the same day as the Bad album) with an amazing 18 minute long short film, directed by Martin Scorsese. The film was shot on location in New York and starred Wesley Snipes. It reportedly took six weeks to make with an estimated budget of $2 million. The reaction to the short film and single was massive: it shot to number 1 in the U.S. and many other countries around the world.
"Bad" is the only album to have 5 of its singles peak at #1 while 10 of its 11 songs were released as singles & 9 of them composed & co-produced by Michael himself.
In June, 1992 "Bad" album was certified 6 times platinum & Michael become the only artist to have 3 consecutive albums with U.S. sales of 6 million copies each.
CBS-TV aired a special entitle "Michael Jackson - The Magic Returns." Also, the 17-minute "Bad" video was aired.

1990 - LA Gear’s first UK advertisement, which did star Michael and his eight year old neice Brandy (daughter of Jackie Jackson), premiered in movie theatres. Michael's first TV commercial in nearly 4 years was heralded a creative breakthrough by the industry.


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Michael wears black, heavily buckled shoes his LA Gear logo is is embroidered on the tongue.

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1993 - Tito and Jermaine Jackson walked off the set of NBC-TV's "Today" show when a crew arrived to interview the two about the troubles of their brother Michael with the Los Angeles Police Department. The two later held a press conference where they stated their support for their brother.

1997 - Shocked by the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Michael cancelled his 31st August concert in Ostend, saying he was too upset to perform on stage. Diana and Dodi Fayed, the new man in her life, died in a horrific car crash in the French capital Paris, where Michael himself was staying prior to his Belgian gig.

2001 - The first single off the King of Pop's new album, which is due to hit stores in October, debuted at number 34 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart. The high rating makes 'You Rock My World' Billboard's Hot Shot debut for the week.

Filed under  //   1987   1990   1993   1997   2001  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1971 - The Jackson 5 song Maybe Tomorrow hit #20 in the U.S.

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Single Details:
"Maybe Tomorrow" was released in June, 1971 from the Jackson 5's album of the same title. The ballad was originally supposed to have been sung (possibly in a different production) by Sammy Davis, Jr. but for various reasons, the entertainer could not get on the schedule to do the song and the song was then given to the Jackson 5.
Lead vocals : Michael Jackson, Second verse sung by Marlon Jackson
Written & Produced by : The Corporation (Berry Gordy, Jr./Alphonso Mizell/Freddie Perren/Deke Richards)
US single released July, 1971
#3 R&B, #20 Pop
Sales : 1 089 365 (World), 830 794 (USA)

While many young kids were playing with their GI Joes, Michael Jackson was arguably Motown's best messenger of romance, heartbreak, and all the heavy stuff. This led off the 1971 album of the same name. While the Corporation was inexplicably saddled with the bubblegum tag, this track proves how people of all ages could identify with the lyrics. This was a perfectly constructed song. Throughout this, a myriad of emotions are displayed with Jackson seemingly with a grasp on all of them. Musically the song is all heartache yet resiliency. The love sung about here seems at once fortifying and yet troubled. It's enough to boggle the mind of an experienced romantic, let alone a kid whose pastime was giggling with his brothers. Recorded at the underrated and crystal clear Motown Studios in L.A., this was arranged by the Corporation and Gene Page. Despite it's skill and classic status, "Maybe Tomorrow" was the first Jackson 5 single to only reach the Top 20. This is one instance where chart placement has nothing to do with quality. ~Allmusic

1988 - Michael Jackson performs Bad World Tour at Talavera Wiesen staduim, Würzburg, West Germany.

1990 - Michael confirmed Sandy Gallin of Gallin-Morey Associates – who already represented the Pointer Sisters, Dolly Parton and Whoopi Goldberg, to name but a few as his new managers– was stepping into Frank Dileo’s shoes.

1994 - The Jacksons, minus Randy, performed at a U.K. Scientology fund-raiser "For The Children Of The World."

1995 - "You Are Not Alone" released in UK, enter in chart at number 3. The week later it'll reach the top of the chart.

2001 - According to Rolling Stone, the King of Pop won't be appearing on rapper Jay-Z's upcoming CD 'Blueprint,' as has been previously reported. In order to make the September 18 release date for the album Jay-Z had to put the finishing touches on it by this Wednesday and Michael won't be able to make it to the rapper's studio until next week. Don't worry though. Michael will appear on a future remix of the song 'Girls, Girls, Girls.' And a sample of the J5's 'I Want You Back' was used for the song 'Izzo (H.O.V.A.)'.

2009 - Michael's Longform Videos certified Multi-Platinum by RIAA:
Live In Bucharest 6x Platinum
Number Ones 13x Platinum
HIStory On Film 6x Platinum
Dangerous - The Short Film 3x Platinum

On the same day, the following albums were also received Multi-Platinum certificates:
The Essential Michael Jackson 2x Platinum
Off The Wall 8x Platinum
Thriller 29x Platinum
Number Ones 3x Platinum

Filed under  //   1971   1988   1990   1994   1995   2001   2009  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1990 - Michael welcomes 130 children from the "YMCA" Summer Program in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara to his ranch. They were treated to a barbecue meal, played video games, visited his zoo, and watch movies. Each child was given a free pair of sneakers, and you can bet they weren't Reeboks! The children made him a banner reading, "We Love You Michael" and made him an honorary member of the 8th St. YMCA in Los Angeles.

It was announced that Michael had hired Sandy Gallin as his new personal manager

1992 - Jackson performed for the last time in Glasgow, Scotland on August 18 before being banned by city council chiefs due to complaints of the noise the concert created.

Filed under  //   1990   1992  

Today in MJJ HIStory

1980 - Michael films a special at Disneyland for Disney's 25th anniversary. Disneyland celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary with a 25 hour party starting at midnight and ending at 1 AM on the 20th.
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1982 - Michael attends a gala in honor of Quincy Jones at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
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1985 - The charity single We Are The World by the super group USA for Africa, quickly became an anthem for the 80s, and along with the Band-Aid single, inspired a wave of musical charity events, from Live Aid on July 17, 1985 (which, ironically, Michael did not participate in, due to being tied up in filming Captain EO) to Hands Across America on May 25, 1986.
The music-charity movement grew to become far greater than the sum of its parts, but Michael’s crucial contribution guaranteed him a special place in a mass movement that came to define the 1980s pop culture almost as much as Thriller had two years earlier.

1990 - Michael attends the wedding of Grace Eaton to Berry Gordy in Santa Barbara. Among the other wedding guests were Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross.

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1993 - Michael Jackson's single "Will You Be There" hit #9 in the U.K.

1997 - Michael Jackson's "Blood On The Dance Floor: History in the Mix" was certified gold by the RIAA.

Filed under  //   1980   1982   1985   1990   1993   1997  

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