That’s what I asked my mom when I was six years old. The reason for my request? Michael Jackson. Like millions of others, I idolized the guy. Of course, in the case of MJ, “idolize” meant dressing up like him (complete with sequined glove, socks, and red zippered jacket) and moonwalking (as best a klutzy six year old can do) around the house.
Around 1984, Michael and his brothers traveled the country with their Victory Tour. Among their stops was Jacksonville, FL, only a few hours from our home in Coral Springs.
It sounds sappy but I’ll never forget that concert. The experience of being inside that massive outdoor stadium. The pyro, smoke machines, and dazzling special effects. Seeing Michael moonwalk so effortlessly across the stage. I was in awe.
That night, a photographer asked my parents if he could snap of photo of me in my MJ garb. A few months later, while checking out the Michael Jackson books at a mall bookstore, I saw myself in print. Unreal. The photographer, a guy named Mark Bego, had used the shot and printed it in his Victory Tour anthology “On the Road with Michael” (out-of-print but available on eBay!).
In the wake of Michael’s death, people are remembering the past and the impact Mike made on music, pop culture, and our lives. Despite the wigs and makeup, the nose jobs, the sleepovers, the surgical masks, the documentaries, the sleep chambers, the Elephant Man’s bones, the lawsuits, the pain killers, the masked children, the baby danglings, the disturbing allegations, and dozens of other crazy behaviors, I’ll always remember how I felt that night in Jacksonville. A little kid going to see a true larger-than-life personality do what he does best: entertain.
Thanks, Mike.
