Just been to the collection of Tompkins and Bush: Michael Jackson's Wardrobe in Westfield, Stratford today. It was a much smaller collection than I saw at the O2 in 2010.
I managed to get a few photos:
Outside the gallery
Jackson 5 poster
Giant poster of Michael during Bad era
MJ's signed napkin
MJ's signed pillow case
The exhibition has extended to 17 November, so there are still time for UK fans to pay a visit to see some of Michael's iconic fashion and items.
The song "People of the World" and its story (see details below) was the inspiration for the video of "Michael Jackson and The Children of the World". Not just to convey his global message of love, peace and unity for all races, it's also about his under reported humanitarian efforts to help the world, especially the disadvantaged children.
Michael Jackson and The Children of the World (with "People of the World" Instrumental)
People of The World - J-FRIENDS (Michael Jackson)
In 1999, Michael Jackson wrote, composed and produced the song "People of the World" for the Japanese Pop group J-FRIENDS in support of the Kobe relief effort.
Michael wrote this song for the children in Kobe, where a devastating earthquake killed more than 5000 people in 1995.
He offered to work with J-FRIENDS, who were then planning a charity project for the Kobe children, and co-produced this song with Japanese producer Yasushi Akimoto.
The single 'People of the World' was released on January 13, 1999.
J-Friends recorded their version based on MJ's demo, here is an English translation of the Japanese lyrics (source)
People of the World (Lyrics translation)
Written by Michael Jackson
Arranged by Michael Jackson, Yasushi Akimoto
(1st verse)
You came to me and shown me
That love is the answer
I will save you, protect you from everything
We should live in togetherness with one another
(Chorus1)
People all over the world
When you start to lend a helping hand
You can make it a better place
This song is for you
To bring love and harmony to this world
(2nd verse)
I can hear people crying
my heart weeps when I see your tears
I will give my shoulder whenever you need
So let us sing together
(Chorus2)
People all over the world
Your smile makes me smile
You can make our future brighter
Let the world shine with happy smiles
Repeat chorus 1 and 2
Voice by a child: "Together we sing to make a better world....."
Check out below Michael Jackson's original demo which came out in 2014.
J-FRIENDS: People of The World (Michael Jackson)
Michael Jackson's demo for People of the World (2014)
I finally met in person with Jocy Ma and her lovely twin daughters Prety and Morly last September in London. They are the Ma family that had a long term friendship with Michael. Surreal as it may seem, one day, because of my blog I was to meet the Ma family that knew Michael so well.
It was a magical day, a rare opportunity to meet them all and a real treat to hear about Michael in their own words. With Jocy's blessing I thought I should share it with you. I never thought I would featured in my own blog!
Remembering their friend Michael
Michael with 4 year old twins Prety and Morly
Last Summer Jocy contacted me after she came across my blog covering their story with Michael. She was appreciative that I had translated their story, she also expressed her wish to use my blog content on her FB sites, and wanted to meet up in London where I live, as they were soon to visit the city.
Later I learnt that the twins were pursuing their education in this country. Just a couple of days before Jocy was due to fly back from London, she called me. They had been sightseeing around London and happened to be staying not far from me. Despite the short notice, I invited them round my house, and I later joined them to see "Thriller Live" show in the West End!
Me and Jocy at the Thriller Live theatre in London
Jocy's warm and lively personality made a big impression and the twins Prety and Morley were quiet and friendly. It was hard to know where to start when it came to their famous friend Michael Jackson, the world biggest music icon of recent time. It was their first time in London the city that they were planning to come and pay him a surprise visit in July 09...
She recalled a happier time when Michael was last on tour (History World Tour), they were very fortunate to be invited to follow him for at least 30 concerts around the world, and were very privileged to see him perform as VIP guests. She remembered a funny moment of how her 4 year old twins asked the King of Pop: "Can you dancing?" A very surprised Michael responded that it was the first time in his life that anyone asked him that question... (below video at 2.05) This sweet and innocent quote later even became the twins' security password! Michael can be heard asking the twins the same question on stage during Heal the World song live in Durban, South Africa, the final stop his last tour. Michael even took a moment to have a picture taken with the twins on stage. The twins had many great memories, they recalled the shooting of the Esonic DiscBaby commercial in 1997, and spending Christmas at the Neverland ranch in 1999. The lucky twins certainly had Michael Jackson as part of their childhood magical memories!
A rare photo of Michael and Jocy during the History tour
Jocy revealed that they were also invited to attend the 30th anniversary concert in New York in 2001, and Michael was planning to take them up to visit the Twin Towers. But in the end they had to cancel the trip to the U.S due to some private matter back home. They later watched in horror of the terrible 9/11 event unfolding on TV! Similarly, according to Michael's brother Jermaine that Michael was supposed to be at the World Trade Centre for a meeting that morning, luckily he slept in. After, the family visits to the U.S became less and less frequent because the twins had started to attend school. They still remained in contact with occasional visit to the Neverland.
In return for Michael's kindness the Ma family sent him rare hand crafted artefacts and art as gifts (she said it was sad to see those gifts appeared in Julian's auction after Michael's passing). Michael would even take Jocy's advice of general Feng Shui principles for his Neverland home. (For example he had his favourite antique weaponry moved out of his bedroom, as it isn't considered auspicious in Chinese Feng Shui)
Michael was a very good father to his three children who Jocy had met. Michael was a kind, amiable person who was also very spiritual and often spoke about God. (She is also a devoted Christian) Despite the occasional language barrier they were able to connect, Michael once said that Jocy reminded him of his mother Katherine who he adored. After Michael passed away, she still often has dreams about him, sometimes even feels his presence.... she firmly believes that he's in a better place.
Jocy remembered one of her last conversations with Michael was how much he would love to visit the Great Wall of China with his kids in the future, and he wanted Jocy to join them as tour guide. This sadly become another of Michael's unfulfilled wishes.
When it came to the end of our time together, I suggested that she visit the Michael Jackson's wax figure in Madam Tussauds while in London. "Why would I want to see his wax figure when I've seen the real Michael Jackson!" replied Jocy, then it occurred to me that Michael was real to them and a friend who had left them lots of amazing memories to cherish forever.
Thanks again Jocy for sharing your memories of Michael, and your kind gift of the MJ money bank, which is currently resumed production with a new model in gold, to continue his love and legacy by encouraging people to save money to help the disadvantaged children.
Cindera Che with Michael Jackson in "Smooth Criminal" music video
We all know that Michael Jackson was the first black artist to break down racial barriers with his iconic "Billie Jean" on MTV's playlist. It was a huge break through in the early 80's, his influence in music videos changed the way people listen to music, it also helped popularise the newly established and relatively unknown MTV channel that ironically had perviously ignored the work of black artists.
After his unforeseen success for his "Thriller" album, Michael became an international super star, despite his often misunderstood image troubled by vitiligo, he very much took pride in his background. In his own words "I'm a black American, I am proud of my race, I am proud of who I am, I have a lot of pride and dignity." And his love for all people, "I love the people of all races from my heart, with true affection." He once said during an interview with Oprah in 1992. In fact, he had long ago conveyed his belief in racial diversity and equality in many of his music videos involving people from different ethnic background.
Also not to forget one good example is his 1991 music video "Black or White", which he displays and celebrated cultural and racial diversity. Another that stands out for me is his 1987 piece "Smooth Criminal", with his famous iconic anti gravity lean, as part of the short film "Moonwalker". Michael indicated it as one of his favourite, and the most talked about piece than any others that he's done ( in MJ's Private Home Movie). It featured an Oriental female dancer, in an underground 1930's nightclub sep up.
This mysterious Oriental dancer is Cindera Che, original from Taipei, Taiwan. She is a professional dancer and choreographer, "Smooth Criminal" was her best know appearance as a lead dancer. To me this shows Michael's vision of bringing people from different background to the main stream, especially after his own struggle to break into the music business.
Cindera was born in Taiwan and started dancing at the age of 6, she moved to the US when she was 14 to carry on her dream of dancing. Working with Michael Jackson was undoubtedly a dream came true for her. In a recent interview, she commented about working with Michael: "Michael was a perfectionist, one thing that I always remember about Michael was he was always on, and how hard he worked, and rehearsed, if he missed something, he never get frustrated and never complain, he just does it again and again...". She probably never thought at the time that the music video she took part in would go down in history as one of Michael's most memorable and iconic pieces, certainly Michael's hard work had paid off. Apart form working with Michael, she also worked with other legends in the music world, including Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and all the Jackson brothers.
After Michael passed away in June 2009, the Rev.Al Sharpton payed his tribute: "Michael Jackson made culture accept a person of colour way before Tiger Wood, way before Oprah Winfrey, way before Barack Obama. Michael did with music what they later did in sports, in politics and in television. And no controversy will erase the historic impact."
Michael Jackson was truly an innovator, apart form his great musical talent, he indeed inpacted a new era of pop culture which influenced a new generation of artists from Justin Timberlake ot Usher and Chris Brown (see article). All these came from just one person in a 50 years of life span. Certainly without his legacy and influences, the world could be very different today.
After all the chaos of moving house, I've finally got a bit of time to come back to my blog.
Before writing more stories about Michael, maybe I should mention the background to this blog.
I was watching a Taiwanese TV talk show via the internet, about Michael Jackson's passing and his legacy last year. One of the guests was Mrs. Ma who knew Michael personally and had formed a long lasting friendship with him. Due to the TV's tight schedule she only talked briefly about her family's amazing encounter with the King of Pop. That was when I started to dig deeper into her story, I found her another TV appearance and news articles that provided more insight to her story.
I had hoped to share this story on Michael Jackson.com, but it was not easy, as there was no links in English. When the first anniversary of MJ's passing was approaching, I decided to translate and share this largely unknown story with the MJ community, as my tribute to the King of Pop.
I posted it on Michael Jackson.com forum on June 26 this year, title " A fan's beautiful memories of Michael as a friend", got some great reactions from fans. But two days later when the forum was still on going, the story was pretty much copied and pasted to someone's Twitpic that I happened to follow! And further more it was credited to the person who had forwarded the story! It was difficult not to feel annoyed by it, when it had taken me time and effort to put it all together. So after a few emails the situation finally got resolved a week later, she responded with an apology, and updated the credit and redirect people to my link on the forum.
That was when I realised that more and more people started reading my original post on the forum, I must admit that the story that I had written wasn't in perfect English. When my husband knew about it, he suggested that I put it in a blog, and with a bit of help with my English. (He's English and not a big fan of MJ) So all of a sudden I found myself writing a blog about Michael Jackson. It's been a challenge, and a bit of leaning curve for me, but the blog allowed me to go deeper into the story.
Thank you all for your comments here and on twitter, I'll continue to write about Michael as long as I've got something to contribute to remembering him as this amazing human being that sadly had gone too soon.
