Michael Jackson was .....

[Michael Alexander]

Michael Jackson was...

[toonfandangl]

I was never a fan of his but I do think that he was a great entertainer.


I remember when Elvis died ( I actually remember where I was at the time .......babysitting my kids)a good few of you would still be in nappy's OK! OK! ......well snotty noses then.


What ever else he did in his life I personally don't think he was a child molester, think he had some
mental problems..........and 'Hey' we cannot all be perfect.


Look at his life from the early years of stardom to date, he lived in Cuckoo land !!!! he even married Elvis's daughter.


Remember being in Detroit and visiting Motown ( The Suprems, Diana Ross, and the Jackson's) my brother said if you are going to take a photo be quick.


Got out of the car ran up to the front of the building took my photo then got scared off by these BIG STEROID TATTOOED black gentlemen. USA. USA. USA.


The charges of pedophilia against him were Not Guilty, I know men in my age group shy away from being alone with kids and that's a bloody shame.


Michael Jackson was a one off ..Peter Pan  ...but a great entertainer... Frank.................

[Diana Rudd (Boehme)]

Frank I remember nofinck.......but I do recall Michael Jackson being a great entertainer if nothing else.

[SandyB]

Yes Michael ..  not  my  musical favourite  but  a   very  very talented   performer ,  the abilty  to perform  dance routines and sing  in the way he did is a natural talent ..  His controversial  last  20 years or so  are a sad  reminder   to  always surround onelself with  honest people .. he was surrounded  mostly by people  on  his payroll .. people  who would not stop him and  say .. " hey what you doing ?" He is also  the  sad product  of his being  pushed as a young child star , it must surely have done damage ,, he  never had a normal childhood  which  most probably led to his   arrested  sexual and  emotional  state .. when he could  do as he pleased  when he made it on  his own  ...  he just fell back into that  lost fantasy world  of the child Peter Pan  .. May  he now  find the inner  peace that seemed to elude him  for most of his life .. RIP Michael ..

[Michael Alexander]

So Mote it Be!

[SandyB]

Spelling Michael   

[Bertie Horak]

Also not my kind of music, or somebody I would have loved to spend a day with, but he really set the pace as far as music hits was concerned.
My best Michael Jackson song.....   "BEN", which he sang when he was around 6 years old.  Can somebody tell me from what movie it was?  It had something to do with a rat/mouse?

[SandyB]

The 1971 movie Willard ... they  played it on FMR last night ... do a search ..

[toonfandangl]

We have six to seven free to air TV stations here the best of course is the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and every Friday night at about 11;30pm till 10:00am they have a program called    'RAGE' .

It shows music video clips of artists from all around the world, well guess who was on last night ? .................TO LATE!!
yes it was Michael Jackson............ award yourself 100           if you got it right  .

Now I don't watch it !! (that's RAGE ) well I did last night, I forgo my usual night cap OVALTINE and a splash of RUM.

it was bloody 4;30am before I got to bed,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I did not remember the amount of stuff he put out there in the eighties.

As I said before a one off......................................Frank     

[Michael Alexander]

Mmmh! This splash of rum concerns me..... when you say a splash, how big a splash are we talking about here?

[Bertie Horak]

Thanx Sandy!

[toonfandangl]

You know the saying the king is dead long live the king   

The phone is HOT Dad! Dad !! remember them LPs we left with you years ago.


Would you believe it Margaret went into the cupboard and found them, two LPs
of Michael Jackson one is OFF THE WALL and the other is THRILLER in their original sleeves.


My son's are telling me they are worth a lot of money on eBay..........................................................................


Well!!!! if they are then I need a couple of body guards to stop my sons getting their hands on them.


I will pay good wages and I am not stingy with my rum measures three fingers


                                                       


 

[Michael Alexander]

Boston - Deb Elliott is saddened by Michael Jackson's sudden death, but she's also a little wealthier because of it.

The response was underwhelming earlier this month when the Volant, Pennsylvania, resident tried to auction a pair of 1980s Jackson dolls for a starting price of $9,95 (about R78) apiece on eBay Inc. She turned to the e-commerce site after six months of Craigslist postings drew little interest.

"I would have been happy if they sold for $20," said Elliott, a 55-year-old homemaker.

But within minutes of Jackson's death Thursday, eBay bids started coming in. A doll depicting Jackson at the American Music Awards fetched $265 after 21 bids. A Grammy Awards Jackson doll got 36 bids and sold for $227.50 on Friday.

"This was definitely a cause for mixed emotions," Elliott said. "I finally got rid of the dolls, but now Michael is gone, too."

The singer's death triggered a surge in the Jackson collectibles market on Friday, including newly minted items such as T-shirts hawked online with "R.I.P." and "June 25, 2009" alongside his image. On Friday afternoon, an Internet search for Jackson items turned up more than 24 000 offerings from auctions on several sites and fixed-price "buy-it-now" sales.

In addition to surging volume, eBay reported the average selling price for Jackson items jumped 31 percent on Thursday from daily averages last week. Among the items up for sale were a signed fedora hat, offered at $9 795.

For anyone selling now, there's some uncertainty: Can you get a better price by waiting? And if you're a buyer, should you delay until the frenzy subsides?

"People are telling me I should've held out, maybe they'd be worth even more in a week, month or year from now," said Elliott, who added that she is "not one that was taking advantage of Michael Jackson's untimely death."

Another question for collectibles marketers is whether the damage Jackson's reputation suffered from his eccentricities and late-career pedophilia allegations will erode the value of memorabilia once the shock of his death passes. Or, like Elvis, who had his share of late-life troubles, will the collectibles hold value because the power of the legend prevails?

"Is he Elvis or Marilyn Monroe, or is he Mike Tyson?" said Jim Lentz, chief operating officer of American Royal Arts, a Boca Raton, Florida-based memorabilia dealer that holds publishing rights with a firm overseeing commercial use of Presley-related items. "Does the controversy get downplayed, and does his career get played up, or do people continue to hold the strangeness and rumor against him?"

The singer struggled financially following his 2003 arrest on charges that he molested a 13-year-old boy. A jury acquitted him of all charges.

Jackson's problems and death might help the marketing of some, but not all of his memorabilia.

"Notoriety might be great for say, the autograph market," said Martin Brochstein, senior vice president at the New York-based Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association. "He's not signing any more, to put it bluntly.


"But in terms of licensed merchandise bearing his likeness, the notoriety is not necessarily such a good thing."

The rich Jackson collectibles market is the legacy of his huge popularity in the 1970s and '80s, when all sorts of mass merchandise emerged, from Jackson dolls to posters to commemorative coins. That period also produced a trove of signed valuables, from autographed album covers to the signature white sequined gloves he wore on stage.

Jackson "was a guy who toured the world, and signed autographs, and was very public," Lentz said. "There is a fair amount of inventory out there."

There's also a market for Jackson's personal belongings. However, a Beverly Hills auction was canceled in April after Jackson and Julien's Auction House reached a settlement to their dispute over whether 2 000 of his personal items from his Neverland property in Southern California were ever intended for sale.

At a celebrity auction in Las Vegas that coincidentally occurred Friday, 21 pieces of Jackson memorabilia fetched a total of $205 000. A crystal beaded shirt worn by the performer during his 1984 Victory tour was the top-selling item in the collection, at $52 500.

The auction, at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, had been planned for months and also featured Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe items.

Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's, a New York-based auction house, helped conduct a Las Vegas auction in 2007 during which more than 1 200 Jackson items grossed about $1-million. On Friday, he spoke a bit wistfully about that event's timing.

"Things would have been different had they come to auction now," Ettinger said. The items "got infinitely more valuable just a short while ago."

"The world," Ettinger said, "clearly is sort of willing to forget all of what has happened before of a less-than-thrilling nature, and really honored the memory of Michael Jackson, which is as it should be."

His death is also expected to inspire an array of commemorative gear of potentially dubious value, such as T-shirts.

"I'm honestly expecting to see a Web site pop up by the end of the day selling Michael Jackson commemorative plates," said Allison Southwick, a spokesperson with the Better Business Bureau.

Elliott, the Pennsylvania woman who sold Jackson dolls on eBay, says she has other collectibles, but they have more personal than market value. Although she made money from selling the dolls, she won't part with other items.

"My kids grew up with him - they're the reason I went to two concerts," she said. "I still have several CDs, 45s and VHS tapes. I even have my son's little Beat It jacket, too - and no, I won't be trying to sell it." -

[pam spackman]

 

ENOUGH about MJ the papers,tv etc still going on about it soooooooooooo! what about the 'mere' mortals that are dying everyday,people being murdered,kids being stabbed,abused ,oldpeople being mugged...soldiers dying for their country etc etcetc.....................

[SandyB]

Mmm Pam has a good point ...  pretty much along  my thought waves ,, but then for some  when  these catharic moments come along ,, they do the whole reflection and  think about life .. hey maybe it does something  for them .??? its like the death of Lady Di ...  it allowed a lot of  folk to  let  a lot of bottled emotions   go .. being part  of this huge mass mourning ,, totally un-noticed  cos  so many  were doing the same ..  for me  yes  a twinge of sadness for his passing  so senselessly . but more so more the   way his life spun out of control .. the  reference on the papers to his inner circle pushing him to do comeback  etc ..  their only motivation ... vampires feeding off his  fame ..  $$$$$$  ..