Tampa DJ cherishes memories of lunch with Jackson

http://www2.tbo.com/conte...-breaking/

Bloomfield Man, 70, Recalls Being Michael Jackson's Chauffeur

http://www.courant.com/en...917.column

Robert Farmer didn't watch this week's tribute to Michael Jackson.

The 70-year-old Bloomfield resident has his own cherished memories of The Gloved One, including the spring day in 1988 when Jackson gave Farmer the hat off his head, after an MJ concert at the Civic Center.

That black fedora, size medium, with the lettering MICHAEL JACKSON on the inside band has been stored in a plastic bag in Farmer's raised ranch for the past two decades. He also has hung onto several photographs he took with Jackson at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Farmer, a retired Hartford firefighter and former chef at Hartford Hospital, served as Jackson's personal chauffeur during his week's stay in the city. "It was quite an experience for me just being with him," Farmer said in his kitchen, as his grandkids listened.

Though Farmer wasn't really a fan of Jackson's at the time, he was thrilled when, as a dispatcher for Cotter Limousine Service in Bloomfield, he received an urgent call. Jackson's road crew needed to be picked up at Bradley Airport.

Farmer took the assignment himself. He established a rapport with the crew, which led to them suggesting he be the exclusive driver for them and Jackson when the entertainer arrived. Bill Bray, a retired Los Angeles police officer who headed Jackson's logistics team, made it official. Farmer would soon be headed upstairs to a suite in the old Hilton Hotel on Asylum Street where the King of Pop awaited.

"What struck me was he was in a good mood," Farmer said. "He was very nice. Just a regular guy. Super nice. I was surprised. I just figured with him being that famous, there was no way he'd be this nice."

Jackson stayed in his suite for most of his stay — and never wanted to be bothered the day of a performance. A valet, who served as chef, was part of the entourage. There was also a woman and her young boy, who stayed in a separate room, but were apparently Jackson's guests. Farmer took the crew out to the mall and a KFC on Albany Avenue in North Hartford. At the KFC, one of the crew members surprised the girls behind the counter by giving them four tickets to the concert. They squealed.

Farmer also took Jackson and a security guy on a brief tour of the city. MJ wore shades and cap.

"He didn't talk much, but he talked," Farmer said. "He called me 'sir.' How're doin', sir? Everything all right, sir?' Very, very friendly."

When he drove Jackson to the Civic Center with his security people, Farmer said he was allowed to stay backstage. Crew members hooked his family up with front row seats and they granted Farmer's request that his niece Tiana Armstrong, now 30, be selected as one of the kids to be called up to dance on stage with Jackson.

Farmer later told one of Jackson's aides how impressed he was that Jackson was so friendly, and mentioned that he was now a fan. The aide asked Farmer to tell that to Jackson directly.

"So, I told him, listen, I never realized you were such a nice guy. I said I wasn't a fan of yours before, but I'm a fan of yours now," Farmer said. "And he was thanking me, laughing, smiling, and said, 'I'm glad you are.'"

Feeling emboldened, Farmer had a favor to ask. "I said 'I'd like to have a souvenir of yours.' And he said, 'OK, what do you want?' I said, 'Can I have that hat of yours?' And he gave it to me."

When he drove Jackson and crew back to LaGuardia, Farmer had yet another request — could he get a picture or two, because no one was going to believe that he chauffeured Michael Jax? Done.

His tip was $1,000. Not bad for a week's work — and the memories and mementos that will last a lifetime.

Michael with Quicy for the making of Thriller

Part 1

[Edited 8/10/10 18:43pm]

nice stories, they really made me smile

mimi07 said:

“Some of the songs Mike were working on by himself. Michael always over-recorded. A song like 'Billie Jean' was supposed to be on the Off The Wall album, but for whatever reason his team didn’t think it was strong enough. So there’s plenty of good new material for this upcoming project.”

Ok...something about this confuses me. There was a story from one of the dudes from Hall & Oates who claimed that Michael told him that that he was inspired by their song "I Can't Go For That" when he did the bass line for Billie Jean. That Hall & Oates song came out 2 years after the release of Off The Wall so how is this bold part of that statement even possible? I don't think Michael could predict the future as far as I knew...but then again who knows? I did hear of an existence of a pre-Billie Jean song and someone claimed to have had on some kind of tape and NEVER EVEN SHARED IT. =/

Unholyalliance said:

Ok...something about this confuses me. There was a story from one of the dudes from Hall & Oates who claimed that Michael told him that that he was inspired by their song "I Can't Go For That" when he did the bass line for Billie Jean. That Hall & Oates song came out 2 years after the release of Off The Wall so how is this bold part of that statement even possible? I don't think Michael could predict the future as far as I knew...but then again who knows? I did hear of an existence of a pre-Billie Jean song and someone claimed to have had on some kind of tape and NEVER EVEN SHARED IT. =/

You know, hearing this, it makes me question Mr. Hall too. LOL

Timmy84 said:

Unholyalliance said:

Ok...something about this confuses me. There was a story from one of the dudes from Hall & Oates who claimed that Michael told him that that he was inspired by their song "I Can't Go For That" when he did the bass line for Billie Jean. That Hall & Oates song came out 2 years after the release of Off The Wall so how is this bold part of that statement even possible? I don't think Michael could predict the future as far as I knew...but then again who knows? I did hear of an existence of a pre-Billie Jean song and someone claimed to have had on some kind of tape and NEVER EVEN SHARED IT. =/

You know, hearing this, it makes me question Mr. Hall too. LOL

I think the excerpt meant to say a song SIMILAR to Billie Jean. It was just worded the wrong way

seeingvoices12 said:

ViintageJunkiie said:

As Murph said, no one is really a "main producer", so I doubt Riley will be "overseeing" the project. All Rodney is doing is grabbing outtakes from the Invincible session and polishing them up. out of 10 tracks, most likely 3 of them will be from Invincible. We'll get tracks from Bad and Thriller sessions also. Possibly a track MJ recorded between 2002-2009

I don't think so.....

mixing material from 2009 with material from the 80's will sound like a mess.

Only if they're putting songs on their that don't mesh with each other. If you put records that pretty much flow into each other, it won't sound that bad

ViintageJunkiie said:

Timmy84 said:

You know, hearing this, it makes me question Mr. Hall too. LOL

I think the excerpt meant to say a song SIMILAR to Billie Jean. It was just worded the wrong way

That makes more sense because the main incident that inspired Billie Jean happened in either 1980 or 1981

MyLuv229 said:

Michael with Quicy for the making of Thriller

Part 1

that was interesting to see but why does Michael say that he wasn't a fan of horror movies? I always assumed that he was obsessed with gory,scary films.

bboy87 said:

ViintageJunkiie said:

I think the excerpt meant to say a song SIMILAR to Billie Jean. It was just worded the wrong way

That makes more sense because the main incident that inspired Billie Jean happened in either 1980 or 1981

“Some of the songs Mike were working on by himself. Michael always over-recorded. A song like 'Billie Jean' was supposed to be on the Off The Wall album, but for whatever reason his team didn’t think it was strong enough. So there’s plenty of good new material for this upcoming project.”

The quote is saying that since the song SIMILAR to Billie Jean wasn't strong enough for OTW, there's a chance it'll end up on the new project.

I'm reading "a song LIKE Billie Jean" OK... that clears it up. Thanks Viintage and bboy.

Michael's werewolf + zombie owns vampires forever.

new MJ sample

http://limelinx.com/files...5dcf9c9212

[Edited 8/11/10 7:26am]

first will is excited and he wants to put michaels music out , if he was aked by the family

then he says the first will be on the new BEP album. than he says Mj wouldnt want thiss, than he says i hope it comes out , then its not finished and now its going to be part of the new album.

he apeared to be sinceire but thats gone the drain now. at least to me

Ne-Yo Talks MJ, Releasing New Music wenn2477455jacksons__opt1.jpg We would love this! Ne-Yo wrote songs for Michael Jackson specifically and has said that it would be "disrespectful" to pass them on to other musical artists outside of the Jackson Family. Now he's hoping that Janet Jackson will bring new life to the songs. He explains: "I've been trying to figure out what to do with those songs. I can't give them to anybody else because they were written for Michael. That would be disrespectful. So if I could get Janet and the brothers to do a collaborative tribute, that would be a great idea. "There are about 10 he personally selected. He told me, 'I like this one, this one, this one.' I can't just put them out by myself because again they were meant for him but they're really good songs, it's good quality music." I think that's a pretty good idea actually! But will Janet be up for a collaboration with her brothers?

I feel she should do it by herself with only one or two songs with her brothers. Let famewhore Jermaine do a co lead & that's it. u know he going to want to take over. Leave La toya out!

mimi07 said:

new MJ sample

http://limelinx.com/files...5dcf9c9212

[Edited 8/11/10 7:26am]

A mess

They should leave the classics untouched.

motownlover said:

first will is excited and he wants to put michaels music out , if he was aked by the family

then he says the first will be on the new BEP album. than he says Mj wouldnt want thiss, than he says i hope it comes out , then its not finished and now its going to be part of the new album.

he apeared to be sinceire but thats gone the drain now. at least to me

Haha. So wait a minute...did he change his mind again? Last I heard he is not happy about the album coming out and thinks it is disrespectful.

seeingvoices12 said:

mimi07 said:

new MJ sample

http://limelinx.com/files...5dcf9c9212

[Edited 8/11/10 7:26am]

A mess

They should leave the classics untouched.

I tried to click your link but my pop up wont un block so I can listen. I figure that it may be this. The "I Wanna be Where You Are" - MJ/J5 sample for Cali Swag District "Where You Are".

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o...i_swag.mp3

[Edited 8/11/10 10:35am]

Here's a silly question for those who have kept up with Michael's unreleased stuff throughout the years: Do you think his new release will be on par or better than "Invincible"?

tangerine7 said:

seeingvoices12 said:

A mess

They should leave the classics untouched.

I tried to click your link but my pop up wont un block so I can listen. I figure that it may be this. The "I Wanna be Where You Are" - MJ/J5 sample for Cali Swag District "Where You Are".

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o...i_swag.mp3

[Edited 8/11/10 10:35am]

It's not my link. ............but yeah it's the same mess.

seeingvoices12 said:

tangerine7 said:

I tried to click your link but my pop up wont un block so I can listen. I figure that it may be this. The "I Wanna be Where You Are" - MJ/J5 sample for Cali Swag District "Where You Are".

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o...i_swag.mp3

[Edited 8/11/10 10:35am]

It's not my link. ............but yeah it's the same mess.

Well yeah I meant the quote before you - sry. But yeah I think a classic should be left alone.

Musicslave said:

Here's a silly question for those who have kept up with Michael's unreleased stuff throughout the years: Do you think his new release will be on par or better than "Invincible"?

well on this note.. I've been reading that a good bit of the music on the new album is going to be music that 'fans' already know about..??

well as much as I loved Invincible, I loved all the unreleased tracks that came out in the 00's so much more. The online leaks, the ones on the ultimate collection and the b-sides and unreleased cuts.

alphastreet said:

well as much as I loved Invincible, I loved all the unreleased tracks that came out in the 00's so much more. The online leaks, the ones on the ultimate collection and the b-sides and unreleased cuts.

MJ himself said that the best stuff were left unreleased on purpose.

I hope MJ's full version of blue gangster makes the final cut..........

tell me an artist who could sing like this.....starts at 2:15 , unbelievable.

seeingvoices12 said:

alphastreet said:

well as much as I loved Invincible, I loved all the unreleased tracks that came out in the 00's so much more. The online leaks, the ones on the ultimate collection and the b-sides and unreleased cuts.

MJ himself said that the best stuff were left unreleased on purpose.

yeah I remember that, it was because of what Sony was doing

I wasn't crazy about the gangster song though I would play it anyways in the background.

I dont know if this link is still good,but its worth a try!

Its a link to download that Rabbi's book with Michael for everyone who hasnt read it already!

All of the Rabbi's uncalled for babbling is taken out-so you can enjoy the book more!

*Hopes it works*

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QO1WP8ME