Episode 011 – June 25th Special with Darren Hayes

Episode 011 - June 25th Special With Darren Hayes YouTube ArtOn June 25th, 2009 the King of Pop, Michael Jackson tragically and unexpectedly passed away amidst preparations and rehearsals for his final live concert tour, This Is It. Although his passing and our present day lives are separated at this point by six years, for fans around the world the pain associated with this devastating event still lingers on. What a loss it was for the world. It’s clear that the Michael Jackson fan community is still coming to terms with and processing what happened six years ago and how we can move forward in a positive way. During his life, Michael spoke about the concept of love perhaps more than any other topic….love for Planet Earth, love for its children, love for ourselves…and love for each other. So with love in mind, this podcast episode was put together. It’s intention is certainly not to celebrate the occasion, but to reflect on the tragedy that happened and to assist in unifying the community in processing what occurred…but above all else, to remember, honour and reflect on the magical life that was Michael Jackson’s and the love that he gave to the world.

Former member of pop duo Savage Garden and now world renowned multi-million album selling artist in his own right, Darren Hayes, agreed to join us for this significant occasion in honouring and remembering Michael on the sixth anniversary of his passing. Q and I interviewed Darren about his Michael Jackson fandom, his views and thoughts on a range of Michael related issues and about his life as an artist.

Following this, Q and I explore and discuss our own experiences on June 25th, 2009 and how we feel Michael should be remembered, before handing over to some of our listeners to discuss the same topics. Thank-you to all of our listeners who submitted audio for us to consider in playing on this show. It was a pleasure listening to all of the submissions and they certainly had both Q and I reflecting on Michael and his legacy. For those of you who are still emotionally processing Michael’s passing, we hope this episode acts as a way for you to connect with other fans around the world who are as well. In this episode there are moments of joy and moments of sadness, but through it all, remember that we are all fans of Michael. We must carry on his message of love and positivity as a way of honouring his memory and everything that he gave to the world. From the bottom of our hearts, Keep Michaeling!

Links
Darren Hayes’ official website and Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr accounts.
The He Said, He Said Show’s iTunes page.
Michael Jackson’s Bad World Tour live in Brisbane. Look out for a young Darren Hayes in the first ten seconds!
Michael Jackson’s Captain EO on YouTube.
Michael Jackson’s Memorial Service from 2009, at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
Amateur footage of Billie Jean live at Michael Jackson’s 30th Anniversary Celebration concerts in 2001.
Michael Jackson’s 1987 Molly Meldrum interview.
Xscape Origins – The Songs and Stories Michael Jackson Left Behind, a book by Damien Shields.
Bad 25 – A documentary on Michael’s ‘Bad’ album, by Spike Lee.
Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean performance on Motown 25. Look out for his first ever moonwalk at the end of Billie Jean!
Darren Hayes’ Secret Codes and Battleships limited deluxe two CD edition on Amazon and iTunes.
The new Savage Garden album The Singles, and the re-releases for Savage Garden and Affirmation on iTunes Australia.

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If you have any thoughts, opinions, or feedback on the show, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.com. We hope you enjoy this special episode of our Michael Jackson podcast, The MJCast. Keep Michaeling!

Michael Jackson – Planet Earth (An Earth Day Project)

Earth Day Network and Michael Jackson, two immutable forces who have spent decades crying out in defence of our planet. On April 22nd, 2015 it will be the 45th annual Earth Day, which is in my estimation one of most important annual events on the global calendar. On this day, literally hundreds of millions of people around the world unify, focusing on our planet and its perfection, but also its plight. Many of these individuals will just so happen to be fans of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson as well. Being one of them, it’s almost impossible to think of the wellbeing of our planet without reflecting on the selfless and timeless activism that Michael engaged in too.

One could argue that Michael’s ability to entertain the world through his music and dance is perhaps the most central part of his legacy. We would certainly hope he is remembered for such genius considering the nature of his impact on modern popular culture. Yet it is also important to remember that Michael was deeply passionate around other noble efforts in addition to his groundbreaking art. One such effort included bringing awareness, awakening and hope to people regarding the plight of Planet Earth…our home, our place.

Not only did Michael write and perform entire songs with the purpose of tapping into humanities empathy for our planet, but he also wrote poetry for this cause and raised vast sums of money for it as well. This wasn’t a passion that waned with time, or was done for some selfish cause, Michael genuinely cared for “Mother Earth” and felt the pain we as humans inflict on her quite acutely.

From deforestation, to climate change, to the extinction of species and overpopulation, Michael had the wellbeing of the planet and by extension its inhabitants foremost in his mind. Evidently, this shines through in his art, and in many of his public speeches and discussions also.

During the rehearsal’s for his final concert tour, Michael Jackson took the time to explain his ethos around nature and the planet in detail as evidenced in the documentary film This Is It. “I respect the secrets and magic of nature. That’s why it makes me so angry when I see these things that are happening, that every second, I hear, the size of a football field is torn down in the Amazon. I mean, that kind of stuff really bothers me. That’s why I write these kinds of songs, you know. It gives some sense of awareness and awakening and hope to people. I love the Planet, I love the trees. I have this thing for trees – the colors and changing of leaves. I love it. I respect those kind of things. I really feel that nature is trying so hard to compensate for man’s mismanagement of the planet. Because the planet is sick, like a fever. If we don’t fix it now, it’s at the point of no return. This is our last chance to fix this problem that we have, where it’s like a runway train. And the times has come, This Is It. People are always saying: ‘They’ll take care of it. The government’ll–Don’t worry, they’ll–‘ ‘They’ who? It starts with us. It’s us. Or else it’ll never be done…”

On October 26th, 2009 the Estate of Michael Jackson released Michael’s first posthumous album, a companion product to the film and ill fated concert tour entitled This Is It. The album featured many of the songs Michael was to perform live on his comeback tour, but with the interesting and intriguing inclusion of one spoken word track entitled ‘Planet Earth’.  This previously unreleased track is a simple, poetic piece which focuses on Michael’s love for our planet. Prior to 2009, it had only ever been engaged with by fans in its written form as published in Michael Jackson’s brilliant book, Dancing the Dream. The piece clearly demonstrates the sense of wonderment Michael must have felt when contemplating our planet, but it’s the contrast that draws the listener in. The quiet and simple vocal delivery, with subtle revelations of Michael’s emotional depth, juxtaposed against the sheer cosmic scope of the lyrical content. Planet Earth is a stroke of genius that only Michael could have delivered.

“Do you care, have you a part
In the deepest emotions of my own heart
Tender with breezes, caressing and whole
Alive with music, haunting my soul.”

So with all of this in mind, I felt it important to acknowledge Michael’s efforts on this extraordinary day, and to also do my part in bringing awareness, awakening and hope to people regarding the beauty of this planet. And so I edited together a video. My goal for this project was to create an extension to the piece Michael had already crafted. To draw on a range of source material and add musical and visual elements that add an entirely new dimension for the audience.  Hopefully I’ve succeeded in my mission and have done Michael proud.

At its heart, this video is a love letter to and celebration of Planet Earth, but it also represents an alignment between these two extraordinary forces that are Michael Jackson and Earth Day Network. This network is an eco-activism phenomenon which co-ordinates an event that involves over one billion people, twenty two thousand official partners in one hundred and ninety-two countries every single year. It is the world’s largest, non-secular celebration and truly represents what’s possible when our modern world and its billions of people mobilise for a positive cause. Visit www.earthday.org to learn how you can help heal the world. Happy 45th anniversary, Earth Day!

#MJ4EarthDay

Episode 006 – Tommy Organ Special

Episode 006 - Tommy Organ Special YouTube ArtListeners of The MJCast, here’s our sixth episode! This week we’re honoured to present an interview with Tommy Organ, one of Michael Jackson’s guitarists during the rehearsals for his This Is It concert tour. Topics of discussion include Tommy’s history as a musician, his experiences in coming to work for Michael and what it was like to work with the King of Pop. Enjoy!

Links
Tommy Organ’s official website and his Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
The official website for Michael Jackson’s This Is It

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If you have any thoughts, opinions, or feedback on the show, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us at themjcast@icloud.com or find the links to our many social networks on www.themjcast.com. Keep Michaeling!