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"Flip Superstars" Magazine Interview

“Flip Superstars" magazine (December 1972) (archived)

When I rang Michael Jackson at his home in Beverly Hills to find out what he was planning to do for Christmas, all that he could talk about was the group's sensational trip to England.

You know what", he said. “We still haven't recovered. From the moment we touched down that Sunday morning at six-twenty, it was non-stop from the word go. What really amazed us was just how so many fans were able to get up that early and trail all the way out to London Airport--most of them must have been traveling half the night! Randy and I were so overwhelmed that we just looked at each other and burst into tears--we didn't expect such a welcome."

"What was your first impression of England?", I asked.

TOO TIRED

"To be quite honest", he said, “we were so tired that morning from all the traveling, that we really didn't get much of a chance to take it all in. And, of course, the scenes at the airport just knocked us out completely! I did feel sorry for our chauffeur, though", he said. "The poor guy had to get up at some unearthly hour to make his way to the airport to collect us in his beautiful gleaming Rolls, which he had spent hours cleaning, only to end up with something that looked as though it had just survived World War II!" He paused for a while to accept a cup of coffee from his Mom which gave me a chance to tell him about the battle scars I'd received at the airport that morning.

"Yeh", he said. “I guess everyone has much the same story to tell! But, really, the only chance we had of seeing something of London was on the way in to the Churchill Hotel, where we were staying. That was something else that took us by surprise, 'cos when we got there the fans were ready and waiting once again. We didn't realize that the Osmonds would be staying there too! Just imagine, we both flew into London around the same time and ended up staying at the same hotel! The Churchill people were real brave to agree to let us all stay there, 'cos the fans had the hotel besieged twenty-four hours a day! And then the crowning point mine when we all left on the same day--that's what I call a real coincidence!"

What was the high-spot of your tour here?

“Oh, I really think it has to be the fact that we opened the second half of the Royal Variety Performance in the presence of the Queen the day after we arrived. We were tremendously excited about actually getting to meet members of the Royal Family. Everyone's been bombarding us with questions about the Queen since we got back. The great thing was that Diana Ross and the Supremes had also done the show--so we had lots to talk about when we saw Diana recently. As you know, she's the one who discovered us and made it all possible so you'll understand why she's our favorite lady right now... apart from our Mom, that is!"

How did you find the fans here, are they different from fans in the States?

"Oh, no--they're all just beautiful. We usually find that fans are the same the whole world over if they dig our music. We really love to meet them all--it’s a shame that security prevents us from doing that sometimes, but the safety of the fans is very important to us! The one thing that did surprise us was just how well informed they were about movements around London. I remember one particular incident especially was when we were due to appear at London's Talk of the Town before members of the Britain press. Now, that event wasn't publicized anywhere but sure enough when we got there, the fans had turned out in their hundreds to greet us. I believe that some journalists were physically attacked as they left that day, but luckily enough they didn't seem to mind too much!"

SUPERSTAR!

Michael laughed when I told him that I was, in fact, one of those journalists. "Now you know what it‘s like to be a real live Superstar", he joked. And looking down at the scratches on my hand. I knew exactly what he meant!

“But seriously," he continued. “they really were fantastic. There was just one really frightening experience we had--well, not so much frightening for us, but for the security at the Churchill! It happened on the Wednesday night, just after we’d arrived. Part of the crowd became very restless and started threatening the guards with violence! Anyway, it resulted in us having to go up onto the roof garden and sing an impromptu concert to try and help calm them all down--luckily, it seemed to work, but it sure was very scaring for everyone!"

“I can imagine!” I said. “It sure was lucky that you were there to help sort things out! But now, getting back to Christmas, which is the reason why I rang--can you tell me what you’ll be doing?”

“Oh, nothing special, we always spend Christmas at home and that’s just what we’ll be doing this year, so it’ll be a very quiet one for us. We do have a new Christmas single that’s due out any day now. It’s a real Christmassy record that’s called "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" and "Christmas Won’t Be The Same Again". We don’t know which will be the “A” side, but they’re both ideal Christmas songs!

“But to be honest, we just can’t think about Christmas right now--with our English tour still buzzing in our heads, there’s nothing we’d like better at this moment than to be back in London with you all again!”

“And you know what Michael”, I said before putting down the phone, “there’s nothing we’d like more!”