“We Must Have Victoria Falls” – Michael Jackson


This from Tim Masters entertainment correspondent of BBC News amused us – Victoria Falls really is an awesome spectacle, even late Michael Jackson wanted it!

Kenny Ortega – the choreographer of Michael Jackson’s ill-fated shows at London’s O2 arena – is chuckling at the memory of one of the singer’s big stage ideas. “One morning Michael called me and said: ‘Victoria Falls!’ and I said: ‘That’s in Africa’. “And he said: ‘That’s why we have to have it!'”

What Michael wanted was the Victoria Falls in 3-D pouring over the stage – with him in front of it, singing! Kenny Ortega, choreographer, a long-time friend of Jackson, is director of the film This Is It which is released on 28 October. The movie is based on more than 100 hours of footage from rehearsals for the 50 London shows Jackson had planned to perform. Jackson died in June aged 50.

“Daily, Michael and I would be creative jousting and wrestling down ideas,” recalls Ortega. “I think Michael wanted the world on stage, and he wanted the wonders of the world represented on stage. “We had choirs and children and dancers and singers and musicians and effects and movies and the world’s largest 3-D hi-definition screen.

Ortega was speaking after a press screening of 12 minutes of unseen footage from the This Is It movie. Jackson is seen working out dance moves to Human Nature, with his backing band in Los Angeles. The star is also seen performing The Way You Make Me Feel with a solo girl dancer, followed by an energetic sequence with some male dancers dressed as construction workers.

At one point Jackson drops to the ground in a press-up pose and leaps back up. He appears to be in good health, and his singing voice is strong. The building site set – with its silhouetted dancers scaling upwards – looks impressive on the big screen. Jackson died two weeks before he was due to return to the stage in London

Ortega thinks the film will have an appeal wider than Jackson’s fanbase. “I think it goes way beyond the fans,” he says. “You see a show being built with Michael as the main architect. “I loved watching the young dancers on stage with Michael: seeing the sparkle in their eyes and the excitement in their bodies – that they were on the stage with the very man that inspired them to want to be dancers.” Ortega adds: “The show was massive, but it was also intimate. With just Michael alone on the stage, with the light, with the band, and audience. We really worked out a plan so that those dynamics were in harmony.”

Travis Payne, a choreographer who worked alongside Ortega on This Is It, gives an insight into Jackson’s workload during the rehearsals.

“Each of our days would start with me going to his residence. We would rehearse at 2pm every day until about 3.30pm or 4.30pm – and then we would reconvene at the venue and usually go from 6pm to midnight. “It was pretty full-on, and then sometimes during the night we’d speak about the creative parts of the show.” Payne, who has also choreographed for Madonna and Beyonce, says he hopes the movie will be part of the “healing process” for Jackson’s fans.

There’s the picture Michael wanted to sing in front of! Awesome!

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Eric Fischer on 107.7 fm


Clare Alderson, The Guest who was booked to appear on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the DJMJ Ingredient ft Soulchild last Sunday – the radio show which I co-host every Sunday on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station – unfortunately fell ill just before the show, so Eric Fischer, pictured above was kind enough to step in at the last moment! In fact Clare and Eric had travelled together from Namibia, where they’d been part of a two week Biosphere Expedition looking at the relationship between people and wildlife in a rural part of that huge country. Had Eric enjoyed it? Yes he had!

Eric’s a lawyer who hails from Philadelphia, USA where he has his own practice ‘Disability Law Clinic‘ a no-win no-fee set up for disabled people with problems getting claims payments from Government. We took the chance to ask him about the current health care debate in the US, and were shocked to hear that for himself and one of his employees he must pay annual health insurance premiums of some US$33,000. Had Eric voted for Obama? Milimo and George wanted to know. Yes he had! Eric told listeners that he wasn’t married and had no children, but when we asked if we could introduce him to some nice Zambian girls he started talking about a girl called Paris he’d met in Namibia! We laughed!

The music on the show was nice as usual. We played ‘Take My Heart’ a new track from Gen. Ozzy as well as ‘I Wonder’ by P.J, to give Eric a taste of Zambian music, which he enjoyed. He told listeners of his travels to some 27 African countries over the years and professed a liking for music from the Congo as well as Hugh Masekela, Johnny Clegg, and other African artists. We played ‘The Way You Love Me’ by David Guetta ft Kelly Rowland and ‘Never Leave You’ by Tinchy Stryder ft Estelle. We played two Miley Cyrus tracks – ‘Party In The USA’ and ‘Before The Storm’ which she sings with Nick Jonas. Eric was appalled, but we pressed on! ‘Down’ by Jay Sean is super and my current ringtone, and ‘I Look To You’ is the title track of Whitney Houston’s new album due for release on 31st August and widely tipped to be a great comeback album. We closed the show with ‘Candy’ by Paolo Nutini.

Milimo and George wanted to know what it had been like for me listening to the show the previous Sunday and not appearing on it and I told them I’d enjoyed it, but that they talked too much! We asked Eric about his two day one night canoeing trip on the Zambezi the previous night organised by Wild Side Safaris and Makora Quest. Would Milimo and George fancy camping at night on the banks of the Zambezi amongst hippo and crocodile? Mmmm, not really! What else had Eric lined up to do while he was in Livingstone? He was going white water rafting with Safpar and a river safari with Batoka the next day, then a micro-light flight on his last morning.

How many staff did Eric employ in the States? I wanted to know. “5” was the reply “and I have a ‘crackerjack’ team” he said. “Crackerjack?” I wondered and Eric told me it means great staff. “So do I” I replied and that gave me a good chance to say “hi” to the Chanters Girls and to thank them for their hard work and support while I’d been ill. I was also able to say thanks to Ireen and those at home, as well as everyone at 107.7 fm. So what did Eric think he might do next trip? Well, he told listeners that he wanted to come back to Zambia and find out more about the culture and traditions in Western Province. “Great stuff!” We said “and here’s the Loziman to help you” as we pointed to George Soulchild!

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Varndean College play 107.7 fm


Not so much an experience more of a party, is what I’d say about this week’s edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the DJMJ Ingredient ft Soulchild! The show airs at 20.00 hrs every Sunday evening on
107.7 fm Zambezi Radio, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station. Why? Well the two young ladies pictured above, Dorothy Spencer (right) and Maddy Rayner from Varndean College in Brighton, Sussex, UK made it seem like a party, bright, talkative, pretty and vivacious as they were! Also in the picture is Alrik Green a lecturer from Varndean. Not in the photo, but very much in the studio was Cerys Green, Alrik’s young daughter – “it’s pronounced Kerris Richard it’s Welsh”, she told me after I’d repeatedly mispronounced it! Sorry Cerys!

Alrik and wife Jane, as well as Cerys and her young brother Jake (the latter was very cheesed off not being allowed to come to the studio) were staying in accommodation reserved at Chanters Lodge for their week long visit to Livingstone, the Varndean students were accommodated at Jolly Boys, the best of Livingstone’s two back packer lodges. “Do you have messages for any listeners?” I asked Maddy and Dorothy early on in the show “we’ll do it together” they laughed and proceeded to alternately read out a long list of names. “Are they all staying at Jolly Boys?” I asked surprised, “then maybe it should be The Jolly Boys Experience with the Chanters Lodge Ingredient this week!” “They’re not all staying there” laughed the girls “but some are and others are people we’ve met since we’ve been in Zambia”.

“What are you doing in Zambia?” DJMJ Milli Jam wanted to know. The girls and Alrik explained they’d been involved in a Kaloko Trust (a Brighton based trust) project near Luansobe, south of Ndola on the Copperbelt, building toilets at Kwesha Primary School as well as making chairs and tables for the same school. Had they enjoyed it? Yes! Had they thought the trip worthwhile? Yes! “And how were you received by the Zambian population and the students at the school?” I asked “wonderfully well!” They all agreed! “And what have you been doing since you came to Livingstone?” George Soulchild asked “You should know” they said to him “we’ve been partying and we’ve seen you at one of the clubs we went to!” Fits of laughter! “Did you enjoy your safari to Chobe National Park?” Milli Jam asked the girls – they had and had been lucky to see both lion and leopard. “We went to the crocodile park and I held a crocodile” chipped in little Cerys. “Great stuff!” We said!

The music was good. Two local tracks, actually the same two as we’d played last week. “Why?” I wanted to know. “They’re hot!” I was told. ‘Nafuti Nafuti’ by Baska Baska (‘again and again’) and Mampi’s ‘High on Me’. As usual we played the UK number one of the week – ‘I Gotta Feeling’ by the Black Eyed Peas, back to back with ‘Candy’ by Paolo Nutini, my track of the moment! ‘Remedy’ from ‘Little Boots’ is high in the charts right now but it was new to the girls, so too was ‘Thinkin’ & Linkin” by Liquid Danger, a Zambian rap artist. Now that did surprise the assembled company – more about that next week! DJMJ loves Ne-Yo so it was no great surprise to hear ‘Round and Round’ and when we featured ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus, Maddy looked at me shocked! “But I love this track!” She exclaimed! Yes Maddy! “Sport, football?” DJMJ wanted to know but disappointingly there wasn’t a Gunner amongst ’em “Liverpool, Man U and Chelsea” only George Soulchild(Liverpool) looked slightly happy. “Why don’t you support Brighton’s local team?” I wanted to know. “Ooooh! They’re our second favourites” they all said looking sheepish, as opposed to gullish! (geddit?)

We ended with the usual questions about future plans. Maddy wanted to travel and intended to start soon. Dorothy wasn’t quite sure but thought she might go straight to University. They both said they’d like to be married 10 years from now and actually named names of young British celebrities as potential partners, not famous enough for me to have heard of or to remember for that matter! Alrik still hoped to be married to Jane, but said he wasn’t sure where he’d be in 10 years time, but he was sure that if you’d asked him that question 10 years ago, he wouldn’t have answered that he’d be appearing live on local radio in Livingstone, Zambia. Nice one!

What about Cerys, would she like to be married 10 years from now? ‘DEFINITELY NOT!’ was her emphatic reply. Right on Cerys!

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Caitlin Papier


Our beautiful, talented and thoroughly Zambian violinist Caitlin Papier has a new website. Go to this link. You’ll find her on Twitter too @electricandlive Become her fan on Fb as well!

“Roaming between tables or sliding across table tops, performing mellow-mood-setters or rocking electrifying showstoppers. Whether she’s performing on a moving train, on top of a front-end loader, during a sunset cruise down the Zambezi or the Vaal, strutting down a catwalk, entertaining government officials or perhaps Royalty – Caitlin is an electric violinist that does things her way – with unstoppable energy and pure, uninhibited passion.

Born in Chingola and raised in Kitwe, Zambia – Caitlin is strikingly patriotic and devotedly African. She has represented Zambia at an International level, been commended by the Zambian President himself for ‘holding the Zambian flag high beyond Zambia’s borders’, she enjoys the constant and invaluable support of countless fellow Zambians, an ever increasing number of South Africans and a surprising International following.

Inspired by electric violin trail blazer, Vanessa Mae, Caitlin aims for rock star status in the meantime, she’s slowly pushing boundaries and stepping beyond the classical-crossover genre which has become so firmly associated with the electric violin – experimenting in the fields of ska, psy-trance, hip-hop, rock, pop and electro all in a quest to find her own sound – but don’t worry, she’ll play you some Vivaldi if you need her to.

Caitlin has been on stage since the age of 5 and discovered the violin at the age of 9. She has never been seriously classically trained but her place is undoubtedly on the stage with her electric violin, she lives for the spotlight and her love of performing is obvious to all.”

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Matthew Robson


Matthew Robson was lucky enough to get a two week internship at Morgan Stanley (or maybe Morgan Stanley were lucky enough?) and was asked to write about teenage media consumption for the bank. What he wrote has generated massive response in the banking sector and elsewhere. Check TimesOnline for the whole story. It fascinated me:

The world according to Matthew Robson aged 15 and a half:

“Teenagers do not listen to the radio, he wrote, preferring online streaming sites, nor do they ever buy music. Games consoles “now… connect to the internet, voice chat is possible between users… one can speak for free over the console so a teenager would be unwilling to use a phone,” he wrote.

He told The Times that at home he usually communicates with his male friends while blowing up terrorists on the action game Call of Duty. “You use a mobile phone if you want to talk to girls,” he said, as “only about one in fifty girls plays computer games.”

Girls are a lot more prone to spend their time on social networking sites. Matthew uses Facebook but his accounts with Piczo and Bebo have lapsed and Twitter is strictly for the elderly. “It’s aimed at adults,” he said. “Stephen Fry is not particularly cool. Also, for the cost of one tweet you could send quite a few text messages.” As no teenagers followed each other’s profiles, tweeting was “pointless”.

He believes cost is a critical factor in the teenage market as “no one has any money”. “Eight out of ten teenagers don’t buy music,” he said. “It comes from limewire, blogs or torrents.” Meanwhile, pirated DVDs generally cost £2 and go on sale even as the films are in the cinema.

Radio
With online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses

Newspapers
No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV

Internet
Facebook is the most common, with nearly everyone with an internet connection registered. On the other hand, teenagers do not use Twitter

Music
They are very reluctant to pay for it (most having never bought a CD) Teenagers from higher income families use iPods and those from lower income families use mobile phones

Directories
Real directories contain listings for builders and florists, which are services teenagers do not require. They can get the information free on the internet
Viral/Outdoor Marketing
“Most teenagers enjoy and support viral marketing… Teenagers see adverts on websites (pop-ups, banner ads) as extremely annoying and pointless…they are portrayed in such a negative light that no one follows them.”

Cinema
Teenagers visit the cinema more often when they are in the lower end of teendom but as they approach 15 they go to the cinema a lot less. This is because of the pricing; at 15 they have to pay the adult price. Also it is possible to buy a pirated DVD of the film at the time of release, and these cost much less than a cinema ticket
Mobile phones
The general view is that Sony Ericsson phones are superior, because of their long list of features, built-in Walkman capacity and value.

So there you are!

How do I (not quite a teenager) stack up!
– I have a Sony Ericsson phone!
– I hate paying for music!

– Don’t watch many movies
– Need a new radio which I enjoy at night

– I’m active on Facebook and Twitter

– I hate pop up and pop under ads
– Generally don’t like phone calls and prefer sms

– I’d never heard of Limewire – I just downloaded it
– I’d been trying to sort out Torrent for some days when I read this!
– Only glance at newspaper headlines these days.

And you!

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Subo


I loved this! Thanks to Derek Dawson for sending it!

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Boom Time For Gary, Indiana?


This piece from Caryn Eve Murray in HotelInteractive will interest all Michael Jackson fans:

Gary, Indiana counts its Majestic Star Casino & Hotel, its SouthShore RailCats baseball team and even the nearby Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore among the biggest drawing cards in this struggling former steel town. But nothing, perhaps, could be bigger in Gary these days than one modest house in the heart of the city: The childhood home of Michael Jackson, whose sudden death last week after cardiac arrest turned the small frame structure, within hours, into a towering magnet for a gathering of the grief-stricken Jackson faithful. They arrived there mostly from homes only a short traveling distance away – far removed by hundreds of miles from the California mansion where their idol had fallen.

But if local officials have their way, many more hundreds, if not thousands, may soon want to go the distance to get to Gary. They see Jackson’s family home, and the two nearby schools the Jackson siblings attended – Garnett Elementary School and Roosevelt High School – as the epicenter of a collection of Jackson attractions paying homage to a beloved native son. The idea is nothing new, but this sudden and sad turn of events may give it a new impetus to grow. “Gary is the hometown where it all started,” said Curt Brantingham, public relations manager of the Indiana Office of Tourism. “Any tourism there would have to be something compelling to draw people, not just once but multiple times, something of such interest that it would have a wide appeal.”

But with Gary lacking the glamour and notoriety of Jackson’s high-profile Neverland Ranch in California, Brantingham said, “it is hard to speculate.” It is, however, not so hard for Gary’s Mayor Rudy Clay and members of the Gary Indiana Chamber of Commerce, who have lived for quite some time with the as-yet unrealized possibilities of honoring Jackson through a variety of appropriate attractions, even years before the pop star’s untimely death at the age of 50. Over the years, there has been talk of a museum, a monument – and a performing arts center, with the Jackson family involved in these discussions, even with previous administrations, said Lalosa Burns, Clay’s press secretary.

“We have thousands of hotel rooms in the immediate vicinity,” she said, most notably in Merrillville. “If people do make this an attraction and come and stay we can accommodate them and we would be happy to help.” The city’s location just southeast of Chicago makes it easy enough to get to, with access to Chicago’s airports and its proximity to Interstate 80 and 94. “This is the most traveled highway in the country, so we get a bit of traffic through here anyway,” said Chuck Hughes, executive director of Gary’s Chamber of Commerce.

Other than a beautiful lakefront, “we don’t have the greatest tourist attractions for people,” said Hughes. Still, there is potential, he said. “Invariably when people come, for whatever reason they come, they all ask and want to see Michael Jackson’s boyhood home. “Everybody is still in shock,” said Hughes. “We want to pay tribute. We know that he is gone. I would imagine in Gary and all over the world the wheels are turning in people’s heads, public officials, everyone wants to do something.”

Certainly the idea of a museum, incorporating Jackson’s personal and musical history, remains strong, as does a performing arts center, he said. But whether it gets off the drawing board in Gary, or elsewhere, is still unknown. Hughes, who served Gary as a councilman-at-large for many years, remembers when it almost seemed a brick-and-mortar possibility, even 10 or 15 years ago. “The project would have been so huge. But that was prior to all his problems,” he said. Had those troubles never surfaced, he said, “who knows what would have transpired?

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Round And Round


When I was about 12 or 13 years old my dear late mother, who loved classical music and indeed sang in choirs for such, asked me ‘when do you think you’ll grow out of pop music darling?’. The truth is that I never have and I’m very happy about that! I love this sensational, sizzling new Ne-Yo track! Great ring tone too! Here, we think, are some of the lyrics:

“Baby when we first met
It was kind of fly that I couldn’t predict your mood
Said I could never guess (so) and it was the best (so)
Not like any other dude
But I don’t know man, I don’t know man, I don’t know man
I don’t really really know

But before my eyes I saw the good you leave
And the bad you start to show
And I just can’t take it (can’t take it)
No I just can’t take it (No)
So we ain’t gon make it (ain’t gon mae it)
This is relationship and gon make it (no)

Chorus
I’m tired of all this Round and Round we go
You can’t decide if you wanna be trite or treat me right
So round & round we go
While I decided don’t wanna ride anymore
I’m sick and tired of you taking me Round & Round
Round & Round we go
I’m sick and tired of you taking me Round & around and around
Round & Round we go, round and round we go

round and round we go
Don’t get excited anymore when you’re sweet to me
Because I know one, two, three minutes later
You’ll be right back to being mean
It’s flowers on a Monday, Tuesday you’re hating me
Wednesday’s makeup sex is so amazing
What will it be Thursday, will it be friendly
??? like you’ve been sleeping with the enemy
Thought So

chorus

Look at me, look at me, so damn dizzy
Tryina keep, tryina keep, trying to keep up with you
Baby you’re Doctor ???, Mister ???
Slowly ruining my life for me
Baby I don’t need you
Round and Round we go, Round & Round we go

chorus”

So there you are then! Round and Round we go!

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Drake


Is Drake the next sensation in hip-hop music? Some people certainly think so! Here’s about him from Wikipedia:

“Aubrey Drake Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Canadian actor and recording artist. He originally became known for playing Jimmy Brooks, the basketball star that became physically disabled after he was shot by a classmate on Degrassi: The Next Generation.

As a rapper, he performs under the mononym Drake, and is often billed as the new version of The Fresh Prince. Drake continued to recognize a close affiliation with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, before officially signing with the record label in June, 2009.

His first studio album, Thank Me Later is expected to be released later this year on Young Money Entertainment.”

I have a couple of tracks, ‘Take You Down’ and ‘A Night Off’. The latter we’ll play on Sunday’s Chanters Lodge Experience radio show on Zambezi Radio 107.5 fm and we’ll see what the Livingstone public in general and the Chanters Girls in particular think about Drake!

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K’Millian & Masi


Meet Leo Moyo and Masiyaleti Nyambe, (pictured above), better known to Zambians, and followers of Zambian music outside the country as K’Millian and Masi. K’Millian is a big star and has so far released 5 albums. Masi is up and coming and his first album is due out soon. They work together. K’Millian’s ‘Triumph’ is currently number 2 in the Zambian album charts.

These two bright young musicians featured on the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the MJ Ingredient ft Soulchild, the popular radio show we sponsor on Zambezi Radio 107.5 fm, every Sunday night. “How did you end up with the name K’Millian?” We wanted to know, and Leo explained that when he first started in music he played and sang a variety of styles – soul, blues, reggae, jazz etc, so they thought of ‘Chameleon’ only to find there was already a band somewhere else with that name, so they changed the spelling to ‘K’Millian’. “It wasn’t about money!” He said. “Of course not!” We replied…

We played ‘Alema’ by K’Millian and for once I had an accurate translation (seeing he wrote the song!) It means ‘she’s tired of asking the same question and she needs a proper answer’! We also played ‘Waona Nawama’ from K’Millian’s ‘True Colors’ album meaning ‘now I make sense to you when before, you thought I was a waste of time!’ Both very well produced tracks and guaranteed to make you get up and dance! (And laugh at the words, I guess!). K’Millian has a great voice!

We were lucky to get these two on the show – we were scheduled to have Ty2 and Haamoba as well but their show at Taonga’s River Shack had a time overrun (surprise surprise!) As it was K’Millian and Masi arrived after MJ (Milli Jam in this case) and I had already been on air for half an hour. Of course apart from the blog, Twitter, Facebook etc we discussed the other MJ’s death, and Milimo explained to listeners that if it hadn’t been for the late Michael Jackson he’d never have ended up in the entertainment business. I’m reliably informed (by Brad Chingobe) that Milimo used to do an amazing take off of the late MJ on stage, with all the moves. (Still can’t picture Milli Jam as a dancer but they say he was great when he was a bit younger – and thinner I guess!) Talking of which, a lot of people on Facebook commented on how much weight K’Millian, Ty2 and Haamoba had put on in recent years, after I’d featured their photo on my Facebook status. ‘Suga Daddies’ said Bronah down in Perth, Australia. One bright spark wondered if they were going to make a ‘gangster movie’!

K’Millian explained to listeners that he holds a degree in computer engineering from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. That was a surprise to the assembled company, who wanted to know what he was doing singing when he had that kind of training. He said he could always fall back on IT if the music industry no longer sustained his career. “Not much worry about that right now”, I commented, “seeing you’re one of Zambia’s most popular musicians and so much in demand.”

“Are you guys married” MJ wanted to know. Hoots of laughter all round, and George Soulchild on technical actually fell off his chair! K’Millian professed his undying love for his fiancee Angela Chipalo. “When will you be married?” I wanted to know. K’Millian replied that he was “busy with traditional issues with the family”. “How many cows?” I asked. “A jackal” he replied laughing “now where do I find one of those?” We couldn’t help on that one. “What about you Masi?” We asked. Well, Masi couldn’t actually find words with which to answer us. All I can tell you is that the tall, well built girl who got in the car with these two after the show was very pretty……

Music? Well apart from the K’Millian tracks mentioned above, we featured ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson. While we were waiting for the stars, we played ‘Missing You’ and ‘Boom Boom Pow’ from the new Black Eyed Peas album currently topping the charts, though I guess Michael Jackson’s recordings will top most charts next week. We also played ‘Paparazzi’ by Lady Gaga. Love that one! Papa Papa – razzi! “Your music was funky last night on radio” someone nice said to me the next morning. “Respect!”

How about that then?

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