Micheal Jackson meets Whitby Man

This is my story how an electrician from Whitby comes to meet Michael Jackson twice!

I have had the pleasure of meeting Michael Jackson on two occasions , and one of those days was the most bizarre days of my life on a journey to Exeter in the same train as Michael.
http://www.roger-moore.com/micheal-jackson1.htm
On Friday morning 26 June 2009 at 8:20 in the morning I was awoken by telephone which was the local paper ringing to ask my thoughts on Michael Jacksons death! I was totally
shocked and upset because I had not heard the extremely sad news which had broken late the previous night. The reason they were ringing little old me was I had the pleasure of meeting Michael a few years earlier.
I am just a local ordinary self-employed working man installing CCTV security alarms in Bradford but I met Uri Geller when he was promoting his autobiography in Bradford’s Waterstones bookshop 2000.

Pauline and Alan next to Uri's car


Uri asked me if I and Mark Nicholls, my partner Pauline's son if we would consider becoming his Webmaster's, which we did and this led to us becoming good friends with Uri and his delightful family staying at their mansion house in Sonning Berkshire house on many occasions.
The first time we met Michael was in March 2001. We were invited to a lavish ceremony when Uri was renewing his wedding vows with his wife of 30 years Hanna. What made this event a massive news story was the fact that Uris best man on the day was his friend Michael Jackson.
We drove down to Sonning near Reading and arrived at the electrically opened iron gates that lead to Uri Geller's Mansion house on the banks of the River Thames. On this particular day in this usually quiet sleepy picturesque village things were not t quite the norm, there were people milling about everywhere and outside the gates was a crowd of fans and photographers who were photographing everybody that went in. They even took pictures of Pauline, Mark and myself on the way in which I thought was extremely funny and said to Pauline they'll be destined for the waste bin when they realise we're not even the Z list :-)
We pressed the intercom and was allowed into the private grounds with its meandaring driveway down to the Mansion house. As we drove through the private grounds we noticed in the distance just beyond the perimeters there were photographers climbing trees to try and get a position. As we approached the Mansion house there was an enormous white marquee which stretched all the way from the large private gardens which lead to the River Thames all the way up to the Mansion house so that Michael and the other celebrity guests would be undercover and away from the lenses of the paparazzi.
Guests of honour included broadcaster Sir David Frost, Eurhythmics musician Dave Stewart, Formula One motor racing driver Nigel Mansell, David Blaine magician, Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees, Justin
the event which was going to be officially covered by Hello magazine.
Eventually over two hours late a helicopter approached and landed in the private helicopter pad in Uri's Garden, Michael Jackson had finally arrived and there was a buzz of excitement.
Michael had damaged his foot and was on crutches and he was taken into the private house. Shortly afer his arrival it came over on the PA system that everybody should go into the private marquee where there were seating for over 100 guests and in the middle there was a stage for the event surrounded by liliies and roses and orchids. Michael Jackson sat at the front row and the actual service was conducted by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach another friend of Uris and Michaels.
It was an extremely lively event with loud Jewish music and dancing which at one point Uri and his wife Hanna were seated in wooden chairs only to be hoisted up and jigged about to the music. We enjoy the ver yhumerous and entertaining speech by Rabbi Shmuley and towards the end of the ceremony after the vows were taken Michael passed the wedding ring to Uri to place some his wife’s Hanna's finger.
It was now time for everybody to leave and the bouncers surrounded Michael as he made his way through the tunnels of the marquee towards the manor house where the photo shoot for the magazine was to take place. On the way up Uri whispered to me I will try to introduce you to Michael as he leaves so please stay near the front entrance of the house. And sure enough keeping to his word even though Michael had been continually surrounded by the bodyguards throughout the entire afternoon with virtually nobody getting the chance to meet him as Michael was leaving the event outside the front entrance to the house Uri beckoned for myself, Pauline and Mark to go forward to meet Michael. I had been preparing my master plan to get a photograph with Michael and I had asked Mark if he would use my digital camera and do the honours, so as we approached Michael I moved to his side to try and catch the treasured shot but unfortunately the digital camera was slow to respond and Pauline moved forward thinking the shot had been taken to shake Michaels hand only to totally blodk the shot of me stood next to Michael with the back of her head :-) not to worry it was an accident.
Uri said to Michael this is Alan Davidson my Web manager and he also is the Web manager for Sir Roger Moore, and I said to Michael “the biggest pleasures I get from being Sir Roger's Web manager is the fact that I am helping to highlight Sir Roger's work as a UNICEF ambassador”, to which Michael said “I love UNICEF”
Inevitably because Michael had stopped for a moment the crowd was moving forward and Uri did his job of protecting Michael and moved in forward towards the limousine ready to take him away from the event
. That was it Michael the King of pop had left the grounds.
We have had a great and unusual day and would like to express my thanks to Uri and his family.
Part two our day out on the Michael Jackson and Uri Geller Express !
I was lucky enough to spend another extremely bizarre day in the presence of Michael Jackson a little while later on Saturday 15 June 2002 there was a special train going to Exeter football club with both Michael and Uri and luckily my wife Pauline and myself were invited again.
It began when Pauline and myself arrived in London and couldn't find a close parking spot to Paddington Station and ended up being slightly late to the designated platform where Uri had told Pauline and myself the Royal train would be taking Michael Jackson to Exeter football club of which Uri was a director.
So we were slightly tense due to our rushed arrival and as soon as we got to the platform the tension didn't stop because there was something going wrong it was obvious there seemed to be a whirlwind of people in the centre of the platform which turned out to be the fans surrounding Michael along with some paparazzi. We later found out the police had not turned up as instructed which basically meant there was a frenzy of activity very reminiscent to the scenes of hysteria the Beatles used to generate years before, but without the protection that should have been there.

Uri was trying to drag Michael towards the train but in the jostling hysteria by the fans at one point he fell to the floor with photographers reaching over to try and catch the undignified photograph, Uri looked extremely strained trying to protect his friend and he shouted to me to help himself and shipi his manager and brother-in-law to get Michael on the train. We managed to push our way through and lift Michael up onto the train which was similar to the classic getaway car when the robbers run from the bank in the fact that the locomotives engine was running and it was moving slowly out of the station to get away from the crowds.
Now that Uri and Michael were safely on the train I panicked and was frantically looking for Pauline to get on the train before it was too late. We both managed it and were slightly nervous wrecks due to the ongoing stress, which didn't unfortunately totally go away.
Michael was in carriage number-one along with Uri and we were in carriage number two which was seemingly for the VIPs and the rest of the train was taken up by the hundred fans who had paid to join the extravaganza.
During the trip it became extremely frustrating because the fans continually pushed forward through the train clutching their pictures of Michael and desperately pushing past the guards to try and get him at the front only to be driven back time after time. This was frustrating Pauline and myself because we were trying to eat a very fine meal only to be surrounded by fans pushing their way through. At one point the train stopped in the middle of nowhere and the announcementl was that if the fans did not return to their seats they would be immediately ejected from the train and left there. This did the trick for a little while but inevitably they were to return.
When we eventually arrived at the Exeter train station and the organisers of the event obviously had heard about the attempted lynching at Paddington and there were police in abundance. As the locomotive came to a halt the police pushed past the Exeter diehards and pulled open the doors and were asking the fans if they paid or had they got in for free back at Paddington during all the mayhem.
Michael was escorted to one of three limousines waiting outside, while the crowed were chanting we love you Michael and holding banners up.
At one point the first limousine with Michael, Uri, and David Blaine the magician on board was ground to a halt by the sheer number of fans in front but eventually moved off. Pauline and myself were instructed to get into the third limousine and we were whisked away from the madness that was engulfing the station We all arrived at Exeter football ground and were escorted to the directors box where drinks and food were waiting.
The football ground was full to capacity seemingly for the first time in many years and this event was organised by Uri to try and promote and make money for the third division football team.
I remember the compere at the event was James Whale broadcaster and at one point he came on the PA system to the ground “ Will this be the real Michael Jackson”? Seemingly this was fuelling a story which have been around Exeter prior to the event that the real thing was going to be a stand in lookalike.
There were a number of acts to start the event one of which was an entire tribe of African dance and drummers which were I remember surrounded by the bodyguards with their karate club tracksuits making the old firm but rather bizarre, a bit reminiscent of Louis Theroux’s weird weekends. Things were certainly going very well and Exeter football ground was enjoying a great event, it had been stated on the local radio that tickets for the event had been exchanging hands on the Interne for £700 each the previous day. We then enjoyed the number of pop bands finished off by Patti Boulet the singer. It was then time for the main event!
Michael Jackson the superstar came into the grounds being shaded underneath an Umbrella on the back seat of a veteran open top car. I remember at one point he jumped out of the car and picked up the nearest child and the crowd went ecstatic as he dashed about in a black cat suit adorned with some kind of ornate patterning over the shoulders. Eventually he took the stand and was introduced by the broadcaster James whale. Michael was on stage with Uri, and David Blaine and started to conduct a very moving speech about trying to help children suffering from AIDS and malaria in the Third World.
Michael then left the stage and drove round the ground in the classic car greeting fans and children before leaving Exeter football ground on this special day.
Some people in the crowd were even convinced that Uri had fixed the weather considering the large black clouds that surrounded the stadium the sunlight broke through on this bizarre day all in a good cause. Maybe Uri had even managed to fix the weather with dark clouds being kept at bay
Pauline and myself then were instructed to make our way back to the limousine where we were joined by Uri's son Daniel and his daughter Natalie to make our trip back to the railway station. On the way Daniel decided to have a joke and hung a Michael Jackson type glove with sequins out of the car rear window, and it certainly did the trick immediately there were fans mobbing the car every time we stopped, and luckily they couldn't see through the smoke tinted windows that Mister Jackson wasn't on board. When we arrived at the station even though there were fully prepared with police bodyguards we witnessed a kind of mass hysteria once again taking over the crowd. The fans were surging at the train climbing on top trying to find where Michael was. It took quite a while for the bodyguards and police to pull the fans off the train to safety and allowing us to make our getaway once again.
At last we could all relax on the train on a journey back home. Michael was going to Uris house and we were on our way back home to Bradford. During the trip Uri came up and down the train meeting the fans and at one point there was a young boy that had been recovering from cancer and he was given the privilege of going back to meet Michael privately.
A fantastic day was had by all on this most bizarre Michael Jackson extravaganzas.