Life's a SHITSHOW
Life’s a SHITSHOW is the brutally honest, no-bullshit podcast where Jo and Natasha say what everyone else is thinking but too scared to say out loud. We tackle the chaos of modern life, culture wars, family, politics, and everything in between, with swearing, laughter, and absolutely zero filter.
If you’re tired of fake outrage, echo chambers, and people pretending to have it all together, you’re in the right place. We don’t have all the answers, but we’re not afraid to ask the big questions, challenge each other, and listen - really listen, to every side. This is a space for real talk, raw opinions, and the occasional rant. Come for the honesty, stay for the community. Life’s a Shitshow… but at least we’re in it together.
Life's a SHITSHOW
010 Michael Jackson Trailer Drops, Fan Obsession & No Shit News
Welcome
Jo here. This weeks episode is a bit different. No weekly news rundown, no politics, no doomscrolling - just us (me and Tasha) losing our minds over the new Michael Jackson movie trailer. If you’re here for MJ nostalgia, you’re about to get your fill.
Episode Summary
Tasha joins late, fuming because her “MJ vibe” was nearly ruined. We immediately spiral into full-on Michael Jackson superfan mode. The new movie trailer has dropped and, frankly, it’s all we care about right now. Tasha’s watched it more times than she’s slept, her granddaughter’s obsessed, and we’re both reliving our childhoods.
Jo’s got a list of questions for Tasha: first MJ memories, favourite songs, best concert, and what it means to be a lifelong fan. Tasha talks about the emotional rollercoaster of being a supporter through all the media storms, the joy of MJ’s music, and the frustration with the estate’s half-arsed marketing. We play some home video clips, talk about the allegations, and why most fans have done more research than the bloody journalists.
We swap stories about MJ memorabilia, family dress-ups, and the wildest things we’ve done for fandom. Tasha shares what she’d say to Michael if she could, why she doesn’t bother convincing skeptics, and how being a fan has shaped her resilience.
Key Takeaways
- The new Michael Jackson trailer is out and Tasha hasn’t slept since.
- MJ fans have done more homework on the allegations than most reporters.
- Favourite MJ memories: Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad Tour, Smooth Criminal, and the iconic moonwalk (which, shockingly, Tasha can’t do).
- Being a fan is about more than music - it’s about community, comfort, and a bit of madness.
- Tasha’s wildest fan moment? Catching the director of Leaving Neverland trolling fans on Twitter.
- You can’t cancel MJ - he’s too ingrained in music, culture, and dance.
- If you’re skeptical, do your own research. Most people who do end up pissed off at the media, not Michael.
Resources & Links
- Michael Jackson Official Trailer (YouTube) - Our Reaction
- SWG Mixes – Best MJ Remixes on YouTube
- Michael Jackson’s History Album – Listen on Spotify/Apple Music
If you’re still here, you’re either as obsessed as we are or just enjoy a bit of chaos. We’ll be back next week with the usual shitshow. Until then, go watch the trailer, play Off the Wall on repeat, and don’t let the trolls get to you. Life’s a shitshow - it might as well have a good soundtrack.
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Life's a SHITSHOW
Jo Day: [00:00:00] Nice Of you to join us Tash.
Tasha: That is too funny. That was too funny that that really pissed me off. I was literally stressing. I'm like, oh my fucking God. Serious. I can't laugh.
Jo Day: Look at you. You made an effort.
Tasha: I was fuming. I was fuming. 'cause it was killing my MJ vibe. I was getting stressed. Anyway.
Jo Day: Well you're here now.
Tasha: Yay, Sean. More motherfuckers
Tasha: tap.
Jo Day: Would you like me to play you a little bit of something?
Jo Day: Hmm.
Tasha: Wait, I'm not gonna lie. If you're gonna put on what I think you're gonna put on, I'm gonna watch it again. I'm gonna watch it again. [00:01:00]
Jo Day: Here it comes everybody.
Michael Jackson Trailer: I know you've been waiting a long time for this. I'm
Tasha: fucking right. I have
Michael Jackson Trailer: the tracks are made, the songs are ready. Let's take it from the top. Woo.
Michael Jackson Trailer: This is
Michael Jackson Trailer: your story.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Honor your past, and embrace the future.
Michael Jackson Trailer: That's what people want.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Can you lower the lights for me? Please? Lower the
Michael Jackson Trailer: lights. Okay, but remember in here. I keep [00:02:00] those feet still, my man.
Tasha: Oh man. Honestly, I, I cannot get enough of this fucking trailer. I can't get enough of this trailer.
Jo Day: How does that make you feel, Tash?
Tasha: Do you know? It's, it's so weird because I didn't expect to feel like this. Honestly. I think, I think so many of us had got to a point with the estate where we were just like, because this was meant to, this film was meant to be out.
Tasha: April just gone and I think, yeah. Some of us are so tired with the estate, half-hearted shit all the time and kept putting it back. And then there was sort of dramas. They had to take stuff out and they had to reshoot and we thought, oh, do you know what, whatever. And I sort of switched off for a [00:03:00] bit and just thought, oh, you know what, I'll just, when it comes out, it comes out.
Tasha: And then I didn't realize, we'd sort of heard rumors. There might be a trailer in November, but because everything get kept being put back all the time, we all sort of lost the excitement for it and just sort of thought, oh, I'm not gonna get excited, you know? Yeah. And then literally day morning, I was sort of scrolling Twitter and I saw somebody had tweeted from the day before that November the sixth was gonna be the day for this teaser.
Tasha: And I was like. Wait, what? That's fucking today. So I messaged, I messaged a friend of mine in Germany, bless his heart. He got the voice note from me. I was like, babe, do you know anything about this fucking trailer dropping today? And he was like, no, I've not heard nothing. And then literally, I, I, I, I saw a, the MJ account had put out like the poster.
Tasha: Yeah. Which was by the way, which was shit, just like the thriller 40 cover, but we won't go down that road. But anyway, I sort of saw it [00:04:00] and thought, wow, what an anti fucking climax that is. And then I literally just kept refreshing thinking just in case. And it happened by chance that I'd gone onto YouTube to check our channel for something.
Tasha: Yeah. And Lions, the Lionsgate official trailer came up and I was just like, what the fuck? What the fuck? You know, you're just like, God, oh my God, my God. We fucking got it. We fucking got it. And I literally just. Oh my God. Copy link. And I was just sending it to all my, like MJ friends. I think I sent it to you, sent it to Deb.
Tasha: I sent it to like the group chat with the girls. Joe. Kirsty. Kerry. I was just like, fucking up. I've sent it to me friend in Germany. I, and then I was shaking Joe. I was shaking because I was thinking, this better be good. Don't let down. And honestly, this is no joke. I'm not joking, I'm not exaggerating when I say this.
Tasha: I have not slept yet. I have been awake since yesterday morning because I have so much adrenaline [00:05:00] I cannot stop watching this fucking trailer. It's so good in terms of, oh God, there's so many things I love about it. So the visuals, the atmosphere, the lights, the, the way it's shot, it's great. It's, it's quite punchy.
Tasha: It's powerful. It's like, oh, it's sort of gets you excited, but that fucking music. When that mu the mix, the way the music's done has me in a fucking choke hold. Honestly, I, I just keep pressing play and I'm not gonna lie, my nearly 1-year-old granddaughter is obsessed with it as well. She cries every time it finishes Ellie's at, to sit, just playing it on repeat tonight, because she just kept crying every time it finished.
Tasha: And she's bopping away every time. It's got, I, I just, I'm, I was blown away by the trailer, but I think I can't work out all these emotions I'm having. I'm like, grow up. [00:06:00] You're fucking 46. Do you know what I mean? But it's happening to all of us fans, and I honestly think it's because. Those of us that were like fighting in 2019.
Tasha: Yeah. Radio stations were canceling him. Media weren't printing anything positive. It was all very, Oprah was telling us to say goodbye to MJ and the fans on Twitter and on, this is no word of a lie. The fans on Twitter for two years went hard daily, putting facts out, reaching out to media, reaching out to independent podcasters and media commentators and so many people in the community.
Tasha: I was on Twitter 20 hours a day, just fact checking everything. Like,
Jo Day: yeah,
Tasha: that's not what happened. Here's the court document. That's not what happened. I mean, those that were in there, and I just don't think back then this didn't feel like this would happen.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: and it's just, I think it's a bit emotional that we just didn't [00:07:00] think it was ever gonna come it for me.
Tasha: It's like everyone kept saying to me at the time, why do you care? Why do you care? This is why I care. Because if we don't care about things being like the truth, being out there and fighting this, he wouldn't, he would've just been canceled on the radio. We wouldn't be having a biopic. Yeah. So it was that moment where it's like the tide has turned.
Tasha: We fucking did it.
Jo Day: Amazing. So I'm gonna chip in a minute now because
Tasha: I'm so happy.
Jo Day: This is anybody who's confused, this really is, life's a shit show. And you notice tonight we're not bringing you the shit news of the week or any, any other stories of the week. We are, the only story we're bringing you tonight is that the Michael trailer has dropped, and you've probably noticed by now that Tash is.
Jo Day: An [00:08:00] MJ super fan,
Tasha: and I give not a single fuck, I'm a proud MJ fan. I, I don't care. I love him and I, and I would tell everyone, don't come at me. So
Jo Day: Tash, I don't know if you wanna cover this as I'm asked, I've got your list of questions. I've come prepared, I have come prepared. So I've got your list of questions to go through.
Jo Day: Um, and hopefully that will explain a lot about your look for Michael Jackson and everything else and what people need to know. Um, but I've also uploaded a few clips about who Michael really was as well, um, in terms of how he was around the children, um, and the allegations that he had. So I can play a couple of those clips now, if you can talk us through them, if that'll be okay.
Tasha: Go for it babe. Go for it. I've definitely probably seen them.
Jo Day: [00:09:00] Yeah. Alright. Then.
Tasha: Although I can't see anything on the street,
MJ Clips: I like to wait. They splatter when they hit. I've never lost a water balloon fight. I'm the Michael Jordan of water balloon fight. Do.
Tasha: Yay. We won the bike
MJ Clips: again and again.
Jo Day: So what would you say about that short clip there?
Tasha: Um, see, it's a, it's, it's, it's a tough one for me because, because I'm a fan and people will always say, of course you are gonna think he didn't do anything. You're a fan. Yeah. But because I'm a fan, I was invested in whether or not it was
Jo Day: true.
Tasha: You know, I didn't, I I, it, it would've been a really difficult accepting, I'm not gonna lie, but it, it mattered to me.
Tasha: I had to know. Because I didn't wanna ignore it if it was true [00:10:00] and I needed to know, so I took it. Fans will take the time to read all the documents to look for stuff, and they will find you, you know, they want to know. Most, most of us are moms now and we don't wanna be supporting a pedophile, you know, so a lot of this stuff, um, unless you are a fan, really, you probably won't have seen, although some of it has been shown on, on tele at some point in America or in the uk.
Tasha: But these are mjs home videos. Um.
Tasha: Yeah.
MJ Clips: No, no, but your hands gotta be inside the pocket, man.
Tasha: No, no, no.
MJ Clips: I'm gonna beat you.
Tasha: Ready? Are you
MJ Clips: ready?
Tasha: Wait. No, no. Ready? No.
MJ Clips: I'm crazy for doing this. Okay. No, you gotta stretchy Mac. You gotta,
Tasha: whoa, whoa. I'm doing, I'm not doing the super ready.
MJ Clips: Your, you.
Tasha: Whoa.
MJ Clips: He cheats a lot, but he's fun.
MJ Clips: He [00:11:00] loves to have fun.
Tasha: I get emotional watching it because, um, it's so wholesome. It's so wholesome. And I think people hear people, people have just been, it's been repeated to people for so many years. Kids in his bedroom, kids in his bedroom, kids in his bedroom. And I think people have this image and this creepy, sinister MJ in bed with kids.
Tasha: You know, they'd always show you the scariest. Angle of his face and the, the, you know, the worst vote I of him, you know, kids sleep in his bed and people have had this image, but they forget that Neverland was like 3000 acres and his bedroom was like a two story house. And there was staff everywhere and police and fire and maids and security and zookeeper.
Tasha: He had a zoo. He had a zoo. [00:12:00] You know, he had like a hundred staff there, 24 7 and nowhere was off limits. Everyone, because I'm a super fan, if you like, and I go to all the events. I've met the people that I've worked for him. I've met people that worked for him in videos. I've met people that worked in Netherland for years.
Tasha: Um, and those people grown men, when they talk about him, they cry because they saw how. Just how loving this man was and how when he was in Netherland, he was just free. There was no paparazzi, there was no cameras, there was no masses of fans. And he just felt like he could relax. And everything about Netherland was about everyone.
Tasha: Not just kids, but adults as well. Just being a kid, cinema and, and you know, fun, fair rides. And it [00:13:00] was all about, I think Marlon Brando said once, you know, I love that we go in Neverland, we're on the rollercoasters, we're having candy floss. You can't help but be a big kid. And I think those home videos, when you watch those home videos, nobody with a, with any kind of intelligence about him could watch those videos and think for a second at that man.
Tasha: Yeah, I mean, the kid. So the, the kids are like drawn to him and they're so comfortable. I've never, you know, you used to watch Jimmy Vallon tell you the kids would be like this. Yeah. You know, these kids.
Jo Day: See if I can bring you up this other clip. Um, I'm not sure if this one's it, but lemme have a look now.
Jo Day: Um,
MJ Clips: see, Mac takes big buckets of water to throw him on. He cheats a lot, but he's fun.
Tasha: IJI just, you know, I just, [00:14:00] I, I don't think, I think because I, like I say, when you're, when you're a fan and, and you've done so much, you know, it's not just for most people, they might see a music video, they read a press article, they don't take the time.
Tasha: And I don't blame people, you know, I'm like, I'm obsessed with them. So it's a bit different. But when you've, when you've, when you know, know,
Jo Day: yeah.
Tasha: It, it, it ups it, it hurts because it's like the one thing that that man spent his entire life pouring himself into was music. His ultimate goal was to make the world a better place.
Tasha: His ultimate goal was to stop the suffering of children, the starvation of children, to stop war. I mean, this, it hurt this man when he, when he saw suffering. Yeah. And I think for him to, I think it, I mean, after his trial in 2005, he, he would never, he never went back to Neverland. He couldn't go back there because it had [00:15:00] been tainted as some kind of, and he was just never the same.
Tasha: And it upsets, it makes me sad because we really lost a really special fucking human, like a real, deeply compassionate, empathetic, uh, em empathic human.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: And it, so it, it makes me emotional watching those videos because you just think, God. You know, if things had worked out differently or,
Jo Day: yeah. It's
Tasha: probably still here.
Tasha: And the world is shit without him, isn't it?
Jo Day: It is, yeah. Music's never been, it'll never be the same for music. Um, Tasha, I wanna ask, go into my list of questions and take you on a sort of a journey back in time, really. So my first question for you is, what was your very first memory of you discovering Michael Jackson?
Tasha: Um, my first memory was probably [00:16:00] just the, like the Jackson Five music, because my mum loved Motown, so I was very young. My mom would just play like Motown stuff and seventies stuff while she was doing housework. Like every three minutes she'd have to change the, the the 45, you know? Yeah. We didn't have Spotify back then kids.
Tasha: So every like, you know, she did the Hoovering for three minutes and then we'd have to change the record. But, um, you know, we'd have a lot radio on or whatever. But I remember he, I remember vaguely, I would've been very young, maybe three, four. I mean, I was dancing quite young. I did ballet and tap when I was like three, four, and I loved dance.
Tasha: That's, that's, that's a key, that's a key. That's a key element. Um, and then I must have been maybe five, something like that. And I remember hearing like ba,
Tasha: you know, um, and then my actual memory of seeing him, I think one of my first memories was the Who's [00:17:00] Loving You Clip from, I think it was the Ed Sullivan show, the Purple Hat. Um, it's still. I cry when I watch it now because I think that was the thing for me where I sort of understood he was a kid, but what he was doing on this stage didn't, he didn't look like a kid.
Tasha: It, it was, I just remember watching that and just being like, wow. And then I think the next thing, I think Motown 25 happened. My mom recorded it and I remember watching that and just being mesmerized, literally couldn't take my eyes off the screen and I see my grandkids doing exactly the same. Yeah. Um, and then it really kicked in and it has not
Jo Day: calmed
Tasha: down since it really kicked in when the making of Thriller ha came out.
Jo Day: The video making, I think when I first noticed Michael Jackson in any kind of really paid attention, I mean, my sister had the Off the Wall album [00:18:00] and I'd seen a lot of the Jackson Five stuff as well. Then Thriller came out and I think I was about 13 at the time when Thriller came out and there was a remix on my local radio station that it was like 20 minutes long this remix of how they'd actually done it with some of the songs that were in the chart.
Jo Day: It was epic to break dance to, right? Yeah, of course. Because
Tasha: you were a dancer as well, wouldn't you?
Jo Day: I was a dancer, yeah. So I used to do a lot of break dancing and body popping back in the day when I was younger. And this mix,
Tasha: we won't, that, we won't relive that. We'll break a fucking hip.
Jo Day: No, I'll pop me hip out and not be at the end of that, so we won't do that again.
Jo Day: Um, but yeah, it was thriller for me, but I'll be honest, I wouldn't say I was a an MG fan. I love his music. Right?
Tasha: Most
Jo Day: people
Tasha: are like, love his music. [00:19:00]
Jo Day: I collected every album I bought. Right? It went from tape to vinyl, well, vinyl to tape to cd. Now I've got everything in the cloud. So I've bought the same album several times every time to a different device, but have got memorabilia like you've got there in the background.
Tasha: Oh, this is nothing. This is, this is, this is nothing. This is just, I mean, there's a lot. There's
Jo Day: a
Tasha: lot. Yeah.
Jo Day: So, Tash, tell me, uh, so my next question is, which song, which MJ song do you play on repeat when you need cheering up there? Better energy. Um,
Tasha: listen, any MJ song cheers me up. Genuinely. Um, there's, there's only two that I don't really play and I'm gonna get hate for this 'cause the fans always take piss at me.
Tasha: You are not alone. I'm not a fan. And Ben. They're pretty much, I'm not a fan. They're pretty much the only two songs that I don't really play. [00:20:00] You
Jo Day: know what? After ran Spoiled Ben for me. Can you remember? Yes.
Tasha: Yes.
Jo Day: And I feel so sorry. The little boy, I think he was called Ben Needham.
Tasha: Yes, yes.
Jo Day: And he went nothing. And he Pain Ben over and over again. It got went number one in the charts, I think, because there was,
Tasha: I remembered liking it when I was younger. I dunno if I'd just stopped liking it once I found out it was about a rat.
Tasha: I was like, oh, not sure about that.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: But I think
Jo Day: all I remember about that thong is Astor Ransom's program playing his over and over and over again because of this child tion. Yeah,
Tasha: it
Jo Day: was.
Tasha: Yeah. I remember. I remember. Yeah. It might have even been that subconsciously, you know? Because we used to watch that indoors all the time.
Tasha: That used to always. But I know our ason, I remember phoning Childline once 'cause my mom didn't gimme what I [00:21:00] wanted for dinner.
Jo Day: So you haven't What's the song?
Tasha: Okay. Okay. So the ones that really cheer me up, the ones that like, if I'm really, and I just need to press play on the tune, it's always going to be off the wall.
Tasha: The, the, the track, the single track I, one of my favorite songs, I love it. Um, I love working day and night, get on the floor. I love PYT wanna be starting. So anything like that, it's sort of like, you know, like it just, hmm, ooh, first thing in the morning. I swear to God if I do, you know what? I need to start doing that a bit more because I used to do that every day and.
Tasha: Yeah, I've forgotten. Here and there or you know, but do you know what, what? Start your day. Start your day mate. A bit of get on the floor, bit of bass guitar first thing in the morning. And you, it's impossible to have a shit day. It's impossible to stand still.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: And I love, I love music.
Jo Day: Give you a little bit of a clue of what mine is,[00:22:00]
Tasha: mate. You, you're gonna, you're gonna have to help me out here
Jo Day: afternoon.
Tasha: I just wanna disclaimer here. Um, we were dancers. We were not singers. So,
Jo Day: yeah, I'm not singing, I wasn't even anything. It was like, it was like the shit smy and
Tasha: what people going, who fucking hired these two?
Jo Day: Yeah, right. Question three for you, Tash, if you could Michael Jackson concert in history, which one would you choose and why?
Tasha: Oh, okay. Well, actually I was very lucky. I did get to see MJ [00:23:00] in concert, uh, in Wembley in the history tour. 97. I was 18. I was pregnant with Georgia at the time, but I didn't know, uh, it was a month before Princess Die died and. We had been waiting all day outside it. The atmosphere at an MJ concert outside is brilliant.
Tasha: The impersonators are there, or the fans. It's such a great atmosphere. Anyone that's been to an MJ concert will know what I'm saying. Everyone's friendly, the vibes, everyone's singing. It's brilliant. And then you go in and we were about four rows from the front. Now you gotta remember back in the day, people need to remember there was no social media.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: So the only time I got to see MJ as a UK fan was when he was on the telly, which if you, if you didn't see it live, you missed it. You had to watch it at the time, or you missed it, or you'd have to record it. Or we'd hear on the radio, we'd see in magazines, you know? Yeah. Like, uh. [00:24:00] It wasn't like you'd just pick your phone up and watch him on Instagram stories.
Tasha: My God, he'd have broken the internet if that had been the case. Um, so when I got to see him in concert, I had never seen him in person. And for 18 years I was MJ fangirl in hard. Like hard. Um, and I remember I'd always said, even then, I kept saying to my mom, this will be the last one. This will be the last chance I get to see him.
Tasha: Because we'd had the bad tour. We'd had the dangerous tour. Um, and then finally I just had this feeling that he would never tour again. I'd never get the chance again. Yeah. And a friend of mine, lucky enough, had a credit card. 'cause you know who's gonna give me one of them, I'm an idiot. So I didn't have one.
Tasha: And I was literally like, please John, like you've got to get these two tickets for me, please, promise me, promise me no mobile phones. Remember. So he went off to work. And I'm just sitting waiting, hoping that he gets these tickets and he did. And I [00:25:00] got to go. And the most amazing experience of my life, it it, you can't describe it.
Tasha: You cannot describe The atmosphere changes when that man steps on the stage. It's insane. But if I could, oh, it, it'd have to be the bad tour for me, I think. I think the victory tour of his brothers would've been amazing. But MJ Peak, mj, I think it would've been the bad tour for me at Wembley. Yeah. I have seen that.
Tasha: I've watched that bad tour. Oh fuck me. It must be 300 times. I never get bored of it. He's just perfect in that. He is just brilliant. So yeah,
Jo Day: what you do then on it when you're feeling like a little bit low on it a night or whatever, you just stick a YouTube video of MJ on.
Tasha: MJ and, and any mj I'll listen to an MJ podcast.
Tasha: I listen to MJ Cast podcast. They're great. They interview lots of people that knew him. I [00:26:00] just have to get an MJ fix of some sort. Usually nine times outta 10. Um, because I tend to like chill in the garden at night. I tend to be outside, so I tends to be headphones, music, um, or I'll watch Yeah, I'll watch like the bad tour again.
Tasha: I, I I, 40 odd years of watching this man, this and I the same stuff. You know? He's not, he's not bringing out new content. I dunno if you've heard, but you know, it is like, I don't get bored of it. You could keep showing me the same moonwalk, the same smooth criminal, and I will keep watching it with a smile on my face.
Tasha: It's in, it's, it is. His work is people are, listen, kids that ain't even born yet will be MJ fans for sure.
Jo Day: Yeah. And if you had to pick one, one in the videos, you can only pick one.
Tasha: Oh, no commit.
Jo Day: You gotta commit. Now. Come [00:27:00] on one video. Which one is it that stands out for you and why?
Tasha: Oh, this is so hard because you can't pick one because I, I love so many for different reasons.
Tasha: Ugh.
Tasha: I love Smooth Criminal for the choreography and the whole visuals. I smooth Criminal was probably one of my favorites to visually watch. Um, and I think he was so beautiful in that video as well. Um, but I love the cor, the Lean That Lean. Come on. Everyone just lost their shit when people saw that Lean. So I think Smooth Criminal.
Jo Day: Look at, look. Did you see that for a move?
Tasha: Huh?
Jo Day: No hands look.
Tasha: You are cheating. I know you're cheating. I, I think smooth criminal would be, would be the one for me in that respect. But it would, it will always be thriller. From an [00:28:00] iconic point of view, it was just such an iconic video. And it was the first, I mean, that was the dance I used to pause, rewind, play, pause, rewind, play, pause, rewind, play, step by step by step.
Tasha: Till I learned that dance. That's the only one that I can still do step by step, the whole thing. So I don't tend to play thriller unless it's Halloween. You know? It's not the song you sort of play for fun. Yeah. But it, I think it is, it holds a special place in my heart. I think I loved making, making a thriller.
Tasha: I, I think that's what kind of threw me into really being like massive MJ firm.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: for sure.
Jo Day: I think you might have already answered this next one that I've got for you is, do you have a favorite MJ era or album and why does it resonate with you?
Tasha: Yeah, and this, this changed because I think my initial, when I was younger, I think when I was sort of in my teens, my twenties, it would've been probably the bad album [00:29:00] because The Bad Album was the first album I got bought.
Tasha: Yeah. So in Tape Yes Kids, there was things called tape cassettes, and we used to put them into little machines that had headphones with wires on. And you know, I grew up in quite a volatile environment. There was a lot of shouting, screaming, um, violence. And I think I used, I used to just go and put them on and just sit in my bedroom.
Tasha: I was sort of seven or eight, um, and I lost myself in the album. Just lost. I just, I just played it all the time. So songs like Man in the Mirror. Were really special to me growing up. And, um, and I think so Bad was my favorite for, for a long time. Um, the Thriller album when I was younger, I didn't really appreciate as much.
Tasha: I loved Thriller as a video and I love that, wanna be starting something and that, but I don't think I really appreciated like the, the quality of it until I [00:30:00] got older. But as I'm older, off the Wall for me is my favorite album because I mean, thriller is a very close right there with it. Both of the albums.
Tasha: For me, I wouldn't skip a single track, not one
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: But Off the Wall for me. I dunno, it's just that ah, it's just, there's so much of his, I mean, there's so much of him in both of those albums, but Off the Wall for me is just that little bit. It's, it's the sound for me off the wall. It's my sort, yeah, it's my favorite era, but Thriller, sonically and best album.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Biggest album still today, so it's,
Jo Day: I'm hoping, hoping
Tasha: it's the masterpiece.
Jo Day: Yeah. I hope you're gonna be able to answer this question because I couldn't, if, if you asked it may, I wouldn't be able to. So do you have a favorite piece of Michael Jackson memorabilia, or is there a piece that you wish you had?
Jo Day: [00:31:00] Like what's the favorite piece that you've got or wish you could own?
Tasha: Ooh, I think it, I think if I, if somebody said to me you could have anything out of storage, it would be something like, maybe like some, like his shoes.
Jo Day: His shoes.
Tasha: I just think they're just, just the loafers. Do you know what I mean?
Tasha: They're like iconic. They were on the feat of one of the world's greatest dancers to ever live. So for someone that like. You know, was mesmerized by this man because of his dance initially. I think it would have to be the shoes. They're fucking iconic. I mean, throw the socks in and all. Um, you know, I don't mind, don't mind the socks being thrown in for nothing.
Tasha: Um, it would be something like that. It would be something random. Um, it wouldn't be what you'd expect. Maybe my favorite piece.[00:32:00]
Tasha: Do you know what? It's probably this, I'll show you this. So obviously I got this at an MJ event, but it's like, um, it's, it's from a charity, uh, it's the Michael Jackson Ever after Charity. They do, yeah. Like there's so many charities run by fans where they still continue his humanitarian work. So it's just like ever, it's just like a little kid's fairytale book.
Tasha: But I got all my favorite people that have met MJ to sign it for my grandkids.
Jo Day: Oh wow.
Tasha: So, yeah, so I've got like, um, Lavelle Smith Juniors in there who is, um, one of his dancers and, and choreographed a lot of stuff. I met him a couple of years ago. Amazing man. So down to earth. Absolutely such a riot, such a laugh.
Tasha: Um, big Al who ran the fair, the fairgrounds in Neverland for years, and beautiful man, [00:33:00] um, Kev Dorsey, who was one of his backing singers and uh, his vocal, uh, vocal vocal guy for years was toured with him. So, yeah, I think that's really special 'cause it's for the grandkids and it's like a fairy tale. Little fairy tale.
Tasha: So yeah, it's little things like that that you, you couldn't just go to a shop and buy.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: You know, I, I could buy most of that or get it from a collector's site or something, but that I wouldn't be able to buy.
Jo Day: Yeah. Um, my next question was, have you ever dressed up as Michael Jackson or learned any of his dances?
Jo Day: Now you've already told us that you've learned his dances. Yeah. What about, have you ever dressed up as in, do you own the iconic red leather jacket?
Tasha: Do you know what? I don't. I was, I don't think I have. I mean, other than like, wear the hat, wear a t-shirt. I've got about 30 mjt T-shirts.
Jo Day: I thought, I thought you were coming, like with the hat.
Jo Day: I thought you were just sort of, you know, coming to show off your Zionism. I You look a bit old.
Tasha: No, [00:34:00] it Zionism. It'd be the other one. The other ones. What are the ones that live,
Tasha: do you know what? I do love hats. I should wear them more often, but, um, don't really get the chance during just pottering around the garden all day. But, um. No, I don't. No, I, I, I mean, I will wear an MJ t-shirt. I've got MJ t-shirts, MJ hoodies. I don't give a fuck. I 46-year-old woman walked down the street in an mj, MJ T-shirt.
Tasha: I don't care. Um, I, I don't think I've ever dressed up as him, but, um, we did. So my grandson's first birthday, we dressed him up and um, Raymond went as Friller era. Um, his dad went as, um, Jackson's era, and Georgia went as, uh, Billie Jean era,
Jo Day: family possession. Then it's, it's not just a you thing. This is
Tasha: Oh, no.
Tasha: Listen, the rest of the family aren't, aren't crazy [00:35:00] obsessed, but yeah, we all love mj. We all love MJ music, you know? Yeah. And the grandkids do. And the baby's looking like she's gone the same way. So free.
Jo Day: If you could set opposite Michael Jackson right now, and you were afforded to ask him one question, what would it be?
Tasha: I, I don't know that I'd have a question because I think anything that I would want to know, I probably already do. I think I just really wanna say thank you. I think if I had the opportunity to have five minutes opposite him now and could say anything, that would be what I'd say. I'd say thank you.
Jo Day: Wow.
Tasha: I, I, I, I just, I, I think, um, [00:36:00] generally, like it's mad.
Tasha: It's not just like. It is a, it's a, it's, it's a hard thing to articulate because you kind of, this isn't a, oh, I love Taylor Swift on 14. It's, it's not that. It's, um, that music got me through some really tough moments in my life and I think he just had a, a vocal that felt like he was singing directly to you.
Tasha: Yeah. And he had an aura about him that made that, that you knew as a fan. He, he, I mean he really did love his fans. Like, you know, if he was pulling up to Netherland Gates and there was fans sat outside, he'd take them in and get his chef to cook them food. You know, like there was no, you could access mj.
Tasha: Yeah. He was really special like that. And this is why he's got the fans he's got and why they love him so much. Um, you know, they'd bill be outside hotels and he'd be asking his staff [00:37:00] to take hot soup and hot chocolate down to them and get them pizzas and get them covers and pillows. You know, he cared about people.
Tasha: So I think you sort of, you kind of have this sense that he's a comfort.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: More than just, it's, it's not just a pop star. It becomes more than that. And I think, you know, I dunno. It is a, it's a, it's a weird, it's a weird thing.
Jo Day: We're gonna have to take an intermittent break in a second and I'm afraid. You ready?
Tasha: Yep. Gonna play it again? Play again.
Tasha: Again.
Tasha: Get it. Why not?
Jo Day: Because why not?
Michael Jackson Trailer: I know you've been waiting a long time for this.
Tasha: Oh.
Michael Jackson Trailer: The tracks are made, the songs are ready. Let's take it from the top.[00:38:00]
Michael Jackson Trailer: This is your story.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Honor your past, and embrace the future.
Michael Jackson Trailer: That's what people want.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Can you lower the lights for me please?
Michael Jackson Trailer: Okay. But remember in here. Keep those feet still, my man.
Tasha: You know, listen, Pete, listen. People can say what everybody don't look like my, [00:39:00] but here's the thing. I said, listen, if you dunno, that's his nephew playing him and he's got his voice and his laugh down. Like it's scarily accurate. I know. I am not gonna get through this film. Like I'm just, I'm not gonna get through this film without being an absolute fucking emotional wreck.
Tasha: I know it.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Do you know what it's gonna be? It's gonna be like, oh, it's gonna be like his, his back again for a short time For us all. I think we miss We miss it. Yeah. We, we, we miss that, that presence, that stage presence. We miss that excitement.
Jo Day: Yeah. Now you've just watched it again. My next question for you, I'm gonna watch
Tasha: it, I'm gonna watch it again before I'm telling you.
Tasha: I know,
Jo Day: I know. You'll a thousand times more. How do you feel, how did you feel seeing the Michael movie trailer for the first time? Like, how did you feel? [00:40:00]
Tasha: I felt fucking relieved for a start. Like I, I think it, it, it was quite quick, as soon as it sort of started, it was like, oh, this looks, or it feels, oh, it feels good.
Tasha: And then that, that beat kicks in. That and the visuals that, and I was just like, oh, my, my heart was pounding. I don't listen. I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready to feel like that. And um, I was just on like, on the phone, like, oh my God fucking trailer. And my friend Joe up in Liverpool, big up Joe.
Tasha: She, um, you know, she's older than me. She's like, T I'm feeling all these fucking emotions. Like, what's going on? What the fuck is that? And I'm like, mate, same like we, you, we just couldn't find the words. We, I, I felt like I had anxiety. Like the excitement was this adrenaline through. I couldn't, and I, and I haven't been, I haven't yet, I haven't calmed down for 24 fucking [00:41:00] hours.
Tasha: What is that? What is that about?
Jo Day: Is this how you're gonna be until April,
Tasha: may I listen? You need to listen. If you think I'm bad now, you need to just unfriend me at least in March. 'cause I'm gonna be fucking unbearable in April and it happens to fall on my birthday weekend, which is like the universe is telling me I need to make that shit last a whole week.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: I mean. Thank you.
Jo Day: If you could introduce a new fan to just one Michael Jackson song, which would it be?
Tasha: Fuck Sake. I hate any question that involves the words. One song Oh.
Jo Day: Told you they were gonna be tough questions.
Tasha: It's difficult because, oh no. Do you know what
Tasha: I think?[00:42:00]
Tasha: Right. Okay.
Jo Day: Mine would be mine In the Mirror.
Tasha: No, I'm gonna go rogue a little bit here. So, and many people won't know this song unless you're a, unless you're a proper fan. The On the History album, there's a lot of tracks that you've got sort of the greatest hits and then you, it's a double album. And the other, and the other.
Tasha: The other disc is. New stuff. But that album is that, that came after the Jordan Chandler allegations. And it's a bit of a, if he'd have written an autobiography at that time. So because of those allegations, paperwork was signed. It is partly the problem with the, the movie now around around presenting the allegations.
Tasha: They've got to be careful because there's still things in place that that family [00:43:00] wanted. They didn't want him talking about it publicly. And actually, the father of the boy took him to court over that album because what he did is he told you what happened in the album. So every song pretty much on disc two of the history album is.
Tasha: Pissed off. Michael Jackson is angry. Michael Jackson is, fuck you. Michael Jackson, which no one really heard before. Commercially, you don't really hear that. You hear Poppy Michael Jackson.
MJ Clips: Mm.
Tasha: But he was gritty. So on that, uh, on that disc, there is a, you'll know they don't care about us and scream Earth Song, but there is a track called ds.
Tasha: You've probably never heard it. Um, and the lyrics are Dom Sheldon. Now that track, [00:44:00] that that track wasn't written about anyone called Dom Sheldon. It was written about somebody called Tom Snedden. And if you listen, I. It doesn't sound like Dom Sheldon either. It sounds very much like Tom Snedden, but we got around the legal, got around the legal stuff there.
Tasha: But Tom Snedden was the district attorney that literally hunted him, just wanted him. He falsified evidence. He was nasty, he was racist. And Michael Jackson decided that the best way to keep them like chill was to write a song about him. Accuse him of being, um, well, I mean, he put some contra, you gotta remember this was the, this was the nineties.
Tasha: This was like couple of years after the race riots in la right? And Pop Prince Michael Jackson. Everyone thinks he's squeaky clean. Came out with an album like that that is effectively calling a white da a racist, accusing him of being part of the KKK [00:45:00] in the CIA's pocket, deliberately trying to take him down for no reason.
Tasha: And the song ends with a gunshot.
Jo Day: Oh
Tasha: wow. So, you know, there is a, yeah, there's a side to MJ that, you know, he got pissed off. He was pissed off. Yeah. And um, he did what he could do and that was put what he was feeling into music. Um, you know, if you look at, they don't care about us. If you really read the lyrics, there is a verse in there referring to, um, the allegations, what they were accusing him of.
Tasha: It's
Jo Day: okay,
Tasha: really look at the lyrics and really, because
Jo Day: Oh, I've listened to that.
Tasha: Yeah. So I mean, even songs where you probably think there isn't really much of a message. Oh, there is, there is.
Jo Day: So by your own admission, Tash, you've told me that you are in an MJ super fan kind of WhatsApp group. So my question was, have you ever met any other super fans or have you gone to any MJ [00:46:00] super fan or MJ fan events?
Jo Day: Have you got any memorable stories? Um,
Tasha: to do? I mean, people that are on my, people that are on my social media will have seen me go into every fucking MJ event that I can. I didn't go to any of this, uh, this past year because I've, I've not been too great this year with my health, menopause and all that bollocks.
Tasha: Yeah. But, um, you'll be, you, you might be shocked to know that I was never in fan communities growing up. I was never in fan communities until 2019. I watched leaving Neverland. I thought, please tell me, no one's fucking buying this shit. I thought, I'll go on Twitter. I'd had Twitter for about six years.
Tasha: Never used it. Never didn't get it. Never used it. I went, I just, I dunno why I just went on Twitter just to see what people were talking about. 'cause I thought everyone's gonna be talking about this. And I just found this whole community of MJ fans. Now, we didn't. Obviously on Twitter at that time, most people weren't on their as [00:47:00] themselves, you know, it was random usernames.
Tasha: A lot of people have MJ in their account profile pictures and stuff, so you didn't know who was who, who was male, who was female, where they were from. But you could tell by how people would respond to these, like people that just don't wanna listen or the trolls are in there and the way that people would respond with the facts or the funny or whatever.
Tasha: And so I started meeting quite a few fans because obviously I did my thing where I, I would be very articulate for a little while and then you, I'd just think, fuck this idiot. And then I'd start being a sarcastic prick and obviously forgetting that everyone else is watching. Yeah. And then I'd have people inboxing me sort of going, oh my God, the way you respond to people makes me laugh so much.
Tasha: So you sort of start to chat to people and um, one of those people was actually a woman in America, in New York. And she actually flew over in 2023. She flew over. We met each other for the first time. [00:48:00] But you know when you meet your twin? Yeah. The other side of the pond, like, we are so alike, but she has a basement in her house that is just a Michael Jackson pub.
Tasha: I mean, she made, she laid a dance floor of pennies in a brick pattern for off the wall. Like she's, she makes me look like I don't even try. Do you know what I mean?
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Wow. She, yeah. Kirsty Kirsty, I'm in a group chat with Joe Kerry. Me and Kirsty would go to the, the, um, you know, like the MJ fan event every year and meet up, um, oh.
Tasha: And Leanne, she's at a party tonight without me. An MJ party
Jo Day: saw that on Facebook. Yeah.
Tasha: Do you know what I mean?
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: I an eye on her to lemme know what's going on, but No, I hope she has a fab night. She's, she's amazing. She's the one that. Make sure she talks to everyone. She gets photos of everyone at everything.
Tasha: But we might only see each other maybe once a year, twice a year. But it's like you've known 'em 10 years. Yeah. It's always an amazing atmosphere. Yes. You get a couple of loonies. [00:49:00] Course you do. Um,
Jo Day: just going back to the movie Tash,
Tasha: that is amazing.
Jo Day: Just going back to the film. So it's called Michael, um, what's, that's original,
Tasha: isn't it?
Tasha: Who came up with that?
Jo Day: Well, you know, what do they could have called it MJ, I suppose, or Thriller. I dunno. It's called Michael.
Tasha: I surprised. Call it fucking John Branco. 'cause his ego all over it.
Jo Day: What do you hope that the new movie, um, what do you hope that they get absolutely right about his story?
Tasha: Humanizing him. Humanizing him because I, I think he's be, he's such a caricature person. Is it? The way that the way, especially the British, the British press have been the worst. But the way that man was ridiculed, mocked, bullied for his skin, this guy had vitiligo. [00:50:00] Could you imagine doing that to a celebrity now, you know, a black celebrity, um, take Kanye, right?
Tasha: And he had vitiligo. And his skin starts, he starts getting white patches and he has to, he has to cover it up. Now, once that spreads and he is got more light skin than he has dark, he's got no choice but to start going light all over. Right? Started on mjs hands back in like the thriller era. It's one of the reasons he used to wear the glove.
Tasha: 'cause it started on the hands over time that spreads. Now imagine today people talking like that about a man that had a skin disease. He couldn't help.
Jo Day: Mm.
Tasha: You know, and he went on stage and did his shit every time we got what we fucking paid for every time. And I can't imagine, I mean, just, just imagine having to do that.[00:51:00]
Tasha: The world thinks you're a pedophile. Everyone thinks you hate being black. Even though this man did a lot for the black community, black charities, you know, he did a lot. He did a lot as well in his art. Remember the time all black cast depicting Egyptians as black? Which, you know, like this is, this is all controversial shit.
Tasha: But he wasn't stupid. He put a lot of symbolism in all of his videos where black culture was concerned. Black history, um, you know, he was doing a lot of stuff that subtly. Um, and I just think to myself, fucking know me. And you have had a bit of shit online before, and I couldn't even go to Asda. Could you imagine having to get up on stage,
Jo Day: mate, I couldn't even get out of bed some days when I was having that shit online.
Jo Day: I literally didn't wanna leave the house. Never mind. They ask.
Tasha: That's I I, I look back now and I think, God, he was ridiculed for his [00:52:00] skin. He was ridiculed for his surgeries. I mean, it's, I just, he was just vilified for years. He was called a freak. He was called. This says, now listen. Yes, he had lots of surgeries.
Tasha: He did also have lupus. Um, he originally broke his nose, which is why he had the first nose job. He had self, you know, like he had abuse as a kid. Listen, everyone had abuse as a kid, but some kids it affects more than others. Yeah. Right. But I know a lot of people have said things like, well, his brother's got it too.
Tasha: Yeah. But I've got three siblings. We are all very d. Because of the same trauma. Yeah. You know, so, uh,
Jo Day: I'm sure the, a sister were adopted, I'm not gonna lie, like nothing like my eldest sister and brother. Me and Jenny are nothing like my, the also,
Tasha: so he wasn't the oldest.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: You know, the elder [00:53:00] siblings are a lot tougher than the younger ones.
Tasha: He was one of the younger ones in the middle. He was one of the younger ones, you know. Um, and, you know, he was a special kind of human, like, empathy wise. So, you know, maybe all of that hit him harder than the others. And it, it deeply affected him. I have no doubt of that. I, I, and I think it's funny because in, in the MJ fan communities, you will find that a lot of people have stories of struggle.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Or abuse. Or they grew up in violent households or they've suffered assault or abuse or, or they felt misunderstood their whole life or. You know, a lot of them I think found they just saw the same in him.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: You know, I grew up with a violent stepfather. I totally understand what that feels like.
Tasha: Yeah. To be scared, you know? So, but at the same time, um, you look back now as an [00:54:00] adult, as did, as did Michael Jackson before he died. He looked back at his dad and was like, okay, I see it differently and I forgive him, sort of thing, you know?
Jo Day: How has Michael Jackson influenced your task beyond the music?
Jo Day: Like how in life has he influenced you, so beyond his music
Tasha: mental resilience?
Jo Day: Oh, good answer.
Tasha: For sure. Like not just him.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: But God, yeah. If I'm sitting there and I feeling I'm having a bit of a pity party and I'm listening to some music, I just think.
Tasha: You, you, you know if
Tasha: to be someone who is clearly dealing with so much emotional pain, stress, imagine the business stress
Jo Day: Yeah. Of
Tasha: being Michael fucking Jackson. That the money, I mean, [00:55:00] fuck me. I was earning like a really good income at one point and the money shit that comes with that. Careful what you wish for. Yeah. The more it's true.
Tasha: More money, more problems. Imagine the scale of financial decisions. I mean, he was very involved in the, like up until people started snaking around him, he was very involved in lots of decisions. His music, he was, he, he, he didn't have a team of songwriters. Most of the big tracks, you know, he wrote, he composed, he produced, yeah, he was involved in the videos.
Tasha: He was involved in the choreography. He was involved in what things looked like. He was involved in his business decisions. You know, he, he made smart. There was a lot going on. And then you've, well, tours.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: he was losing like half a stone after every show or a stone after having to replenish that. And you, and he had lupus [00:56:00] and he had a bit of lido.
Tasha: And from autopsy there were signs of osteoarthritis. I don't know how this fucking man was getting out of bed, nevermind. Rehearsing for fucking shows.
Jo Day: Yeah. So can you, can you explain, um,
Tasha: the resilience? Well, the resilience in someone like that, like you cannot even imagine. And I'll tell you where that comes from.
Tasha: His fucking childhood. His dad. Yeah. That's his dad's, you know, that's his dad's like, keep going. He's got that, he's got that side of Joe I think.
Jo Day: Yeah. I'm gonna come back to the question of what I, the point I just thought about at the end. 'cause I want you to explain something at the end. Don't let
Tasha: me cry.
Jo Day: I've got five more questions for you. So, if you could see a biopic scene recreated perfectly, which MJ moment would you choose? Oh,[00:57:00]
Tasha: do you know what
Tasha: I think?
Tasha: I think I would want to see something like the movie nights you'd have with all the kids with. So that people can watch and go, oh, oh yeah. Oh yeah, that of course. Oh yeah, that's all. Yeah, I get what they're saying now to like show that the size of the room. How many people would there, where the kids sleep, what they're doing, watching them, throwing popcorn, having pillow fights, falling a asleep on the floor and it not being sinister and dirty and dark and twisted to actually show this is perfectly fucking reasonable to think that this happens.
Tasha: Like [00:58:00] stop.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: I think, I think, I think people need to see human Michael, not pop star Michael.
Jo Day: I have got another couple of clips I can play where he was, I don't think, not moving out, but playing still in the garden. I'm gonna play a couple more of them now.
Tasha: You can see it. You can see he's a big kid.
MJ Clips: And it's a lot of body coordination and a lot of confidence.
MJ Clips: That's my, that's my cousin Elijah just pushed me in the pool. That's Levon. My other cousin in the red,
MJ Clips: no. So
MJ Clips: knowing McCulley Culkin, he made sure he schemed on. He told me to go up on the diving board and I went up there like a net.
MJ Clips: I'll kill you. I'm gonna kill you Max. [00:59:00] Max. I'm
Tasha: going to nail it.
MJ Clips: Do I think they hadn't done since they were like 10 years old?
Tasha: Oh, see, I loved, I feel so, I feel so sad that they destroyed the memories of, or just destroyed the what? Never allowed. Yeah. Yeah.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: But I
Jo Day: love watching. What's the wildest thing, Tash, that you've ever done because of your MJ fandom?
Tasha: What's the, what's the what? The wildest thing.
Jo Day: The wildest thing? Yeah.
Tasha: Um, I dunno, I don't, I don't think I've done anything wild. Um,
Tasha: I mean, I've got a tattoo in COVID and I let Ellie's mate that was just starting out, just crack on [01:00:00] while come around. No. I was like, come on the ass mate. Stick MJ on me back of my neck. I'm in the mood right now, so if you could bring your needles right there, do it. That
Jo Day: wild.
Tasha: I wouldn't say it was wild, it was impulsive, but, you know, I wasn't, I wasn't medicated then.
Tasha: Um.
Tasha: I'm trying to think. Oh, do you know what? I wouldn't say it was wild, but it, it was, it was, it was a funny moment. So when I was arguing with all the Twitter trolls in 2019, I used to stay up quite late.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Been about two hop us two in the morning, one night, and obviously most people gonna bed. And I was arguing with this particular troll and it was one that was quite, everyone knew this one, but this one was, you know, when you literally, somebody goes, it wasn't yellow, it was red.
Tasha: And you literally show them the picture and it's red, uh, it's yellow, sorry. And they go, no, that's a different picture. You've done something to [01:01:00] the, you know, like those people, it doesn't matter what you show them, they will not Yeah. Accept it. Well there was this one particular troll and it used to go right hard and you know, when you'd think, why do you like, listen, I'm a fan.
Tasha: It matters to me what people think.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: but I ain't on here fucking arguing with our Kelly fans that wanna freedom because I don't care enough. Do you know what I mean? You know when you think you're on here 20 hours a day, I know why I'm on it 20 hours a day, but I don't hate anyone that much. It's bizarre.
Tasha: It was bizarre. Now, this particular evening, or early hours in the morning, I was very lucky because as I'm arguing with this fan, I noticed that Dan Reed, who is the director of Leaving Netherland, if you remember, and there was something odd about this man. He was doing the press tour. It was like a fucking poster for like a boy band.
Tasha: It was the director and the two. It was weird, but it's Dun Reed [01:02:00] gives me off vibes and they're never wrong. But anyway, this particular night. I'm going with this, and I'm like, what is actually right? Are you mentally ill? Like, what is wrong with you? Why are you being dumb? Like we should at least be able to agree on this.
Tasha: You know? And he got nasty and whatever. And then Dan Reed's profile picture changed on his actual professional Twitter for a second, but it changed to the profile picture of this troll account.
Jo Day: Oh.
Tasha: Like, yeah. Within seconds they changed to the same picture. I fucking screenshot that Google captured it and Google captured it on his professional one.
Tasha: Dan Reed was one of the fucking trolls. He was one of the fucking trolls. Wow. We caught in that, that screenshot, I think I tweeted that screenshot and went, oh my fucking God, look at this. I put the two together. I was like, I've literally just, and the thing [01:03:00] is he'd answered to himself as well. So where somebody had tweeted Dan Reed, he answered it under the, with the troll account, but was referred like, was talking as if it was him.
Tasha: So he fucked himself up a couple of times. We knew it was him.
Jo Day: Yeah. Yeah.
Tasha: Too invested. He needed that. He needed that. We were a problem for him because we kept saying he's edited this bit out of this interview and he's presented it as something, it wasn't, oh, and he's saying this, but this building didn't exist.
Tasha: So how was this boy repeatedly reached there for two years. It didn't exist for another six. Yeah. You know, so things like that. And Dan Reed hated us and it's turned out there was a little paid group and everything. So it was like, that was like a wild moment. It was a bit like, this is fucking nuts.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: It was bizarre. But um, but yeah, like there's been some, there's been some funny stuff like, you just think this is nuts. But
Jo Day: yeah, I mean, that was. I'm, my [01:04:00] next question is, can you name a lesser known MJ fact? That always surprises people, but what you've just said there surprised me. But that was a a after the event.
Tasha: Yeah, that was really, was it? Um, yeah, A lesser, he was a terrible driver. He, he had like, he had like a Rolls Royce and couldn't fucking drive it. He was rubbish. Um, wow. Yeah. So he was a shit driver. But I mean, you know, you can't be brilliant at everything at the end of the day, can you? I mean, you know, um, I dunno if people know that he was an amazing sketch artist, um, and poet.
Tasha: Yeah. He's actually written, there's actually a book of poetry, um, things like that. I've always used to say to people, look at someone's art. They can't lie about who they are in their arts. It's in them. It's who they are. When you are that much of a [01:05:00] artist, you can't hide yourself. If you look at r Kelly's music, and I loved r Kelly back in the day, I had no problem throwing that shirt in the bin, although I do miss the odd track, not gonna lie.
Tasha: But, um, one of my favorite Art Kelly albums, it was just all sex. It was a shagging album. It was just constant reference to sex to age, which looking back now makes me feel sick. But, you know, it's, it's all there. He's like PDD. All the songs are about the pretty girls that you know, that lifestyle. Now look at everything MJ was singing about hitting the world Black or white Earth song.
Tasha: Save the planet, love each other. Stop the war. Love the children, I mean.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: You know, it's there. You can't hide it. And he's, his, his sketching was fucking fantastic. Like amazing artist. [01:06:00]
Jo Day: Yeah. So, Tash, do you have a favorite MJ dance move? And can you do it?
Tasha: Do you know what? I cannot moonwalk
Jo Day: Really?
Tasha: Can you believe that?
Tasha: Can you believe that? I,
Jo Day: I used to be able to back in the day, but I can't now. But
Tasha: I, I'm, I'm genuinely actually upset that I can't moonwalk because my miracle friends came over who, you know, is old like me. What the fuck is she doing? Being able to moonwalk? That's rude. She comes in, she fucking moonwalks.
Tasha: Yeah, she was moonwalking during COVID on TikTok. I was furious. It's one I've tried to do it and, and I used to be able to pick up choreography really easy. I struggle now, but I just cannot do it. But if I could, believe me when I say I'm fucking moonwalking everywhere, I'm moonwalking everywhere. I'm moonwalking.
Jo Day: No, I reckon if Michael Jackson was still [01:07:00] alive, I reckon, you know, that trend that was on, uh, TikTok where they float, they like float walking. Oh yeah. It looks like, I dunno what it's called, but they like gliding in the air. It looks like the feet aren't even touching the ground. Yeah, I reckon, I reckon Michael Jackson would nail that dance if he was, uh, still with us.
Tasha: Because of Michael Jackson. They're doing that dance. It's all influenced by him. All the moves now. Yeah. Um, I was watching, um, an interview with, I can't remember, oh, I can't remember who it was. It was someone that used to work with him and they said, if you look at all the kids today, all the dance trends, all the big artists, your Beyonce, your Chris Browns, all heavily influenced by mj.
Tasha: Without mj, you just couldn't ca I don't think you could cancel mj I don't think you could cancel him if you wanted to. He's too like embedded
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: In culture and fashion and music, and you just couldn't do it. And you see it all the time. I, I love, do you know, I love, love going on TikTok or [01:08:00] Instagram and seeing the two and three year olds discovering MJ on the, oh, I just love it.
Tasha: I could just, I could just watch that. It's so wholesome.
Jo Day: What, what, what's the YouTube channel that you watch that's got a lot of MJ mixes on? Your half Oh
Tasha: SWG mixes. Oh my God. This guy, listen, I hated anyone mixing MJ music. I hate it because it's perfect. Leave it. And I remember the first time I listened to a mix from that guy.
Tasha: Oh my God, I can't even, it's like, you know when you're like, how the fuck have you made this song better? Like how Really? Yeah. Honestly. And I do not say that lightly. And he's recently, his last one that he did. 'cause it takes him a long time to do these. He has the master, like the master tracks.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: It's time consuming.
Tasha: He does it all for free. He doesn't, he can't do anything with it 'cause he can't earn money on it 'cause it's copyright. Yeah. [01:09:00] So it can take him months and months and months to do one track. But off the wall was the last one he did. And I thought, oh now if he's now this, it's gonna be fucking brilliant.
Tasha: When I tell you. I was sat in my bed, midnight, headphones on, lights off, always lights off. And I just listened to this mix and I cried. I, I like music. I just, music really like, gets me.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Like I, I lose myself in it and dance. I lose, I lose myself in it. But this guy are the intros, it's like, you know when you watch that trailer and you go, oh, the way that's mixed, he's brilliant.
Tasha: That is what he does, but he does it with music. I didn't think you could make sound any better. Yeah, so definitely guys don't, if you like Michael Jackson music, go check him out. He's done loads of stuff, loads of different songs, loads of different era. He's fantastic. [01:10:00] He's done instrumentals and, uh, it's just, and, and you know what, this is what's so annoying about the estate.
Tasha: There are fans out there that are really talented with stuff like this. They make fantastic edits, art edits, they make fantastic video clips they're doing, they're drawings mixes, they're great. And they would happily work with the estate for free. And the estate would rather just go onto paint on Microsoft and fucking whack any old shit on a fucking poster.
Tasha: And it really annoys me, really annoys me.
Jo Day: Mm-hmm.
Tasha: There's some talented fans out there for sure. They do it and they just do it to keep his legacy going. They just do it 'cause they love the art, you know?
Jo Day: Yeah. Last question off me official list that I wrote this afternoon. Um, how would you convince a skeptic to give Michael Jackson music and even the movie?
Jo Day: A Real listen [01:11:00] and a watch?
Tasha: I never try and convince anyone. I don't try and convince anyone, um, with music. It is a tough one because listen, if you said to me, uh, please go and watch the, the film about Mozart, I'd be like, nah, you're good. There's nothing you could say to me. And I think most people now know what MJ music is.
Tasha: They're gonna have an idea. And if it's not for them, it's not for them.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: I don't, don't, I don't try and convince anyone. But what I will say, I mean, I, I haven't really met many people in my 46 years of being alive that have said I can't stand his music. I
Jo Day: haven't, they
Tasha: might say, they might say, oh, I'm not really, I'm not really as big.
Tasha: I, I like Billy Jean, or I like Man in the Mirror. You know, it might be like one or two if they don't like his, his sound in general, they'll like one or two songs. If they don't really like him, they'll go, [01:12:00] well, I, I love his music, but I think he was a bit of a weirdo, you know? And that's pretty much what you get.
Tasha: Yeah. No, in real life, no one really hates him. It just isn't, you know, I've never been in, I've been to many events. There's never an empty fucking dance floor. Doesn't matter where you are. You've been a restaurant and there's an impersonator, the dance floor is packed. You know? Yeah. It's just, it's just not thingy.
Tasha: But I think why would do, if somebody was skeptical about him being a child abuser, that him being a pedophile, what I was, what I would say is this, um, ask yourself if Michael Jackson owning half of Sony Publishing, remember half, he owned half of Sony. That means he owned half of the fucking music industry publishing rights.
Tasha: That's massive. Right? In the nineties, [01:13:00] he was a fucking superstar. In 1993, everyone was earning so much money from this man. Not just him, everyone around him now, he was accused of child abuse and we knew about it the next day. Think about that. When, have you ever known a powerful prolific pedophile to be outed the next day?
Tasha: Name me one. Epstein. Nope. R Kelly. Nope. P nope. Gimmes. Nope. Do you really think if that man was molesting kids that we'd have ever known about it? Mm-hmm. You know that's, that's before. Before you go anywhere else, [01:14:00] just think about that one. So I would just say. Normally when I say that to someone, it makes 'em go, do you know what?
Tasha: I've never fucking thought of it like that. You are right. You know, in the nineties, how many fucking child abusers were being outed in the nineties, we can't even get something done about the ones that are doing it now. Yeah. Right. So if it was that powerful and protected 'cause you can't it both ways over.
Tasha: He was protected or he wasn't. If he was protected, why the fuck did the world's media know about it? Yeah. And if he paid the kid off, why did he pay him off six months after the World's Media fucking told us? Do you know what? I think maybe there might be more to it than you think. And that tends to make people ask their own questions.
Tasha: Yeah. And then what I prefer people to do is I'll tell 'em what to look at. I'll tell 'em where to find it. Go start reading some of those court documents and when you realize all the stuff you didn't know, you are going to get fucking angry. [01:15:00] You are gonna be mortified that they did this to this person.
Tasha: And that's pretty much what happens. I know a lot of MJ fans that weren't MJ fans until after leaving Netherlands because they start, it made them research because it was so detailed and so fucking sick. It was so sick. I think as Dave Chappelle said, I feel like HBO was sticking baby dicks in my ears for four hours.
Tasha: You know? Yeah. It was so gross that it made people go, do you know what, I dunno, I'm not buying this, this geezer was his main fucking defense. Why would you put a kid you've abused for seven years up as your first defense witness? Hang on a minute. What the fuck? And it actually had the opposite effect.
Tasha: Mm-hmm.
Tasha: Thank God. But there is a, there's been an orchestrated, there's, there's, it's complex. I won't go into it now, but there is an orchestrated strategy [01:16:00] to destroy the Jackson. As a family. Really.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: Just go do, you know, just do your, just have a look yourself. Start asking yourself some of these questions and, uh, you'll find yourself going down your own rabbit hole.
Tasha: I don't convince anyone 'cause I'm gonna be honest with you. Listen, I don't care.
Jo Day: Yeah,
Tasha: I don't care. I, I, I'm still gonna listen to MJ because I'm confident in what I've read, in what I've seen, in what I know. So I listen to MJ guilt fucking free.
Jo Day: Yeah.
Tasha: But you know, if you, if you feel like you are missing out, if you can't listen to MJ no more because you think he is, he is a pedophile, you are the one missing out mate.
Tasha: So, makes no difference to me, you know? So I don't, I don't convince anyone. I just talk about him all fucking time. So people get so pissed off at me, they end up loving him anyway. Like,
Jo Day: yeah, I, well, I, I, you know, like I say, I wasn't, I wasn't, I'm not a super fan like you. I enjoy his music. And [01:17:00] I, I just remember all through the court case, 'cause I did watch, I followed the news.
Jo Day: I didn't believe any of it. I was just like, nah, I just don't believe it.
Tasha: Yeah. Most do. You know, I can remember my mum, I remember my mom in the nineties saying, there's no fucking way he's touched that kid.
Jo Day: No, there's
Tasha: no way. Jimmy Sel, she was like, yeah, bit ncy. T he, you know, like, you just, you get the vibe.
Jo Day: Yeah. No, I never, I never got those vibes from, from my, but look,
Tasha: there was a re there was a reason that they never found him guilty in court. Had absolutely nothing to
Jo Day: do
Tasha: with getting away from
Jo Day: leave there because
Tasha: with no evidence
Jo Day: we're, we're well over the hour. Now we're like an hour and 20. So, um, yeah.
Jo Day: I'm gonna play it one more time to see what.
Tasha: I am gonna be a nightmare. [01:18:00]
Michael Jackson Trailer: I know you've been waiting a long time for this.
Tasha: About 10 minutes. The
Michael Jackson Trailer: tracks are made, the songs are ready. Let's take it from the top.
Michael Jackson Trailer: This is your story.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Honor your past,
Michael Jackson Trailer: and embrace the future.
Michael Jackson Trailer: That's what people want.
Michael Jackson Trailer: Q, can you lower the lights from me please?
Michael Jackson Trailer: Okay. But remember
Michael Jackson Trailer: that
Michael Jackson Trailer: voice. Keep those feet still, my man.[01:19:00]
Tasha: That should be, that should be on that.
Tasha: Oh mate, I, oh,
Tasha: thank you for joining everybody.
Jo Day: Gosh, I'll see you next week.
Jo Day: Bye everybody.
MJ Clips: Bye guys.
