Who did you idolize as a teenager? Did you go crazy for the Beatles? Ga-ga over Duran Duran? In love with Justin Bieber? Did you think Elvis was the livin’ end?
I never really idolisedanybody when I was a teenager… instead I just wanted to meet them and be friends with them. Is that weird?
When I was sixteen I wanted to be a dancer for so many recording artists, but mainly Janet Jackson. I knew that it would only ever be just that – a dream, but no harm in dreaming big. I also wanted to dance for Britney Spears… well, until she released Sometimes and then I kinda went off her for a while.
Was there a toy or thing you always wanted as a child, during the holidays or on your birthday, but never received? Tell us about it.
When I think back to my childhood, there really isn’t anything that definitely stands out as something I always wanted, but never got.
Obviously, there might have been something that I really wanted, whether it was because I just wanted one, or whether it was because other kids had them as well and I simply wanted to keep up with the Jones’. I remember when a friend of mine got a Sega Master System II
Oh how I loved playing Sonic & Alex Kidd
I naturally wanted one of my own, but my parents downright refused to have one in the house. Instead I spent most of my time at my friends house instead. We’d go there straight after school and then play it for three or four hours until it got dark, or it was dinner time. More often than not, I ended up staying over for dinner as well, before walking down the street to our house.
I remember when I was about 11 or 12. Janet Jackson was touring Australia. I was obsessed with Janet Jackson and for many, many, many years, kept dreaming that one day, I would become one of her backup dancers. They were so cool. So talented. I remember watching Video Hits on a saturday morning. This was back in the 90’s when Video Hits went for about 4-5hours! Usually Rage (another music video show) would run from Midnight until about 6am, then there was cartoons from 6-9am and then Video Hits from 9am until midday.
Anyway, I remember watching this one day and they had just played the video for Throb:
and I remember straight after that they announced that Janet was bringing her tour to Australia. That was all I ever wanted: to see Janet Jackson perform LIVE.
…needless to say, it didn’t happen. I remember my mum saying she’d think about it, and then as the date got closer and I got more and more excited, she turned around and told me we couldn’t go. I remember feeling completely and utterly shattered. That was the one thing I ever really wanted, and I couldn’t get it.
Years later, there was an announcement that Janet was bringing her Velvet Rope Tour to Australia. Again, I was beside myself with excitement. I was older now, surely I could go. Originally, mum warmed to the idea – I think the guilt trip of not letting me go last time was working well. And again, she changed her mind. There was nobody else to go with me, and I was too young to go by myself.
GOD DAMN IT!!
After the tour ended, the VHS was released (yeah, that’s right, VHS!!). I bought my copy the day it came out. And the first time I watched it, was spent hyperventilating from excitement.
As were the following seventeen times I watched it.
Sure enough, I watched that video over, and over, and over. As soon as it finished, I would rewind it and watch it again. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen it, but I can pretty much recite the whole thing verbatim. Yeah, I’m that kind of person!!
She didn’t bring any other tours to Australia. I thought that I would never see her live. I even contemplated travelling overseas at one point, but then thought that was a bit too extreme.
One day, I FINALLY got to see her. It was her #1’s tour. And it got re-scheduled. I had tickets to two of the shows. It wasn’t a big flashy arena spectacular, instead it was a smaller theatre-style performance of just her number 1 hits. Very simple. Very intimate. Her and only a couple of dancers and a live band. No flashy light shows or pyrotechnics. No extravagant or elaborate costumes. No huge extravagant sets. No big choreographed dance breaks. It sounded disappointing, but I thought ‘fuck it, it’s Janet Jackson!’ and booked tickets anyway. She had 3 shows in Melbourne, but they all got cancelled as it was when Michael died (RIP), and all three tickets were rolled into one performance only. It was good for what it was, but it was still a let down.
I still never got to see a Janet arena spectacular, and I never will.
Oh I’m a night-owl through and through. I’m not entirely sure why that is, or even why, but generally speaking you’re one or the other.
I think it started when I was a kid, and being able to stay up until 9pm was a really big deal, considering back then my bed time was 8pm… sometimes I could stretch it to 8:30pm if there was something we were watching on tv as a family, but generally, it was early to bed. How terrible it must have been as a child to be forced into having 10-11hrs sleep every night!?! How horrendous!
That’s practically child abuse.
I remember on Thursday nights, I was always allowed to stay up until 9:30pm, which, back then, seemed to be soooooo late, only because mum would let me watch Fast Forward (which I also blame for the way I turned out!).
Sometimes on Fridays nights, we’d hire some videos (yes, VHS… remember those??) and then sit up until midnight with pizza and chocolate and watch a couple of movies. That was a real treat to me. Now, it just sounds like somebody’s typical Tuesday night after work.
Unfortunately, the desire to stay up late was something that was shared by most of mum’s side of the family. Especially when a few of us had a get-together. I remember on several occasions when we had family over, we’d have a bonfire and put on a huge spread for dinner and it was great… and then **BAM**it’s 3-4am and everybody is wondering where the time went.
Now, going to bed around midnight is pretty much standard practise for me. Long working days, late dinners, and far too many shows to watch (ie. catch-up on!). If only I could still earn money, and not have to go to work so I could spend my mornings sleeping in!!
adorablyobnoxious 