August 01st, 2011: Michaelmania now available in English (Interview)

When it comes to longevity, Michaelmania instantly comes to mind. Launched in 1985, the club has showcased an incredible support to the King of pop throughout the years. With a state of the art e-shop in activity (and still growing) and a new edition of Michaelmania for all english speaking readers, Michaelmania has more than one surprise in its sleeves to keep the legacy alive and share Michael Jackson's message : love and share above all.


So now Michaelmania goes in English: how and when did the idea come about ?

Michaelmania in english is an old idea. Running Michaelmania since 1985, we had it in mind for many years, but, strange to say, following Michael during his career and working as a fan club and italian editor at the same time was a crazy thing to do. When Michael was still with us, everything was different and everything was possible. Everything would change at the very last minute and there were times we had to stop the project to promote an event, to attend and cover a concert or to focus on things that were more important back then for the King Of Pop. After June 25th, 2009, we had more time to produce two magazines (italian and english edition) simply because things in Michael's businness/world are no longer moving so fast.

Michael is no longer with us, and we want to do our best to maintain our promises to him. To honour him the best we can. Now with a magazine, fans still can celebrate his memory. Wa want to focus on Michael's family and his fans. That's why we like to consider Michaelmania Worldwide a "social" Michael Jackson magazine. We want to unite people. Like we already do with the italian edition.



Michaelmania is known for its incredbile longevity in the MJ fan community. Can you tell us how it all started in the 80's ?

Back in the mid 80's, I remember there were only Michaelmania and Adrian Grant's Off The Wall magazines in Europe. And I remember many of the things that happened during the 80's. It really was "Michaelmania". But everything had started in the US. Michael was ready to release what would become the best selling album of all time (Thriller) and I perfectly remember newspapers and magazines speaking about an incredible young black man full of energy, never satisfied of his work, a perfectionist and an amazing entertainer. Being a graphic designer/illustrator with a passion about everything related to magazines/newpapers and editorial things, I started to publish some free ads in some music magazine speaking about "Michaelmania". Within a few months, it was exciting to find out there were thousand of fans in Italy and everywhere in Europe, just like me. The postman has been really one of the first persons I love to see in the morning with all the Michaelmania's correspondence. It was fun and interesting to write about something you consider special and find people who appreciate it. I always wanted to unite people with a common interest, and this was Michael Jackson. I started to produce Michaelmania with photocopies and a typewriter more than 25 years ago. It happened to be a very successful project, thanks to its quality offset printing, kiosk distribution, events and everything related to Michael's world and his fans. It has been a journey, a fantastic journey and I wish to continue this work for the rest of my life.



The e-shop is agreat experiene for any fan. You can find so many stuff there with the best and reasonable price. How did the shop start and what are your pojects for it?

The e-shop www.mjjshopcenter.com is a natural extention of our normal activity since 1994 to sell Michael Jackson's merchandising. We already had our merchandising corner inside the old magazines, so, I like to think we already had the know-how to start the same thing online in 2008 with the shopcenter. Opening an online store is not an easy thing to do. Too many people think it's just a "package" to put online. Quite very often, we've seen people with an online shop disappearing with fans' money, left without explanation. Our shopcenter has been tested for 3 months before running online and we periodically check things to improve our services. We don't really care about being the first one, we really care about being the one people can count on. As a company, we had to do it right to guarantee our service and bring quality service to the fans. At the same time, because we're MJ fans above all, we automatically select items and products we think people will love and are definitely worthy. We always have in mind that Michael Jackson's fans don't find their money under a tree. This is why we check and try to get the best prices we can: we import items from all over the world, and we try to do our best to get the right and best prices. Meanwhile, the future of an e-shop can change from one day to the other. We have all these elements in mind and we want to take our time to study them and do things at the right time. Discount coupons, customers levels with different catalogues at each level. We work hard to improve our service outside Europe in 2012 and give the fans the opportunity to sell their double merchandising through the shopcenter. We're also studying a facebook shopcenter (exclusively to facebook users) without shipping costs.

What project you worked on you are the most proud of ?

Hmm... it's a difficult question. 'Cause we worked on so many projects throughout the years. Litterally, it's difficult for me to remember everything I've done with Michaelmania and Michael. I'm proud of the very first phone call from MJJ Productions in the early '90 - in the middle of the night - with Michael asking info about a painting he saw inside our magazine, I'm proud of Michael's being nominee (for two years) at the Nobel Award thanks to our 70.000 signatures in the 90's after the first accusations. I'm proud of having the honour to have been invited by Michael in his hotel in '97 in Milan (Italy) to give him "our" Nobel Award painting. I'm proud I have given hundreds of fans the opportunity to travel around the world so that they can follow the King Of Pop in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Poland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Montecarlo, the US... Proud to have our accredited photographer at the HIStory tour show in Milan, to sell HIStory tour tickets, Madison Square Garden tickets. We travelled the world to show our support to Michael, through thick and thin, in concerts and in Santa Maria, in TV specials and in court. I'm proud to be one of 15 italian fans Michael invited to Neverland ranch in May 2005 during the trial. I'm proud to have produced 2 TV specials about our journeys and trips as we followed Michael around the world, "Michaelmania in Montecarlo" and "Invincible Generation". Proud to have worked for his promo-return for Number Ones in 2003 (just before the new accusations) as a guest in an important italian TV telethon special and our party "Invincible Generation" he choosed to attend just before the "King's party" in London at that time. The new accusations erased months of hard work, but I will always remember the excitement. I'm definitely proud of always been at his side, and proud of his acknowledgement during the years. Now I'm proud to maintain my promise to him, to give the best to honour his legacy.



Michael left us two years ago now. Fans do miss him each and every day. And a new generation has discovered Michael Jackson. How have you been coping with this ?

Michael left us without words. Fans around the world miss him each day. We do. Everyday. But his message is still there. And this time it is probably more important than him. He left us a message, we need to share it with everyone. That's why a new generation of fans is coming. 'Cause the message is stronger than ever. My hope is that the old fans can easily help the new ones to discover the best entertainer that ever lived.

Do you have a special message for the fans ?

Not so special, but I think an important one. I hope the fans can understand the importance of sharing Michael's message. But also, the importance of being a fan of Michael Jackson. It's a honour. Be proud of it. Not just behind a computer. Not just saying "I like" on Facebook. You need to be proud of showing your red jacket. Michaelmania never passed away, the old fans know this, the new ones need to comprehend. Together we need to show it, without being afraid.

MICHAEL MANIA (ISSN # 2239-8147)
Official website: www.michaelmaniamagazine.co.uk