The Chicago Defender documented the event by devoting an entire page to photos of their arrival. Look for our friend, reporter Bill Passmore, in the crowd. You knew he wouldn't miss it.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The J5 Have Landed!
They came via helicopter and landed in the football field at West Side High School, where their concerts were to be held. They looked none too happy about the cold weather in the only press photo I have in my collection.
The Chicago Defender documented the event by devoting an entire page to photos of their arrival. Look for our friend, reporter Bill Passmore, in the crowd. You knew he wouldn't miss it.
The Chicago Defender documented the event by devoting an entire page to photos of their arrival. Look for our friend, reporter Bill Passmore, in the crowd. You knew he wouldn't miss it.
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This is incredibly fascinating and rare. They had only been famous for a little over a year and they arrive to a high school by HELICOPTER!!! That helicopter is the same as frickin' Marine One, the president's helicopter. Did the mayor have the power to OK a helicopter of that size to land in a high school athletic field? Apparantely somebody had the power to make it OK. This just blows my mind, especially if that's snow on the ground and everything. Thanks for posting that page, it's the one with the announcement (the marketing lie) that Diana Ross discovered them.
ReplyDeleteIt really is pretty amazing, isn't it? Another thing that surprised me about the helicopter is that it's been custom painted on the side to read: WELCOME HOME JACKSON 5.
ReplyDeleteWhat an entrance. Great turn up by the looks of it too in atrocious conditions. I wonder if this was the only way to get there because of the weather. Can you imagine some of our so called pop stars of today turning up? I very much doubt it.
ReplyDeleteChris
Chris, you raise an interesting question. Why the helicopter? The weather doesn't look too bad for January (by Midwest standards), and the drive from Chicago to Gary doesn't really take very long (in fact, my dad ended up in Gary more than once just by getting lost in downtown Chicago). But the airport they arrived at is north of the city, so the drive through Chicago might have been too much for them. My guess is they had a time crunch, so helicopter was simply the fastest way to get them to Gary from O'Hare. And, plus, you know -- there's the dramatic entrance!
ReplyDeleteLook at the pilot snapping photos! Wouldn't those be great to see. I'll bet he has a personal stash from the flight out there somewhere.
ReplyDeleteLiz
LOL..they landed in the middle of the feild...at the school..with a helicopter!!..BOSSS
ReplyDelete-JAZZ
I never noticed the pilot before, Liz. Wow! Great eye!
ReplyDelete