The police told them not to look out of the window and not to wave because it would be impossible to control the crowd.
Just look at those poor policemen.
Isn't this madness?
Beatlemania had already caught the whole of Europe, in fact it was already in the US too, but 60 years ago the Beatles went to the US for the first time and a new wave of Beatlemania was ignited.
naptu2: The point of that song by Michael Jackson (You Were There) was that Sammy Davis Jnr had to go through hell due to racism and that it was because Sammy took all the abuse, violence and discrimination and fought against them, that's why someone like Michael Jackson could perform and achieve success.
Sammy Davis Jnr once had an affair with a white woman. This annoyed the record company because they thought that the affair would affect their sales amongst white people. Therefore, the head of the record company contacted a mafia boss and told him to put pressure on Sammy Davis Jnr to end the affair.
Sammy Davis Jnr was kidnapped for a few hours and he was told that he had just 48 hours to marry a black woman in order to put an end to all talk of an affair with the white woman. Sammy had to pay a black woman to get married to him in order to get the mafia off his back.
Sammy Davis Jnr often performed at some of the biggest hotels in the US at that time, but he was not allowed to stay at the hotels. While white musicians stayed at the hotels in which they were performing, Sammy Davis Junior and other black performers had to stay at boarding houses in the poorer parts of town.
In fact, black performers were not given changing rooms. They usually had to stand outside (often near the pool) in between their acts.
He fought against this maltreatment. He later refused to perform at any hotel that would discriminate against him. He was probably the first person to kiss a white woman on national TV (he greeted Frank Sinatra's daughter with a kiss during a live event) and he eventually married a white woman.
Michael Jackson also broke barriers for black people. He was one of the first black persons to appear on MTV.
MTV began transmitting in 1981 and there were very few black people that appeared on it. Michael Jackson released the Thriller album and CBS Records wanted the videos to appear on MTV because they knew that the album would be a really big album. MTV initially refused to air the video of Billie Jean. They said that their viewers wanted to watch rock music and that the song wasn't "rock enough" for them to show it. CBS had to threatened to remove all CBS videos from MTV before they agreed to play it.
Billie Jean became the first video by a black person to be in heavy rotation on MTV (Prince had already appeared on MTV, but his videos were only shown sparingly).
Thriller went on to be the greatest selling album of all time (it's in the Guinness Book of Records).
naptu2: The great Sammy Davis Junior got into show business in 1928 at the age of 3. Michael Jackson sang this tribute to him on his 60th anniversary in show business.
Proudlyngwa: The greatest Celebrity of all time has to be our lord Jesus Christ. He has been celebrated more than anybody else and is the most worshipped.
The only point of argument is whether Jesus Christ is a celebrity.
naptu2: Groucho Marx was a force of nature. He took over any show that he appeared in. He made so many jokes per minute that it didn't matter if any of them failed because you would be already laughing at the next one. He asked many problematic questions and sometimes made negative jokes to the extent that some people even feared him. It was almost impossible to top him.
However, I know one person that could top him. His brother, Harpo.
Harpo Marx almost never spoke in any of his movies and this made some people to think that he was a deaf mute. Groucho's jokes are sometimes negative, but Harpo's jokes are almost never negative. They are the kind of jokes that little children would love. (In my opinion) he uses a combination of slapstick and mime.
Groucho was on a show that was supposed to be about him, but watch how Harpo suddenly appears and takes over the show.
naptu2: Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson.
It's like these are the super music and dance legends in each era.
Fred Astaire handed over to Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra handed over to Elvis Presley, Elvis and the Beatles era overlapped and they handed over to Michael Jackson.
This is one of the reasons why I do not believe in the "Greatest Ever" argument.
Circumstances change and people who do not live in an era will have great difficulties understanding that era.
Some young Europeans make fun of Pele's record, mainly because Pele played in a lot of friendlies. These Europeans think that those friendlies do not amount to much. They obviously do not understand what happened.
Pele played for a club called Santos throughout his career (he retired from football, then came out of retirement years later and played for New York Cosmos in America, but for the purpose of this post we will not include his New York era). I watched Brazilian football when I was a kid and I know that Santos was not a big club, even in Brazil.
The big clubs in Brazil were Flamengo (which is the superstar club like AC Milan of the 1990s or Galacticos Real Madrid and Barcelona of the late 2000s and early 2010s), Vasco da Gama, Sao Paulo and Fluminense (the last 3 had the most supporters).
There were big clubs in Nigeria that were named after Flamengo, Vasco da Gama and so on (Stationery Stores' nickname was Flaming Flamingoes and there was a Nitel Vasco). I don't know of any big club that was name after Santos.
Yet Pele made Santos a global club. He transformed this small club into an international club.
Pele was a global icon, the most famous sportsman of his day and because of him, Santos played against all the biggest clubs in every part of the world. Those friendlies that some Europeans make fun of were against all the biggest clubs in every part of the world. Santos was invited everywhere, just because of Pele. Some think that Pele only played in Brazil or against Brazilian clubs, but in actual fact, he played against clubs everywhere.
Intercontinental Cup
The Intercontinental Cup is the forerunner of the Club World Cup. It was played between the best team in South America (winners of the Copa Libertadores) and the best team in Europe (winners of the European Cup, later the Champions League). It was started when Pele was already a star.
The 1962 Intercontinental Cup final was nicknamed Pele vs Eusebio. Eusebio was a Mozambican football god who played for Portugal. Eusebio won the Ballon d'Or, was the highest goal scorer in all European leagues and the highest goal scorer in the World Cup. The matches were played after Benfica had won their second consecutive European Cup and they were clearly the best team in Europe.
Pele scored twice in the first leg at the Maracana Stadium in Rio as Santos beat Benfica 3-2. He scored a hat-trick in the second leg at the Stadium of Light in Lisbon as Santos beat Benfica (again) 2-5 to win the tie 8-4 on aggregate.
Santos won the 1963 edition again. This time they beat AC Milan to become World Champions.
Pele scored twice at the San Siro in Milan as Santos lost 4-2 (Giovanni Trapattoni scored for Milan). Santos won 4-2 at the Maracana and both teams were level, so they had to have a playoff and Santos won the playoff 1-0 to become back to back world champions.
Nigeria
Stationery Stores of Lagos was the greatest Nigerian football club in the 1960s and they had the Master Dribbler, Haruna Ilerika. Santos was invited to play against Stationery Stores at the Onikan Stadium in Lagos in 1969 (Jan. 26, 1969). Pele scored both goals for Santos in a 2-2 draw at the Onikan Waterfront. Santos then went to Congo to play another friendly match, but the sports loving governor of the Mid-West State, Samuel Ogbemudia, was determined to ensure that the people of Benin would also be able to see Pele.
Ogbemudia brought Santos back to Nigeria to play against a quickly organised Mid-West 11 at the Ogbe Stadium in Benin. Santos won that match 2-1.
Santos played matches in Ghana, Sudan, Algeria and all across Africa, just because of Pele.
In fact, something funny happened at another match in Nigeria. Fluminense of Brazil played against Racca Rovers of Kano in Kano. Pele was the special guest of honour. However, the fans desperately wanted to see Pele play and the police advised him that he should play so that there would be peace. So Pele played 45 minutes for Fluminense in Kano.
Pele played against the best teams in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America during his time. Santos was a small club, but it became a global club just because of Pele.
Satanic tackles
Diego Maradona played at the 1982 World Cup, but I didn't even notice him. Do you know why?
You see, the football that was played when I was a kid is totally different from the football that is played today. There are several significant incidents that completely changed football and I remember them. One of those incidents occurred at the 1982 World Cup and it is the reason why Diego Maradona was a flop at the 1982 World Cup and then became the star of the 1986 World Cup.
Maradona played at the 1982 World Cup, but he was constantly being kicked and subjected to vicious tackles, yet the referees did absolutely nothing about it. In his last match at that World Cup, he became so fed up of being kicked that he retaliated and the referee showed him a red card.
But something happened at that World Cup that changed things forever. (I have written about this before).
One of the semi-finals was between France and Germany. Michel Platini played a brilliant pass and a French player, Battiston was through on goal. The German goalkeeper was the lunatic, Harald Schumacher. Battiston played the ball in one direction and ran in the other direction in order to deceive Schumacher. Schumacher ignored the ball and ran, jumped in the air and clattered into Battiston.
Battiston went into a coma. He was unconscious on the pitch and had to be administered oxygen. He had lost two teeth and his vertebrae was broken. Can you believe that the referee did not even blow for a foul?
The French players complained, but Schumacher waved them away as if they were disturbing him. Even when journalists told him (after the game) that Battiston had lost two teeth in the incident, he replied, "Is that all"?
Of course FIFA had to tighten the rules after that incident. This (better protection for players) enabled Maradona to shine at the 1986 World Cup.
1993 Champions League
naptu2 post=79437681: Marco Van Basten was one of my favourite strikers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He scored great goals for AC Milan and Holland and he won the 1989 and 1990 European Cup titles with Milan.
However, Italian football had the hardest tackling defenders back then and their tackles took a toll on Van Basten. He repeatedly suffered ankle injuries. Then, in the final of the 1993 European Cup/Champions League, Basile Boli made a viscious tackle on Van Basten and that tackle practically ended his career.
FIFA were unhappy that Van Basten would not play in the 1994 World Cup and they therefore banned tackles from behind (just before the World Cup). Any tackle from behind would result in a red card.
Back-passes were also banned (because of Cameroon's habit of constantly passing the ball to their goalkeeper at the 1990 World Cup).
These rules were implemented at the 1994 World Cup and these led to many complaints. A British magazine at the time wrote that the referee was blowing his whistle as if he was a traffic cop. A commentator said that a referee gave someone a yellow card simply for breathing.
Commentators, footballers, coaches and analysts complained about the referee's decisions.
Pele also suffered these satanic tackles. 17 year old Pele was the breakout star of the 1958 World Cup. He scored 6 goals to become the second highest goal scorer of the tournament (second only to Just Fontaine, whose record has still not been broken). Therefore, defenders marked him down at the next World Cup.
Pele was hacked and kicked at the 1962 World Cup. It was so bad that he suffered a tournament ending injury in his third match.
So, how do we know that Messi and Ronaldo would have been able to cope with the satanic tackles that existed in football back in the day? How do we know that they wouldn't have ended up like Maradona at Espana '82 or that their careers wouldn't have been cut short like Van Basten or that they wouldn't have suffered like Pele did at the 1962 World Cup?
On the other hand, how do we know that they wouldn't have adapted? We will never know.
There are so many things that are different between now and then that we cannot actually say who is the greatest of all time. For example, some people claim that Pele cannot be the greatest of all time because he did not play in Europe. Well, times were different then and he didn't have to play in Europe to be the greatest (some will argue that South American football was better than European football back then). How will you feel if, in 30 or 40 years time, someone tells you that Messi cannot be the greatest footballer in the world because he did not play in England? It might be a different time then and you might have to play in England to be considered the best.
So, I don't believe in the GOAT argument because of the massive changes that have occurred in football which make it impossible to compare different eras.
naptu2: I've got to take a break from Michael Jackson to do this.
Memories
A gathering of the super legends
So, ***** has been writing about a series of movies in the past few months and yesterday I wrote about Sammy Davis Jr.
The connection between these two events (and the thing that some people might not know) is that the movies that ******* is writing about are a remake of a classic movie and that Sammy Davis Jr acted in the original along with a host of legends.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Dean Martin, etc in
Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm branches waved by the crowd to greet and honor Jesus Christ as he entered the city.
Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy Week; in Western Christianity, this is the beginning of the last week of the solemn season of Lent, preceding Eastertide, while in Eastern Christianity, Holy Week commences after the conclusion of Great Lent.
(STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING! YOU MUST WATCH THIS VIDEO)
This particular one is very special to me. You see, this man was my favourite star when I was a kid (I even had his book, which I got before I got Michael Jackson's book). Not only could this man sing, dance and act, but he was also in-cred-ibly funny. His comedy/humour is not talked about as much as his acting, singing and dancing, but I was blessed to have been able to see him on many comedy and variety shows when I was a kid.
I was very depressed on the day that he died (in 1990). He was my idol. But he was not only my idol, he was also Michael Jackson's idol. Michael used to show up at his house unannounced, just to watch old tapes of this man's movies and dance acts. In fact, Michael devoted several pages of his book (Moonwalk) to this man.
And the man treated Michael Jackson as his son. He said that Michael took some of his dance moves from him (I sincerely believe this).
This man is, of course, Sammy Davies Jnr.
So we are going to have 2 videos. I'm posting the first video because I want you to see his funny side. I'm also going to post some of the things he said in that video because the main target of his joke was Michael Jackson.
The second video is of Michael's tribute to him on his 60th anniversary.
"As I look into the audience, I see some of you who have hung in with me over the years and I really want to thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart. I really mean that.
I would also like to apologise to some of the younger members of the audience that I don't do anything from the top 40" (laughter from the audience).
"No, I'm not putting down the music or the performers, it's just that I'm 62 years old and I'd feel like a damn fool singing, 'If you think I'm sexy, come and touch my body" (he changed his voice for that quote ).
"No, I'm not going to do that. No way Jose baby!".
But it's funny, people know about my relationship with Frank (he's referring to Frank Sinatra), with Dean (Dean Martin) and with Liza (Liza Minelli) and my people, people of my age group, but they don't know that I have friends among the younger people, the younger performers in this business.
People like, Rick James is a friend of mine, Prince is a friend of mine, Huey Lewis, Michael Jackson is more than a friend, in fact he's like my son. He really is, because I've known him since he was 6 years old and I've watched his growth as a man and as a performer and he's fantastic! I don't think he's scratched the surface of what he can achieve in his career. It's frightening to see him on stage.
And the metamorphosis that takes effect. If he's at the house, he would go (Sammy Davies Jnr now uses a very soft and quiet voice),
"O Mr D, can I borrow some tapes? I'd like to watch them and if you want I can give you some of mine"
Then you go to the concert and it's someone else. And it's kind of frightening man!
You know, so me get up here and think I can do one of Michael Jackson's numbers? There isn't enough money in this city to pay me to do that. Me get up here to do Michael Jackson's number? You go, Ha! Ha! Ha!
And that's when it starts. A 63 year old Sammy Davies Junior performs Michael Jackson's Bad
naptu2: This has better quality audio and video but it didn't start from the beginning of the joke. (Someone said that this was the first time that he actually heard the words of the song).
naptu2: The great Sammy Davis Junior got into show business in 1928 at the age of 3. Michael Jackson sang this tribute to him on his 60th anniversary in show business.
naptu2: We've seen Sammy Davis Jr the comedian, we've Sammy Davis Jr the movie star and we've seen Sammy Davis Jr the singer, so what's left? How do we end this Sammy Davis Jr journey?
By returning to the first thing that I knew him for, dancing. Here is Sammy Davis Jr the dancer.
He was such a legendary dancer, that I can't only post one video. I've got to post 3.
1) I earlier said that Michael Jackson got a lot of his moves from Sammy Davis Jr and this video proves it. This song is a very old song and it's very special to him. He started his career dancing and singing with his father and uncle when he was only 3 years old. That was in 1928 and this was one of the songs that he performed when he was a child.
Listen to the reaction of the audience when he picked up his hat. They knew what was coming. Watch his hať and his legs and think of Michael Jackson.
Sammy Davis Jr performs Mr Bojangles live in Germany in 1985.
2) New school vs old school (well, I guess that they are both old school now).
Gregory Hines was one of the best tap dancers of the 1980s and 1990s (he was also a comedian). Here he is, performing at Sammy Davis Jr's anniversary. Sammy (jokingly) challenged Hines and joined him on stage. This alarmed and gave his wife cause for concern, because Sammy was already suffering from the cancer that eventually killed him.
placeofallure: Your list is for a certain class of the society - the elite - who aren't in the majority.
Talking about a celebrity whose popularity transcends race, class, creed, religion or ethnicity; it's none other than MJ, Michael Jackson!
My list has nothing to do with the elite. I simply followed the question. The person asking the question used the phrase "of all time".
Every single person on my list was incredibly popular and their popularity transcended class and it even transcended race and country. The only possible barrier is age.
Once upon a time Fred Astaire was the most famous actor, singer and dancer in the world.
When I was a kid in Nigeria, if your name was Charlie, you were called Charlie Chaplin.
When I was a kid, Sammy Davis Jr was one of the most famous black men in the world. He was Michael Jackson's mentor. Michael learnt a lot of his dance steps from him. He was a person that could do everything. People still sing his songs today, people still watch his movies today, people still repeat his jokes today, etc. In fact, Nigerian comedians still copy his skits today.
If you vanish and people can't find you, you were called Houdini.
Pele was the most popular sports person of all time. Santos of Brazil played matches in all parts of the world because of Pele. People who knew nothing about football knew Pele.
Groucho Marx's face was the symbol of comedy. Just that moustache, the glasses and the stupid smile and people were already laughing. People quoted his crazy sayings like, "I refuse to join any club that would accept me as a member".
People all over the world went crazy at the mention of the Beatles. They were so famous that John Lennon caused controversy when he said that they were more famous than Jesus Christ. Everybody knows them today, even though its more than 50 years since they broke up.
Ditto with Elvis Presley, it is around 50 years since he died, but people around the world still know who he was.
Muhammad Ali was thr greatest and everybody around the world knows that, even though its more than 40 years since he retired.
Michael Jackson is in my list for the same reason.
All these people were shown on the NTA back in the day, so there's nothing elitist about it.
Rich, poor, black white people around the world know these people and people will continue to know them many years after they are dead.
These people are so legendary that they are being copied by performers today, like this skit.
naptu2: Mr Funny (Sabinus) has released a new boxing themed skit and it reminded me of the popular boxing themed skits that have been made.
I still believe that the first one is the funniest.
3) I have written about him on this thread. He is the man that can do anything. Sammy Davis Junior fights against NBA legend, Wilt Chamberlain in Rowan and Martin's Laugh In (1971).
RingRoadMafia: This one loves to remind himself that he's some sort of "smart dude". Aside The Beatles and MJ, nobody knows the other names you mentioned in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. You just dey whine yourself to impress your nairaland fans who are thrilled by mediocrity.
My God! This guy is so obsessed with me, even though I am not a star! 🤣
If my post was unimportant, then he wouldn't have bothered to comment on it, because it's not important.
Nowhere did I say I was intelligent, but he seems intimidated (like, what does this post have to do with intelligence??).
Nobody gives a shit whether he knows the people or not, that's his personal problem and he's not important.
The creator of the thread asked people who was the most famous celebrity and I gave my answer, what has it got to do with you and all the meaningless nonsense that you wrote??
I attended a party at the official residence of a very senior government official in 1985 or '86. When it was time for the dance, the MC announced that there would be no spraying because spraying was not allowed. I thought that I understood why. My thought was that they did not want any ostentatious displays of wealth. That was in line with the situation in the country at the time.
From then on I heard similar announcements at parties that were held by government officials.
Dirty and mutilated notes in the 1990s and early 2000s
Fastforward to the late 1990s and early 2000s. Nigerians had been complaining about the poor quality of naira notes since the end of the 1990s. They complained that naira notes were dirty, torn and that in some cases you could barely read what's written on them. At that time (Joseph Sanusi era) the CBN put pressure on banks to receive old naira notes and forward them to it for destruction (Nigerians were complaining that banks were rejecting old naira notes).
Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo and the change
Then came Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo. Professor Soludo gave a speech in which he complained that the CBN was spending too much money to destroy mutilated notes and print new ones. He complained about the way that Nigerians treated bank notes. He reminded people that it was illegal to mishandle currency notes and he said that he was going to propose an amendment to the law to ensure that people who mishandle naira notes were severely punished.
Adverts
The CBN then released adverts to educate Nigerians about naira notes. You might remember them. The adverts were very detailed and explained every single situation properly. I’m going to try and explain them from memory.
1) Spraying: Do you want to show appreciation to a musician? Don’t paste naira notes on his forehead (where they will react with his sweat), don’t allow it to drop to the floor and react with dirt, don’t allow people to step and dance on it.
Instead, put the money in an envelope and go up and give it to the musician.
2) Carrying money: Don’t put naira notes in your bra where they will react with your sweat. Don’t squeeze naira notes and stuff them in your pockets. Get a wallet and put them neatly in the wallet.
3) Trading: Are you a trader/hawker? Don’t squeeze naira notes, don’t stuff them in your wrapper/pockets. Get a waist pouch and place them neatly in the pouch. Ensure that your hands are clean before you handle the naira. Don’t get blood or other liquids on the naira.
4) Church: Don’t squeeze naira notes into the collection box/basket. Put them in an envelope and place them neatly into the box/basket.
5) Selling change: Don’t sell naira notes. It is an offence. (Some people sell lower denomination notes [aka change] at parties, so that people will have money to spray).
6) Writing: Do you want to make calculations and write down important things? Don’t write on the naira, get a notepad.
All these scenarios were dramatised in the adverts (I’m sure that I have forgotten some of them).
The CBN said that the naira was a national symbol and people must treat it with respect.
Polymer notes:
You might remember that this was also one of the reasons that Professor Soludo introduced polymer notes. It was said that the polymer (plastic) notes would not get torn and would not absorb liquids as easily as the paper notes. It was also more difficult to write on the plastic notes.
Enforcement
The CBN act was amended to include jail terms for people who mishandle naira notes.
However, on one hand, some people expressed scepticism. Would the Central Bank go to all parties at weekends to arrest people that were spraying and selling change? They said that it was impossible to enforce.
On the other hand, some bloggers and rumour mongers created scare stories about policemen invading parties and arresting people.
Flagrancy
As stated above, the CBN/EFCC/ICPC cannot go to all parties every weekend and arrest every single person that sprays or sells money. They can’t arrest everybody that puts naira notes in their bra or stuffs them in their pocket.
Yet many people have been arrested and prosecuted for committing these offences in the past 17 years. How come?
Bobrisky was arraigned on a three count charge, that means he committed the offence 3 times, why wasn’t he arrested after the first or second time and why was he arrested after the third time? In fact, some people who follow these kind of events say that Bobrisky has sprayed money on more than 3 occasions. Why wasn’t he arrested all the other times? I’ll tell you what happened.
A movie producer wanted maximum publicity for her movie and she figured out a way to get it. Bobrisky was invited to the movie premiere and given an award for being the best dressed woman at the event. As expected, this caused an uproar.
The issue trended for a full week. There were many pictures, videos, stories and opinions about the incident. Many of them graced Nairaland’s homepage. The movie producer had gotten the publicity that she wanted.
In fact, the backlash was so great that the producer had to eventually admit that it was a publicity stunt (my friend had said that it was a publicity stunt right from when the first story broke).
Among the videos that trended for a week was a video of Bobrisky spraying money at the event. There was no way that it would not catch the attention of the EFCC.
A lot of people have been arrested and prosecuted for these offences in the past 17 years and if you look at them you’ll notice that they were all fragrant violations of the law.
A1) A Chinese man got angry at the Murtala Muhammed Airport and he tore over three thousand naira worth of notes right in front of security agents (Immigration, Customs, SSS). He was arrested by the SSS and handed over to the EFCC. He was prosecuted and sentenced to 2 years in jail.
Another actress was spraying money at an event and the video went viral. This was at a time that the government was very sensitive about the notes because they had just been redesigned and were scarce. Of course she was arrested and prosecuted.
There were also some people that were selling new naira notes at a party in Ilorin at a time when the notes had been redesigned and were scarce. They were also arrested.
So as you can see and as you will see when I share more articles and stories, many people have been arrested and prosecuted for breaking this law before Bobrisky was arrested.
Celebrities › Re: Without Bias, Who Is The Most Popular Celebrity Of All Times ? by naptu2: 4:17pm On Apr 13, 2025
).
