I have been following Michael's career for many years now, since my Acting Teacher was one of the judges at the P.N.E. Talent competition here in Vancouver. My Acting Teacher told some of us in the class about Michael's amazing voice, and we started going to see him every Sunday and Monday night at Babalu. We drove almost an hour from White Rock, twice a week, to see this fabulous performer. What a voice! Those were the days. For about 2 years, he played Babalu those 2 nights/week. We all dressed up in evening gowns, long gloves, and rhinestones, and felt right at home in that room. Babalu was a magical portal to another era, and Michael completed that picture, with style. Many of us agree to this day, those were the best couple of years of our lives.


Cleopatra

Pati, were you trying to bump this up?


Cleopatra.

Hi Tickles,

Yes we were very lucky to have seen Michael at this venue. There was someone filming that night, but I don't know if it was the ABC.

I do have a video of an interview which Richard Wilkins did with Michael at the Basement for The Today Show, I think it was recorded after the Thursday night show, and Richard presented Michael with his "Gold Record", and remember his album had only been on sale in Australia for about two & a half weeks, Richard said he had sold 35,000 copies, Michael said "Already, you mean my Mother bought that many copies" then he held it up to show the boys in the band and said "Hey boys look what we're doin'", such a lovely personality.

The Live at The Basement is usually on Tuesday nights on the ABC.

Hoo roo for now,
Aussie Lo.

I'm new to the board, and its fabulous to read all these wonderful moments and memories with Michael.

I saw Michael at the Grove last night and met some AWESOME fellow fans. We ended up spending the evening as a group and have made plans to all be at the Roxie on Thursday. One of those new friends mentioned Michael's first album called "Babalu" but I can't find it anywhere. Is there indeed a recording, or did I misunderstand him and what he meant was the club mentioned in these posts?

And please tell me Michael is a dancer, too. I've been swing dancing for years and years and know that I enjoy the music on so many levels when I listen to amazing artists like Michael, when I sing it myself, and when I dance it.
HEAVEN!!! If Michael dances, too, then I'm just going to sigh and faint at his feet! LOL

I can only dream...

I DON'T THINK I WOULD EVER GET BORED SEEING MICHEAL OVER AND OVER! EVERYTIME I SEE HIM-IT ONLY GETS BETTER AND BETTER!!

Okay, I'm going to Babalu this coming week and it better be good! I will keep you all posted...
-Linz

Hey Cleo!

Was he as "comfortable" on stage then at Babalu as he is now?

I say that because each time I see a show, he's been progressing more and more "into his own skin". Not that I ever found Michael to be uncomfortable on stage (not in the least, by any means,) but he just seems to become even more "one with the stage"...

What I definitely do find is that the first time I met Michael at the Blue Note, he was quite shy, which is so not the case now. But I guess that could have been his apprehension at his first New York gig...

Michael's very first CD is titled "First Dance". I think there is only about 5-6 songs on this CD. His second CD is "Babalu". They were both independently released. His third CD is "Dream". There were only about 500 of these made. It was originaly a B-Day gift to his grand father (we all know how much he loves his grandfather).

I was lucky enough to get hold of "Dream" but I'm still looking for "Babalu"................ At least we have something to look forward to.......... "Totally Bublé" will be out in a few weeks!!!

I was at the Grove and met some really cool people! I'll share some pictures as soon as I get my picture trail account to work.

Hi Lynne, How are you?

Thanks for writing back again. It's always a pleasure to talk about the "old days" of Michael singing at Babalu, and I'm always happy to answer any questions about it. I will never forget those amazing nights - there has been nothing like it since, here in Vancouver, that's for sure !!!
Take care, and I'll talk to you again some time soon.


Cleopatra.

www.heatherdore.com
www.cdbaby.com/dor

Hello...I am a long-time fan/friend of Michael's..I knew him before his BaBalu days. He is indeed a charmer and soooo talented.

That would be so great. I only found out about Mikey recently and just found out about this club Babalu also. I would love to hear this cd and know more about the club.

thats very sweet if you LL

No didn't drink Heineken I hate beer!

Amsterdam is a 25 min. drive from where I live!

Haha, ahw, it's sweet of your mom! 13 is young. Altough I already went out at the age of 13. My cous was 15. We always go out in Spain. But the waiters always look after us. They still do

LL, always so funny, I chuckled when I read that .........

Babalu burned down???? oh no! That's so sad. I sure wish I could have seen the place. It sounded amazing.

- Jennie

NYcookie, open the picture in Paint, then go to "Image" then "Stretch / Skew" and type in the numbers (typing in 50 will make it half the size it is, 25 a quarter, etc etc)

yip yip yip !!!!!!!!!!

pati, bublégirl !

quote:

---

Yeah, a few years ago, Fred's AND Babalu burnt down in a fire. Right now, there's a little jazz joint, called The Cellar, in the place of Fred's.
Posts: 11 | Location: Vancouver, BC | Registered: Sun January 26 2003

Daryl
Member
posted Sun March 09 2003 07:35 PM
How sad! And to think that Babalu could have one day become a national landmark!
Daryl
Posts: 368 | Location: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Sun January 26 2003

Cleopatra
Member
posted Mon March 10 2003 01:17 PM
There is an Irish Pub where Babalu was, now! I can't even bring myself to look at it when I drive by. I think I would cry if I didn't see the "Babalu" sign there anymore.

---

Now I read this....

I was in Vancouver this week and I trudged in the freezing rain to the site of Babalu (facing certain death... well it was 10pm, I was an OBVIOUS tourist) to find a .... (bear with me) ... a.... a.... C...C....C....Comfort Inn!!!!

Oh well.... at least I stood on the pavement where Babalu once was...

Liisa

Oh man... I gotta get back home and take a stroll downtown! Did you ever go to single's night at Freds? It was such a hoot!

quote:

---

Originally posted by karin:
Yeah, I think you were the one that outbid me for it on ebay!(

---

Damn right!!!!

Lady: It's a club that he used to play in Vancouver, I believe every Sunday night, prior to being signed to Warners. I hear (and could only imagine,) that it was a fantastic time, a small audience of regulars who were devotees of Michael and his music. Wish I could have been there! I believe it burned down, or something like that...well, in any case, it no longer exists..except in the memories of a lucky few!!!!

Also, the Babalu CD is great (one of my favorites actually,)and it was executive produced by Michael's grandparents, Mitch and Yolanda Santaga, Michael as producer and Vince Campbell as another executive producer. I believe that Vince was one of the owners of the Club Babalu. I know all of this because I was able to purchase an original of "Babalu" on Ebay last year...even though I already had in my possession a burned copy of the CD, I just had to have the original, as the photos are just great...very "Mambo Kings" looking, with Michael in a black shirt, white jacket and cigar in one hand, looking very slick and dapper!!!!

You can PM me with your address, and I'd be more than happy to send you a copy.

Would have loved to be at Babalu, hearing Michael sing there? Heaven!!

Are you serious, Linz? Thanks for letting us know - I'll have to check it out. Where is it located, specifically?



Cleopatra.

pati faints..................

girls please check it out!! and tell us about it!

giggles

yes please do !!!!

I hope Mb checks it out too!

I guess they knew it was a "Once In A Lifetime" sort of thing, and could never be duplicated!


Cleopatra.

I still hope that someday ,Babalu can come back to life.......
what a wonderful attraction that would be for Vancouver!

Hey Cleopatra
It's located at 654 Nelson St. Pretty close to Granville St. Right in the heart of downtown Here's the synopsis on the place:

This downtown Cuban-styled lounge has an immaculate but upbeat feel. From Tuesday to Thursday, the club's house band, The Smokin' Section, rules the stage with renditions of jazz, funk, soul and R&B favourites. On weekends, DJ Savy spins. If you get hungry while out on the town, remember that this spot also serves great tapas, along with a full menu of appetizers and entrees. A solid wine list complements the usual cocktails and other club drinks.

-Linz

quote:

---

No didn't drink Heineken I hate beer!

---

HA HA!! We used to call Heineken beer "Skunk Juice!" Man...it was bad! HA HA!! But then again, we always bought these bottles of cheap beer called Colt 45 that wasn't much better! Oh well, that was a long time ago! HEE HEE!

Sweets

Hi Aussie Lo, Tickles form Melbourne here! You were sooooooooo lucky to have seen Michael at such a great venue. Doesn't get any better than that! Sometimes the ABC have performances from the Basement on the TV. The last one was a Jazz singer called Kurt Elling only two weeks ago, Do you know if they were recording the night our Mikey was performing?

quote:

Originally posted by Lorraine Carley:
Hi Pati,

Yes it was really a great venue much more intimate, I don't think BD would have been there as he is from Melbourne not Sydney, Michael did one show in Melbourne during that visit and two at The Basement, the Thursday was just for "The Media" and the Saturday night I was there, was completely sold out "Standing room Only".

A truly great night.
Hoo roo for now,
Aussie Lo.

Wow, JBN - Studio 54! If you ever do write a book, I'd definitely buy it! Some of the clubs/discos here in Vancouver over the years have been pretty hot, but that's one place most of us can only dream about, and YOU experienced it!

Cleopatra

Why the owner of Babalu,didn t open up babalu somerelse Greetings From Montreral ,Canada

Hi Cleopatra,

Thanks for sharing the memories and your experiences in Babalu!
It's so true that nothing will ever match those times again. You will treasure them forever.
To see a young rising star perform before your eyes and be part of it all from the beginning was very special.

It reminds me of my early days dancing in Studio 54 in New York City. I will take those memories to my grave and will never forget the excitement of being surrounded by celebrities and very beautiful people.
They can build a million clubs and they will never duplicate Studio 54 because it was more than a nightclub it was a part of history and a state of mind. When you were in there it was so surreal and unforgettable the same as the memories of Babalu for you!

"That's All"

JBN

Thanks, Johanne!
It's nice to know someone is enjoying hearing about the "old days" at Babalu! Have a great night!


Cleopatra.

haven't a clue.

Hi Lynne,

The amazing thing about Babalu, was that there were quite a few 19 year olds (legal age here)
a few people in their 80's, and absolutely EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN !!! There was not an age group that was not represented - that was the beauty of it. It didn't matter your age - everybody there was totally accepted for who they were, regardless of anything, because we all knew we had a common bond - we were there to enjoy, and dance the night away to, Michael's music. It was fun dancing with some of the younger guys, but some of my best dance partners there were over 60, for sure. They really knew what they were doing, and it was always just so much fun. There were couples, as well as singles, and everyone let their partners dance with others, since we all knew it was just that -just dancing, pure, simple enjoyment.

Yes, I saw Michael here in Vancouver last summer, and I see him in concert pretty much any time he's here in town, and will continue to do so. I thought his last show was great - he's only improved with age and experience. Of course, it will never be "the same" for me. Back at Babalu, it was a much more intimate venue, and you would ALWAYS get to talk to him, every single week. He'd come into the room, give you a hug and kiss, chat for a while, come and talk to you on the set breaks etc., and his family was always around, and so friendly ... now you sit so far away, and it feels kind of strange ... like you are more like a grain of sand on a very, very big beach ... but, hey, we're all very happy for his success - we just miss those special times, when it was just a few of us, before this talented guy was a household name.


Cleopatra.

quote:

Originally posted by Lynne C:
Cleopatra,
This post is just fascinating. I read the whole thing last night and was amazed and envious of all of you who got to know Michael way back when. I bet it is such an thrill for you to watch his star soar so high. How old were you and most of the crowd back at the Babalu when you went 2 nights a week in 78 & 79? I was just wondering if it was all older people or a mix of young and old. What a great time you must have had. Enjoy the wonderful memeories. Have you seen Michael in concert recently and what did you think?
Lynne Coyne

In what part of Vancouver was the theater where Babalu was performed?

Bonjour/Hi Cleopatra!!

I must admit that I'm envious!! Wow!!! This is awesome!!! But reading your posts, makes it easier to imagine and dream...!! Thanks for sharing with us ''mortals'' Keep posting!! I enjoy reading your posts!! They are ''dreamy''!!

Ditto,
Johanne

So, Linz .... How was the "new" Babalu?


Cleopatra.

That would have been great...but, at least we have the CD!

Cleopatra, it sounds like a dream!

When I lived in PEI, we had something that sounds similar to Babalu, called The Mack. There was a local swing band that I loved, the Jive Kings, who'd play there regularly and I'd always go and have an amazing time. No doubt that seeing Michael at Babalu would be a million times more incredible though!

wow, incredible stuff.

you should share pics of you all dressed up at the club =)

To this day, all those nights I spent at Babalu with my close friends, listening to Michael sing, and dancing like crazy, are the best times of my life. I will never forget those special times, and I know nothing can ever be exactly like that again. I treasure the memories.

Cleopatra.

Cleopatra,
This post is just fascinating. I read the whole thing last night and was amazed and envious of all of you who got to know Michael way back when. I bet it is such an thrill for you to watch his star soar so high. How old were you and most of the crowd back at the Babalu when you went 2 nights a week in 78 & 79? I was just wondering if it was all older people or a mix of young and old. What a great time you must have had. Enjoy the wonderful memeories. Have you seen Michael in concert recently and what did you think?
Lynne Coyne

Yeah, a few years ago, Fred's AND Babalu burnt down in a fire. Right now, there's a little jazz joint, called The Cellar, in the place of Fred's.

There is an Irish Pub where Babalu was, now! I can't even bring myself to look at it when I drive by. I think I would cry if I didn't see the "Babalu" sign there anymore.


Cleopatra

I moved to Victoria... What's in place of Bablu now? I know Fred's had that fire a while back, was that the ultimate demise of Babalu?

Babalu sounds like the coolest place ever!!! I wish there was a place like that here. I would be in seventh heaven if I could go dancing to this type of music.

- Jennie

Welcome zip!

It has to be so cool to know the 'real' someone before all the mayhem, etc. And to see someone with such talent finally make it in the business that they love.

~Cleveland Rocks!~