2:00pm Thursday 2nd July 2009
DEMAND for the music of Michael Jackson in Basingstoke has been “phenomenal” since his sudden death stunned the world.
Local radio stations have been bombarded with requests and the Basingstoke HMV media store ran out of his stock after fans rushed to the store in the wake of his death last Thursday.
Gennaro Castaldo, head of press and public relations for HMV, said: “Our Basingstoke store was completely wiped out after Michael’s death, as were all of our stores across the chain.
“We had stocked up in preparation for his forthcoming 02 concerts, which were obviously going to generate a lot of interest in his work. Some of his stuff was also running in our sale promotions and so we were actually pretty well stocked up.
“By the end of Saturday night, the Basingstoke store was running out of Michael Jackson stock, and by Sunday it was completely cleared. We had to reorder for the Monday morning.”
Jackson fans have also been turning to the airwaves to pay their respects, as Kestrel FM can vouch. Station presenter James Sloan said: “On the day after he died, we were playing a Michael Jackson song every 15 minutes. The studio also received a bouquet of flowers from an anonymous listener in dedication to him. The card said ‘thank you for the music, God bless you.’”
Heart FM, which also covers Basingstoke, has had more than 350 online pages filled with tributes to Jackson.
Speaking on Tuesday, breakfast editor Molly Forbes said: “For the last few days, we’ve played a solid hour of his music due to the amount of comments and texts we’ve received from listeners about Michael Jackson. It’s phenomenal.”
Michael Jackson fan Nadine Hawkes, aged 21, who lives in the town centre, was due to see the singer at the O2 in January after her boyfriend paid £160 for two tickets.
Miss Hawkes said: “I grew up listening to Michael and it was really sad when I found out he had died. Our tickets were from the official vendor so we’ve been promised the money back.”
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