Messiah is one of Detroits' best kept secrets, and the brainchild of Charles Michael. There have been two Messiah bands, the first formed in the latter part of 1977, and lasted 4 years. The second Messiah band was formed in Detroit, Michigan in the latter part of 1982. As there have been many different versions of the history of the band Messiah, there is only one true story - and it has never been told truthfully or entirely, let alone in print for the whole world to see! I am the founder of both Messiah Bands. I was the singer, the songwriter, and the businessman who procured financial backing for both Messiah bands. I guess that should make me qualified to tell the Real Story about MESSIAH! (This section deals with the band Messiah). For those of you looking for the juicy, soap opera, lawsuit quality information on the break up of Messiah, and the behind the scene secrets - read the Private Untold Story of Charles Michael-soon to be written and added to this web site.
The story begins back in the late 1970's, as I had put together a new band from the Chicago area. At the time they were not yet called Messiah, but the seeds were being planted! When I met the guitar player, Michael Lopez, I was very impressed by how talented this young 21 year old was. The Keyboard player Danny wasn't even 21 yet, but very talented. I remember sitting in his house listeneing to him play some keyboard parts he had just written. They were real Spooky/Churchy Sounding - it gave me goosebumps. The bass Player John, had came with me from the south, where we toured the night club scene for many years, he was a young seasoned pro! We found Jeff the drummer from an ad we placed in the local newspaper. He was a solid, steady and very intelligent + he also knew how to repair stuff! We rehearsed mainly cover songs, and I found the musicians young, fresh and full of energy. We played a few jobs around the Chicago area and I knew this was the band, there was no need to look for any other musicians. I remember we finished an engagement one night, and this girl brought an advertisement to the drummer, about the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVM), appearing in an apparition to a lady in Bayside, New York. Jeff (who was an atheist) didn't pay much attention to it, and gave it to me because he knew I was into this stuff. Our Lady (BVM) had apparently been appearing to Veronica in Bayside, New York for a few years now and I had never heard anything about it. The section that was given to me had to do with music. Satan was using music as a tool to influence young people, and that this was being allowed by God The Father, for a short time, to test mankind! Now I was raised a Catholic, and I had heard that Our Lady (BVM) had appeared in different parts of the world over the years, but this was nearly in my backyard - and it dealt with music. My mind was full of thoughts that night and I had a hard time going to sleep. I had always been into religion, ufo's, psyhic ability, paranormal things, so this caught my attention and rang deeply in my soul.
I had talked to the band at rehearsal, many times in the past about these things, but now I was on fire. I wanted to know the truth, I wanted to go there. I sat with the band one evening after rehearsal and was telling them about the Coming Anti-Christ, the Mark Of The Beast (666), and of course the apparitions of Our Lady (BVM) in Bayside, New York. It was raining outside with thunder and lightining which made what we were talking about that much more spooky! They were mesmorized and asking questions when all of a sudden the power went out, and we were in the dark! This just added fuel to the fire when I told them "We'd better stop now, Satan doen't like what we're talking about!" Now they wanted to go with me to New York to check this out for themselves, so I set the trip up for us to join a bus tour going to the apparition site for 3 days and 2 nights round trip.
THE BAND WITNESSES CHARLES MICHAEL GET TOUCHED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT!
When the tour bus arrived to take us to Bayside, New York, I couldn't believe how packed it was ...with old people...church people...moms and dads! People who didn't like rock n' roll musicians with long hair! Remember we're talking about the late 1970's here. I just knew this was going to be a long - long trip that the band might regret. But it was too late to back out now - we paid the fare for the trip and a nights stay at a motel in Bayside, Ny in advance! But to the bands surprise, the people started to warm up to us, after I was elected to talk for the band about why we were on this trip! I was good with an audience and soon had them laughing and asking questions. At one point someone asked the million dollar question > "why we wore long hair like a woman, when it said in the scriptures that it was wrong?" I remember the passage and was prepared with an answer. Jesus had long hair, and every picture of His disciples I had ever seen, they all had long hair and beards. Also, in order to be socially acceptable in todays music scene you have to look the part! They seemed to accept us after that, and soon the young teenage musicians in the band became closer to the elders, helping them up and down stairs and talking to them, laughing with them - something that surprised me! Most of the band were Christian, but John and I were the only Catholics in the band, so when the head tour guide took out his rosary, I knew what was coming. For the next 40 minutes they said in unison "The Hail Mary - The Our Father - and The Glory Be", Prayers that were said over and over again. I glanced over at the other band members and they had fallen asleep.
When we arrived at the vigil site, there were probably 1500 to 2000 people there, and more bus loads were arriving all the time. It was very spiritual, and very moving seeing the intensity of the peoples faith and belief. Giant Statues of Jesus and Mary and even some of the Saints decorated the grounds. I prayed very hard that I would see something that would reaffirm my childhood teachings that I was starting to remember again after all these years! I talked to people and heard their stories of why they kept coming back. Some people came from other countries to be here. I saw pictures with apparitions of our Blessed Mother and Jesus and Angels and Saints in them. These photographs were taken right here on the very ground I was standing on. I heard people tell of miraculous cures and blessings and prayers being answered from right here at this vigil site I was attending! I was pumped, hardly any sleep and all the excitement, my adrenalin was flowing throughout my body. I just knew there was a reason I was here, and God was going to answer my prayer that I'd be given a sign - a message about what I was suppose to be doing with my life. When I was young I always had the feeling I was going to be a priest, I was an alter boy for most of my grade school years. But, then along came the Beatles and changed everything! Now older and a Rock 'n' Roller, I was here and something incredible was happening. Everybody Knelt when Our Lady Appeared, some cried, some took pictures, people were pointing and praying - I saw nothing! - No one in my band saw anything! I was mad, hurt, and confused I thought for sure God was going to give me a vision, or at least talk to me and give me a message or something. I spent all the money I had saved to pay for this trip for me and my band. I needed them to see something, so they would believe and get behind this project I wanted to do. I guess it wasn't ment to be. Now the vigil was over and people were leaving and boarding their buses and I stood there feeling embarassed with egg on my face in front of the band members. As I was turning to go towards the bus, I saw an old lady being wheeled to the front grounds of the vigil site. She was crying because their bus had broke down and they arrived late. The Statues were removed, people were gone and the site was almost bare. The young girl stopped the wheel chair and said Grandma take a picture of me standing on this pedestal, at least people will see the background and know we were here. People were yelling for me to get on the bus, they were leaving. But I watched the little old lady in the wheel chair snap the picture. She had one of those cameras that developed pictures instantly. She started to yell to anyone in ear shot to come look at this picture - it's miraculous! I ran over and stared in disbelief. The girl was standing on the pedestal where the giant statue of Our Lady had stood earlier, yet there was Our Lady with Her arms spread wide open - ghostly white behind the girl. I saw the old lady take the picture and there was nothing on the pedestal behind the girl, yet in the photograph there was Our Lady! These people show up late and take a miraculous picture home for their troubles. I spent my last dime, and brought these guys on a long monotonous trip and I'm going home with egg on my face! Why?
Above is one of the photographs in the newspaper advertisement given to me at the closing of an engagement that started this story. You can see a ghostly white apparition of The Blessed Virgin Mary in the clouds.
Above - A picture someone took at the vigil site, again amongst the clouds you can make out what appears to be Our Lady (BVM)
On the Bus ride home, the tour guide pulled out his rosary again, and I could see the look on the bands face - Oh No, here we go again! Everyone on the bus started reciting the prayers outloud in their monotone monk style voices. As we prayed I kept hearing the song "Hells Bells" by AC-DC in my head. I kept trying to shake it off, because I was sincerely trying to pray and meditate. The damn song kept coming back. I opened my eyes and noticed John sitting next to me shaking his head too! I whispered to him that I was hearing Hells Bells while I prayed and he said he was hearing it too! Some of the band members sitting in front of us, overheard us whispering and turned around and said they were hearing it too! That was definitely a very strange moment. We continued to pray trying to blow off that distraction. I noticed a man a few rows in front of me looking out of the window of the bus towards the sky. All of a sudden he pointed and started to yell - "Hey everybody, look the sun is spinning in the sky and changing colors!" Naturally everybody crowded over to that side of the bus trying to look out the window. You know a tour bus seats over 60 people, so it was pandemonium - as our bus was full! Again with all the people crowding the way, I couldn't see anything. Those that could see it were saying it a miracle - like Fatima, the sun was spinning in the sky! Well that's all I had to hear because as a child I remember the nuns and priests talking about the story of Fatima, so I started yelling at the bus driver to pull over. Others followed my lead and started yelling also because they wanted to take pictures. Once again I reminded myself I should have brought a camera! Finally the bus driver pulled over, and people slowly exited the bus. I was at the end of the line trying to hurry people up because I felt by the time I got out the door it would be all over and again I wouldn't see anything! We must have looked stupid to people driving by on the interstate. Here were 60 old people standing on the side of the freeway looking up at the bright sun on a hot 90 degree day! Remember, two people can look at the same object and one will see something miraculous and the other will see nothing - like me! Only those blessed to see will see!
Well it must have been my time to see, because when I stepped out of that bus and looked up at the sky I was in total awe of what I saw. The sun was spinning in the sky and changing colors. It seemed like there was a little black dot along the outer edge of the sun and this made it easier to see which direction the sun was spinning + The sun seemed like it had a clear disc in front of it , which dulled the brightness so we could look at it without squinting our eyes. Yet all around the outer edge you could see how bright the sun was behind this dulled clear disc - kind of like an eclipse except it wasn't dark in the center! I was silent, yet I could hear everyone around me talking - everyone seemed so excited by what they saw. I was silent, yet on the inside my mind was a buzz with excitement. I remember thinking this would have been another occasion that I should have brought my camera along, how stupid I was for coming on this trip without my camera. Without photographs, no one will believe what I've seen! Then, all of a sudden the sun fell down, in a split second - towards me - it was so huge, and it kept coming down! Oh my God, it's gonna hit us! Then in a split second it was back to normal. Then again in a split second it covered the whole sky, it's gonna hit us - my heart was racing. Then it was back to normal, instantly! It was like Jesus had the sun on a yo-yo and flung it down and then back up again! I don't know how many times this happened, 4 - 5 or 6 times, maybe! When it was over I found myself on my knees. Everyone was around me asking if I was Ok, - what happened, - what did I see? They helped me up to my feet and I couldn't answer them, I couldn't talk, I was too emotional - I would have started crying like a baby if I spoke even one word! John, the bass player, my closest friend knew something happened to me and told everyone to leave me alone for a moment. He helped me back to my seat on the bus. Apparently after a few moments, he said I shook my head and wipe the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath and said "What Happened?" John said we don't know! Your knees buckled and you went crashing to the ground, all the while you were looking up at the sky saying "Holy *!~*# do you see that! Holy Jesus it's gonna hit us - It's Ok, it went back - Oh No, Holy *#!~* here it comes again!" He said, we all looked up but didn't see anything, we couldn't figure out what you were seeing. I sat quite, evidently I saw something no one else saw. "What did you see", he asked me! I couldn't answer him, I was too emotional so I motioned him too wait - leave me alone for now! I felt strange, removed from everyone, yet I could see everyone looking at me. Finally somebody started saying the rosary and everyone followed. I felt relieved and drifted off into my own little world, contemplating everything that just happened!
IT DOESN"T MATTER IF IT'S YOUR SPIRITUAL MOTHER (BVM) OR YOUR EARTHLY MOTHER (MOM), THEY BOTH HAVE THE UNCANY ABILITY TO TOUCH YOUR SOUL, AND PLANT YOUR FEET FIRMLY BACK ON THE GROUND!
Finally the bus pulled over at a rest stop, and we all got off to stretch our legs. It had been a couple of hours since I saw the sun spin in the sky, but it only seemed like a few minutes ago! I still wasn't talking to anyone, but I needed to, so when I saw the phone booth at the rest stop - I made the call to the only person I could think of....Mom! I told her what happened and cried like a baby, and when I was done I fully expected to feel her arms surround me with love - to hear her say God answered my prayers - to hear her say God gave me a sign. Instead, She said "Are you taking drugs again, or smoking that stuff? All this babbling about the sun spinning and crashing into the ground, Boy you'd better get a hold of yourself!" " But Mom", I said "It really happened!" Or so I thought, - hmm, no one else saw it, I thought to myself! I heard her voice again as I was deep in thought. "Stop you crying, and get a grip, you're not a child anymore - you're a grown man! We'll talk more about it when you get home, this is costing me money - you called collect, you know."
Boy, a mother sure has a way to snap you back into reality, but done with love and tenderness! Her voice planted my feet firmly back on the ground again, now I was able to talk to the people on the bus, and talk to my band without going to pieces. I thanked my mother, and headed back to the bus, which was getting ready to leave anyway. Once I was back on the bus, I answered everyones questions and listened to what they thought happened. They felt God had given me the sign I wanted so I could believe again. That's why I was on this trip, and that's why I had this strong urge to come. "So now what do I do?" I said. Everyone pretty much had the same answer, - Go home and go about your business, God will let you know!
THE FINAL WARNING
Once back home in Chicago, IL. I received response from and old agent friend in Texas who had 6 weeks of bookings for us, and more if we did a good job and were received well. We immediately went into rehearsal to learn enough current material to do a whole nights worth of music. During this period, is when the song the Final Warning was written. One of the things that stuck in my mind from our trip to Bayside, NY, was the message of Our Lady to the world about the coming Chastisement if the world did not change its ways! Below is a copy of this warning she sent to the world. This warning will come before the chastisement, which will follow, if the world does not change it's evil ways!
The lyrics to the song The Final Warning are pretty much taken word for word from this message given to the world from The Blessed Virgin Mary. The second song Lucifer was written around the same time and the lyrics tell about the coming of the Antichrist - Satan in human form - as foretold in the Book Of Revelations. The only other song written by this Messiah band #1 that I refer to as the - Texas based - Messiah Band (you'll see further on why I call them the Texas based Messiah band) was the song "You'd Better Say A Prayer". These three songs became the cornerstone for this Texas based Messiah band! We weren't called Messiah yet, but that would soon change!
