Post here if you worked on Michael Jackson's DANGEROUS album

[DangerousInc]

So when Michael was working on the short film Ghosts which was around the HIStory era, I remember seeing Brad Buxer I think working with Michael who had musical fx and the rhythm for 2 Bad on his keyboard and any ideas that Michael had Brad would come up with there on the spot. Is all the info from the studio dumped into this one keyboard?

Did you guys work on any tracks for the video of Ghosts cuz there is a rare version of it that doesnt have the completed music yet for Ghosts and Is It Scary.

[drumpike]

Rob - Hi! thanks for writing these stories down for us all. i am very grateful I checked into GS tonight! XOBilly W

[DangerousInc]

Michael loved the song 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' by Yes and it was sampled in the song D.S. Maybe Im not listening properly but I cant hear it. Is it the Orch Hit? Can you please tell me more about that?

Also do you know any details about Michael's own studio @ Neverland?

[robmix]

Originally Posted by DangerousInc

So when Michael was working on the short film Ghosts which was around the HIStory era, I remember seeing Brad Buxer I think working with Michael who had musical fx and the rhythm for 2 Bad on his keyboard and any ideas that Michael had Brad would come up with there on the spot. Is all the info from the studio dumped into this one keyboard?

Did you guys work on any tracks for the video of Ghosts cuz there is a rare version of it that doesnt have the completed music yet for Ghosts and Is It Scary.

I worked on all the tracks for the short film with Brad and Eddie Delena. We were at Record One in Sherman Oaks while they were shooting. MJ and the choreographers would phone in changes and we would run them up to the set. At one point Brad setup a keyboard rig on the set to provide additional inspiration, and in some cases music Michael wanted to hear while shooting that wasn't recorded yet. We built a few sample sets made up from actual sounds on the record, as well as some new foley samples we recorded with the dancers at what was then Royaltone studios in Burbank.

[robmix]

Originally Posted by DangerousInc

Michael loved the song 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart' by Yes and it was sampled in the song D.S. Maybe Im not listening properly but I cant hear it. Is it the Orch Hit? Can you please tell me more about that?

Also do you know any details about Michael's own studio @ Neverland?

That is the orchestra hit from "Owner of a lonely heart" . . . . .

Never saw the studio at Neverland. We had a party there after HIStory, but as far as I know there was no studio at that time.

[PlatinumSamples]

There was never a studio at Neverland... There was a studio at Havenhurst with a Brent Averill API. Brent recorded demos for MJJ for Thriller there.

Rail

[Mikey MTC]

I just gotta echo everyone here - awesome thread! I better add something rather than be a "me too" guy:

Someone mentioned that Eddie Van Halen solo in Beat It a few pages back. I remember at the time there was so much publicity around the solo that it really pushed Van Halen heavily into the limelight as well.

I remember reading in a tech mag at the time a quote from, I think Alex Van Halen that the band was really bewildered at all the coverage of what an amazing solo it was. He claimed that it was just a standard Eddie solo that he could blow out any day, yet people were going nuts over this one solo. (Me included I gotta say at the time!).

It's all about proportion isn't it! I mean Van Halen weren't 1984 & 5150 huge yet, but they were still a popular known quantity. Then Eddie plays on Beat It and THAT'S notoriety!

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by Mikey MTC

I just gotta echo everyone here - awesome thread! I better add something rather than be a "me too" guy:

Someone mentioned that Eddie Van Halen solo in Beat It a few pages back. I remember at the time there was so much publicity around the solo that it really pushed Van Halen heavily into the limelight as well.

I remember reading in a tech mag at the time a quote from, I think Alex Van Halen that the band was really bewildered at all the coverage of what an amazing solo it was. He claimed that it was just a standard Eddie solo that he could blow out any day, yet people were going nuts over this one solo. (Me included I gotta say at the time!).

It's all about proportion isn't it! I mean Van Halen weren't 1984 & 5150 huge yet, but they were still a popular known quantity. Then Eddie plays on Beat It and THAT'S notoriety!

.

yeah, if you've heard that series of fairly recently released EVH Guitar World phone interviews (available on youtube) - those guys were really busting their butts and apparantly desperately struggling with Warner Bros. trying to get the financial and business infrastructure support they needed from the label.

...pretty insane, considering they were one of WB's highest selling acts - even then (this was during the diver down tour).

anyway, back OT...yes, i love that EVH solo - not because it's particularly unique to EVH - but because it was unique to the pop/ dance world context at that time, and the chunky chordal riff opening, as well as over-all phrasing and climax of the solo are perfectly suited to the harmonic rhythm of the song! also, the timbre of the guitar showcased vividly over the pop production / arrangement.

.

[chtimixeur]

Originally Posted by Resonater

The final days of that album were made interesting, by Bruce giving me the task to sequence the album and edit it down to a size that we could fit onto a CD. This was no small undertaking, as about 7 minutes needed to be trimmed somewhere. I laid this all out in Sound Tools and came to know every bar of every song very intimately. I found places where songs could be tightened up and came up with many suggestions. On the night of mastering, I was put in a room at Bernie Grundman's with my Sound Tools rig, and in this room, I would have to "negotiate" with Michael about what to take out. I'll never forget this night...Michael came in, and Bruce told MJ that we would have to remove either 1) one whole song or 2) edit the others to fit onto a CD. We chose the latter...I started with song one and played Michael my edits, "Oh no, we can't take THAT out...it's my favorite part of the album!". OK. Let's try another, "Oh no, we MUST keep those four bars". OK...let's go to the vamp, which carries on for two minutes...how about removing these eight bars, "Oh no, that's my favorite part of the vamp!". Well, you get the picture. Meanwhile, Jimmy Jam was in with us, telling Michael that all these edits were killer and actually make things better. And over the course of about 5 hours, we got it down

First of all, thank YOU for those amazing stories about Michael's experience in the sudio.

You talked about sequencing HIStory, and recording over 40 songs for this project.
Did some songs make it in the "final cut" at the last minute ?
There was a rumour about Come Together replacing another song at the last minute : is it true ? If so, what song was it supposed to be ? (is it "Face", or maybe "Fear" ?)
Did the sequencing of the album change a lot ? Was Scream always intended to be the opening track, and Smile the last one ?

Was Michael adament about the 77:07 length of the album (Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are all 77:07 long) ?

Thanks in advance if you answer those questions.

[robmix]

Originally Posted by chtimixeur

First of all, thank YOU for those amazing stories about Michael's experience in the sudio.

You talked about sequencing HIStory, and recording over 40 songs for this project.
Did some songs make it in the "final cut" at the last minute ?
There was a rumour about Come Together replacing another song at the last minute : is it true ? If so, what song was it supposed to be ? (is it "Face", or maybe "Fear" ?)
Did the sequencing of the album change a lot ? Was Scream always intended to be the opening track, and Smile the last one ?

Was Michael adament about the 77:07 length of the album (Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are all 77:07 long) ?

Thanks in advance if you answer those questions.

I can answer a couple of those. We were getting a lot of pressure from Sony to be done. So at one point we had a meeting with Bruce, MJ, and the core production team and decided on the songs to be finished. That was maybe a month or so before we finished. There was nothing last minute, though "Come Together" was added late in the project. To my knowledge there weren't any songs called Fear or Face, unless they were personal titles that MJ had in his head.

I believe the 77:07 is simply the maximum time allowed on a CD.


John may have more insight into the rest of your questions.

[chtimixeur]

Originally Posted by robmix

I can answer a couple of those. We were getting a lot of pressure from Sony to be done. So at one point we had a meeting with Bruce, MJ, and the core production team and decided on the songs to be finished. That was maybe a month or so before we finished. There was nothing last minute, though "Come Together" was added late in the project. To my knowledge there weren't any songs called Fear or Face, unless they were personal titles that MJ had in his head.

I believe the 77:07 is simply the maximum time allowed on a CD.


John may have more insight into the rest of your questions.

Thanks for answering so fast.
As to "Fear" and "Face", I had read on a few websites about those songs, and I thought they were real :
OUTTAKES / UNRELEASED Discography Lyrics 1990 ~ 1995 Songs - Michael Jackson Radio Station

I, like many others on this thread, feel privileged to read so many inside stories about MJ, and I hope you'll have some more in the near future. Cheers !

[Timothy Lawler]

Thank you for this thread.

[BlueSwan]

Brilliant stories.

I'm stunned that Earth Song was recorded for Dangerous, yet somehow didn't make it on to that album. I wonder what the reason for that could have been. That song is my personal all-time favourite MJ song, as well as his biggest ever hit in several European territories, including the UK.

Rob, back when HIStory was supposed to have been a greatest hits package with a few extra songs, do you know which extra songs were planned for inclusion at the time?

[Happy Musicfan]

Originally Posted by Mikey MTC

I just gotta echo everyone here - awesome thread! I better add something rather than be a "me too" guy:

Someone mentioned that Eddie Van Halen solo in Beat It a few pages back. I remember at the time there was so much publicity around the solo that it really pushed Van Halen heavily into the limelight as well.

I remember reading in a tech mag at the time a quote from, I think Alex Van Halen that the band was really bewildered at all the coverage of what an amazing solo it was. He claimed that it was just a standard Eddie solo that he could blow out any day, yet people were going nuts over this one solo. (Me included I gotta say at the time!).

It's all about proportion isn't it! I mean Van Halen weren't 1984 & 5150 huge yet, but they were still a popular known quantity. Then Eddie plays on Beat It and THAT'S notoriety!

Thanks for that info. My favorite EVH solo is the smokin' Hot For Teacher one. His solo on Beat It was more abrupt, maybe more contrived, but still... *great*. I think the neat thing about MJ was his open, expansive musical mind which was kind of like Quincy's. It's cool and kind that they reached out to Adam Ant (for his Dog Eat Dog tribal drum sound) and Eddie Van Halen (for his hyper-agile guitar-wiz improvisations) in an attempt to serve and appreciate the larger concept of music.

[billiot]

Most Sincere Thanks to ALL involved
-will be re-reading this one for years

If yawl indulge me...

My personal memories of Michael;

*First album bought - Thriller - we all remember our first LP 'album' - and how none have compared since (and none sound as good!!)
*2 x concerts in 96 - To see him perform was what I can only imagine would be like seeing a great master at work
again, a very rare experience for Mr Joe Schmoe MJ fan at the arse end of the world

*The thought of many billions of people coming together over MJ in 2009....priceless
...sweet seducing sighs...

As for VH

Rumours in ROCK music, are sorta like some kind of Fleetwood Mac album...pardon...

I heard, at the time, WB (and DLR) asked Ed not to "over do it" on Beat it, as 1984 was just around the corner...

...(also read somewhere) that EVH didn't meet Michael until many years after Thriller had been released...not sure if true or not

As both a VH and MJ fan I must say that Beat it solo was one of Ed's most melodic (and shortest IMO)
It encapsulated the very best of what Ed was doing at the time
Good one EVH
Long live MJ's music
.

[ericwall]

Great thread with great contributions. Keep 'em coming please.

I saw MJ live twice, '87 and '93 (I think...the "Bad" and "Dangerous" tours). I'm pretty hard to please but those jaw-dropping performances gave me goose-bumps.

I hope they recorded the last show's rehearsals so we get to see it.

RIP.

[aecio]

Originally Posted by Darjis

i am very interested in hearing more of the "they don't care about us" stories. in particular, the brazillian video.

my girlfriend/spouse is from brazil and apparently that video mean't the world to them. specifically because 1) it was shot in the favela's where the very poor of brazil live and 2) because there is a very distinct uncaring attitude towards the poor from the gov't. plus, having the live drumming from Olodum was a huge thing for their culture down there...

anyone have any stories on the reasons why that direction was chosen? was it by micheal, did he realize the effect it had on the people? etc?

it brings me to tears everytime i watch it. it's aweful the way people are treated there...

anyways, thanks in advance...

mj was an inspiration. i don't care who you are, there is no way his talent can be ignored.

It was shot at Pelourinho, which is not a favela per se, but the old historic downtown where poor people live. It's one of our most important historic places. Bahia is the first place where european arrived 500 years ago and started to build civilization as we know today.

I was a little kid when this happened but i remember the media reaction to the video recording and, more important, the human commotion to see the great pop idol of all times in front of them.

Olodum is still very important, mainly in the Brazilian northest region, for their work with poor children, teaching music and spreading culture. It gained some international media reaction because of MJ (although i learned that in some countries there was another version of the video) and we were very pleased that he chose to work with them.

I remember all this very poorly, but yes, it was a big deal to all Brazilian people at the time.

I am very pleased with this thread, since we can get to know like no other how the real MJ really was. I am spreading the world with your stories to my family and friends and it's great to see the reactions (like my sister: "i knew he wasn't all that the media said. i knew it.").

My first vinyl ever was Bad, that my grandmother gave to me when it came out.

The rest is HIStory.
So keep them coming!

Thanks guys!

[robmix]

Originally Posted by BlueSwan

Brilliant stories.

I'm stunned that Earth Song was recorded for Dangerous, yet somehow didn't make it on to that album. I wonder what the reason for that could have been. That song is my personal all-time favourite MJ song, as well as his biggest ever hit in several European territories, including the UK.

Rob, back when HIStory was supposed to have been a greatest hits package with a few extra songs, do you know which extra songs were planned for inclusion at the time?

That's actually hard to remember. I know "Stranger in Moscow" was one of the first that we worked on, as well as "Too Bad". "They Don't Care About Us" was early on, and I think "D.S." and "Money". But to my recollection, at least in the sessions, there was no talk of which were going to be included on the original greatest hits concept.

[Sqye]

.

i just wanted to say - i caught some of the MJ tribute on the radio today...

i was moved by these speeches:

Queen Latifah reading Maya Angelou's poem for Michael, and personal thoughts about what he meant to so many. the ending line, "we are the world" was beautiful!

Berry Gordy's speech about MJ's talent, career and family - the story about MJ performing "who's loving you" better than Smokey (and Smokey admitting it) was great!

Al Sharpton's speech about MJ's influence on black performers and people everywhere, his ability to unite people of all backgrounds through his music and entertainment, and his professional perseverence and dedication - very inspiring!

Brooke Shield's speech about MJ - as a wonderful person, and friend, his honesty and childlike qualities, his love of laughter, and how close the two of them were - partly due to the fact that they shared the common bond of being child stars - and the blessings and curses that go along with this - very emotional and touching! the piece she chose to read from the Little Prince seemed indeed perfect!


and these performances:

Some Lionel Richie - he sounded good - good choir, etc.

Stevie Wonder's solo performance - WOW - it brought tears

John Mayer's Human Nature instrumental - very tasty

...that's pretty much all i experienced - pieces of a great and moving tribute to MJ!

.

[androne]

I really wonder how those strong gated snare samples are created ?

I believe strong compression and gated reverbs is the trick.

Does anyone know ?

These snare sounds start on the BAD album all the way to his last.

[living sounds]

Originally Posted by androne

I really wonder how those strong gated snare samples are created ?

I believe strong compression and gated reverbs is the trick.

Does anyone know ?

These snare sounds start on the BAD album all the way to his last.

I think it's the beat box (MJ's voice).

[androne]

Originally Posted by living sounds

I think it's the beat box (MJ's voice).

Youre kidding right ?

[robmix]

Originally Posted by androne

I really wonder how those strong gated snare samples are created ?

I believe strong compression and gated reverbs is the trick.

Does anyone know ?

These snare sounds start on the BAD album all the way to his last.

On History it was simply the samples used, and some compression on the SSL. You continue to hear it in pop music like Britney, and Justin. There were no gated reverbs on HIStory.

[Resonater]

Originally Posted by chtimixeur

First of all, thank YOU for those amazing stories about Michael's experience in the sudio.

You talked about sequencing HIStory, and recording over 40 songs for this project.
Did some songs make it in the "final cut" at the last minute ?
There was a rumour about Come Together replacing another song at the last minute : is it true ? If so, what song was it supposed to be ? (is it "Face", or maybe "Fear" ?)
Did the sequencing of the album change a lot ? Was Scream always intended to be the opening track, and Smile the last one ?

Was Michael adament about the 77:07 length of the album (Dangerous, HIStory and Invincible are all 77:07 long) ?

Thanks in advance if you answer those questions.

As I mentioned, the "negotiating" session that I had with Michael at Bernie Grundman's Mastering was simply to pare down what we had...perhaps 83:00 minutes of audio or so, as I recall...down to whatever was allowable on CD at the time. Surely, there were no songs that "made the final cut at the last minute". Bruce gave me the running order and copies of all the songs perhaps two weeks prior to mixing. I spent time making lots of test cuts, so I'd have options for Michael.

I did forgot to mention one thing upthread; as I did mention, Michael really didn't want to cut anything, and some of it was a given to my thinking...perhaps there would be 10 bars of just a drum beat/loop. I would suggest cutting it down to 8 bars or even 6, and Michael would immediately comment that each bar was imperative. As I also mentioned, Jimmy Jam was there, offering me support and telling Michael how much better things were tightened up a bit. But Michael was really not budging. What saved us all was Bruce coming in, appearing somewhat as an authority figure and simply telling Michael that I either had to make the cuts or we would have to cut one song off the album...the CD format was simply not capable of handling 80+ minutes. Thankfully, it was Bruce's matter of fact delivery that Michael could choose to leave one song off and/or make edits. From that point on...we knew we had a job to do, and we eventually got the audio down just low enough that it would fit on CD.

It is doubtful that Michael had any interest in achieving some particular running time. It was a really fun night, and I'm really hoping to get the video footage from it someday for keeping within my family!

It's been a very sad day, with the Memorial Service and all. But one thing I am heartened about...I feel that the overall coverage of Michael's passing has been much more focused on the many positives that he brought; the music, the voice, the dancing, the charity work, etc etc and much less on the eccentricities about which so much is written. The Michael that Rob and I knew was a tremendous person, polite, humble, and certainly a person who constantly strove to better his art. Also, he was really nothing at all like the person portrayed in the press, at least on a human level. I believe that the world is much worse off for losing him.

[Nfinite2006]

Originally Posted by TonyBelmont

Excellent thread.

i agree

[ericwall]

I wanna know who came up with the keyboard-part in Human Nature.

MJ? Gregg Ph?

I wish I did...

[mikesilence]

Originally Posted by Sqye

.


and these performances:

Some Lionel Richie - he sounded good - good choir, etc.

Stevie Wonder's solo performance - WOW - it brought tears

John Mayer's Human Nature instrumental - very tasty

...that's pretty much all i experienced - pieces of a great and moving tribute to MJ!

.

Ushers performance was also great as well as Jermaines...

[Resonater]

Originally Posted by ericwall

I wanna know who came up with the keyboard-part in Human Nature.

MJ? Gregg Ph?

I wish I did...

I'm guessing Steve Porcaro, who co-wrote the song...he's a brilliant keyboard player.

[F D B]

I have a question too.
It is been said, for a long time, that the Number 7 was somewhat special to Michael. I don't want to make it long, but I've heard that number is related to divinity and religious stuff. Have you ever heard anything about it from Michael himself? Maybe when you were working on the tracklist, did he ever mention anything like "I want this track to be the seventh number because..."

I may seem dumb, but that caught my attention.
Thank you in advance.

[RubberToe]

Thanks for this hugely-interesting thread!

Originally Posted by F D B

I have a question too.
It is been said, for a long time, that the Number 7 was somewhat special to Michael. I don't want to make it long, but I've heard that number is related to divinity and religious stuff. Have you ever heard anything about it from Michael himself? Maybe when you were working on the tracklist, did he ever mention anything like "I want this track to be the seventh number because..."

I may seem dumb, but that caught my attention.
Thank you in advance.

-Michael Jackson signed his will on 7/7/02.
-Michael Jackson's memorial was on 7/7/09 ... exactly 7 years after the will was signed.
-Michael Jackson's two biggest hits -- "Black & White" and "Billie Jean" -- were each #1 for 7 weeks.
-Michael Jackson's three biggest albums -- "Thriller," "Bad" and "Dangerous" each produced 7 top 40 hits.
-Michael Jackson was the 7th of 9 children.
-Michael Jackson was born in 1958 ... 19 + 58 = 77
-Michael Jackson died on the 25th ... 2 + 5 = 7
-Michael Jackson has 7 letters in his first and last name.