Exclusive: Inside Michael Jackson’s “Hollywood”

qbee

Proud Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
11,824
Points
0
Location
Michigan USA
A Very Interesting Article by Joe Vogel about the History of
Michael''s song Hollywood Tonight and the video created for it

Exclusive: Inside Michael Jackson’s “Hollywood”

<SMALL>Posted: March 14, 2011 by Joe Vogel </SMALL>
<SMALL>http://joevogel.wordpress.com/</SMALL>
<SMALL></SMALL>
<SMALL></SMALL>
Michael Jackson was so impressed with dancer, Sofia Boutella &#8212; star of the late icon&#8217;s new music video for &#8220;Hollywood Tonight&#8221; &#8212; he was ready to offer her the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to dance alongside him on his This Is It concert series at the O2 Arena in London. Unfortunately, she was still under contract for Madonna&#8217;s Confessions Tour at the time and couldn&#8217;t get out of it. Seeing how disappointed Boutella was, Jackson turned to a couple of his collaborators and said: &#8220;I used to date Madonna. I should call her.&#8221;

While Boutella ultimately missed out on This Is It, she pays admirable homage to the King of Pop in his most recent posthumous video, which paints the story of a young, ambitious girl trying to make it in Hollywood without being swallowed by its trappings and illusions. It&#8217;s a well-worn tale, but is carried out tastefully by director, Wayne Isham, and sparked by the infectious energy and talent of Boutella. The video also reminds &#8212; along with recent MJ tributes on American Idol and Glee &#8212; how profound Jackson&#8217;s influence continues to be on new generations (many of whom only &#8220;discovered&#8221; him after his tragic death in 2009).

<SMALL></SMALL>
&#8220;Hollywood Tonight&#8221; is the second single to be released from Jackson&#8217;s posthumous album, MICHAEL
(&#8220;Behind the Mask&#8221; is the alternate single for several countries, including the United States).


The song has a long and winding history. Jackson first put down a sketch of the lyrics in 1999 while staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Soon after, he began working out the music with longtime friend and collaborator, Brad Buxer (who co-wrote the song). The song traveled with them from Los Angeles to New York, Miami to Neverland, during the early Invincible sessions. Jackson and Buxer were pumping out some outstanding material around this time, including songs like &#8220;Beautiful Girl,&#8221; &#8220;The Way You Love Me,&#8221; &#8220;Speechless,&#8221; &#8220;The Lost Children,&#8221; &#8220;Shut Up and Dance&#8221; (a great dance track Jackson and Buxer worked on with Michael Prince and Eric Kirkland with echoes of Stevie Wonder and MJ circa Bad which, unfortunately, doesn&#8217;t have complete vocals) and &#8220;I Was the Loser&#8221; (a nice, melodic mid-tempo tune about lost love that is mostly finished), among others. A couple of years earlier Jackson and Buxer had also worked on artistic standouts like &#8220;Morphine&#8221; and &#8220;In the Back.&#8221;

Jackson loved parts of &#8220;Hollywood&#8221;&#8211;the opening Gregorian chant (his idea), the &#8220;westbound, greyhound&#8221; harmonies, the whistling in the outro&#8211;but stopped working on it once producer Rodney Jerkins came on board for Invincible.


Over the next ten years, however, he returned to the track numerous times. For the bass line, he was searching for something similar to &#8220;Billie Jean,&#8221; but distinct. &#8220;Do smooth muted bass on &#8216;Hollywood,&#8217;&#8221; he indicated in one note. His early demos feature two layered bass lines (Michael Prince added the &#8220;Billie Jean&#8221;-esque kick and snare in the last mix MJ requested). Jackson and Brad Buxer continued tinkering with it in Las Vegas in 2007. For a while, he liked the idea of ending with the sound of a bus leaving or arriving. Yet he ultimately decided to conclude with the whistling, since the juxtaposition was a bit awkward.


In October 2008, Jackson, now living in Los Angeles, asked recording engineer Michael Prince to put the latest mix of &#8220;Hollywood&#8221; on CD so he could listen to it and see what might be improved. Sadly, he never got around to working on it again.


The new single of &#8220;Hollywood&#8221; is truer to this last version than the album cut. Of course, Jackson had intended to keep working on it, which is why his estate and Sony originally brought in two of Jackson&#8217;s close collaborators, Theron Feemster (aka Neff-U) and Teddy Riley, to try to finish it. Feemster had the first crack and came up with some solid mixes; yet Sony didn&#8217;t feel it was quite right and subsequently gave Teddy Riley a shot. Riley&#8217;s production, which retained much of Michael and Brad&#8217;s demo (including the intro and outro), elements of Feemster&#8217;s mix (including the fantastically funky guitar riff and horns), and added a bit more punch, became the album version.


After it was released, however, many fans voiced concerns about a) the over-processed vocals, and b) the lengthy spoken bridge. Jackson had, in fact, written lyrics for his own bridge, which were much darker than Riley&#8217;s. Jackson&#8217;s bridge reads:

She doesn&#8217;t even have a ticket
She doesn&#8217;t even have a way back home
She&#8217;s lost and she&#8217;s alone
There&#8217;s no place for her to go
She is young and she is cold
Just like her father told her so


While Jackson&#8217;s version highlights the tragedy and uncertainty of a dream deferred, Teddy Riley&#8217;s bridge opted for a more positive and tidy resolution. &#8220;With the bridge we kind of made her succeed,&#8221; Riley explained. &#8220;[She] completed her mission.&#8221;


Riley would have undoubtedly used Jackson&#8217;s version had their been vocals for it. Unfortunately, they were never recorded. With the new single, however, Sony decided to cut the spoken part completely and showcase instead some of the heightening drama and tension Jackson intended for this section. They used his beatboxing, his idea of swelling horns and strings, and his operatic vocal (pulled from a tape left running during a recording session in a hotel room). In addition to the bridge, the vocals on the new single are left un-processed and the production is scaled back. The result is a single that has a rawer, funkier, but less finished feel than the album version.


&#8220;Hollywood Tonight,&#8221; then, has gone through many incarnations: the several different demos Jackson recorded with Brad Buxer and Michael Prince, from 1999 to 2008; the two versions Theron Feemster worked on following Jackson&#8217;s death (one of which is reportedly quite impressive); the polished album version completed by Teddy Riley; and, of course, the new single. All are necessarily approximations to what Jackson would have ultimately put out in finished form.

That&#8217;s the nature of posthumous releases. They will always be imperfect and they will always generate fierce debate.

But for most music lovers, we will take whatever new Michael Jackson we can get, whether demos, new mixes or remixes. &#8220;Hollywood Tonight&#8221; could be gathering dust in a vault; instead, it has people dancing in the streets.

Behind the scene Hollywood Tonight
<SMALL>[youtube]oB05mmA_gE8[/youtube]
</SMALL>
 
Last edited:
Great article!Thank you for posting! I would love to hear all of the versions made,especially the raw demos.
 
qbee;3294276 said:
After it was released, however, many fans voiced concerns about a) the over-processed vocals, and b) the lengthy spoken bridge. Jackson had, in fact, written lyrics for his own bridge, which were much darker than Riley’s. Jackson’s bridge reads:

She doesn’t even have a ticket
She doesn’t even have a way back home
She’s lost and she’s alone
There’s no place for her to go
She is young and she is cold
Just like her father told her so


While Jackson’s version highlights the tragedy and uncertainty of a dream deferred, Teddy Riley’s bridge opted for a more positive and tidy resolution. “With the bridge we kind of made her succeed,” Riley explained. “[She] completed her mission.”

:mello:

I didn't know Michael had written a bridge for the song..! They should've used that one!! Riley opted for a "more positive resolution".. WTF, is this a Teddy Riley or a Michael Jackson song? I understand that they have to put finishing touches on unfinished songs, but replacing Michael's own lyrics is just so wrong!
 
Fantastic post, thanks.

"They used his beatboxing, his idea of swelling horns and strings, and his operatic vocal (pulled from a tape left running during a recording session in a hotel room)"

^^ This must have been where the demo snip I uploaded came from
 
Great article. I am soooo looking forward to Vogel's book...He might have answers to some of our MJ music-related questions.

Exactly what I thought, Sony was responding to fans' demand by releasing this new version.

I love it all...I can only imagine what the final MJ-mix would sound like after he worked on it in 2008.

One other thing, I really admire MJ's patience, he worked on the song on & off for 10 years. He did the same thing with Earth Song...


For those interested, here is Joe Vogel's twitter @joevogel_ He is often on, and has replied to a couple of my questions & other fans questions.


.
 
Last edited:
It makes me happy that Michael worked on this song sporadically, and ultimately wanted to release it on the new album. I wish more people would support the song and the video... It deserves to be a hit, unlike the most of the musical crap we hear today......
 
:mello:

I didn't know Michael had written a bridge for the song..! They should've used that one!! Riley opted for a "more positive resolution".. WTF, is this a Teddy Riley or a Michael Jackson song? I understand that they have to put finishing touches on unfinished songs, but replacing Michael's own lyrics is just so wrong!

This. :clapping:
 
:mello:

I didn't know Michael had written a bridge for the song..! They should've used that one!! Riley opted for a "more positive resolution".. WTF, is this a Teddy Riley or a Michael Jackson song? I understand that they have to put finishing touches on unfinished songs, but replacing Michael's own lyrics is just so wrong!

Yes! This! Thank you! I completely agree. That bridge Mike wrote along with the lyrics (including his handwritten ones) shows how dark Michael really wanted this song to be. But they changed them?! Why make it positive when it's clear he didn't want that? This is what I mean about them stifling his artistry and ideas; they have a clear cut path of what he wanted, yet they contradict the story to make it positive? Mike's STORYLINES in his songs are always so fantastic! I wish they would have run with that! It's like telling the story of the Titanic by simply saying 'It sank. The end.' :mello: WTF happened??!!! I wanna know what happens next! :lol:

The article is great, though! Loved it!
 
Last edited:
I don't want to be the one always complaining but i have a problem with this part :


3294276 said:
"While Jackson’s version highlights the tragedy and uncertainty of a dream deferred, Teddy Riley’s bridge opted for a more positive and tidy resolution. “With the bridge we kind of made her succeed,” Riley explained. “[She] completed her mission.”

With all respect to Riley and all the others but that is just a big NO!!! They don't have the right to intervene in Michael's work and vision. He created the song that way because he wanted to tell something. He didn't want a happy ending, he left that brigde so Riley should have used Michael's lyrics. I don't understand who gave them the right to alter Michael's lyrics according to they wish. That is Michael's work and they don't have the right to play with it, alter it, ad things, remove things. I am very disappointed and frustrated by the way that Michael's matterials are being handled by those people.
 
Yes! This! Thank you! I completely agree. That bridge Mike wrote along with the lyrics (including his handwritten ones) shows how dark Michael really wanted this song to be. But they changed them?!

I understand there was no music or vocals recorded to MJ's bridge, but why not at least use his words for the new spoken-word bridge?

Ant Vogel's book could be the greatest source of info us fans have ever had on MJ's music.
 
I understand there was no music or vocals recorded to MJ's bridge, but why not at least use his words for the new spoken-word bridge?

Ant Vogel's book could be the greatest source of info us fans have ever had on MJ's music.

Agreed. Michael practically left an instruction manual for this song. Step 1, Step 2, Step 3. Is it that hard to follow? lol

I do love hearing about his music and the ideas he had for them! It's euphoric! haha
 
Thanks for posting Qbee....this is fascinating...the genuis of MJ....thanku Mr.Vogel,looking forward for the book!!! :)

JUST WANT TO REITERATE THIS: EVERYBODY MUST UNDERSTAND!!!

That&#8217;s the nature of posthumous releases. They will always be imperfect and they will always generate fierce debate.
 
Last edited:
This is a well written article. I thank you for posting it . :flowers:
 
I understand there was no music or vocals recorded to MJ's bridge, but why not at least use his words for the new spoken-word bridge?

Ant Vogel's book could be the greatest source of info us fans have ever had on MJ's music.

I agree. Why not at least use Michael's words for the spoken bridge? Not a complaint, just saying.

I, too, look forward to Vogel's book. I'll definitely get a copy. I wonder how he got all these insider info.

The quote "I used to date Madonna. I should call her." is funny... Michael, you are funny! :wub:
 
Great to know this inside information! I sure hope there are more articles like this in the near future..
 
:mello:

I didn't know Michael had written a bridge for the song..! They should've used that one!! Riley opted for a "more positive resolution".. WTF, is this a Teddy Riley or a Michael Jackson song? I understand that they have to put finishing touches on unfinished songs, but replacing Michael's own lyrics is just so wrong!

Truth.

Some people apart of this 'Michael' album seem to think they know better than Michael himself. :doh:
 
Truth.

The people apart of this 'Michael' album seem to think they know better than Michael himself. :doh:

Right. The song isn't a 'fun' song. Sure, it's a dance track, but so is Billie Jean. However, BJ is a song with a dark message and so is HT. It's an indictment of Hollywood, not a celebration.
 
A fantastic read, the echoes many of my opinions and confirms many of my questions/beliefs.

Billie Jean drums aside (which personally dont bug me as much as it seems to bother everyone else) the new Throwback Mix is hands down a much better version of the song, if only because of the fact that its closer to Michael's intentions and his vocals aren't processed to shit.
 
Truth.

Some people apart of this 'Michael' album seem to think they know better than Michael himself. :doh:

Some fans ain't much different. All that moaning about the BJ drums and it turns out it was closer to Michael's idea. LOL!

Right. The song isn't a 'fun' song. Sure, it's a dance track, but so is Billie Jean. However, BJ is a song with a dark message and so is HT.

And yet, the BJ video isn't exactly all that dark -- MJ is dancing his butt off.

Anyway, this book will definitely be very interesting.

I would really like to get the Neff-U mixes, I wanna hear all the versions.
 
Why make it positive when it's clear he didn't want that?
You know what they say, "always look at the bright side of life".
the song is about "the american dream". America loves that. to us it may could be "the negative ending" of the story better, but for general public, positive things come better.


People complaining about the video, cause always the same footage appears in these videos, why there was no unseen material used and whatelse everyone complained.
You all shoud keep in mind, that the video is done to appeal the masses and not just to make US the fans happy.
the little footage of Michael in the video are his trademarks, what the whole world knows. to understand why that girl looks up to him and is inspired by Michael. if use unseen footage would be interesting only to us, but not that much to the general public. they won't care at all.
Yes we want to see something new. but that "something new" is in the archives that probably even the estate don't have access to. Sony ha their own archives that includes what we all know.
I think we the fans are little tooo selfish.
they release singles to make us happy, cause thats what we were "begging" for, but it's mainly for the masses.
 
And yet, the BJ video isn't exactly all that dark -- MJ is dancing his butt off.

I never said that dancing couldn't be incorporated into a dark video..All I've been saying is they had a great opportunity to portray his lyrics as he wrote them, and they didn't...

You know what they say, "always look at the bright side of life".

Who's 'they'? Teddy Riley? Michael didn't SAY that, though...

I'm not bashing the video, just looking at it for what it could have been...A storyline that Michael wrote, following his clear cut path that he left. Handwritten notes/lyrics all up the ying yang, practically an instruction manual, yet Riley decided he wanted to make it positive? How 'bout leaving it the way Michael intended it? It's his art, man, respect that.

As a fan, this has nothing to do with what I want, it's about respecting Mike's life work. He didn't put his blood, sweat, and tears into it for nothing ;)
 
serendipity;3295260 said:
Some fans ain't much different. All that moaning about the BJ drums and it turns out it was closer to Michael's idea. LOL!

It's not "moaning", it's opinion. Just because people voiced their less-than-favourable opinion doesn't mean people are "moaning" and "bitching".

This is what Vogel said:

For the bass line, he (Michael Jackson) was searching for something similar to &#8220;Billie Jean,&#8221; but distinct. &#8220;Do smooth muted bass on &#8216;Hollywood,&#8217;&#8221; he indicated in one note.

Michael was searching for a distinct baseline. He did not request to have the "Billie Jean kick's and snares" to be incorporated in Hollywood Tonight.

Even if it's Michael's idea to incorporate the Billie Jean baseline in HT (highly unlikely because Michael was innovative), fans can still voice their dislikes. Fans don't need to love everything Michael did. It doesn't take away their love of the man.

You can not have an objective discussion here if everyone has only favourable opinon.

serendipity;3295260 said:
And yet, the BJ video isn't exactly all that dark -- MJ is dancing his butt off.

Just because Michael danced through the video doesn't mean the video is not dark. The story line, the imagery, the vibe of Billie Jean are very mysterious and intriguing. The reporter taking pictures, then the image in the pictures disappeared? The begger turning into a wealthy man? Who are the cops trying to catch when they got into the apartment? Billie Jeans is by no means a dance video. It's revolutionary.

I'm afraid this comment is being blown out of proportion like the one on the stripper. I'm not saying they have to make a dark and sad video. What I'm trying to say is there is much more in Hollywood Tonight's lyrical message that the filmmaker can explore. Not saying Wayne Isham did a bad job, but the HT video is not that interesting to me. Tasteful video, may be? Intriguing video, not really.

lom kit;3295264 said:
You know what they say, "always look at the bright side of life".
the song is about "the american dream". America loves that. to us it may could be "the negative ending" of the story better, but for general public, positive things come better.

I respectfully disagree with you. Since when "playing hot tricks to men" became an American dream? Based on the bridge penned by Michael, I don't think he intended to make this a rosy story. The girl was broke. She didn't have ticket to go home. She's cold. Hollywood Tonight is a cautionary tale for people who want to chase the movie star dream.

lom kit;3295264 said:
People complaining about the video, cause always the same footage appears in these videos, why there was no unseen material used and whatelse everyone complained.
You all shoud keep in mind, that the video is done to appeal the masses and not just to make US the fans happy.
the little footage of Michael in the video are his trademarks, what the whole world knows. to understand why that girl looks up to him and is inspired by Michael. if use unseen footage would be interesting only to us, but not that much to the general public. they won't care at all.
Yes we want to see something new. but that "something new" is in the archives that probably even the estate don't have access to. Sony ha their own archives that includes what we all know.
I think we the fans are little tooo selfish.
they release singles to make us happy, cause thats what we were "begging" for, but it's mainly for the masses.

I agree with you that the same trademarks are regrugitated because Michael's signature glove, fedora and dance moves appeal to the masses. I'm not against making a video that appeals to the general audience. I'm just afraid that they are branding Michael as a sing-and-dance man and limiting him to just his fedora and sequin jacket. As a fan, I'd love to see other facets of his talents being explored to the public. He's a great song-writer. He saw himself as the platform to send messages out to the world.

Just like all those greatest hit collections, I guess it's never really for the fans.
 
Back
Top