Jam before Teddy Riley

Brad explained us that before Teddy worked on Jam all started from a demo by Bruce Swedien and Rene Moore
 
Slave To The Rhythm;4215454 said:
Michael and I believe Bill Bottrell worked on Jam before Teddy joined the Team. Does anyone have information about Jam before Teddy Riley worked on it?

Romano;4215466 said:
Brad explained us that before Teddy worked on Jam all started from a demo by Bruce Swedien and Rene Moore

‘Jam’ indeed started from a demo by Bruce Swedien & René Moore, hence their co-writing credits on the final version of that song which is included on the ‘Dangerous’ album.

In fact, ‘Jam’ was originally a song that Bruce Swedien & René Moore were working on so as to be included on the upcoming at the time album by the duo René & Angela.

We were actually working on it [‘Jam’] for René’s new album on Motown. But we listened to it and both of us thought to ourselves ‘Wow! We’d better play this for Michael'… So we did, and Michael loved that!” (Bruce Swedien)

I am glad by that change of their plans. Honestly, I cannot imagine the ‘Dangerous’ album without that song.
 
Of course I'd be happy to, but it was in 2014, so I unfortunately do not really remember it clearly. I do have notes that I took at the seminar somewhere, I'll see if I can find them.

But just to illustrate how different it is from the Teddy version(s): Brad introduced it by asking us what we think the next track was. I don't think anyone guessed correctly.
 
That's a version Teddy almost certainly already worked on.

I heard the Swedien version at Brad's seminar. It sounds nothing like the final (or this) version. Cool on its own, but very different.

That was the same version I heard ;-)
 
That's a version Teddy almost certainly already worked on.

I heard the Swedien version at Brad's seminar. It sounds nothing like the final (or this) version. Cool on its own, but very different.

Thank you for sharing that! I was at Brand Sunbergs workshop here in Stockholm back in 2013 and I have a very, very vague memory of him playing Jam in it's original form
 
mj_frenzy;4215493 said:
In fact, ‘Jam’ was originally a song that Bruce Swedien & René Moore were working on so as to be included on the upcoming at the time album by the duo René & Angela.
They wrote and played on half of the songs on Janet's 1982 debut album, including the first single Young Love. Angela Winbush also sang background on some of the songs on Jermaine's 1980 album Let's Get Serious including the title track.
 
It should be noted that every single lyric in Jam was written by Michael Jackson.

The composition of the song was indeed written by Bruce Swedien and Rene Moore then re-worked by Teddy Riley and MJ. But lyrically, it was all MJ.

This was a similar setup Michael did with other songs like Blood On The Dance Floor, where producers created the initial sound while MJ then re-worked it with producers but he himself wrote the lyrics.
 
It should be noted that every single lyric in Jam was written by Michael Jackson.

The composition of the song was indeed written by Bruce Swedien and Rene Moore then re-worked by Teddy Riley and MJ. But lyrically, it was all MJ.

This was a similar setup Michael did with other songs like Blood On The Dance Floor, where producers created the initial sound while MJ then re-worked it with producers but he himself wrote the lyrics.
I hate to see him perform it in oslo. It seems he forgot all of the 1st verse
 
I hate to see him perform it in oslo. It seems he forgot all of the 1st verse

No I don't think he totally forgot it, he didn't sing few words. Remember this happened ( from what we have from concerts) in Tokyo 88 for Human Nature, but he didn't in LA.
 
Teddy Riley Is an Unsung G. The Rump-Shaking Maestro Is Finally Getting His Just Due

https://www.theroot.com/teddy-riley-is-an-unsung-g-the-rump-shaking-maestro-is-1830958673


Only MJ part:
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Being a super Michael Jackson fan from way back, I had to ask Riley some really important questions, such as, “Is it true that Michael Jackson had a naturally deep voice?” which took us into one of the best MJ stories I’d ever heard.

“Yes, he [did],” says Riley, who said that Jackson used to use his “real” voice when he was in disguise. Except one time he came to pay Riley a visit, and the good folks of Virginia Beach weren’t fooled for a minute.

“One time when he came to Virginia and tried to go to Barnes & Noble. And he called me from Barnes & Noble, and said, ‘I need your help.’ [Riley’s voice like Michael’s trademark high-pitched falsetto] ‘Get me outta here.’ He was stuck in Barnes & Nobles, and it was the most incredible sight,” says Riley. “I sent my guys over and they got him outta there.”

Riley chuckles as continues his fantastical story of the King of Pop. In Virginia Beach, of all places.

“They raided his hotel, they went in his room unannounced. One of the people from the hotel gave the hotel key to a news reporter from WAVY-TV. It was crazy. They invaded his privacy,” says Riley.

He says Jackson said he didn’t want to stay in any more hotels in the area and asked if he could buy a house tomorrow for privacy, to which Riley replied in the negative. The producer did, however, manage to put Jackson up in what he called his “sanctuary,” a senior citizen’s subdivision where Riley had purchased a home for his mother.

Riley noted that one of his career’s biggest highs, was of course, working with Jackson on the Dangerous album. He said that the process was filled with days and nights in the studio—and hijinks, as Jackson was a huge prankster, who liked images of himself very much.

Riley refers to Jackson in the present, as if he is still in the moment with the King of Pop.

“Michael, he’s just a character. He’s a real character when it comes to the voice changes and the joking people. He’s the biggest when it comes to pranks. Lot of pranks,” Riley reminisces. “But I’m talking about like to a horror point. You’ll be scared like out of your pants. He’s crazy with it. He brought a lot the things that they use in the movies. Like, I don’t know if you know the film, F/X, where that monster that comes to the door, he bought that. He bought the Bat-Man lifesize thing. I’m like, man. Every room (in Jackson’s house) had a Michael Jackson or a life-size thing in there. Batman, Superman, him. A bunch of him.”

As for that little thing that changed the course of music, touching all genres, Riley describes the sound he is credited in creating, New Jack Swing, as much more a sound or a way of interpreting music.

“New Jack Swing is a movement. It’s a culture. It was a synergy for fashion, not just music. Fashion. Art. Comedy. It’s high energy and happiness. We’ve created synergies to change people’s lives and not let them give up,” says Riley. “New Jack Swing was the music that really brought you happiness and joy; there are sad moments but those sad moments bring tears of joy. The Lord is real. Those songs saved a lot of people’s lives.”

After Michael Jackson, there was one more burning question I had to ask of Riley:“How do you keep your signature goatee maintained, and have you ever shaved it off?”

“I did. I shaved it off, I did the clean face,” he shares. “But right now I’m maintaining this doggone goatee; it’s acting right for me, it still grows. I do it myself. I learned how to groom myself, but I have barbers in my crew that are dope.”
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How about this demo? Sounds a LOT less polished in the music production but is it before Teddy?

Edit: Ok, I re-read all comments on the first page. So it's not pre-Teddy.

 
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Electro;4235304 said:
So it's not pre-Teddy.
I haven't heard the original demo and don't know what time period it was recorded. The last René & Angela album was released in 1985. So if was for that, it was probably not a New Jack Swing track. They're kinda remembered today as a Quiet Storm group because the ballads are the songs that get played more often on old school R&B radio stations. But here's 2 uptempo R&B hits from the final album, the 2nd song has then popular rapper Kurtis Blow on it. The original Jam likely had a similar sound because a lot of popular R&B of early to mid 1980s had electrofunk & synth sounds.
 
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How about this demo? Sounds a LOT less polished in the music production but is it before Teddy?

Edit: Ok, I re-read all comments on the first page. So it's not pre-Teddy.



thank you for posting this!
 
In this video, René Moore mentions that the René & Angela song My First Love was originally recorded by Janet Jackson for her debut album, but it wasn't released.
 
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What do people understand the "jam" in 'Jam' to be?

Susan Fast drew parallels with Bob Marley's 'Jammin'' in her book.
 
Does the ZZ Top version of Viva Las Vegas sample Jam? Or is that just a very common sound in popular music? It sounds SO similar.
 
New Jack Swing

Does the ZZ Top version of Viva Las Vegas sample Jam? Or is that just a very common sound in popular music? It sounds SO similar.
I don't about the ZZ Top song, but a lot of New Jack Swing songs sound alike. New Jack Swing was all over the radio in the USA from around 1987 to the early 1990s. By the time the Dangerous album came out, New Jack was beginning to be on the way out popularity wise. It got oversaturated.
 
Re: scratching

That's turntable scratching, it's not exclusive to Jam. You must haven't heard much early hip hop or watched hip hop DJs. Here's a song from 1983 full of scratching.


Yeah wonderful, those don't sound anything like Jam though.
 
Chris I agree with you, it sounds like the exact scratch sound in Jam. I know tons of records use the scratch effects but they're all different. The ZZ top track has the direct identical sound as Jam does. If you listen VERY carefully you can just make out Teddy's voice under the scratch sound saying "Jam" - so it's a direct sample.

Has it been credited?!
 
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