The MJ and Quincy Demos?

SmoothCriminal1995

Proud Member
Joined
Apr 28, 2012
Messages
2,940
Points
113
Are there any unreleased demos from Off The Wall, Thriller and mainly Bad, that we haven't heard that nearly made the record?
I don't just mean demo's MJ worked on solely, I'm talking about demo's that made it to Westlake and nearly made the album, that perhaps Quincy is blocking the release of?

I say this because when you listen to the difference in completion and quality let's say between Carousel and Slapstick, you can hear were Carousel was considered for the record and Slapstick isn't (I love this by the way)
This may seem confusing but I know what I'm trying to say. Songs that were completed and didn't make the album compared with demos that weren't completed and weren't really considered for release.

I'm mainly interested in the Bad era recordings, I remember Quincy saying Michael wanted to release a 3 disc album with 33 songs and I believe a few of the unreleased songs we've heard might not have been in that other 22 songs, tracks like Free, Loving You, Don't Be Messin' Round (not that I don't love them all but they don't sound complete enough for a record)
I think John Barnes said in Bad 25 they worked on lots of songs and Bruce Swedien saying those demos were in really good shape.
Or even if we've heard the demo of a song and not the version Michael and Quincy worked on like, Price Of Fame or Cheater
(I know the version we have of Streetwalker was worked on after the Bad album was released in 88 I think, for instance)

I'm sorry this is a long winded thread, I've been thinking about it lately and wondering if anyone thought the same or had more information on the subject. Thanks guys
 
There’s got to be a lot of stuff like that. I’d be surprised if MJ worked on only 15 songs and then made album of them.
 
There are over 60 songs in different stages of completion (most of them nearly completed) from the BAD recording sessions.

The above number is not exaggerated, but it has been confirmed by several reliable sources over the years.

Also, MJ when he was not satisfied with songs that he & Quincy Jones were working on in the studio (mainly, during the BAD sessions), he used to take certain tapes of those songs in his Encino home & to make alterations on his own (without Jones’ knowledge).

This definitely means there are also many different mixes (of already released songs but also of unreleased songs, coming mainly from the BAD era) that we have not heard yet.

In terms of nearly completed but unreleased songs, the BAD era is generally his most prolific era, whereas the Thriller era is his least prolific one.
 
mj_frenzy;4233834 said:
There are over 60 songs in different stages of completion (most of them nearly completed) from the BAD recording sessions.

The above number is not exaggerated, but it has been confirmed by several reliable sources over the years.

Also, MJ when he was not satisfied with songs that he & Quincy Jones were working on in the studio (mainly, during the BAD sessions), he used to take certain tapes of those songs in his Encino home & to make alterations on his own (without Jones’ knowledge).

This definitely means there are also many different mixes (of already released songs but also of unreleased songs, coming mainly from the BAD era) that we have not heard yet.

In terms of nearly completed but unreleased songs, the BAD era is generally his most prolific era, whereas the Thriller era is his least prolific one.

Huh. I thought HIStory has the least amount of unreleased stuff available.
 
I would love to hear more demos from the Bad leading into Dangerous sessions. I think Michael was really into the groove at this point in his career, in terms of how prolific he was with quality and quantity.
 
Are there any unreleased demos from Off The Wall, Thriller and mainly Bad, that we haven't heard that nearly made the record?
I don't just mean demo's MJ worked on solely, I'm talking about demo's that made it to Westlake and nearly made the album, that perhaps Quincy is blocking the release of?

I say this because when you listen to the difference in completion and quality let's say between Carousel and Slapstick, you can hear were Carousel was considered for the record and Slapstick isn't (I love this by the way)
This may seem confusing but I know what I'm trying to say. Songs that were completed and didn't make the album compared with demos that weren't completed and weren't really considered for release.

I'm mainly interested in the Bad era recordings, I remember Quincy saying Michael wanted to release a 3 disc album with 33 songs and I believe a few of the unreleased songs we've heard might not have been in that other 22 songs, tracks like Free, Loving You, Don't Be Messin' Round (not that I don't love them all but they don't sound complete enough for a record)
I think John Barnes said in Bad 25 they worked on lots of songs and Bruce Swedien saying those demos were in really good shape.
Or even if we've heard the demo of a song and not the version Michael and Quincy worked on like, Price Of Fame or Cheater
(I know the version we have of Streetwalker was worked on after the Bad album was released in 88 I think, for instance)

I'm sorry this is a long winded thread, I've been thinking about it lately and wondering if anyone thought the same or had more information on the subject. Thanks guys

Q said in an interview (I don't recall which one it was, I'll search for it later) that MJ had brought in nearly two dozens of songs. Q himself requested four songs from outside writers in order to finally choose two (JGF & MITM).


From the brief infos here and there, the songs MJ had brought in could be as followed:

  • Bad
  • The Way You Make Me Feel
  • Speed Demon
  • Liberian Girl
  • Another Part Of Me
  • I Just Can't Stop Loving You
  • Dirty Diana
  • Smooth Criminal
  • Leave Me Alone
  • Price Of Fame
  • Streetwalker
  • Do You Know Where Your Children Are
  • Fly Away
  • Who Is It
  • Someone Put Your Hand Out
  • Al Capone
  • Tomboy
  • Cheater
  • If You Don't Love Me
  • Don't Be Messin' 'Round
 
from Rolling Stone magazine (09/24/1987)
But during the recording sessions, Thriller loomed over everyone – especially Michael. He had written sixty-two songs, and during 1985 he recorded dozens of forty-eight-track demos at his home studio, including a cover of “Come Together,” one of his favorite Beatles tunes. By the time he and Jones moved to Westlake on August 4th, 1986, pressure was mounting. “There was so much stress,” says guitarist David Williams, “and so much tension” that “I was doing the exact same part at least five different times on each song. They were trying to match the other one, the Thriller album, at least.”

[...]

At a 1986 Christmas party at Jones’s house, songwriter Glen Ballard approached Jones and asked, half jokingly, “Need anything for Michael?” “Yeah,” the producer replied, also only half joking, “I need a hit!”

Jones now says he wanted “four more killer songs”; during the first week of February, he held a meeting of his staff writers at his house, and he alerted other publishers that he was looking for material. He ended up finding two songs, “Just Good Friends,” by Tina Turner hitmakers Terry Britten and Graham Lyle, and “Man in the Mirror,” by Ballard and Siedah Garrett.
 
Fuzball;4234751 said:
Q said in an interview (I don't recall which one it was, I'll search for it later) that MJ had brought in nearly two dozens of songs. Q himself requested four songs from outside writers in order to finally choose two (JGF & MITM).


From the brief infos here and there, the songs MJ had brought in could be as followed:

  • Bad
  • The Way You Make Me Feel
  • Speed Demon
  • Liberian Girl
  • Another Part Of Me
  • I Just Can't Stop Loving You
  • Dirty Diana
  • Smooth Criminal
  • Leave Me Alone
  • Price Of Fame
  • Streetwalker
  • Do You Know Where Your Children Are
  • Fly Away
  • Who Is It
  • Someone Put Your Hand Out
  • Al Capone
  • Tomboy
  • Cheater
  • If You Don't Love Me
  • Don't Be Messin' 'Round

If you don’t love me and who is it are dangerous tracks. I would also add

Alright Now (confirmed to be recorded in 85 by John Barnes. Later given to Ralph Tresvant)
Scared of the moon (recorded in 85)
Chicago 1945
Buffalo Bill (recorded for Victory but was probably presented to quincy for bad)
Free
Abortions papers
Apocalypse now (song with a military type of beat)
Loving You
Groove of midnight
We are here to change the world
 
Themidwestcowboy;4234940 said:
If you don’t love me and who is it are dangerous tracks. I would also add

Alright Now (confirmed to be recorded in 85 by John Barnes. Later given to Ralph Tresvant)
Scared of the moon (recorded in 85)
Chicago 1945
Buffalo Bill (recorded for Victory but was probably presented to quincy for bad)
Free
Abortions papers
Apocalypse now (song with a military type of beat)
Loving You
Groove of midnight
We are here to change the world

There are also songs like
Crack Kills
Throwing Your Life Away
Deep In The Night
Pyramid Girl (which is NOT a demo for Liberian Girl)
What You Do To Me
Be Me 4 A Day
Changes
Get Around
Make Or Break

that we either know from ITSWMJ seminars,
that John Barnes confirmed he worked on in TheMJCast Interview or that Damien Shields confirmed in his book.
Also I remember that the songs Michael created at his Encino house together with John Barnes and Matt Forger were actually fully complete before they were brought to Quincy.

EDIT: Actually I think the first version Someone Put Your Hand Out was worked on was for Dangerous since Brad Buxer played on it.
 
Last edited:
And I thought that Off The Wall has the least amount of unreleased stuff available, haha.

I think a lot of the songs that MJ listed during the Mexico deposition were written prior to OTW
 
Also I remember that the songs Michael created at his Encino house together with John Barnes and Matt Forger were actually fully complete before they were brought to Quincy.
Not true. Some of them were instrumental sketches with barely vocals on them. Nevertheless a few of them were further developed under Qs supervision, e.g. Bad; Apocalypse Now
 
Not true. Some of them were instrumental sketches with barely vocals on them. Nevertheless a few of them were further developed under Qs supervision, e.g. Bad; Apocalypse Now

Sorry I thought I wrote MOST of the songs.
 
Also there must be quite a lot of Rod Temperton demos left, right? Do we know of any Rod Temperton song from the Bad era other than Groove Of Midnight?
Michael also worked with Rod in the 2000s according to Michael Prince
 
Also there must be quite a lot of Rod Temperton demos left, right? Do we know of any Rod Temperton song from the Bad era other than Groove Of Midnight?
Michael also worked with Rod in the 2000s according to Michael Prince
Few people insist on saying that Got the Hots was recorded during early Bad sessions (and Sunset Driver during Thriller sessions). Idk if that's really the case.
 
There are also songs like
Crack Kills
Throwing Your Life Away
Deep In The Night
Pyramid Girl (which is NOT a demo for Liberian Girl)
What You Do To Me
Be Me 4 A Day
Changes
Get Around
Make Or Break

that we either know from ITSWMJ seminars,
that John Barnes confirmed he worked on in TheMJCast Interview or that Damien Shields confirmed in his book.
Also I remember that the songs Michael created at his Encino house together with John Barnes and Matt Forger were actually fully complete before they were brought to Quincy.

EDIT: Actually I think the first version Someone Put Your Hand Out was worked on was for Dangerous since Brad Buxer played on it.

The first version of SPYHO was made for bad somewhere between 84-86, it was later revisited and reworked for the dangerous album but failed to make the track list (which is a travesty imo)

I forgot Come Together and Hot Fun In The Summertime
 
Hot fun in the summer time is not complete.

Hot fun in the summertime was supposed to feature on the Michael album with feature vocals from D'Angelo and Mary J Blige. I suppose it had guest vocals because the song wasn't complete.
 
Hot Fun featuring guest vocals is ready to release so I would call it complete
 
Hot fun in the summertime was supposed to feature on the Michael album with feature vocals from D'Angelo and Mary J Blige. I suppose it had guest vocals because the song wasn't complete.

Not on MICHAEL, but on Xscape. John McClain did it.
 
Back
Top