19th December News and Mentionings

magic

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One more time about Thriller celebration album. And few mentionings related with Christmas. Just to get you in holiday mood. Who agrees with Dalton Ross? Tell her opinions about both songs "Do They Know It's Christmas Time" and "We Are The World" forgetting that the last is related with Michael ;)

News:

Michael Jackson to release deluxe Thriller

Pop singer Fergie has joined an already stellar line-up of guest artists for the 25th anniversary edition of Michael Jackson's Thriller, the world's biggest selling album of all time. Alongside new remixes of classic Jackson tracks by musical contemporaries Kanye West, will.i.am. and Akon, Fergie has added her signature vocals to a new version of "Beat It", entitled "Beat It 2008," produced and mixed by her fellow Black Eyed Pea will.i.am.

According to Sony BMG's press release yesterday, its branch Epic/Legacy Recordings will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller with a newly expanded deluxe edition of the phenomenal record-breaking pop culture touchstone, available in the US on Tuesday, February 12, 2008. The album will be available worldwide the week of February 11, 2008.

The Michael Jackson Thriller 25th anniversary celebration kicks off in December 2007 with the release of a new single and continues throughout 2008 with a multi-faceted global marketing campaign featuring high-profile television, radio and online events around the world.

The Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition will include the original album in its entirety as well as seven bonus tracks and a DVD featuring Michael Jackson's groundbreaking short films. The newly expanded version of Thriller premieres six tracks previously unreleased in any form: "Beat It 2008" with Fergie; a new Kanye West remix of "Billie Jean"; a new 2008 version of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" with Akon; will.i.am remixes of "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T."; and "For All Time," a rare unreleased cut from the original Thriller recording sessions, newly mixed and mastered by Michael Jackson himself.

Originally released in the US 25 years ago on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records, Thriller, Michael Jackson's sixth solo album and second with producer Quincy Jones, rocketed the former child-star lead singer for the Jackson 5 into the stratosphere of international superstardom. Introducing the "robot" and the "moonwalk" into the international lexicon of clubland dance moves via the pulsing sounds of Thriller, Michael Jackson revolutionized all aspects of mainstream pop culture -- from radio airwaves to the newly emerging art form of music videos -- becoming the world's most popular entertainer in the process.

The original Thriller sold 104 million copies worldwide and spent an astounding 80 consecutive weeks in the American Top 10, 37 of those at No.1. Seven of the album's original nine tracks became Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. In February 1984, Michael Jackson held a record-breaking 12 Grammy nominations, going on to win eight, which stands as the record for most Grammy Awards to be won by anyone in a single year. In 1985, the Guinness Book of Records named Thriller the Best Selling Album of All Time, an achievement that remains unsurpassed to this day.

Besides the anniversary celebration, Michael Jackson is reportedly making a new album with various musicians such as Kanye West, will.i.am, Akon and Ne-yo, and considering a short world tour, according the latest issue of JET, one of most famous black magazines in the US. The pop star will hopefully start all his projects next year.

(China.org.cn December 19, 2007)

http://www.china.org.cn/english/entertainment/236201.htm

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Mentionings:


Battle of the Charity Anthems!
The Glutton on why ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' is so much better than ''We Are the World.'' Plus: your mail on J. Love

By Dalton Ross
Dalton Ross is an editor-at-large at EW and swears there are better pictures of him out there...somewhere.

I went to a Christmas karaoke party last week. Our neighbors have one every year, and every year I manage to get out of singing. Usually I am nursing some sort of gnarly viral infection so I have a good excuse, but this time my wife was not letting me off the hook: She insisted that I rock the mic.

Now, I enjoy karaoke enough, but there is a very limited pool of songs that I will actually get up and perform. This is mostly the result of one disastrous turn of ''Paradise City'' that resulted in stunned silence from fellow patrons. (Seriously, not even a courtesy clap. Do you know how sad it is when you can't even get a courtesy clap?) Actually, come to think of it, a guy in Vegas also once threatened to blow my head off with a shotgun after my version of ''Baby Got Back'' devolved into me yelling ''Check me out! I'm dope!'' over and over for no particular reason. But that happened in Vegas so it stays in Vegas, and I'm not sure it counts.

Anyway, I started flipping through my mental catalog of Christmas faves trying to figure out which one I would dare unleash on my unsuspecting suburban neighbors. ''The First Noel''? Not a chance — too many high notes. ''Silent Night''? Nope, I don't think I could make it through the line ''Holy infant, so tender and mild'' with a straight face. ''The Twelve Days of Christmas''? Impossible to perform without running out of breath and sounding like you're hyperventilating. And then it hit me — Band Aid's ''Do They Know It's Christmas?''! Not only was the song not extremely vocally challenging, but I always had a soft spot for the thing. Maybe it's because — as a celebrity charity single — it was so vastly superior to ''We Are the World.'' Look, I'm not trying to dis and dismiss the good ol' Stars and Stripes, but let's examine all the ways in which the U.K.'s ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' beats USA's ''We Are the World.''

* First off, it was the original. ''We Are the World'' was a copycat, as American performers tried to jump on the charity bandwagon. Don't get me wrong — as far as bandwagons go, raising money for starving children is a pretty good one. But still, Michael Jackson and Co. were lacking a bit in the originality department.

* ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' featured musicians who were actually somewhat current. When the Band Aid single came out, at the end of 1984, it featured young artists at the top of their game: Duran Duran, Sting, George Michael, Boy George, and U2 (although I'm still not sure why Paul Young gets to sing half the song by himself). ''We Are the World'' certainly boasted big names (Michael Jackson obviously being the biggest), but it also featured many past-their-prime players: Dionne Warwick? Al Jarreau? Diana Ross? Bob Dylan? Ray Charles? Smokey Robinson? Bette Midler?!?!?!??! All huge figures in music, to be sure, but ones whose biggest impact had been in decades prior.

* Bono's line ''Well, tonight thank God it's them instead of you.'' You know you love it. Is there any line in ''We Are the World'' that carries even half the emotion of it? Honestly, I can't even understand what the hell Bob Dylan is saying.

* Dan Aykroyd sings on ''We Are the World.''

* What it really boils down to in the end, however, is that ''Do They Know It's Christmas?'' is just a much better song. The harmony is catchy and it hits only about a 6 on the sap-o-meter, while ''We Are the World' goes all the way to 10.

Oh, by the way, in case you're wondering, I kinda flubbed the karaoke performance. I got lost at one point, and then when I realized the rest of the song basically consisted of repeating the phrase ''feed the world'' over and over, I just gave up, put the microphone down, and walked away. I considered it an act of mercy — to both myself and those who had to endure it.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20167043,00.html

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Scrooge tunes and fa la la la la songs

"A Motown Christmas" by Various Artists (Motown, 1999)
There's no better way to melt a Scrooge's heart than with the infectious R&B grooves from Hitsville U.S.A., aka Motown Records. The Jackson 5, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder and Diana Ross & The Supremes add some much-needed soul to holiday standards like "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Jingle Bells." A very young Michael Jackson belts out "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with the enthusiasm of a kid who still believes in St. Nick, and Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" can bring you to tears. When Jackson shouts "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," it's as if he actually witnessed it. The album is infused with so much optimism and innocence, you can't help but smile and sing along.

http://www.charlotte.com/200/story/411480.html

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Today in
Michael Jackson History

1998 - Michael Jackson performed at the grand opening of the Royal Towers at the Atlantis Hotel & Casino in the Bahamas.
 
I commented to that article about the charity songs...

"Actually the line "Tonight thank god its them instead of you" is an awful line...what an awful thing to do/say.

You ask for a better more emotional line from we arethe world--EASY here's a gutwrenching stanza and an emotional line for good measure:

"Send them your heart
So they'll know that someone cares
And their lives will be stronger and free
As God has shown us by turning stone to bread
So we all must lend a helping hand"

"well, let us realize
That a change will only come
When we stand together as one "

Seriously----what is wrong with you? --Before you go to bed thank God that you're soul is shallow and selfish."

-me

lol I really don't like the line he chose to showcase how "emotional" that other song is...Good thing it's them not me is an awful thing to say imo.
 
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lol I really don't like the line he chose to showcase how "emotional" that other song is...Good thing it's them not me is an awful thing to say imo.

Then you don't realize what it means ... it's about hypocracy.

But don't bother, commenting on an "article" like that is a waste of time. Who cares what some random person thinks about these songs. They are both great, but We are the world is a classic, the most successful charity song of all time, they raised many millions of dollars with this project. I also love Bob Geldof, who initiated Band Aid and Live Aid, a great person with a great heart. THIS IS NOT A COMPETITION.
 
Good article but the writer needs to get his facts right. MJ brought the "robot" into popularity in the 1970s! LOL Other than that, ok.
 
Thanks for the news.

I do not know why anyone would compare WATW to that other song. That person has a lot of time onhis hand.

Anyway, I have some MJ mentionings from a magazine. Yesterday, when I went to the same store where I brought my Ebony magazine and purchased the Jet magazine and a music/pop culture magazine called Giant. That magazine has the great Alicia Keys on the cover (great article on her). In the magazine, I read some things that related to MJ. Let me break it down -

The editor and cheif was talking about emotion in songs and this is what he said:

From Smokey D. Fontaine CEO/Editor and Chief

Whether the feeling was happy or sad, horny or lonely, bold or even corny (you should have heard how loud I blasted Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" ), I've always been weakfor artists who have the courage to express themselves openly with the talent to make it sound good.
Pg.20

*I apologized for the "horny" word. I wanted to type it word from word.*

Also in the same issue, they had their first ever "The Giant 100" naming the 100 people who are influencial in the entertainment media. However, MJ is not on thelist. No surprise. Yet, twopeople who arerelatedto him (not blood, professional) are-

Number 67- Will.i.am (music producer)

He's worked on platinum records by the likes of Justin Timberlake, Rihanna and Common, and he is helping steer MJ's next comeback.

MJ's comeback? He does not need a comeback. Period.

Number 42-L. Londell McMillan (Partner, LeBoeuf Lamb)

Because: He keeps our biggest stars out of trouble.

Believe the Hype: He's represented Prince, Kanye West, Wesley Snipes, Usher, Lil' Kim and the New York Times. He also founded the Artist Empowerment Coalition to guard artists' rights.

The Bottom Line: Settled a $48M lawsuit for Michael Jackson.

Page 106.

The last part - wow, I didn't know that. I wonder what that was about.

Lastly, on page 126, they did a "Reminise" on the 25 years of Thriller. I thought it was on point. I thought it was positive. Did not really mentioned the usual crap. Really good reminise on a masterpiece.
 
Here's a bunch of news items.

Mesereau: Michael Is A Wonderful Person


(28-11-2007) In a recent interview, Mr. Thomas Mesereau, who worked as Michael Jackson`s lead attorney during the child molestation trial and was close to him over months, was asked what Michael was like during the trial:
"He is a wonderful person, he is a very sensitive kind-hearted individual, likes to see people do well, likes to think that he has made some contributions to the planet.
He has tried to advance the cause of children around the world for many many years. He used to have a rule that before he did a concert he would always visit a children's hospital. And he did his best to help children with disabilities, children who were deformed, children who have diseases, children who have problems.
He always turned Neverland open to inner-city kids, who he felt didn't have the opportunities that he wanted to give them at Neverland to enjoy themselves to have fun, to be around animals to be around beauty.
He is a wonderful person and I think very very highly of him. [ . . .]
I think Michael Jackson is a wonderful person, sensitive, kind, generous, very artistic, very creative, and on a mission to do something for the world, which is more than I can say for a lot of people I've met."

Source: MJFC / YouTube / Special thanks to Larry Nimmer.
 
The Making Of Thriller:

(24-11-2007) Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the legandary Thriller album, the British Telegraph features a collection of what the inner circle of people involved had to say about making the album and the videos which are meanwhile a part of music history. Below follow some excerpts.
Bruce Swedien (engineer): When we started 'Thriller', the first day at Westlake [the studio on Santa Monica Boulevard where the album was recorded], we were all there and Quincy [Jones, the producer] walked in followed by me and Michael and Rod Temperton and some of the other people.
Quincy turned to us and he said, 'OK guys, we're here to save the recording industry.' Now that's a pretty big responsibility - but he meant it. And that's why those albums, and especially 'Thriller', sound so incredible. The basic thing is, everybody who was involved gave 150 per cent - - - Quincy's like a director of a movie and I'm like a director of photography, and it's Quincy's job to cast [it]. Quincy can find the people and he gives us the inspiration to do what we do. [- - - ]
I tried all sorts of things with Michael - for instance, he would sing the main vocal part and we'd double it one time and then I'd ask him to step away from the mic and do it a third time and that really changed the acoustics in the room so it gave Michael's vocals a unique character - - - We recorded some of those background vocals in the shower stall at Westlake.
Quincy Jones (producer): Michael wrote Billie Jean - and that stuff, you know, it was just highly, highly personal. According to him, he said it was about a girl who climbed over [his] wall and he woke up one morning and she was laying out by the pool, lounging, hanging out with the shades on, bathing suit on- - - and Michael said she had accused him of being the father of one of her twins [laughs].
And Michael, on Billie Jean, he had an intro you could shave on it was so long. I said, 'It's too long, we gotta get to the melody quicker.' He said, 'But that's the jelly! That's what makes me wanna dance.' Now, when Michael Jackson tells you that's what makes him want to dance, the rest of us had to shut up.
Rod Temperton (songwriter/arranger): Originally, when I did my Thriller demo, I called it Starlight. Quincy said to me, 'You managed to come up with a title for the last album, see what you can do for this album.'
I said, 'Oh great,' so I went back to the hotel, wrote two or three hundred titles, and came up with the title 'Midnight Man'. The next morning, I woke up, and I just said this word- - - Something in my head just said, this is the title. You could visualise it on the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as 'Thriller'.
Bruce Swedien: [Temperton is] more like a classical composer than a pop composer - when he arrives, nothing is left to chance, and it's the same with his demos- - - When we were recording, Michael went home, stayed up all night, and memorised every one of [Rod Temperton's] demos, never had a piece of paper in front of him. Can you believe that?
Brian Banks (synthesisers): It was late in the evening one night when we were working, and Quincy came to us. We all knew how Thriller was going, they were trying to get Vincent Price, they were doing all this stuff, but he wanted this huge chord sequence - he said, 'There's this sound that I've got in my head, there's this underground, this new artist, that nobody's ever really heard of but he's great, he's hot, he's got this great song.'
And he pulled out the album and it was Prince, '1999'. And you know the opening sound on that? Duh-da da, Dur-duh-duh? Well that was the sound - that big, bitey chord sound at the opening of '1999' - he wanted that, but bigger, for Thriller.
Rod Temperton: When I wrote Thriller I'd always envisioned this talking section at the end and didn't really know what we were going to do with it. But one thing I'd thought about was to have somebody, a famous voice, in the horror genre, to do this vocal. Quincy's [then] wife [Peggy Lipton] knew Vincent Price so Quincy said to me, how about if we got Vincent Price? And I said, 'Wow, that'd be amazing if we could get him- - - '
Quincy Jones: Vincent did it in two takes - I'm telling you, it was so difficult [technically, to talk over the music track]- - - it was fabulous, man.
Bruce Cannon (sound effects): I was an assistant editor on the film E.T. Following that, Steven Spielberg and Kathy Kennedy had me help out on a record they were doing with Michael Jackson called 'The E.T. Storybook Record', which was produced by Quincy Jones, and Bruce Swedien was like his mixer. It was Michael narrating - I'm only laughing because he was very emotionally involved when he was performing, reading the lines - at times he almost breaks into tears telling parts of the E.T. story.
Following that, Quincy called me and said he was doing this Michael Jackson record and he needed sounds for the Thriller song. I went to as many sound editors as I could and listened, found - what was it? - a creaking door, thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds, howling dogs, all that. These were really good editors and I think they recorded some of the effects themselves. Things like the lightning may have come from old Hollywood movies - we'll never know which movies - but the best sound-effects editors do go out in the desert and find a coyote, so I have a feeling that was a real howl- - -
Quincy Jones: The Girl is Mine was fun: Paul was in Tucson and we had to go down there and work with him for two or three days, which was fun, and rehearsing the song, and finding things to make them tailor-made for him, like the verse at the end and the rap that they had, fighting over the same girl.
Quincy Jones: [Beat It] was really key to this record, with its power, with everything it has, because I said at the time, 'I need a song like [The Knack's 1979 hit] My Sharona - we need a black version.' That's a strong rock 'n' roll thing there - that has the power of everything else [Jackson] writes. And he says, 'I got something here but I don't have any voices on it.' It was just what we needed. I decided to call Eddie Van Halen, and I didn't know him, to come play the solo on Beat It.
Eddie Van Halen (guitar soloist): Everybody [from his band, Van Halen] was out of town and I figured, 'Who's gonna know if I play on this kid's record?'
Steve Lukather (guitars/bass): Quincy Jones [said Beat It] was way too heavy and to tone it down - it's Michael's record, not Led Zeppelin's. So I went back in and re-recorded it. Basically, me and [drummer] Jeff Porcaro remade that record to Michael's vocals, Eddie's solo and Michael playing two and four on a drum case. We spent a lot of time messing around with that song and to be honest, when we heard it I was like, 'This is rock 'n' roll? I don't think so.'
Quincy Jones: Toto, whom I just adored - [writer/keyboard player Steve] Pocaro, all those guys, Lukather - they sent over two songs they thought might be right for Michael and we left the tape on and forgot to take it off, the tape with the first two songs - which were OK but we were not impressed, you know?
And all of a sudden, at the end, there was all this silence and then [sings the melody to Human Nature]: 'Why, why, da-dum dah dah da-dum dah dah, why, why- - - ' Just a dummy lyric and a very skeletal thing and I get goosebumps talking about it. I said, 'This is where we wanna go 'cos it's got such a wonderful flavour.'
Walter Yetnikoff (then president, CBS/Columbia Records): I used to get calls from Michael in the middle of the night. 'Walter, the record is not Number 1 [anymore]' - and this is 'Thriller' - 'What are we going to do?' I said, 'We're going to go to sleep and deal with it tomorrow.'
John Landis (director, 'Thriller'): Michael saw An American Werewolf in London and he contacted me and asked me if I would make a video with him. And I said 'No,' actually - because they were basically commercials, right? But he persisted and said, 'No, no, no - I really wanna make it.' So when I returned to LA I called Rick Baker, who had done the make-up effects for American Werewolf? and said, 'Rick, Michael Jackson wants to become a monster.'
Rick Baker (make-up effects): John told me about the idea but I was reluctant. I got a call from John and he was like, 'You know who Michael Jackson is?' and I was like, 'Yeah, kinda. He's the guy from the Jackson 5, right?' And he said, 'Well he's got this song called Thriller and he wants to do this short film.' At first I said I didn't want to do it. It's not the most popular job - it's like being a dentist in a way: they have to sit still in a chair for hours while you work on them, it's uncomfortable - it's not something actors look forward to.
John Landis: Basically, I thought about it and my intention was to exploit Michael's unbelievable celebrity at that point to make a theatrical short, a 14-minute short. George Folsey Jr, my producer and editor on a lot of things, and I, worked up the budget. I insisted it would be a union shoot - almost all videos at that time were non-union - and I also insisted the dancers have at least 10 days of rehearsal, which is also never done because it's so expensive, and we put it all down and the bottom line was that we worked out it would cost about half-a-million dollars. Which was a huge amount of money, because at that time the most a video had been was, I think, $100, 000.
[Jackson] called Walter Yetnikoff and he talked to him for a couple of minutes, telling him what I wanted to do, and then he handed me the phone. I said, 'Hello?' And then this, this blast of flaming - 'You motherf---er! What the f---'s the matter with you?' The one conversation I ever had with Walter Yetnikoff - you know in movies where they hold the phone away? It was like that. He was screaming.
The essence of Yetnikoff's rant was: the album had already become the most successful album, it's had a year at Number 1, it's now going down and it's still selling respectably, and f--- your video and f--- you. I handed Michael the phone back and he said, 'Oh that's OK, I'll pay.' And I said, 'Mike, I can't spend your money- - - '
George [Folsey Jr]'s idea was: why don't we film us filming it, and then we can make a 45-minute documentary called The Making of Thriller, then in total that's an hour. And then sell that [to cable television] to get the money to make Thriller. [In the end they initiated a bidding war between cable companies.] The record company had no money in it, Michael had no money in it; and MTV and Showtime each put up $250k, so now we had the money, and it was fun.
Rick Baker: You start with the casting of the actor's face, then the latex, the contact lenses- - - Michael's make-up started more as a werewolf and then became more cat-like. Normally you would make a cast of every actor's face, but we'd only have three days from meeting the dancers to finishing their faces, so we couldn't do it that way. I wasn't too happy about that, but in the end we made three sizes of zombie mask.We couldn't do the teeth how we normally would, either. I suggested that myself and the crew be zombies, so that we could have a few that were done properly - because we could have more time to work on the make-up.
Michael was great and very shy. I remember the first time John came over to shoot us working on Michael's make-up for his behind-the-scenes stuff - which I wasn't too happy about and Michael wasn't too happy about - Michael was so nervous that, as soon as the cameras came in, he ran off and hid in the bathroom. So different to when he was performing - Thriller was happening during the making of the Motown Anniversary Special, when Michael first did the moonwalk, and one of the guys bought a tape of the show in and said, 'Watch this.' That was him, when he was performing; that was when he came alive.
Marty Thomas (props assistant): It was a long job and it was secret, you know? I remember we had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and not to tell anybody what we were filming, not to tell family or anything- - - very, very rare for music videos back then. What they would do is print up maps to the location and leave them around, but they were false locations. Somebody from the press would sneak on set and steal these maps and they were just sort of locations of the shopping mall that's closed, way way out in the Valley.
John Landis: It was amazing working with Michael at the time because it was at the height - it was like working with The Beatles at the height of Beatlemania or something, it was extraordinary being with him, because he was just ridiculously famous. It was like being with Jesus I used to say, because people used to see him and go into hysterics. Also, Michael's friends - it was so nuts. It used to be like, 'Michael, William [son of Walt] Disney's on the phone,' or Fred Astaire, who Michael had known very well since he was a kid. 'Mike, Henry Kissinger's on the phone'; 'Mike, President Reagan's calling.' Bizarro **** all the time.
My favourite moment during the making of Thriller, and one of the few times in my life I've ever been speechless, was when we were shooting the graveyard set in a meatpacking plant in East LA, a dodgy neighbourhood, by a freightyard. And we're shooting away and Michael's assistant comes to me and he says, 'Michael would like to see you in his trailer.' And I was like, 'OK, I'll be out in 20 minutes.'
So I go out - and it's like 3.30 in the morning - and there's a Winnebago out there and there's loads of security there, so I step up and I knock, and Michael's like, 'John, do you know Mrs Onassis?' and it was Jackie Kennedy- - -
Marty Thomas: I was having lunch and Michael came and sat at the head of our table to talk to somebody else. It was just a crew table, and usually he was pretty separated - in fact, they told us at the start of the shoot, if anybody talks to Michael, you're fired. So he sat down and we're like, 'Oh, God,' and he started talking with us, and he had with him a mayonnaise and beansprout sandwich, and he said, 'Anyone wanna finish this?' and I said, 'I'll finish it!' So he gave me half of his mayonnaise and beansprout sandwich.
I ate a few bites and after he left I didn't finish it, and one of the guys said, 'Why'd you take that?' I said, 'Actually, I just want to be able to say when I'm 80, I just want to say, I ate half of Michael Jackson's sandwich.' Like, mayonnaise is supposed to be so bad for you now - he won't eat meat, but he'll eat all that lard.
Lorraine Fields: I remember at one point they got some dirt on the floor and stuck it on my face - 'This looks good.'
Michele Simmons: They took moulds of our teeth for the dentures that they put in our mouths. When they made the extra dentures, you put those in your mouth and now you can't close your mouth, and when you can't close your mouth, the saliva falls out. And they just said, 'This is great! Let's just put some food colour and dye in there and that'll make it really nasty-looking!' That was part of the deal.
John Landis: We put all the footage together and we saw it was, like, only 26 minutes long. Oh ****- - - I said, 'Do you have any other footage you own? What do you own? I literally went into the closet at Mike's house. I said, 'Mrs Jackson, where do you keep all your home movies?' 'I don't know.' And I found a box of home movies - and now everyone's seen it, that amazing 8mm footage of Mike dancing at five years old. I found that in a closet so I said, 'OK, we own this too- - - ' We called it 'The Making of Filler'.
We had a première - which was a riot - because Michael wanted a première. I've been to the Oscars and I've been to the Baftas, I've been to the Emmys, I've been to the Golden Globes, and I've never been anywhere like this première. It was incredible. There was everyone from Diana Ross and Warren Beatty to Prince. It was nuts. Amazing- - - got a standing ovation and all that stuff and they're shouting, 'Encore, encore,' and I said 'Encore? There is no f---ing encore!'
Then Eddie Murphy got up and shouted, 'Show the goddamn thing again!' So they sat and they watched Thriller again. Why not? It was just amazing, it was just amazing- - -

Source: MJFC / Telegraph


 
Interview with Frank Dileo:

(21-11-2007) Nashville Scene has published a cover story on and interview with Frank Dileo, Michael's former manager. During the interview, Frank Dileo also talked about his time working with Michael. Below follow some excerpts.
Michael and Frank Dileo in the 80s
Michael, who had been without a manager for eight months, asked Dileo to fill the position in March 1984 at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Dileo accepted two days later and started managing Michael three months before the start of the Victory Tour. He recalls:
"Believe me, that was work. Every brother had a lawyer and an accountant. We had to have white promoters and black promoters. It was quite a complicated fiasco. But I got Michael through it safely." Among the three black promoters were Don King and the Reverend Al Sharpton. "That was before Rev. Al Sharpton owned a suit. He was still in sweats."
Bill Bennett, head of Warner Nashville and a friend of Dileo's since the late '70s, has one particularly fond memory of the Victory Tour's opening night:
"We were in Kansas City and I said, 'Frank, I'm going to Arthur Bryant's,' which is one of the most famous homes of barbecue in the world. And Michael looked at me and said, 'Oh no, Bill, Frank's a vegetarian now.' So Frank goes, 'Yeah, Michael's looking out for my health.' As he walks me out the door, he gives me a key and says, 'Meet me in this room when you get back, and bring some barbecue.' "
Dileo recalls:
"Michael used to moderate everything I ate. It's amazing-when I started with him I was 210; when I ended with him, I was 265. So that's what eating healthy does to you."
The article also mentions, that Dileo convinced Michael to do the video for "Thriller". He recollects:
"Actually, he only wanted to do two videos-'Billie Jean' and 'Beat It,' So while I was still working for Epic, [product manager] Larry Stessel asked me to fly out there and talk him into doing 'Thriller,' because he was pretty adamant that he wouldn't do it."
To outsiders Michael Jackson may look naive, but when it comes to business, he's not. Walter Yetnikoff once said about him:
"He has made observations to me about things like promotion which indicate he would be totally qualified to run a record label if he so desired." Dannen himself describes Jackson as "an ambitious man with extensive knowledge of the record industry's workings."
In September 1987, Jackson embarked on the BAD Tour - his first tour as a solo performer, which Dileo produced. Dileo recalls:
"It was a headache. You were moving 213 people every three days. In London, we played Wembley Stadium seven times in a row, 72,000 people a night. And we could have probably played it 10 or 12 nights, but at the time they only had seven available."
Of course, there was a lot more to managing Michael Jackson than producing world tours. Dileo says fondly:
"We did a lot of things, Michael and I. I got to executive produce all the videos of the Bad album. I did Moonwalker. I got nominated for two Grammys: for 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Leave Me Alone.' And I won a Grammy for 'Leave Me Alone'-as the producer of the video, not the record."
Another managerial coup from Dileo's Jackson stint was his negotiation for the Pepsi commercial:
"I got [Pepsi CEO] Roger Enrico to pay me up front, which was never done before. In fact, we cut the deal on the Pepsi jet. Once we agreed upon a price, I said to Roger, 'OK, there's just one more thing. You've got to pay it all up front.' He says, 'I don't know.' And I said, 'Roger, did Elvis Presley ever do a commercial for Pepsi?' He said no. I said, 'Did The Beatles?' He said no. I said, 'What do you want to be-0 for 3?' He shook his head and went into the men's room and came back and said, 'OK, you got a deal.' "
Dileo harbors no ill will toward Michael over his firing in February 1989:
"It's a shame it ended. I really like Michael. It ended for a lot of reasons. First of all, Michael and I spent every day together for five-and-a-half years. A lot of people were jealous of that. And at that point in time, we had a lot of power between us. There was one or two record executives, and a lawyer, possibly two lawyers, that sort of needed me to get out of the way, so that they had more control with Michael. And it also was a way for them to get rid of Yetnikoff, who had a lot of power and was my friend."
But how was Jackson convinced?
"Unfortunately, they talked Michael into it by promising him-now this is according to Michael, and I believe this-by promising him that if he fired me and hired Sandy Gallin, that he'd be able to make movies in Hollywood. Now the truth be told, Michael never made a movie. The only movie [besides 1978's The Wiz] he's ever made was with me, and that was Moonwalker."
When Jackson went on trial in 2005, Frank stayed in Los Angeles for over three months, on his own dime:
"I know that he is innocent. A lot of people attack him for a lot of different reasons. One is, everybody would love to get their hands on the Beatles' publishing. And he's just one of those guys, he's real kind and real nice and he can easily be taken advantage of.
In this particular case, this kid had cancer, he found him a doctor, they didn't have any money, he allowed them to live on his ranch. And when it was over, they didn't want to leave. It was like blackmail. That's all it was.
We talked at each and every break. I wanted to let him know that I know he didn't do it. In fact, when I went there, he didn't know I was coming. It was very emotional.
He went, 'Frank, I can't believe you're here.' And he started to cry. And I went over and I hugged him and we got on the elevator and he told [defense attorney] Tom Mesereau, 'This is Frank Dileo. He used to manage me. I've had nine managers since then. He's the only guy that showed up, or even called to see how I'm doing.' That was a very rough thing on him, a very emotional thing."
Since the mid-'90s, Dileo's been keeping a low profile. He's a family man-he's been married to his wife Linda for 31 years and wanted to be near his children. Shortly thereafter, Dileo started to lose his eyesight. By 2004, he was blind, a result of diabetic retinopathy. But a series of four operations over the next couple of years restored much of his sight.
Meanwhile, Dileo started a management company, where he's working with singer-songwriter Galen Griffin. And he's about to pen a deal to start a publishing company with a successful songwriter/producer he doesn't want to name yet.
Contrary to what you might expect, his office is a humble space in a nondescript building. But hanging on those office walls are enough gold and platinum records to make your head spin. And there is also a framed photograph of Frank Dileo and Michael Jackson, from behind, standing at urinals in a public restroom. Above Michael's head, in Michael's handwriting, are the words:
"This water sure is cold." Above Frank's head, he wrote, "It's deep too."

Source: MJFC / Nashville Scene
 
got this mentioning from MJFC

Pre-Gig Ritual Of The Foo Fighters


(19-12-2007) Well, this is nothing we would recommend for doing at home. However, the rock band Foo Fighters said in an interview that they have an unusual pre-gig ritual: They listen to Michael's songs and get drunk. Frontman Dave Grohl said:
"Some bands pray to God they'll have the best show of their lives. Some bands huddle in a rugby scrum and yell, 'Go team!'​

We listen to Michael Jackson's Off The Wall and do Jager bombs, which are Dave Lee Roth juice. If you want to be Dave Lee Roth onstage, you need at least four Jager bombs to get you there."​
 
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"those" pics are front page headlines in all the major UK tab papers today (20th) talk abour one step forward 10 steps back
 
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"those" pics are front page headlines in the sun UK paper today (20th) talk abour one step forward 10 steps back
So? MJ was having a private moment with his children buying books for them to read, what did he do wrong? He had some tapes on his face, did he break thelaw? Why didn't the sun write that MJ was teaching his children to appreciate books?:rolleyes:
 
yeah i love mj being all on the front pages on the tabs being made out once again to be a freak when he was actually getting some good publcity b4 with ebony etc. yeah so what who cares.:rolleyes:
 
yeah i love mj being all on the front pages on the tabs being made out once again to be a freak when he was actually getting some good publcity b4 with ebony etc. yeah so what who cares.:rolleyes:
That cannot be helped Elusive. The media doesn't like MJ. They wouldn't have made David Beckham out to be a freak if he was wearing plasters on his face. no crime was committed by wearing the plasters on his face. If the media is going to make wearing plasters in public as freakish, then ALL of us had better pray that we don't ever have an accident on the face, otherwise we may be banned from going out in public with plasters on our faces. Where will this end. Restrictng MJ's right to freedon will ultimately restrict our own. What has the media got to do with MJ tending to his children privately in a bookshop that he hired for the night. Why did they turn the camera in on this man's privacy and then attack him about it when he did not invite them in, That is what you should be asking them. Maybe we need to e-mail the sun and ask them what right have they attacking a man that was having a private moment with his children.

And let Me add one more thing. SHAME ON THE SUN. They lost sight of what was important here. MJ was being a hands on father to his children. He was spending quality time with them in a bookshop and assisting them in choosing books to read, He bought a box load of books for them to read. He was showing them what was important. The Sun has missed a golden opportunity to alert absent and uninolved fathers of what children need, yet they choose to ridicule a man and in the process harass his children, Don't think their brutal attack will not affect his children. How sick and cruel these people are.
 
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That cannot be helped Elusive.

not much :lol:



And let Me add one more thing. SHAME ON THE SUN. They lost sight of what was important here. MJ was being a hands on father to his children. He was spending quality time with them in a bookshop and assisting them in choosing books to read, He bought a box load of books for them to read. He was showing them what was important. The Sun has missed a golden opportunity to alert absent and uninolved fathers of what children need, yet they choose to ridicule a man and in the process harass his children, Don't think their brutal attack will not affect his children. How sick and cruel these people are.
well thats a fake eutopia that aint ever gonna happen.:lol:
 
Who gives a damn about the tabloids....burn them all!!!
And for the people who are worried about \MJ's image, well that image that Mj has was created by the media. As MJ says, that isn't who he is, that is a fantasy. It is a media created image, let them do what they want with it, that is all they got.
What MJ has is strenth, dignity and charater, and charisma in abundance, not to mention talent that keep even his adversary coming back for more. They cannot leave that alone, cause he is addictive. That is the real MJ, not the image that the media has created. They are fools. They have been trying to distroy this man for years now, and they have even tried to assist an evil da to lock him away, yet they will not leave him alone. MJ makes the media look foolish, cause they keep on reporting things about him which are proven untruths. but they wont quit, cause they are addicted, just like the rest of us. One of these days MJ is going to laugh in their faces. The sick menace that they are. They represent cowards and bullys.
 
the media will never like MJ,they will use him as much as they can.
we shouldn't care about some tabloids!
 
what's the big deal about being in a damn book store? would it be different if they were at FAO? like honestly, for all we know the kids got magazines and dad got stuff off the clearance rack....

people praising while paris flips thru a teen beat mag! lol
 
what's the big deal about being in a damn book store? would it be different if they were at FAO? like honestly, for all we know the kids got magazines and dad got stuff off the clearance rack....

people praising while paris flips thru a teen beat mag! lol

:lol: People saying "MJ's the best" while he flips through a book with a sticker on his big ass forehead. :lol:
 
The tabs ain't gonna help, but I'll tell you one thing, after everything Michael's been through, they sure as sh*t ain't gonna hurt him anymore either.

I seriously don't care what anyone says about him anymore. I know where I stand and whether anyone else can see his amazing talent and person doesn't concern me. If they can't, its their loss.
 
My flat-mate brought 'The Sun' to me with the MJ story yesterday and he was like 'Hey Look at MJ' and I was like 'Yeah.. that's soooo old' :lol: Anyways the thing I am liking at the mo' is that in this article even though they were obviously trying to bash him as usual, :rolleyes2: they were also talking about his new album etc
 
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