When Were Songs Recorded?

Slave To The Rhythm

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Only for the albums: BAD, DANGEROUS and HISTORY
I want to avoid that too many random informations are shared. And I need to get the chance to collect everything you post in the second post of this thread

What we want to collect:

- facts with sources if possible
- the order in which songs were (written and) recorded for an album (if you just know that one song was recorded earlier than another for an album set them in relation)
- exact dates of a recording
- what songs were recorded in which session?
- when was a song picked up again if it existed already earlier?
- also Information about the recording date of songs that didn't make the album

What we DON'T want to collect:

- just information about what song was worked on for what album first
- thoughts or guesses
 
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Re: When were songs recorded?

Bad the song itself was recorded in 1986 definitely, because the short film was shot in 1986

Nice idea by the way I would love more clarity on the date of recordings, I'm always jealous of The Beatles for that

The majority of the Bad album was recorded between 86 to early (March/April) 1987. The duets on the records, recording Man In The Mirror and the stacks of Leave Me Alone were the main areas MJ recorded after April 1987. He did work on songs sonically but very seldom vocally after April 1987. In 1987 it was more a case of completing the songs they had rather recording new tracks.

The "MJ cuts" on Dangerous, WYBT, WII, and HTW were recorded late 1990 to early 91, when Teddy came on board most material was left and to start on the "Teddy cuts" for the best part of 1991. Early demo's of Jam and Dangerous were done in 1990, the Teddy came on board "finishing" them with MJ in 1991.

Most of the HIStory album was recorded in 1994 because Michael spoke about the album somewhere in 94. Stranger In Moscow was pretty much complete mid 1994
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

* Liberian Girl started production before most of the bad album while working on the Victory album
* Stranger in Moscow was written in September 1993, production came after...

Keep in mind the various song that were meant for different projects that were revisted, there are a decent handful of them... There are some songs that took years to make for that reason.
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

* Liberian Girl started production before most of the bad album while working on the Victory album
* Stranger in Moscow was written in September 1993, production came after...

Keep in mind the various song that were meant for different projects that were revisted, there are a decent handful of them... There are some songs that took years to make for that reason.

Yep totally right. Liberian Girl was known about in 1984 when Michael says it in the unauthorised interview and it was registered around this time.
Side note, Dirty Diana was also written around 84.

Another Part Of Me, was first written in 1985 but then "completed" in 1986 and released in the short film Captain EO (1986) then reproduced and released in 1987

Stranger In Moscow was first written between 13- 18 September 1993

Little Susie was first written between 1976-79, Michael revisited the song during the HIStory era as well as other previous songs including Much Too Soon and his cover of Come Together

Like KOPV said, the hardest part with pinpointing the recording dates with MJ's songs is they are started in one era, finished in another and released in a different one
AlwaysThere would be awesome for this, his knowledge of unreleased works is astounding
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

Michael said that Smooth Criminal was written during 1985 or 1986 on the Dangerous Deposition tapes from 1994
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

Best Of Joy was written and recorded in 81 (or 82) under the title "The Toy" and it was for the soundtrack to the Richard Pryor movie with the same title. It was worked on on all of MJ's subsequent albums and later Re-recorded in 2008
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

^ lol so the song maybe said "I am your toy, your best friend toy"
 
Concerning the ‘HIStory’ recording sessions, people who worked on that album (such as, Bruce Swedien, Matt Forger & other engineers) have revealed some interesting things.

For example, the ‘HIStory’ recording sessions started in January (1994). The first song that MJ recorded was ‘Stranger In Moscow’.

As a matter of fact, the recording sessions for the ‘HIStory’ album were about to start on January 17th (1994). But on that day the Northridge earthquake struck the Los Angeles.

So, MJ had to immediately fly to New York in order to begin the recording for that album, but after 6 months he returned back to Los Angeles to continue the recording.

Also, ‘2 Bad’, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, ‘Money’, ‘D.S.’ were recorded during the early ‘HIStory’ recording sessions.

The recording sessions for that album ended in April (1995). Two of the last songs that MJ recorded were ‘Smile’ & ‘Childhood’. In fact, these two songs were recorded (vocals & orchestra) the previous month & both of them on the very same day (on March 29th).

The very last vocals that MJ recorded (for the ‘HIStory’ album) were his ad-libs for ‘Earth Song’ (those ad-libs that appear towards the end of that song). By that time, the many ‘HIStory’ recording hours were beginning to take their toll on his voice.
 
mj_frenzy;4216458 said:
The recording sessions for that album ended in April (1995). Two of the last songs that MJ recorded were ‘Smile’ & ‘Childhood’. In fact, these two songs were recorded (vocals & orchestra) the previous month & both of them on the very same day (on March 29th).

But both "Smile" and "Childhood" are featured on my 8-track HIStory Sony exec CD that still has "Much Too Soon" on it and an earlier version of "Earth Song". The CD is from ca. late 1994 or early 1995 but due to the fact it has "Much Too Soon" on it and me owning a DAT with "Smile" that is dated November 1994 I'd rather say 1994.
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

But both "Smile" and "Childhood" are featured on my 8-track HIStory Sony exec CD that still has "Much Too Soon" on it and an earlier version of "Earth Song". The CD is from ca. late 1994 or early 1995 but due to the fact it has "Much Too Soon" on it and me owning a DAT with "Smile" that is dated November 1994 I'd rather say 1994.

Wait you own what???


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: When were songs recorded?

Earth Song, Who is It, Jane Is A Groupee, and Dangerous was written in 1989.
Stranger in Moscow was the first song recorded for the History Album in february 1994.
the intro from the song History has to be changed due to copyright issue.
 
Here's what I've been able to gather!

The given dates correspond with the earliest known occasion where Michael recorded lead vocals; considering how some tracks would be started and abandoned for months or years before being picked up again, it would be impossible to index them any other way. Only tracks that could be whittled down to a specific month are included; every other song could only be whittled down to seasons at most (e.g., "spring 1990") and years at worst. Any tracks marked with asterisks (***) are confident, yet not one hundred percent certain, guesstimations.

=================================================

· "She's Out of My Life" - early December 1978 at Allen Zentz Recording
· "Girlfriend" - December 1978 at Allen Zentz Recording
· "Off the Wall" - early April 1978 at Westlake Studios
· "Rock With You" - early April 1978 at Westlake Studios
· "Rock With You" - early April 1978 at Westlake Studios

· "Say Say Say" - May 1981 at AIR Recording Studios
· "The Man" - May 1981 at AIR Recording Studios
· "Behind the Mask" - October/November 1981 at Hayvenhurst ***
· "Don't Be Messin' 'Round" - October/November 1981 at Hayvenhurst ***
· "The Girl is Mine" - 14-16 April 1982 at Westlake Studios
· "Billie Jean" - September 1982 at Westlake Studios
· "Human Nature" - 22 October 1982 at Westlake Studios
· "Beat It" - late October 1982 at Westlake Studios

· "We Are the World (Solo Guide Demo)" - 22 January 1985 at Lion Share Studios
· "Bad" - August 1986 at Westlake Studios
· "Come Together" - November/December 1986 at Westlake Studios ***
· "Man in the Mirror" - March 1987 at Westlake Studios ***
· "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" - 30 May, 8 June 1987 at Westlake Studios
· "Dirty Diana" - 13 June 1987 at Westlake Studios
· "Just Good Friends" - 18 June 1987 at Westlake Studios
· "Leave Me Alone" - 19 June 1987
· "Je Ne Veux Pas La Fin de Nous" - July, early September 1987 at Westlake Studios

· "Black or White" - August 1989 at Westlake Studios
· "Who Is It" - August 1989 at Westlake Studios
· "Keep the Faith" - October 1991 at Larrabee Sound

· "Stranger in Moscow" - March 1994 at The Hit Factory ***
· "Much Too Soon" - April 1994 at The Hit Factory ***
· "Childhood" - 27 June 1994 at The Hit Factory
· "Smile" - 27 June 1994 at The Hit Factory
· "You Are Not Alone" - early November 1994 at Chicago Recording Complex
· "Earth Song" - July/August 1989 at Westlake Studios, 27 March 1995 at Ocean Way Recording

· "Blood on the Dance Floor" - 16 July 1991 at Larrabee Sound, mid-January 1997 at Mountain Studios
· "Superfly Sister" - mid April 1990 at Ocean Way Recording, February/March 1997 at Record Plant

· "Cry" - August 1998 at Record Plant ***
· "A Place With No Name" - 8 September at Record Plant, 16 October 1998 at Ocean Way Recording
· "Blue Gangsta" - September 1998 at Record Plant
· "Break of Dawn" - September 1998 at Record Plant
· "She Was Lovin' Me" - late March 1999 at Record Plant
· "You Rock My World" - September 1999 at Sony Music Studios
· "Privacy" - September/October 1999 at Sony Music Studios ***
· "Speechless" - March 2000 at Neverland Ranch
· "The Lost Children" - November 2000 at The Hit Factory ***
· "Butterflies" - March 2001 at The Hit Factory
· "Whatever Happens" - April 2001 at Future Records
· "You Are My Life" - mid September 2001 at Brandon's Way Recording

· "Hold My Hand" - late November 2007 at the Studio at the Palms
· "Best of Joy" - late October 2008 at the Bel-Air Hotel
 
"Speechless" - March 2000 at Neverland Ranch

Are you sure about that? There was no professionel studio at Neverland.
 
Are you sure about that? There was no professionel studio at Neverland.

Brad Buxer and Michael Prince recorded it via a portable recording setup.

Michael wasn't above recording vocals in peculiar settings. Sometimes he couldn't make it to a professional studio in the allotted time; sometimes he just wanted to work from home. For example, the GRAMMYs intro to "The Way You Make Me Feel" was recorded in a hotel room, as were "Best of Joy" and "I Am a Loser"; "Days in Gloucestershire" was recorded in a bungalow on the front lawn of the Neverland mansion; and I believe the demo to "Billie Jean" was partially recorded in a closet!
 
Thanks AlwaysThere, more great insightful info

I've wanted to know dates of some songs for ages.
I'm jealous of Beatles fans for that, they know what date songs were made, what time and how many sugars Ringo had in his coffee that day
 
I still think it's interesting/cool that Best Of Joy was recorded IN the Bel-Air hotel.. Not in a studio, not in some fancy high tech location.. but the BATHROOM haha! I love it.
 
AlwaysThere;4219268 said:
· "Dirty Diana" - 13 June 1987 at Westlake Studios

That date must be the day when new elements/overdubs were recorded. DDs first demo recording dates to early 1983. Initial recording under Q's supervision began in August 1986.
 
That date must be the day when new elements/overdubs were recorded. DDs first demo recording dates to early 1983. Initial recording under Q's supervision began in August 1986.

Actually most of the Hayvenhurst songs (that were fully complete before they were brought up to Quincy), Quincy insisted on rerecording them. Another Part Of Me was the only song that Michael preferred in it's previous state that they didn't pick the rerecorded version for the album.
 
Actually most of the Hayvenhurst songs (that were fully complete before they were brought up to Quincy), Quincy insisted on rerecording them. Another Part Of Me was the only song that Michael preferred in it's previous state that they didn't pick the rerecorded version for the album.

APOM's re-recorded.;)
 
Also, I have found the multitrack sheets of some of the songs from the Bad album on which Bruce Swedien has written dates of when particular instruments (including vocals and Background vocals) have been recorded.(Sorry for posting two posts in a row).


Liberian Girl:

Lead vocal: September 26th 1986
Background vocals: October 3rd 1986
Bass:May 8th 1987

Dirty Diana:
Lead vocals:June 27th 1987
Steve Stevens guitar solos: June 12th 1987
Strings:June 27th 1987

I Just Can't Stop Loving You:
Lead Vocals(MJ&Siedah):May 20th 1987
Background vocals: December 27th 1986
Rap Intro:June 8th 1987
Piano: December 26th 1986

Smooth Criminal:
Lead vocals:April 1st 1987
Background vocals:September 14th 1986
Bass:September 8th 1986
Emergency siren:June 1st 1987

Leave Me Alone:
Lead vocals:June 14th 1987
Guitar: June 3rd 1987
Synth: June 3rd 1987

Just Good Friends:

Lead vocals (MJ&Stevie): June (or May) 18th 1987
Background vocals:June (or May) 18th 1987
Piano:May 28th 1987
Horns:May 18th 1987
Synths:May 27th 1987


The Bad sessions at Westlake Studios started on August 4th 1986 (Source:Rolling Stone).
 
Also, I have found the multitrack sheets of some of the songs from the Bad album on which Bruce Swedien has written dates of when particular instruments (including vocals and Background vocals) have been recorded.(Sorry for posting two posts in a row).



Dirty Diana:
Lead vocals:June 27th 1987
Steve Stevens guitar solos: June 12th 1987
Strings:June 27th 1987

Smooth Criminal:
Lead vocals:April 1st 1987
Background vocals:September 14th 1986
Bass:September 8th 1986
Emergency siren:June 1st 1987

The Bad sessions at Westlake Studios started on August 4th 1986 (Source:Rolling Stone).

I know early demos (i mean really early) were recorded around Oct. 1985
 
Also, I have found the multitrack sheets of some of the songs from the Bad album on which Bruce Swedien has written dates of when particular instruments (including vocals and Background vocals) have been recorded.(Sorry for posting two posts in a row).


Liberian Girl:

Lead vocal: September 26th 1986
Background vocals: October 3rd 1986
Bass:May 8th 1987

Dirty Diana:
Lead vocals:June 27th 1987
Steve Stevens guitar solos: June 12th 1987
Strings:June 27th 1987

I Just Can't Stop Loving You:
Lead Vocals(MJ&Siedah):May 20th 1987
Background vocals: December 27th 1986
Rap Intro:June 8th 1987
Piano: December 26th 1986

Smooth Criminal:
Lead vocals:April 1st 1987
Background vocals:September 14th 1986
Bass:September 8th 1986
Emergency siren:June 1st 1987

Leave Me Alone:
Lead vocals:June 14th 1987
Guitar: June 3rd 1987
Synth: June 3rd 1987

Just Good Friends:

Lead vocals (MJ&Stevie): June (or May) 18th 1987
Background vocals:June (or May) 18th 1987
Piano:May 28th 1987
Horns:May 18th 1987
Synths:May 27th 1987


The Bad sessions at Westlake Studios started on August 4th 1986 (Source:Rolling Stone).

I think it's so interesting to see how they spaced out these recording sessions.
 
I know early demos (i mean really early) were recorded around Oct. 1985

True! Michael started working with the B-Team in 1985 at the Hayvenhurst Studio.This is where 'Al Capone', 'Price Of Fame', 'Free' (and pretty much all the other demos included on Bad 25) were recorded.
Michael also contacted Roger Troutman from the band Zapp in 1985. I found a handwritten note on Julien's Auctions from MJ to a person named 'Candy' on which Michael wrote to find 'the guy who played guitar on the record ''Dance Floor'' from the band Zapp'.It was dated March 5th 1985.
Troutman later worked with Michael on 'Al Capone'.

Another interesting thing I found is the track sheet of the song 'Dangerous' (yes, the same track sheet that Michael talks about in his 1994 deposition).It was posted a while back on Brad Sundberg's Facebook account.
Lead and background vocals for 'Dangerous' were recorded on February 1st 1991.
 
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