Interesting findings from a 1998 interview

Agreed. Negotiations about using the Tramp character should have been ongoing for a while by the time the performances came around and so if it looked doubtful they were going to reach an agreement then then could have adapted the existing video concept or designed a brand new concept as a backup.
By the sound of it they were never going to be able to get the music video ready for release day even if they HAD got permission to use the Tramp character.

At that point of time, with the Wetten Das and French performances booked, CD singles printed, promo being released to retailers, posters on the streets of Germany, stickers on the front of new copies of the HIStory album, they absolutely COULD have performed on Wetten Das (and in France) and officially released the single.

The song performance did not require any elaborate staging, backing dancers, or costumes. It did not require the Chaplin character.
It's a simple melodic tune and if the use of the Tramp character was going to be a problem then MJ could have just stood and sung live if he had wanted to. To be honest that simple approach would have been refreshing to see and hear. I've said it before but MJ should (at that stage of his career) have been moving toward a more mature phase as a performer - concentrating more on live singing and less on energetic dance routines.

I don't buy the story about the Chaplin Estate's decision leading to the cancellation of the video and therefore the whole single release.
Not when all that preparation has already been done, unless it was MJ himself who refused to cooperate with promotion once the Chaplin Estate refused to let him play Tramp.
 
I don't buy the story about the Chaplin Estate's decision leading to the cancellation of the video and therefore the whole single release.
Not when all that preparation has already been done, unless it was MJ himself who refused to cooperate with promotion once the Chaplin Estate refused to let him play Tramp.

I agree with this
 
mj_frenzy;4234331 said:
So, Charlie Chaplin’s Estate did not allow the making of that video.

Dou you have a source for this?
 
Interesting new findings from a different site relating to Smile's cancellation!

http://web.archive.org/web/19981202221618/http://members.aol.com:80/MJFanFr3/newsa3.html

"In order to launch the new single Smile in Europe, Michael Jackson will be on December 1 in England in the show "Variety Art TV" to perform the song Smile . Michael Jackson had canceled for personal reasons the performance he had to do tomorrow in Germany in the TV show "Wetten Dass ..."."

"For reasons still unknown Michael Jackson has just canceled the performance he was to perform on December 1 in England for the show Variety Art TV Show where he was to sing Smile. Following this cancellation, Sony Music England, France and Germany have decided to cancel the release of the single Smile having no video for the promotion of the single. So for the moment there will be no next single except for Holland, which despite not having any video will still Smile. It is still likely that all this will change ... More info very soon."

So there were no estate issues... simply the fact the video had no video to go alongside it since the video was supposed to be either of these performances.
Interesting the reason for the Wetten Das cancellation was "personal reasons".
 
You know there was a story about this on the sidelines truth.com but the link no longer works and I'm not sure what it said and if it gave the reasons has probably not
 
dam2040;4234251 said:
What was MJs fault? He turned up to that stupid record signing like some third rate R&B artist on a debut album, didn't he?

Michael did that, to provide a positive lift to the people of New York, after 911. He was treated like the King that he was.

SmoothGangsta;4234282 said:
MJ and Sony decided that it would better to focus on other markets as he wasn't as popular in the US. I don't really get where this idea that Sony didn't want any of singles to succeed comes from. Fans really like to have a particular narrative when it comes to this stuff, same with MJ hating remixes even though a lot of them were his idea. Just because MJ said something doesn't always mean it was true.

Exactly.

Electro;4234307 said:
It's definitly a shame that Is It Scary didn't get more exposure. It's the best song on the whole BOTDF album I think.

I agree and it is SUCH a shame.

mj_frenzy;4234331 said:
Choosing to perform on those concerts the remix version of a song instead of the original one, is something that sounds quite illogical.

With no music video at all for ‘Smile’, all the promotion for that song (like single release, TV live performances, etc) would be absolutely meaningless, hence the cancellation of the song’s promotion.

I agree entirely with both of these statements. Thank you.
 
thats interesting:

BW: But there’s also something we didn’t like, it’s the broadcast version of the History show, honestly, the TV concert is not that good, it takes a lot away from the show, the sound is mediocre and also the editing…It’s very deceiving!
M: It’s true, I was very disappointed by that…I didn’t take care of it personally, I saw the final result on the last week. The concert was edited during the tour, I was so exhausted, then that I had to let other people do it in my place. But today I’m disappointed, it’s not good. I won’t let that version come out for sale. I want to edit it all over again and I want to
add twenty minutes at the beginning to show the fans arriving in the stadium, I want to show the enthusiasm, the thrill of the public…
 
kai;4236173 said:
thats interesting:

BW: But there’s also something we didn’t like, it’s the broadcast version of the History show, honestly, the TV concert is not that good, it takes a lot away from the show, the sound is mediocre and also the editing…It’s very deceiving!
M: It’s true, I was very disappointed by that…I didn’t take care of it personally, I saw the final result on the last week. The concert was edited during the tour, I was so exhausted, then that I had to let other people do it in my place. But today I’m disappointed, it’s not good. I won’t let that version come out for sale. I want to edit it all over again and I want to
add twenty minutes at the beginning to show the fans arriving in the stadium, I want to show the enthusiasm, the thrill of the public…

what he meant by "The concert was edited during the tour" ?
 
what he meant by "The concert was edited during the tour" ?

I understand that the editing was rushed by his team while he was still on tour, and he wasn't there to edit properly the way he wanted to.
 
So please estate DON'T release Munich! even Michael didn't like it.
 
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