The Will.i.am tracks [Discussion]

[NatureCriminal7896]

Well i don't believe him much anymore either if he release one track and not the others. like others said, if he gets low on money we probably gonna see those tracks in the future.

[AlwaysThere]

I'm dying to hear them simply because they're original post-trial songs, of which we have none. I don't care for Will as a producer or songwriter, but I want to hear anything and everything Michael was working on at that time.

[dam2040]

I'm dying to hear them simply because they're original post-trial songs, of which we have none. I don't care for Will as a producer or songwriter, but I want to hear anything and everything Michael was working on at that time.

Me too. Anything after 2005 is absolute gold to me and probably the era I’m most interested in hearing. I wonder just how close we were to any official releases at any point from 05-09.

[AmitLal92]

Will.i.am has also said he has unreleased songs from Prince but will never release them either. If the MJ songs are completed enough vocally then the estate should work something out with him. Would be great to hear some of the recent stuff.

I'm dying to hear them simply because they're original post-trial songs, of which we have none. I don't care for Will as a producer or songwriter, but I want to hear anything and everything Michael was working on at that time.

[Mikky Dee]

How arrogant. I love some YMO, but comparing himself with the Beatles like that? And Michael "added a few lyrics"? The original has NO lyrics apart from the vocoder refrain, which basically only serves as background vocal in Michaels version. A 50-50 share would for sure have been fair.

Would be interesting to know, exactly when Mosdell said that. Seems he (or rather YMO as a group and/or their record label) already thought differently a few years later, when they found agreements with Greg Phillinganes and Eric Clapton to release their covers of Michaels version.

To further cite from Chris Cadman's "For The Record":
"Phillinganes, who also played with his band, brought the song to Eric Clapton's attention. Clapton's cover version, on which Phillinganes played keyboards and sang backing vocals, hit no. 15 in the UK in 1987. This version, curiously, failed to credit Michael as one of the song's co-writers - but Chris Mosdell has confirmed Michael does takes 50% of the song-writing royalties. "
https://issuu.com/sasha_nikitin/docs/for_the_record




I also doubt that "Behind The Mask" was seriously considered for Thriller, to a degree that it would have made the final cut. It would have been so out of place style-wise.

We don't really know how hard Michael and Quincy fought for it, if so. Cadman only vaguely states "Legal battles meant Michael's version didn't make his Thriller album and remains unreleased". But what "legal battles"? If you change someone's song, and the original author says "no", then that's the end of story. There are no legal grounds to force him to agree to get your uncalled remix/edit/version released.

I agree with every word. I was thinking the exact same thing about Chris Mosdell - arrogant.
He didn't know who Michael Jackson was?? Really?? I highly doubt that is true.

[Mikky Dee]

I'm dying to hear them simply because they're original post-trial songs, of which we have none. I don't care for Will as a producer or songwriter, but I want to hear anything and everything Michael was working on at that time.

Same for me.

[Electro]

I agree with every word. I was thinking the exact same thing about Chris Mosdell - arrogant.
He didn't know who Michael Jackson was?? Really?? I highly doubt that is true.

I guess it's possible. Pre-Thriller Michael was 'just' one of many black soul/disco artists.
And Mosdell's home was rather the international artsy eclectic music scene back then.

YMO were HUGE in Japan back then, but still, comparing the song he wrote for them to a Beatles classic is off.

[Bobi MJ]

Me too. Anything after 2005 is absolute gold to me and probably the era I’m most interested in hearing. I wonder just how close we were to any official releases at any point from 05-09.

Dude, I also really want to hear anything after 2005. I really want to hear "The Future", "I'm Still The King", "D.I.E", and "Water". They all are recorded after 2005.