IJCSLY duet question

JichaelMackson

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According to wikipedia IJCSLY was supposed to be a duet with either Agnetha Faltskog (abba), Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand or Aretha Franklin.

Any idea why none of those big stars turned down a duet with the hottest singer of the world then? Aretha did a song with George Michael for example so she wasn't against duets.

I wonder how MJ felt after being turned down 4 times by big stars, not forgetting prince also turned down a duet and a supposed duet with George Michael also falling through.

I'm curious to find out what played in the late 80s for this to happen.
 
According to wikipedia IJCSLY was supposed to be a duet with either Agnetha Faltskog (abba), Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand or Aretha Franklin.

Any idea why none of those big stars turned down a duet with the hottest singer of the world then? Aretha did a song with George Michael for example so she wasn't against duets.

Barbra Streisand thought their difference in age made the song a bit unbelievable... that was her reason to kindly decline. I think that was a right decision.

And if I remember correctly, a duet with Whitney Houston never occured because of record companies not agreeing. But I am not sure about that.
 
JichaelMackson;4290379 said:
According to wikipedia IJCSLY was supposed to be a duet with either Agnetha Faltskog (abba), Whitney Houston, Barbra Streisand or Aretha Franklin.

Any idea why none of those big stars turned down a duet with the hottest singer of the world then? Aretha did a song with George Michael for example so she wasn't against duets.

I wonder how MJ felt after being turned down 4 times by big stars, not forgetting prince also turned down a duet and a supposed duet with George Michael also falling through.

I'm curious to find out what played in the late 80s for this to happen.

Don't trust Wikipedia. I have never heard about a Agneta Fältskog or George Michael duet.
 
This is the only source I can find on Agnetha Faltskog and Aretha Franklin being approached for "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." Seems to just be a rumor.

But as the above two users said:

  • Barbra turned the song down because she felt the age difference -- at the time of its recording, she was 45 and MJ was 28 -- undermined the song's credibility.
  • Whitney was preparing for the release of her second album when "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" was recorded, and (evidently) her record label didn't want to risk overexposure by putting her with such a massive name so early in her career.
As for the George Michael duet, that was (apparently) a real thing:

We were even going to work together. But his bizarre behaviour put the kibosh on that. It was 1988 and it’s funny, looking back, but at the time we were the biggest male pop stars in the world, rivals I suppose. And our label Sony had this grand idea of a duet – the two Michaels – it could’ve been the biggest thing ever! But I’d heard that Prince had turned him down, I also knew that he was sitting on stuff he’d done with Freddie Mercury – apparently they fell out because Freddie kept urging him to come out of the closet!”

Was Freddie trying it on with him? Who knows? But it wouldn’t surprise me, knowing Freddie! Anyway, a meeting was arranged at the Jackson family compound in Encino. Michael had just bought Neverland but we’d heard that no adults were allowed there, except staff. It took ages to get there; a really long drive in a stuffy car from LA and I’m really hot and sweaty. When we arrive at the house, we’re shown into the porch by the front door and told that Michael will be down to see us shortly. I was standing there for 20 minutes. Then Michael arrives, in full-make up with shades on, inside the house! He’s accompanied by his manager Frank DiLeo, and I have my manager with me, so there’s the four of us standing in the hallway, and Frank does all the talking. Not once does Michael ever shake our hands, take his shades off or speak directly to us. I try to engage him in conversation but he just turns his head and looks at the floor. All questions to him have to go through his manager, even when you’re standing right in front of him. Unbelievable rudeness!

As the managers try to work out the logistics of who would write the song and all that, the only time Michael volunteers to speak is a whisper in Frank’s ear. “Michael wants to know how much do you think we could sell of this record?” enquiries DiLeo. It would have been absolutely massive, and my manager made it clear it would be, but it was almost like Michael wanted some kind of guarantee: “I will only agree to work with you if it’s going to sell at least x million.” But by this point I’d lost interest. We’d been talking for over an hour and not once were were offered a drink or even a chair. I came away thinking this guy is a complete and utter nutter. And that was the last time there was ever any talk of the two of us working together. No amount of record sales was worth that kind of behaviour.

Not sure how accurate that is, but hey, who knows?
 
AlwaysThere;4290394 said:
Not sure how accurate that is, but hey, who knows?

Unless a video of George Michael exists where he tells the story himself, I’m going to assume this is completely made up.
 
I really wish Whitney and Michael did this duet. it would of been great! I really wish they did a duet period. :(
 
don't always trust wiki. while I really wish for a Michael and Prince duet. they were two different people. they never hated it each other and they respected each other talents.
 
That George Michael story is probably total bullshit. From the first sentence till the last there's only negativity about MJ. Freddie and MJ didn't fall out, Prince did turn him down but here it is said without any context. The next paragraphs are just hate stirring. Arriving with full make up? So what... Offering nothing to drink, not talking directly to each other. Not in a million years will I believe that.
I do believe the meeting happened and that perhaps both artists didn't like each other but the way this is written is too childish to be real.

It would have been fantastic though, I love George Michael, what a voice!
 
That George Michael is absolute rubbish. When in 88 would Michael have the time for such a thing? No adults allowed in neverland? Freddie wanting MJ to come out of the closet? This sounds like a bad tabloid article. I don't know if this came from George Michael but it is absolute rubbish. Yet again George Michael was always bitter against MJ for some unapparent reason.
 
Prince did turn down MJ because they were two different people. the thing with Freddie and him i don't know if it's true or not but it was something about Michael want it to bring his llama to his house and Freddie said no or something. also something about Freddie smoking or something.

i don't know if it's true but that what i read and heard a lot.

Michael was a queen fan. he loved their music.

i think Michael also liked it George too and i heard about the duet thing. i don't know if they did or not. it had to been around somewhere the mid 80's i think. i'm not sure.
 
Everyone seems to want to have at least a second-hand MJ story to tell. It’s really annoying when you’re trying to figure out what’s a fact and what’s not.
 
Yeah, don't trust the wiki with MJ (is it just me or it is extremely inaccurate when it comes to MJ?).

Having said that, wow, a duet with Agnetha Faltskog sounds exciting! I also wish he worked with Aretha, but on something different. On the other hand, and I don't even like Streisand that much (at least compared to the others), I think it could have worked between them with IJCSLY.

That "George Michael story" sounds like its only aim was to collect every MJ gossip cliché from the time. :D
 
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I wonder how MJ felt after being turned down 4 times by big stars, not forgetting prince also turned down a duet and a supposed duet with George Michael also falling through.
I've never heard of the Aretha Franklin & Agnetha Faltskog thing, but Mike was turned down by Kraftwerk too. But they turned down all requests to work with other artists. The reason is they did not want to give their sound away. There was a rumor around 1984 that Mike was going to do a duet with Boy George. But nothing ever came of it. Mike also wanted to work with Duran Duran, but John Taylor said there were scheduling conflicts and couldn't find a time convenient for both to collaborate.
 
I've never heard of the Aretha Franklin & Agnetha Faltskog thing, but Mike was turned down by Kraftwerk too. But they turned down all requests to work with other artists. The reason is they did not want to give their sound away. There was a rumor around 1984 that Mike was going to do a duet with Boy George. But nothing ever came of it. Mike also wanted to work with Duran Duran, but John Taylor said there were scheduling conflicts and couldn't find a time convenient for both to collaborate.

Thanks for the info. It's still suprising to me that MJ was into electronic sound like YMO and Kraftwerk too. :D
 
I love Kraftwerk as well but only in German in English it loses in atmosphere. Trans Europa Express is one of my all time fave albums.

It's clear by now that MJ had a varied taste in music. It fits with what he once said in an interview that he liked to learn about the origins of music styles, you have to learn where it started to fully appreciate and understand the music.

I think perhaps throughout his career he was searching to invent a new genre himself. I think he succeeded actually in his search both musically (the heehees, and aauws, the hiccups and other sounds, the scatting way of singing in his later career, incorporating beatbox in his songs) but definitely visually through videos, clothes and dance moves he did. It's mind blowing how he took dance moves from musical films, James Brown's funk, street dancing and then added his own touches to it to create the unique Michael Jackson way of dancing. Despite the millions of sales the hundreds of sell out concerts and the mass hysteria whenever he was in public I still believe he is very underrated as an artist.
 
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I like Michael. me and him are so much alike. for instant he go back how the music and genre start it. I do that too when it comes mostly everything. it good to know how things are start it before doing your own thing. we need more people like him in this world.

Michael in my opinion wasn't an underrated artist. you can blame the media etc if everyone felt like he was.
 
AlwaysThere;4290394 said:
This is the only source I can find on Agnetha Faltskog and Aretha Franklin being approached for "I Just Can't Stop Loving You." Seems to just be a rumor.

But as the above two users said:

  • Barbra turned the song down because she felt the age difference -- at the time of its recording, she was 45 and MJ was 28 -- undermined the song's credibility.
  • Whitney was preparing for the release of her second album when "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" was recorded, and (evidently) her record label didn't want to risk overexposure by putting her with such a massive name so early in her career.
As for the George Michael duet, that was (apparently) a real thing:

Not sure how accurate that is, but hey, who knows?

Themidwestcowboy;4290425 said:
That George Michael is absolute rubbish. When in 88 would Michael have the time for such a thing? No adults allowed in neverland? Freddie wanting MJ to come out of the closet? This sounds like a bad tabloid article. I don't know if this came from George Michael but it is absolute rubbish. Yet again George Michael was always bitter against MJ for some unapparent reason.

As far as I know, Barbra Streisand simply did not like the song, so she refused to duet with him.

Around that time (late ‘80s), Michael Jackson was about to record a duet with George Michael.

It was a stand-alone, charity single, aimed at raising money for the relief of people living in Africa.

Press reports at the time confirmed that planned duet collaboration between George Michael and Michael Jackson.

They met and discussed that possibility, but they eventually never recorded that charity duet song.
 
mj_frenzy;4290497 said:
As far as I know, Barbra Streisand simply did not like the song, so she refused to duet with him.

Around that time (late ‘80s), Michael Jackson was about to record a duet with George Michael.

It was a stand-alone, charity single, aimed at raising money for the relief of people living in Africa..

Press reports at the time confirmed that planned duet collaboration between George Michael and Michael Jackson.

They met and discussed that possibility, but they eventually never recorded that charity duet song.

Please show me sources and not just some press reports. I can show you press report about a lot of unsubstantiated rumors
 
AlwaysThere;4290394 said:
As for the George Michael duet, that was (apparently) a real thing:
We were even going to work together. But his bizarre behaviour put the kibosh on that. It was 1988 and it’s funny, looking back, but at the time we were the biggest male pop stars in the world, rivals I suppose. And our label Sony had this grand idea of a duet – the two Michaels – it could’ve been the biggest thing ever! But I’d heard that Prince had turned him down, I also knew that he was sitting on stuff he’d done with Freddie Mercury – apparently they fell out because Freddie kept urging him to come out of the closet!”

Was Freddie trying it on with him? Who knows? But it wouldn’t surprise me, knowing Freddie! Anyway, a meeting was arranged at the Jackson family compound in Encino. Michael had just bought Neverland but we’d heard that no adults were allowed there, except staff. It took ages to get there; a really long drive in a stuffy car from LA and I’m really hot and sweaty. When we arrive at the house, we’re shown into the porch by the front door and told that Michael will be down to see us shortly. I was standing there for 20 minutes. Then Michael arrives, in full-make up with shades on, inside the house! He’s accompanied by his manager Frank DiLeo, and I have my manager with me, so there’s the four of us standing in the hallway, and Frank does all the talking. Not once does Michael ever shake our hands, take his shades off or speak directly to us. I try to engage him in conversation but he just turns his head and looks at the floor. All questions to him have to go through his manager, even when you’re standing right in front of him. Unbelievable rudeness!

As the managers try to work out the logistics of who would write the song and all that, the only time Michael volunteers to speak is a whisper in Frank’s ear. “Michael wants to know how much do you think we could sell of this record?” enquiries DiLeo. It would have been absolutely massive, and my manager made it clear it would be, but it was almost like Michael wanted some kind of guarantee: “I will only agree to work with you if it’s going to sell at least x million.” But by this point I’d lost interest. We’d been talking for over an hour and not once were were offered a drink or even a chair. I came away thinking this guy is a complete and utter nutter. And that was the last time there was ever any talk of the two of us working together. No amount of record sales was worth that kind of behaviour.

Not sure how accurate that is, but hey, who knows?



Here is the full story with a bit more context:
https://www.guyspy.com/an-evening-with-george-michael-jackson/

An article written by a guy named Steve Pafford (a gay author / blogger / celeb gossip writer) in 2013.

The George Michael quotes appear to be from an interview they did in 2005, right after MJs 'Not Guilty' verdicts came in.
And George seems to have been rather upset about it.
(He believed MJ was guilty. Also sort of expressing it here: https://uklist.info/george-michael/qmV6x9mrrs1mxao )



In the end we don't know how much of Steve Pafford is in these GM quotes. And even if they are accurate, it's possible that George Michael exaggerated because of being upset.

To properly judge this, it would be helpful to know more about the background of the Neverland meeting. Was it really only based on an idea by Sony to have them do a duet? Was there any funky behaviour on Georges side that's missing in this picture? We'll never know...





mj_frenzy;4290497 said:
As far as I know, Barbra Streisand simply did not like the song, so she refused to duet with him.

Wow, so you were not only Michael Jacksons best buddy all of his life, turns out you are also a close friend of Barbra Streisand, that you KNOW these things. What an exciting life you must have. :rolleyes:
 
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Michael was a perfectionist. if he turn you down it wasn't always because he didn't like you it was because you didn't have the talent to bring to the table. Michael was a kind man loved everyone but he wouldn't just pick anyone to do this songs and concerts. he was very forward.

if it's true they call off the duet because of their differences then fine. Michael was always like that.

i'm not a fan of George Michael either but I do like a few of his songs he duet with.
 
Themidwestcowboy;4290529 said:
Please show me sources and not just some press reports. I can show you press report about a lot of unsubstantiated rumors

This is not an unsubstantiated rumour.

George Michael himself in one of his interviews around that time (mid/late '80s) also spoke about that possible, charity duet with Michael Jackson.

The fundraising duet was meant to help raise money for the African Relief Fund.

Press reports also wrote about that back then.

Adrian Grant confirmed and included that information in his ‘Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary’ book, as well.
 
To me it's pretty clear George had an issue with Michael. I doubt he ever entertained it.
 
In hindsight, it's for the better that MJ didn't collaborate with Barbara Streisand and George Michael. Streisand sided with Wade and Shafecuck after the airing of LN and George was pissed off about the verdict of the 2005 trail. Both of them think or thought that Michael was a paedophile, so I'm glad he didn't work with them.
 
In hindsight, it's for the better that MJ didn't collaborate with Barbara Streisand and George Michael. Streisand sided with Wade and Shafecuck after the airing of LN and George was pissed off about the verdict of the 2005 trail. Both of them think or thought that Michael was a paedophile, so I'm glad he didn't work with them.

Sadly I agree with this.
 
I've never heard of the Aretha Franklin & Agnetha Faltskog thing, but Mike was turned down by Kraftwerk too. But they turned down all requests to work with other artists. The reason is they did not want to give their sound away. There was a rumor around 1984 that Mike was going to do a duet with Boy George. But nothing ever came of it. Mike also wanted to work with Duran Duran, but John Taylor said there were scheduling conflicts and couldn't find a time convenient for both to collaborate.
I wish MJ had collaborated with Boy George.:(
 
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