Cascio Tracks - Are the Songs Fake?

[Moviefan2k4]

Oh, Eddie also claimed that he deleted Michael's alternate vocals to make space on a hard drive.

Seriously.

Well, there goes his credibility. Unless he or Sony were smart enough to make a backup, they've lost any chance to prove their case.

 

[HIStoric]

Oh, Eddie also claimed that he deleted Michael's alternate vocals to make space on a hard drive.

Lol such bullshit. Hard drive space is ridiculously cheap (even in 2007) and the Cascios weren't exactly poor. Out of everything to delete off a hard drive to make space, he chooses to delete unreleased alternative 'Michael Jackson' vocals? Come on.

Anyone with a single inkling of common sense would go out, buy a new hard drive (or even a USB) to either use for the new files or to back up the alternative vocals.

 

[SmoothMJ]

Surely they weren't to know that Michael was soon to die, and how precious these vocals would become? To them Michael was going to be around to record the final versions, if that was to be the end result of these demos.

Some people use an awful lot of valuable, but ridiculous, hindsight when presenting their 'arguments'.

 

[analogue]

Eddie and Sony/the Estate have claimed that proof of Michael's involvement exists. Handwritten lyric sheets were most often cited, and I remember hearing about video footage of Michael at the microphone singing through a song. None have ever been presented though.

Oh, Eddie also claimed that he deleted Michael's alternate vocals to make space on a hard drive.

Seriously.

Well, I'm convinced

 

[HIStoric]

Surely they weren't to know that Michael was soon to die, and how precious these vocals would become? To them Michael was going to be around to record the final versions, if that was to be the end result of these demos.

Some people use an awful lot of valuable, but ridiculous, hindsight when presenting their 'arguments'.

Sure they weren't to know, but unreleased vocals by an artist as big as Michael would've still been valuable when he was alive. And I can totally get them deleting some extra vocals... but every single extra vocal recorded by Michael Jackson? It is completely against protocol of not only a production team, but also Michael himself.

We're talking about a musician who not only kept kept both demo and extra vocals (leaks and official releases confirm this), but also excessively documented the creation process of his works. All his past productions post-Thriller exemplify this, as well as Taryll Jackson: "They claim my uncle was so happy with the performance he instructed them to delete all the other files. I had the honor to learn and watch my uncle record my entire life and that is NOT how he worked. No outtakes, no other tracks, no backups, no proof. roughly 10 songs they turned in… same story for all of them. I asked for the computer it was created on... they said it broke. I asked for the original hard drive... they said it was destroyed. One dubious excuse after another." (Source)

What really made me question it was their claim of "freeing up hard drive space". Hard drive space is cheap. In 2007 it cost about $100 for a 500GB hard drive (source), which is nothing to the private-studio-owning Cascios or Michael Jackson. It's a piss-poor reason and I don't buy it. At all.

 

[KOPV]

the leaked tracks def. do not help Cascios case about it being Michael.. Just sayin'

 

[smoothvillain]

What it boils down to is this:

The Cascios recorded these songs with a sound-alike because they intended to pitch them to Michael.
Michael either never had a chance to record them or rejected them before he died.
Sony paid an exorbitant amount of money for rights to Michael's vault which turned out to be not as plentiful as they hoped.
The Cascios were able to fool Sony into thinking the vocals on these tracks belonged to Michael Jackson because they were looking for material.

Along with all the lawsuits, this has damaged the credibility and value of unreleased material to the point they refuse to release anymore with anniversary releases or new albums.

Now the Cascios are outright lying and Sony is just covering up their mistake.

 

[KOPV]

^ This of course (Which I am not arguing with) is from the fence that believes it's not Michael and a very legitimate belief of what happened.





just to be fair to both side..

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Eddie and Sony/the Estate have claimed that proof of Michael's involvement exists. Handwritten lyric sheets were most often cited, and I remember hearing about video footage of Michael at the microphone singing through a song. None have ever been presented though.

Oh, Eddie also claimed that he deleted Michael's alternate vocals to make space on a hard drive.

Seriously.
.

Lol, how convenient.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Lol such bullshit. Hard drive space is ridiculously cheap (even in 2007) and the Cascios weren't exactly poor. Out of everything to delete off a hard drive to make space, he chooses to delete unreleased alternative 'Michael Jackson' vocals? Come on.

Anyone with a single inkling of common sense would go out, buy a new hard drive (or even a USB) to either use for the new files or to back up the alternative vocals.

You know what's ridiculously funny about that is that a vocal take can be between 10 - 50mb. Lol

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I also think its unfair, to blame the whole family for the actions of one member. It was Eddie Cascio who supposedly worked with Michael on those songs; not his brother Frank, nor their parents, or any other relative. If anyone's to blame for them being fake, its Eddie alone. The only foolishness due to the Estate and Sony would be about their trust in Eddie...assuming for the sake of discussion the tracks aren't authentic.

 

[HIStoric]

I also think its unfair, to blame the whole family for the actions of one member. It was Eddie Cascio who supposedly worked with Michael on those songs; not his brother Frank, nor their parents, or any other relative. If anyone's to blame for them being fake, its Eddie alone. The only foolishness due to the Estate and Sony would be about their trust in Eddie...assuming for the sake of discussion the tracks aren't authentic.

Agreed. I don't mind Frank myself, I liked his book and I always find it a fascinating and insightful read to a side of Michael we didn't see often.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

Personally there's not a doubt in my mind those songs aren't sung by Michael.
I listen to MJ on a regular from his most popular songs to what can be called deep cuts, and never have I ever heard him sound anything like those songs.
Nonetheless, I greatly enjoy the songs on Michael that are truly sung by Michael.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Surely they weren't to know that Michael was soon to die, and how precious these vocals would become? To them Michael was going to be around to record the final versions, if that was to be the end result of these demos.

Some people use an awful lot of valuable, but ridiculous, hindsight when presenting their 'arguments'.

Perhaps. But do you not find it even moderately suspicious that there is absolutely no standing proof that Michael had a hand in writing any of these songs, much less recording lead vocals on them?

I once wrote a big, several-paragraph examination of every reason the Cascio case makes no sense on another forum. I'll try to find it, because it's simply astounding how little any of the provided information makes sense.

Nonetheless, I greatly enjoy the songs on Michael that are truly sung by Michael.

Agreed! It's a shame people write off the entire album because of the three Cascio songs. They're missing out on some really great songs, especially Best of Joy and Behind the Mask.

 

[analogue]

I wouldn't mind having a Re-release of the Michael album, but with the three Cascio songs removed.

 

[Ms. BlueGangsta]

I wouldn't mind having a Re-release of the Michael album, but with the three Cascio songs removed.

Hm, I don't really see the need for that, and either way doing that would to a certain extent be the estate admitting fault for releasing the original album, which I don't think is going to happen. :no:

 

[KOPV]

Just purchase the songs you want! They wont produce new albums with less tracks, pay for the new packaging.. Basically re release the same album with less! At least not until anything definitive is made about those 3 tracks.. If ever proven 100% that it's not Michael than maybe.. And even then it wont be for us, it will be for legal reasons they do it.

 

[paisleyCUTtop]

those songs are fake, fake FAKE!

 

[Progmetty]

So I'm new to the subject and from the looks of it; it's too complicated to get into. So if someone could please help me out and tell me which and how many songs are under suspicion?

 

[Electro]

Btw, what's the status with the lawsuit by that one fan sueing Sony over the 3 released songs?

 

[Electro]

So I'm new to the subject and from the looks of it; it's too complicated to get into. So if someone could please help me out and tell me which and how many songs are under suspicion?

Nothing complecated. 3 fake songs on the "Michael" album. "Breaking News", "Monster", "Keep Your Head Up" sung by a sound-a-like.
Other songs from this producer (Eddie Cascio), leaked on YouTube etc, remain unreleased.

 

[mj_frenzy]

It was Eddie Cascio who supposedly worked with Michael on those songs; not his brother Frank, nor their parents, or any other relative. If anyone's to blame for them being fake, its Eddie alone. The only foolishness due to the Estate and Sony would be about their trust in Eddie...assuming for the sake of discussion the tracks aren't authentic.

It remains to be determined if Sony/Estate were duped by Eddie Cascio into believing the authenticity of MJ’s vocals in those three tracks, or Sony/Estate knew that all along meaning they are equally to blame.

Hm, I don't really see the need for that, and either way doing that would to a certain extent be the estate admitting fault for releasing the original album, which I don't think is going to happen. :no:

I think this has to do with the court’s final decision regarding Serova’s complaint (Case No. BC548468), rather than it comes down to the Estate’s willingness to admit (or not) its fault.

I mean, if the defendants (including Estate) are found guilty of fraud/violation, then legal actions are going to be taken, & the possibility of future pressings of the ‘Michael’ album (without the three fake Cascios tracks) cannot be excluded.

 

[SmoothMJ]

I "can't even entertain discussions" with people who think Sony and/or The Estate put these songs on an album "knowing they were fake".

It's ludicrous in the extreme.

 

[Snow White luvs Peter Pan]

I get what you're saying Matty and I agree with you but the family is involved in a way. Marie Nicole got married to James Porté in 2015 if I remember correctly, guess what money they used to have a big fancy wedding? They accepted bloody/shady payout at the expense of disrespecting the legacy of a friend who helped that family in many ways.

I know Edward and Porté are responsable for those monstrosities but the Cascios are living off that fraud.

 

[innuendo141]

I "can't even entertain discussions" with people who think Sony and/or The Estate put these songs on an album "knowing they were fake".

It's ludicrous in the extreme.

Whether they knew or not is irrelevant. It hasn't happened for any other dead artist. Whats happened has happened and everyone involved in this fiasco will go to the grave knowing what they were involved in and how they assisted.

 

[SmoothGangsta]

It's been said but I'll say it again, everyone thought those songs were shady as all hell, but Sony and the Estate went ahead anyway.

 

[Nite Line]

I can't believe estate released those songs even after everyone said that they were fake. The Estate lost all credibility after that fiasco which affected the sales of Michael's posthumous albums. Obviously the sales of Michael would have been a lot higher if they hadn't released the Cascio tracks. And the sales of Xscape were also affected. Great job Estate.

 

[Hess]

Wonder if this will be a conversation Prince fans will be discussing if any of his stuff is released

I sure hope not for those fans. - And I doubt it very much.

I wouldn't mind having a Re-release of the Michael album, but with the three Cascio songs removed.

Me too. Would be nice. - Because there are 7 very good songs - some eben brilliant. I really love Much Too Soon, Hollywood Tonight and Best of Joy.

It's been said but I'll say it again, everyone thought those songs were shady as all hell, but Sony and the Estate went ahead anyway.

That was one of the biggest mistakes ever made in the music buisness.... And a HUGE mistake for future releases too.
If in doubt - leave it out...

I think The Estate and SONY genuine belivede the songs to be MJ songs, no doubt, they were tricked by Eddie Cascio. BUT HOW??
Teddy Riley worked with the vocals? - Normally MJ talked in between takes, numbled, humming etc. etc. - if all of that all of a sudden is missing from demo vocal tracks - he should have been alarmed... How could he allow it to happen??
Many is to blame in some extent - but mostly Eddied Cascio - because he must be the one who started it all and convinced The Estate and SONY that it was MJ.

How Eddie Cascio can live with himself is beyound me... Every time he hear MJ's Money he really should have a bad taste in his mouth....

 

[analogue]

I don't understand how Teddy Riley could have been tricked by these songs. He's worked with MJ since 1991, so he should have been able to pick up on the fact that those songs were fake. Or he should have at least been suspicious of them.

 

[HIStoric]

Normally MJ talked in between takes, numbled, humming etc. etc. - if all of that all of a sudden is missing from demo vocal tracks - he should have been alarmed... How could he allow it to happen??

It was discussed a few pages back that Eddie Cascio tried to claim that he 'had to free up space' on his hard drive, therefore deleting every single extra demo vocal off his hard drives. Of course, if you isolate just the vocal tracks of legitimate MJ songs, you can often hear Michael sometimes clicking, stomping or banging along during the vocal recordings. It's not a guarantee, but it was constant habit of Michaels that persisted on many, many tracks so even if what Cascio said about the hard drives was true (hint: it's not), you should still theoretically be able to hear those sort of noises underneath the singing at least sometimes!

So how were the Estate/Sony conned? Well, my theory is that Sony, Branca and McCain had no reason to disbelieve Cascio. On top of this, he was generous to hand over a number of late 'Michael Jackson' tracks when other artists who worked with Michael in his final years - such as will.i.am - were more reserved.

Alongside discussions and reasonings us fans will likely never know about, I don't imagine Branca and McCain are overly familiar with the audio post-production process and all the technicalities of it. I imagine if you were to tell them "Michael's voice has just been heavily processed because they're only rough demo vocals", it would be passable (hell back in the day, this reasoning satisfied me). As for the non-vocal noises MJ typically made on vocal takes, neither Branca nor McCain worked in the studio with Michael so they wouldn't be aware of this behaviour, which definitely goes against the norm of recording clean vocal takes. As such, the clean recordings of Breaking News, Monster and Keep Your Head Up wouldn't ring any alarm bells to those unfamiliar.

Teddy Riley is another story and I haven't a clue what he was up to.