What do you want to see from the Estate? (fans wishlist thread)

[ChrisC]

A warning beforehand would have helped lol. I listened on headphones and I think my ears are shattered now.
So how does this work you reckon? This is one take of the song, I presume several more were done and then the best bits got edited together to form what in the end ended up on the album?

I'd love to hear stuff for shout or tabloid junkie now like this, perhaps I can make out what he is saying then :-D

As I remember Michael wanted the experience of singing it all the way through with the full orchestra there in front of him, like a kinda Frank Sinatra type deal. But I must admit, my memory is a little hazy.

Also the audio quality in the clip here does not do it justice, and watching Michael at work and his reactions make it really special.

 

[dethorro]

So how does this work you reckon? This is one take of the song, I presume several more were done and then the best bits got edited together to form what in the end ended up on the album?

Yes.
This song and Smile were both recorded live with an orchestra at the Hit Factory in New York on June 27th 1994.
I don't know how many takes Michael did for Childhood but I know that he did 6 takes for Smile with the orchestra and then did another 14 takes by himself because he wasn't fully satisfied with the first 6.
But in general that's how Michael recorded songs, it seems. He would sing them from top to bottom a couple of times and then decide which words or phrases sound best on which take.

Brad Sundberg posted a very interesting post on Facebook regarding this subject. I highly encourage you to read it.
https://www.facebook.com/inthestudiowithmj/posts/1291803887660169?__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARBLmxVrcqFK00WWdu0NizEItBPg9K9q1Ti2MrbZLgF4HOsJmIibp2R-jQcNdoGHLp6g6-6DvdxvYg5CaJwx1IJre05XaCIU0Tnfkv7UN5liKpwQu3Ddv_aF8ZnNSegikdTYJvmRnjaOcphhx5-5GIIWvaaDRKuvgc_JRvEA2vNNiLkIMAhHov92Wda-6HXjdiB69An5wmvVwU2ozg5CgiXLhARBefY_CIO_TKwVOg2lHOD66dwLDnAtekG0RHUN2V82-tbsqvs1RJE-z71HzxkiLicg5Ifllgkw2w2yptIsvu0_oLSmM6BYXPle20G4mO-Id2ab_QKbKbZCxIVccysCfw&__tn__=K-R

 

[ScreenOrigami]

MJ themed “Heal The World” cloth face masks. All proceeds to charity.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

MJ themed “Heal The World” cloth face masks. All proceeds to charity.

Yes. we need this right now. awesome idea.

 

[mj_frenzy]

This song and Smile were both recorded live with an orchestra at the Hit Factory in New York on June 27th 1994.

That information is incorrect because ‘Smile’ and ‘Childhood’ were not recorded on June 27th, 1994.

These two songs were the very final songs that were recorded for the ‘HIStory’ album.

As confirmed also by Bruce Swedien, ‘Smile’ and ‘Childhood’ were recorded (the vocals and the orchestra) on March 29th, 1995.

I don't know how many takes Michael did for Childhood but I know that he did 6 takes for Smile with the orchestra and then did another 14 takes by himself because he wasn't fully satisfied with the first 6.

According to video footage from the ‘Childhood’ recording sessions, Michael Jackson sings his vocals of ‘Childhood’ in only one take (with the exception of one line pick up).

Also, while he sings his first lines (of ‘Childhood&#8217 he has his hands outstretched in a position that looks like he is about to fly, while at some other points while singing the song he clenches his fists out of his passion for the lines that he delivers.

 

[dethorro]

That information is incorrect because ‘Smile’ and ‘Childhood’ were not recorded on June 27th, 1994.

That information is indeed correct and it has been confirmed by Brian Vibberts at the Brad x2 seminar.

These two songs were the very final songs that were recorded for the ‘HIStory’ album.

As confirmed also by Bruce Swedien, ‘Smile’ and ‘Childhood’ were recorded (the vocals and the orchestra) on March 29th, 1995.

This can't be true. Bruce Swedien actually talked about both Childhood and Smile in an interview with the Black & White magazine on November 5th 1994.
The interview was conducted in New York City at the Hit Factory studio.

(This has been translated from French):

Bruce Swedien : Michael wrote 2 songs for HIStory, which I would say are the best he has ever created... Words of those songs are the most personal and the most beautiful he has ever written. He went above and beyond him self. The horrible things he went thru lately inspired him a lot...

ВLACK&WHITE : These 2 songs you mentioned, what do they look like?

Bruce Swedien : The first one is pretty personal. In this song Michael explains he was not allowed to have a childhood, that he lost it, his voice is awesome in it. The second one is different. Michael wrote it in Moscow, when he was on tour. He was alone and tortured by the false accusations against him. He expressed his feelings writing wonderful words (BLACK &WHITE: Bruce sings us the song he thinks is lovely).
The songs starts off with the sound of rain, this is the rain of Moscow, the rhythm is very complexed...there is an infinity of small sounds merged together, Michael makes drums (percussions) with his mouth.

Bruce Swedien : Michael's capabilities are so vast, he did amazing things for HIStory. In another song from the album, for example, he sang with all symphonic orchestra. He entered the studio with 80 musicians, they played their part and Michael sang in front of them. There was no interruption, it was unbelievable.

ВLACK&WHITE : Which song are you talking about?

Bruce Swedien : About the song dedicated to Charlie Chaplin.

ВLACK&WHITE : So, the version we will be listening to, was recorded live and without interruption?

 

[mj_frenzy]

That information is indeed correct and it has been confirmed by Brian Vibberts at the Brad x2 seminar.

This can't be true. Bruce Swedien actually talked about both Childhood and Smile in an interview with the Black & White magazine on November 5th 1994.
The interview was conducted in New York City at the Hit Factory studio.

(This has been translated from French):

Bruce Swedien : Michael wrote 2 songs for HIStory, which I would say are the best he has ever created... Words of those songs are the most personal and the most beautiful he has ever written. He went above and beyond him self. The horrible things he went thru lately inspired him a lot...

ВLACK&WHITE : These 2 songs you mentioned, what do they look like?

Bruce Swedien : The first one is pretty personal. In this song Michael explains he was not allowed to have a childhood, that he lost it, his voice is awesome in it. The second one is different. Michael wrote it in Moscow, when he was on tour. He was alone and tortured by the false accusations against him. He expressed his feelings writing wonderful words (BLACK &WHITE: Bruce sings us the song he thinks is lovely).
The songs starts off with the sound of rain, this is the rain of Moscow, the rhythm is very complexed...there is an infinity of small sounds merged together, Michael makes drums (percussions) with his mouth.

Bruce Swedien : Michael's capabilities are so vast, he did amazing things for HIStory. In another song from the album, for example, he sang with all symphonic orchestra. He entered the studio with 80 musicians, they played their part and Michael sang in front of them. There was no interruption, it was unbelievable.

ВLACK&WHITE : Which song are you talking about?

Bruce Swedien : About the song dedicated to Charlie Chaplin.

ВLACK&WHITE : So, the version we will be listening to, was recorded live and without interruption?

Again, your information about that is incorrect.

Brian Vibberts is also wrong about that.

Besides, your incorrect information is based on a …translated from French (!) interview which has some other mistakes, as well (such as, the “80 musicians” mistake).

In actual reality, the orchestra of those two songs consisted of 50 musicians (in other words, it was a 50-piece orchestra).

Bruce Swedien explained in his book all the details concerning the recording sessions of those two songs.

“… We recorded “Smile” March 29, 1995 at the Hit Factory studios in New York… This piece of music was played by a large orchestra, mainly strings, with vocal…The studio I selected for this recording was the large music studio at the Hit Factory in New York… When we finished recording “Have You Seen My Childhood?” and the Charlie Chaplin song “Smile” with the orchestra, Michael asked me if he could go out in the studio and meet the musicians in the orchestra …” (Bruce Swedien, In The Studio With Michael Jackson)

As I said, my correct information can be confirmed also by other reliable sources, such as by the ‘Michael Jackson: All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track’ book (by François Allard, Richard Lecocq) that states that both songs were recorded on 29 March, 1995.

Jeremy Lubbock who conducted the orchestration of those two songs can confirm also the correct date (29 March, 1995).

 

[dethorro]

Besides, your incorrect information is based on a …translated from French (!) interview which has some other mistakes, as well (such as, the “80 musicians” mistake).

Just because the article comes from a French magazine doesn't mean that the information in it is wrong. You can't translate a number, so Bruce actually said in that interview that they used an 80-piece orchestra, even if it isn't true.
It's Bruce's fault. Don't blame it on the translation.

Bruce Swedien explained in his book all the details concerning the recording sessions of those two songs.

Every time I quote Michael Prince as a source in my posts you say that his memory isn't great and that he doesn't remember dates well. How do you know that Bruce Swedien (who btw was 75 years old in 2009 when he wrote the book) has a better memory?

Bruce has been wrong before. Like when he said that the Bad sessions started on January 5th 1987 (when they actually started in August 1986) or when he said that he used the Shure Sm7 on all of Michael's recordings apart from Earth Song (Brad Sundberg has confirmed that they used other microphones as well).

Oh and btw...production moved from the Hit Factory to Record One and Larabee Studios in December 1994/January 1995. So, Bruce is once again wrong. They couldn't have recorded any song on March 29th 1995 at the Hit Factory because they had moved from there 2 months prior to that date.

And one last thing...HIStory was mastered on March 28th 1995 at Bernie Grundmann's. This has been confirmed by Mike Smallcombe.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Just because the article comes from a French magazine doesn't mean that the information in it is wrong. You can't translate a number, so Bruce actually said in that interview that they used an 80-piece orchestra, even if it isn't true.
It's Bruce's fault. Don't blame it on the translation.

Every time I quote Michael Prince as a source in my posts you say that his memory isn't great and that he doesn't remember dates well. How do you know that Bruce Swedien (who btw was 75 years old in 2009 when he wrote the book) has a better memory?

Bruce has been wrong before. Like when he said that the Bad sessions started on January 5th 1987 (when they actually started in August 1986) or when he said that he used the Shure Sm7 on all of Michael's recordings apart from Earth Song (Brad Sundberg has confirmed that they used other microphones as well).

Oh and btw...production moved from the Hit Factory to Record One and Larabee Studios in December 1994/January 1995. So, Bruce is once again wrong. They couldn't have recorded any song on March 29th 1995 at the Hit Factory because they had moved from there 2 months prior to that date.

And one last thing...HIStory was mastered on March 28th 1995 at Bernie Grundmann's. This has been confirmed by Mike Smallcombe.

Bruce Swedien has also provided pictures (from the recording sessions of these two songs) that show the orchestra, the musical equipment, string set-ups, position of the microphones, etc, taken from inside the Hit Factory studios in New York.

These pictures were taken on March 29th 1995, the day when they recorded these two songs.

 

[dethorro]

Bruce Swedien has also provided pictures (from the recording sessions of these two songs) that show the orchestra, the musical equipment, string set-ups, position of the microphones, etc, taken from inside the Hit Factory studios in New York.

These pictures were taken on March 29th 1995, the day when they recorded these two songs.

Could you post these pictures from Bruce's book, please?

 

[Korgnex]

Books and producers' memories are not always correct. I can confirm that both "Childhood" and "Smile" have been recorded and finished in 1994. I have SEVERAL official studio items that back it all up. Here's just one of them:

 

[dethorro]

Books and producers' memories are not always correct. I can confirm that both "Childhood" and "Smile" have been recorded and finished in 1994. I have SEVERAL official studio items that back it all up. Here's just one of them:

Thank you for confirming this!
Wow! You're lucky to own those:innocent:

 

[mj_frenzy]

Could you post these pictures from Bruce's book, please?

Some of these Bruce Swedien’s pictures are included on certain of his books in the chapters where he writes about the recording of these two songs (such as, in his ‘Make Mine Music’ book).

He even includes diagrams of the entire orchestra set-up that are based on these pictures which were taken from inside the Hit Factory studios in New York on March 29th 1995 (for the recording of these two songs).

 

[redstrots]

They need to know what's going on, Dan Reed successfully applied to film the next court appearance of the liars, which suggests either a 2nd documentary or additional footage for LN?....and they didn't know! They were told by the fan community, how is that possible? Where is their head at? Don't forget many of the exposed lies were discovered by fans or a journalist (Mike Smallcombe).

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

They need to know what's going on, Dan Reed successfully applied to film the next court appearance of the liars, which suggests either a 2nd documentary or additional footage for LN?....and they didn't know! They were told by the fan community, how is that possible? Where is their head at? Don't forget many of the exposed lies were discovered by fans or a journalist (Mike Smallcombe).

I hope not. i think his estate will do the samething as well. so i think they know.

 

[R1chard]

Just wondering what would be your preferred type of new release?

To flesh out the options:

Hi-Res album release: imagine Bad/Thriller/Dangerous getting a rerelease that actually sounded good (everything since 2001 has been garbage). I mean the original album, properly mastered, uncompressed, in 96kHz/24-bit, with 5.1 channel surround sound (or Dolby Atmos), on Blu-ray audio or SACD (a format created by Sony). MJ won Grammy awards for sound quality, this should be the focus, not extra tracks.

Faux Unplugged set: think The Stripped Mixes but spanning his entire career. A 90-minute performance, perhaps with newly recorded (but very basic) instrumental tracks. Rarer tracks, not the same hits all the time.

Full-on club experience: something like a Ministry Of Sound compilation, but just with MJ stuff. Exclusive remixes, all seemlessly mixed by a famous 80s/90s DJ without gaps, curated so that the whole thing flows and is a complete experience. Give the songs time to breathe, not jumping around every 30 seconds like that Cirque Immortal thing, or whatever they were doing in 1995.

Symphonic Masterpiece: taking MJ's vocal tracks, but making the impact more dramatic via the use of a full 100-piece orchestra with real strings, brass, percussion etc. I got a tribute CD with a solo violin and that was pretty good. I want something with a huge sound.

So those were my ideas. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Sony thinks of one of these.

 

[AlwaysThere]

New music, above everything and anything else anyone could name. IÂ’m also hoping for an eventual 4K set of MJÂ’s short films and the long awaited unseen footage from the TII rehearsals.

Other than that, IÂ’m not very interested in anything else. No new concerts, no remixes, no documentaries (depending on the director).

 

[ssj]

Definitely the Faux Unplugged Set... I found this a couple of months ago and I really really wish it was an official release
[video=youtube;EcJDrJYeFuM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJDrJYeFuM[/video]

 

[dam2040]

Most interested in new music, the short films and TII rehearsals.

Only concert I want to see is DWT Wembley or a 4K film reel show.

 

[king_of_style]

Honestly I'd just like to see more posthumous releases, be it a single, EP, or album. But of those options I'd prefer a full-on club experience -- I think that the Invincible era onwards could really use a "rehydration" if you will, it's been sort of left behind in its dated-ness. Michael's magic is definitely there, but I think if someone could make a club mix of "Unbreakable" or "Threatened" that could be really do those songs justice. And even some post-Invincible stuff, the unfinished tracks like "Changes" or "Rocker", could become really good outro tracks to such a club experience in the right hands. Personally I would kill for a chance to hear something like "Changes" (Silk Sonic's HIStory Lesson).

Off The Wall outtakes and other pre-Thriller material might also work well for such a project.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

None. I'd only buy a new HQ/HD concert release.

 

[Zakk]

4K short films, new album, TII Unseen Rehearsals, J5/Destiny/Victory/Bad/Dangerous Tours on Blu-Ray, Triumph/Victory/Bad/Dangerous Tour Rehearsals, Studio sessions from the BAD album (Footage was captured on 16/35mm as seen in BAD 25 Docu), Short films behind the scenes, On the road Tour documentaries, Super deluxe editions of each album containing demo's that are too incomplete to be featured on posthumous LPs.

 

[DuranDuran]

Mostly stuff related to The Jacksons/J5. I would be interested in a compilation album with the extended & instrumental versions of songs (not club remixes) like You Can't Win, Billie Jean, & The Lady In My Life that were on 12" singles or other releases. Put Starlight Sun, the full Carousel, jingles for commercials (Dr. Pepper, Alpha-Bits, Pepsi, etc.), & the Victory fan club single on it too. Maybe re-release the E.T. Storybook.

 

[Michaels Lover]

None. I'd only buy a new HQ/HD concert release.

Me too! I want more concerts, or other unseen footage

 

[Smooth72]

New music is about all IÂ’m interested in. No more repackaged greatest hits please. Sure a HD concert would be great depending on what it is. Most of the concerts are similar so it would probably need to be Bad with live vocals. At this point itÂ’s been since 2014...

 

[wonderouzmj]

How many threads like this are gonna get posted?

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Galactus123]

Concerts on DVD and Blu-Ray

Short films on Blu-Ray

 

[Pentum]

How many threads like this are gonna get posted?

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk

I don't blame people posting similar threads. MJ world is out of content because the fans are the ones who have to run stuff (podcasts, forums, leaks, stories, etc.).

 

[king_of_style]

I don't blame people posting similar threads. MJ world is out of content because the fans are the ones who have to run stuff (podcasts, forums, leaks, stories, etc.).

In lieu of the Estate not releasing anything (yet), this entire fandom has just been that meme of Plankton saying "DON'T LET THE FLAME DIE OUT".

But still, it would be weird if we didn't get anything out of his 50th anniversary.

 

[Pentum]

Definitely the Faux Unplugged Set... I found this a couple of months ago and I really really wish it was an official release
[video=youtube;EcJDrJYeFuM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcJDrJYeFuM[/video]

This one is really cool. Finally, the song is listenable to me. I never liked ITFIL. But this works. Could have gone with just a drum beat here and there