Dangerous – song recording dates

[ToMi]

I've been trying to estimate an approximate creation date for each of the Dangerous track listing drafts which are out there. I have to say that the conflicts and differing recording dates between all the books and sources out there are almost baffling. I'll start with Michael's handwritten song list from late 1990 / early 1991:




Here are the Dangerous recording dates for individual songs which I could find online, excluding dates for previous sessions (Bad, Thriller etc.), with their respective sources:
"Best of Joy" –> 1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Killer Dance Teddy Riley groove" –> 1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Remember the Time" –> February 1991 (MJ Wikia/Wikipedia, failed verification), 1991 (All the Songs)
"Who Is It" –> 1989–1990 (MJ Wikia), June 25, 1990 – October 30, 1991 (All the Songs)
"Dangerous" (Bill Bottrell's version) –> September 1990 (All the Songs) – March 29, 1991 (B.B. Stuff DAT tape)
"Call It Off" –> March 27, 1991 (MJ Wikia, taken from Gregg Mosgrove DAT tape)
"Verdict" –> 1990 (MJ Wikia)
"Joy" –> February–March 1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Black Or White" –> 1989–1990 (MJ Wikia and All the Songs)
"Monkey Business" –> June 1989 – April 8, 1991 (MJ Wikia, later changed to 1989 only; April 8, 1991 mix date taken from one of Bill Bottrell's posts on X/Twitter)
"Ghost" –> February 1991 (MJ Wikia, later removed)
"MA & MJ Duet" ("In the Closet") –> June 25, 1990 – October 30, 1991 (All the Songs), March–May 1991 (Wikipedia, failed verification)
"Truth on Youth" –> 1990 (MJ Wikia)
"Gone Too Soon" –> June 1990 (MJ Wikia/Wikipedia, the latter cites All the Songs with no month specified whatsoever)
"Serious Effect" –> 1990 (All the Songs), 1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Keep the Faith" –> June 25, 1990 – October 30, 1991 (All the Songs)
"Heal the World" –> 1989–1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Planet Earth" –> 1990 (MJ Wikia)
"(Don't Be) Messin' 'Round" –> 1990 (MJ Wikia)
"Give In to Me" –> June 25, 1990 – October 30, 1991 (All the Songs), 1990–1991 (MJ Wikia)
"Seven Digits" –> Summer 1990 (MJ Wikia)
"Ask Rene" –> 1989–1990 (MJ Wikia)
"They Don't Care About Us" –> 1990 (MJ Wikia and All the Songs)
"Deep in the Night" –> April 19–July 3, 1990 (taken from an early Dangerous DAT tape scan and the leaked copy of the song)

As you can see, the dates are a mess. Some of them seem pretty random. The main problem lies within the timeline when Teddy came on board – some sources say he started working on tracks for the album in June 1990, others say it was in February 1991. Engineer Dave Way recalls him and Teddy arriving to L.A. in Feb '91, which is likely the source for the RTT recording date. In the case of Wikipedia, Dave's post on Gearspace is cited along with a Musicradar article featuring Teddy. However, neither of these articles explicity state that RTT was recorded that month. The same case applies to ITC – Wikipedia cites a seemingly random Donald Trump-related article, which doesn't mention Michael at all.

Also, All the Songs seems to be fairly unreliable in relation to recording dates. HTW is said to have been recorded between June 25, 1990 – October 30, 1991, although it was already known at that time that it was one of the earliest songs worked on in 1989 at Westlake. Some of the recording dates listed in the book (particularly for the unreleased tracks) seem to be pure guesses with nothing to back them up. The same applies to MJ Wikia. In the case of "Serious Effect", the recording date of 1991 is listed. The track samples the Vaughan Brothers' "Baboom/Mama Said" from their album Family Style, released on September 25, 1990, which means that the song could've been recorded at any time between late September 1990 and early 1991. Same with "Call It Off"; one of the DATs featuring the song along with "All the Truth" owned by Gregg Mosgrove is dated March 27, 1991, but I'm pretty certain that's not the only day the song was worked on – the recording sessions for the song may have already started much earlier.

This brings me to the main question – what do we actually know about the recording dates for unreleased songs intended for Dangerous?

 

[jasmine.uddin]

Have you looked into the Vogel book Man in the Music?
I haven't read it myself but I hear it covers all the songs in quite comprehensive detail, may contain some of the information you are looking for.

 

[Fuzball]

"Killer Dance" --> Blood on the Dance Floor
"Ghost" -->> Ghost of Another Lover
"Planet Earth" --> Earth Song

 

[mj_frenzy]

The main problem lies within the timeline when Teddy came on board – some sources say he started working on tracks for the album in June 1990, others say it was in February 1991. Engineer Dave Way recalls him and Teddy arriving to L.A. in Feb '91, which is likely the source for the RTT recording date. In the case of Wikipedia, Dave's post on Gearspace is cited along with a Musicradar article featuring Teddy. However, neither of these articles explicity state that RTT was recorded that month. The same case applies to ITC – Wikipedia cites a seemingly random Donald Trump-related article, which doesn't mention Michael at all.

Have you looked into the Vogel book Man in the Music?
I haven't read it myself but I hear it covers all the songs in quite comprehensive detail, may contain some of the information you are looking for.

According to author Joseph Vogel, Teddy Riley started working on the 'Dangerous' album in 1990 (June):

"On June 6, 1990, producer/musician Teddy Riley was supposed to be at his friend and fellow band member's birthday party. Instead, he spent the night at a Soundworks Studio on 23rd Avenue in Queens, working on grooves for none other than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson ... The rhythm track Riley worked on that night was aggressive, ominous, menacing. But it had no words, no title, and no melody. The following Saturday he was on his way to Neverland Ranch to meet Michael Jackson. Riley was nervous. Jackson had already tried out a handful of people to replace legendary producer, Quincy Jones, including L.A. Reid, Babyface and Bryan Loren. None stayed on ... Over the subsequent months, Jackson and Riley began working feverishly on a variety of tracks, sometimes separately, sometimes together at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles" (Joseph Vogel)

But according to Teddy Riley himself, Teddy Riley started working on the 'Dangerous' album in 1991.

"I got the call to produce some tracks on Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' [album] around 1991" (Teddy Riley)

 

[ToMi]

"Killer Dance" --> Blood on the Dance Floor
"Ghost" -->> Ghost of Another Lover
"Planet Earth" --> Earth Song

This. I've always believed that "Ghost" was in fact GOAL as the note next to it reads "Teddy do overdubs, get lyrics from writer", suggesting it was a non-Teddy track.