The Discussion of MJ's Unreleased Tracks

Could be. I know they were there for roughly 2 weeks
It's a bit irrelevant, but on the subject of Barnes' WATW claim, I find it quite unlikely that it would've been recorded at Caribou Ranch in 1984 when the idea for it didn't exist until December, after the release of "Do They Know It's Christmas." WATW was also a collaborative effort between Michael and Lionel Richie and sources even say it was developed at Hayvenhurst and Lion's Share.

So Barnes either misremembered the year of the visit or the songs.
 
It's a bit irrelevant, but on the subject of Barnes' WATW claim, I find it quite unlikely that it would've been recorded at Caribou Ranch in 1984 when the idea for it didn't exist until December, after the release of "Do They Know It's Christmas." WATW was also a collaborative effort between Michael and Lionel Richie and sources even say it was developed at Hayvenhurst and Lion's Share.

So Barnes either misremembered the year of the visit or the songs.
We have to take into account Quincy asked Michael to write WATW [who knows how far in advanced he was asked] so he could've been coming up with the something during their time at the ranch before approaching Lionel. John barnes cowrote both songs and could be misremembering the location but he confirmed they were first worked on in 84 around the same time.

Asked John about TMO and if it was worked on during the 84 Caribou visit where they also worked on Loving You and WATW and John said "They were." I think the question came up because fans noticed TMO and Loving You on a tape during the Xscape documentary. People were trying to figure out a song title possibly called Creeper [he said he didn't know of the song]
 
Last edited:
The Al Capone version present on Bad 25 is even from 1984. Wonder why they didn't choose later recordings. They probably just saw Al Capone on the tape and were like "Yep, that's it", same with Carousel on Thriller 40 and the Black or White tape for the upscale.
 
The Al Capone version present on Bad 25 is even from 1984. Wonder why they didn't choose later recordings. They probably just saw Al Capone on the tape and were like "Yep, that's it", same with Carousel on Thriller 40 and the Black or White tape for the upscale.
Either they weren’t/aren’t in possession of all the tapes, or their archiving process is substandard.

I’d be willing to bet it’s the latter
 
What about a new release?
New music, unheard music, unreleased material?
THX!
Now would be the perfect moment to release those Brody Brown singles. The interest for MJ is at an all-time high right now and it's increasingly growing, it would be a massive waste if they don't capitalize on that.
 
Now would be the perfect moment to release those Brody Brown singles. The interest for MJ is at an all-time high right now and it's increasingly growing, it would be a massive waste if they don't capitalize on that.
Perfect moment to release the redone and william tracks, which probably sounds modern and if so, have the potential to become viral
 
We have to take into account Quincy asked Michael to write WATW [who knows how far in advanced he was asked] so he could've been coming up with the something during their time at the ranch before approaching Lionel. John barnes cowrote both songs and could be misremembering the location but he confirmed they were first worked on in 84 around the same time.

Asked John about TMO and if it was worked on during the 84 Caribou visit where they also worked on Loving You and WATW and John said "They were." I think the question came up because fans noticed TMO and Loving You on a tape during the Xscape documentary. People were trying to figure out a song title possibly called Creeper [he said he didn't know of the song]
On second thought, given how Stevie was supposed to join Jackson and Richie but couldn't because he was writing for The Woman In Red (which would've put the call somewhere before August of '84 when it got released), I do find it slightly more plausible, but it still doesn't slot in well timeline-wise because the whole project was Harry Bellafone's idea and, again, he was inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas" which was released in December 1984.

Also, hate to cast doubt on your claim, but what was the source of John's revalation?
 
On second thought, given how Stevie was supposed to join Jackson and Richie but couldn't because he was writing for The Woman In Red (which would've put the call somewhere before August of '84 when it got released), I do find it slightly more plausible, but it still doesn't slot in well timeline-wise because the whole project was Harry Bellafone's idea and, again, he was inspired by "Do They Know It's Christmas" which was released in December 1984.

Also, hate to cast doubt on your claim, but what was the source of John's revalation?
He could've misremembered but our initial question to him was if Turning Me Off was done during the 1984 Caribou session the same time as Loving You and the We Are The World demo and his literal response was "They were.". He could've been talking solely about TMO and LY but WATW was part of the question as well.
 
Now would be the perfect moment to release those Brody Brown singles. The interest for MJ is at an all-time high right now and it's increasingly growing, it would be a massive waste if they don't capitalize on that.
definitely. Singles in between the second biopic’s marketing run would be so good.
 
The initial start of the song is 84 but the vocals we have might be 86. John’s estate probably has the 84 vocals
I've said this before, but the drum machine I hear on TMO (and a large chunk of MJ's Bad-era songs) is the Linn 9000 and that was officially released in December 1984. So TMO would most likely date after 1984. As would be the case for the recordings for Cheater, Another Part of Me & We Are Here To Change The World...
The ideas for those specific songs may have been developed in 1983/1984 - if true, and if John Barnes' and Bill's memories are accurate - but the recordings you hear were most likely made after the fact. Can be that earlier recordings exist but we don't know without access to the vault.

There was a policy not to tape cassettes home from the Hayvenhurst sessions, which Bill Bottrell talked about if I recall right. So I don't think it's likely John kept tapes from the Bad album if at all.
 
Last edited:
definitely. Singles in between the second biopic’s marketing run would be so good.
Honestly, I do think that one day, we're going to wake up and see on youtube a new Michael Jackson song, on the official channel. I just can't imagine that they're going to waste this opportunity.
MJ is the most listened-to artist in the world right now. They can't just let this opportunity pass them by, that would be absurd.
 
I've said this before, but the drum machine I hear on TMO (and a large chunk of MJ's Bad-era songs) is the Linn 9000 and that was officially released in December 1984. So TMO would most likely date after 1984. As would be the case for the recordings for Cheater, Another Part of Me & We Are Here To Change The World...
Maybe I’m wrong, but surely it would have been possible for Michael Jackson, the most successful musician in the world, to acquire an advance copy of the Linn 9000 three months before official release?

This would put the post-Victory and Carabou sessions in September as the first time it was used by MJ/Barnes - to me it sounds plausible
 
He could've misremembered but our initial question to him was if Turning Me Off was done during the 1984 Caribou session the same time as Loving You and the We Are The World demo and his literal response was "They were.". He could've been talking solely about TMO and LY but WATW was part of the question as well.
Loving you may be from Caribou because if you look at the infamous picture of Barnes and Michael at the piano at the ranch it shows them recording which would explain this snippet right here
 
Last edited:
Loving you may be from Caribou because if you look at the infamous picture of Barnes and Michael at the piano at the ranch it shows them recording which would explain this snippet right here

barnes1.jpeg
 
Maybe I’m wrong, but surely it would have been possible for Michael Jackson, the most successful musician in the world, to acquire an advance copy of the Linn 9000 three months before official release?

This would put the post-Victory and Carabou sessions in September as the first time it was used by MJ/Barnes - to me it sounds plausible
Could have been, but I have not found any specific mention of Michael having access to a Linn 9000 pre-release. They probably used its predecessor, the LinnDrum, instead on those sessions if so.

Even if he did, the machine came out prematurely and had a lot of software problems and crash issues that had to be dealt with.
 
Loving you may be from Caribou because if you look at the infamous picture of Barnes and Michael at the piano at the ranch it shows them recording which would explain this snippet right here
But I always thought that Loving You was recorded at Red Wing studios in July 1985. Was there an earlier recording at Caribou or something?
Also, could Al Capone and Cheater have been from those Caribou sessions?
 
Back
Top Bottom