‘Decade’ - The story behind the greatest hits album that never happened

[hyperbolical]

anyone find a picture of the event in Times Square? I've looked everywhere but maybe someone knows of a photobucket account

My gut tells me that during the 90s MJ was intent on being a WORLD WIDE star not just an american one. hence, he did the littlest for the US.
When I looked at the payload, he wasn't really making money from these overseas gigs. plus the time zones were literally killinghim as he could not sleep and started resorting to propofol to get rest.
that's where it started.

I also read he was quite spendy, ie had planes, buses, and trains all on hand for each move dependng on his whim or state of mind. mega expensive. after the divorce and starting a new family, he must have been emotionally exhausted.

 

[barbee0715]

My gut tells me that during the 90s MJ was intent on being a WORLD WIDE star not just an american one. hence, he did the littlest for the US.
When I looked at the payload, he wasn't really making money from these overseas gigs. plus the time zones were literally killinghim as he could not sleep and started resorting to propofol to get rest.
that's where it started.
.

That describes the HIStory tour rather than the Dangerous one-it was losing money for at least awhile and the propofol was used-I don't know if the intent was to be more of an international star or just to get away from the US then.

Post allegations, post divorce from a marriage ridiculed to this day, criticism of his work that concentrated on his supposed personal life. I'd stay away from the US too by then.
I doubt he wanted to tour period but probably had no choice.

 

[hyperbolical]

You're right about the propofol for the History tour, but if Karen F is to be believed due to scalp surgery that had happened right before and not healed in time the Demerol started on the Dangerous tour the first leg due to nerve endings that hadn't healed and headaches. and got out of hand on the 2nd leg after the allegations. Neither one made much money if any I believe, I am trying to find the numbers.

I heard he loved fans and the stage but hated the touring due to moving, time zone changes, unfamiliar surroundings. Having spent a great deal of time in the air I completely sympathize. At least I didn't have to get up on a stage and razzle dazzle em

 

[barbee0715]

Correct about the Demerol and the scalp surgery before the Dangerous Tour. Michael told us himself in his television statement about the allegations.

Touring must be horrendous. What's even worse is being trapped in a hotel room. I traveled for work for years and actually lived in a hotel for nine months with no car and practically went insane.
He hadn't been able to get out without being mobbed since he was 11. Just ridiculous. I can't even imagine.
I never heard that Dangerous didn't make any money. I would be very surprised about that unless they're talking about the fact it had to be cut short and therefore ended up losing money.

 

[mjprince1976]

Now wondering what the tracklist may have been?

And if it was possible, "Do you know where your children are" was to be one of the new songs.

 

[OnirMJ]

And if it was possible, "Do you know where your children are" was to be one of the new songs.

Probably not. It was never mentioned.

 

[OnirMJ]

Neither one made much money if any I believe, I am trying to find the numbers.

That is a complete lie. Dangerous Tour Box office is circa US $100 million ($163.81 in 2015 dollars) and HIStory Tour US $165 million ($243.22 in 2015 dollars). They are both among highest grossing tours of the '90s. The fact that MJ had enormous expenses and that he was giving the money away is something completely different and unrelated. But the tours themselves were a success.

 

[hyperbolical]

well it doesn't make money if your expenses equal or supercede your income, thats what i said, i dont think they made money. so please think before you use the word "lie" since you inserted the word "success". i'm not talking about that. we were discussing promo and financials.

there are many reasons why expenses could eat up all the income. the cost of the show, cancelled shows, using 3 different transport systems to move stuff when only 1 efficient system was needed etc,

 

[OnirMJ]

well it doesn't make money if your expenses equal or supercede your income, thats what i said, i dont think they made money. so please think before you use the word "lie" since you inserted the word "success". i'm not talking about that. we were discussing promo and financials.

there are many reasons why expenses could eat up all the income. the cost of the show, cancelled shows, using 3 different transport systems to move stuff when only 1 efficient system was needed etc,

I stand by what I said.

 

[innuendo141]

well it doesn't make money if your expenses equal or supercede your income, thats what i said, i dont think they made money. so please think before you use the word "lie" since you inserted the word "success". i'm not talking about that. we were discussing promo and financials.

there are many reasons why expenses could eat up all the income. the cost of the show, cancelled shows, using 3 different transport systems to move stuff when only 1 efficient system was needed etc,

But you said "neither one made much money if I believe" meaning you were referring to the tours and not people. Its one thing for a tour to generate money and another what that money is used for.

 

[Aulas]

Re: The story behind the greatest hits album that never happened

What hoax are you talking about? Why do you think there was a hoax? Any evidence?

Hi, Laurent Hopman president of black & white magazine said on a french board that was a joke.

 

[OnirMJ]

^^Let me be clear. The tours made a lot of money and they were both a succes. Whether MJ made any money is another thing. You have recent example of This Is It. AEG gave him a production budget of (I think it was $10 MIL) and he borrowed I think another $25 MIL (I forgot the exact numbers). But after he died Estate had to pay them back that money. So if MJ lived he would have first pay AEG for that extra production budget and only after that he would be making money for himself. But the tour would be making money from day 1. And by "production budget" I mean real production costs and MJ spending money on other stuff ("doctors", houses, bodyguards...). Also don't forget that MJ reportedly gave $100 MIL away of his profit from the Dangerous Tour. Don't know how accurate is that, but he clearly was giving a lot of money away, to hospitals, orphanages... Also don't forget about thieves and leeches around MJ who were stealing his money from him while he was under painkillers. So, don't worry, the tours and all the people around them earned a lot of money. MJ is another thing, but that is again partly his blame.

 

[lom kit]

Releasing "Best of album" wouldn't have worked, the way it did for Madonna. It would have caused only money that problably wouldn't have covered the spend costs. It was the right choice to go with new material.

If "Decade" had happened, it would be "Thriller" and "Bad" combined in one album. Thriller has sold ca 50mill at that time. Bad had just ended with 7 hit singles. That means evryone had those albums and no reason to buy it.

It worked for Madoona, bacause that way you have the best songs from all her albums, where in my opinion, from 8 tracks pro album, there were only 2-3 great songs, the rest was fillers.
Where Michael's albums from that decade, were all alredy classics.




About the promotion of "History".
I don't think it wasn't promoted enough in the US. Lets compare the promotion of Dangerous and History.
Both albums have been promoted the same way in US.

Plenty of live performances at award shows.
Interview with the biggest tv show women at the moment.

Around the same amoung of single releases (with BOTDF) + radio only releases. Ghosts in the US theaters.



The US market is different to the European and Asian. It has to be promoted in different way. What works in Europe, wouldn't in US. The History statue would have been so out of place in America, it would have backlashed.



Many criticise, that he didn't tour in the US at all. I don't think Michael chooses the countries himself. The Record company and the tour organiser, choose were its more profitable. They have statistics, compare previous and present numbers, and the demand for Michael.



With Dangerous and History, countries has been visited, were at the time of Bad, it wasn't possible. Both Tours went in countries he never performed. I think that was one of the reasons, there were no US concerts. If he had to do also the same ol' cities in US, the tours would have extended over 3 years and i doubt Michael could have handle it.

I understand that the US fans feel ignored.


Overall, the promotion for Dangerous and History, worldwide was more that enough. It was convenient for each market and reached the expected success and profit, that Michael was capable of.



Many blame lack of promotion, when album didn't reach the expectations they had.



But lets face it. Michael would have never ever have reached the numbers of Thriller. Doesn't matter how much they promote him and the albums.


Michael sales average 7mil albums in the US. And all 3 albums (Bad, Dangerous, History) have reached those numbers. It was no need for him to tour in the US, no need to spend more money in promotion.

.

The fans should stop comparing Thillers success with the rest of the albums. It was once in the life time phenomenon, and Michael would have never repead this, no matter what he do. Even if the scandal in '93 didn't occur.



The average worldwide sales of each album is 30mio. And those numbers have been reached more or less.


Of course there are other reasons in my opinion, why Michael was more successfull outside the USA, but this will go way off topic.

 

[hyperbolical]

ONIRMJ
just out of curiosity, do you have any numbers to back all that up?
I mean I am completely aware of the differential between the corp and the artist making money, being an author myself, and the fact that any expense MJ asked for was paid by sony then charged right back to him.
that was in fact what I was originally referring to, MJ was spending big and thinking sony was absorbing but they were charging him and he didn't face it. didn't want to apparently. by the way I believe MJ got a very hefty percentage of sales of albums, but I am not sure on the tours. usually artists make their money on tours not on albums.
however IT IS ALSO TRUE that not all tours make money either depending on what they were paying for, where they played, what they charged, the travelling costs, stadium costs, who they had to pay off beyond the staff and admin and sony. I'd love to see a breakdown. just like movies and books lose money, so can tours, despite a best selling artist. I know for instance the dangerous stage was complicated and expensive and a real problem to transport, necessitating all kinds of extra movements from huge planes to trucks. and I believe it was on History that he had 3 different transport options available at all times so when he left a show he could fly, take a bus or a train, or something similar. all on standby til he decided. that's the story anyway.
Regardless of whether it makes real actual money, Sony, MJ etc will call it a success. So can't really trust the general news. It's spun.

 

[hyperbolical]

lom kit
I agree with you the DECADE album didn't make sense in the same way Madonna's did. I guess if you included OTW but then that was 70s.

Regarding touring, I believe the artist has some say, as long as there is demand. For instance after 9/11 alot of artists pulled out of their tours citing safety. In many cases artists instigate a tour.
Plus many of the places MJ toured were not up and coming markets. the far east was, and eastern europe, but I don't think south africa was for instance.
I think he made a calculated decision to become a world wide star and the way he did it was to tour everywhere he could on the face of the earth and left america to be happy with television and some talk shows. As if. No they were not happy and by the next year they had forgotten his album.

I do think he could have sold lots more albums of History in america if he worked on the promotion more, and in the meantime won back some goodwill which he badly needed after the allegations and the divorce and the strange marriage to DR (in the eyes of the americans his behavior was literally off the wall). the weird and alienated image he had in the US did not help him during invincible and the trial. If he had lived somewhere else like he suggested it wouldn't have mattered as much but as Neverland was still his home and he was a fixture in the US, he could have used some friends here. And not the type he had around him in 2003.

I always wondered what exactly happened between him and Geffen, Spielberg and Katzenberg that he was not part of Dreamworks in 1996. Anybody know anything? He was quite bitter about it, whatever it was. I know they didn't support TDCAU but that was a red herring.

PLUS I always wondered who did MJs PR because I thought it was the worst when it came to dealing with bad PR. MJs stunts were pretty good but the bad press got him. and there did not seem to be any push back.

I think it was only the record execs and MJ himself who compared the sales of other albums to Thriller.
Without a doubt, if MJ had done tours and more promo in the US for Dangerous and HIStory, even if a truncated version of say 5 locations 3 shows each (NY, LA, Chicago, Miami, and one other), he would have upped his sales considerably and for much longer. the US is a very very huge market for MJ. But I don't really think he was thinking about profit as much as becoming the biggest star in the world, as he kept saying.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Releasing "Best of album" wouldn't have worked, the way it did for Madonna. It would have caused only money that problably wouldn't have covered the spend costs. It was the right choice to go with new material.

If "Decade" had happened, it would be "Thriller" and "Bad" combined in one album. Thriller has sold ca 50mill at that time. Bad had just ended with 7 hit singles. That means evryone had those albums and no reason to buy it.

It worked for Madoona, bacause that way you have the best songs from all her albums, where in my opinion, from 8 tracks pro album, there were only 2-3 great songs, the rest was fillers.
Where Michael's albums from that decade, were all alredy classics.

‘Decade’ would have comprised tracks from ‘Off The Wall’ as well because it was meant to cover his adult solo career. Also, without tracks from ‘Off The Wall’ it would have looked incomplete.

So, it was meant to be a classic compilation album, full of classic hits (along with few new songs) that would have sold significantly (taking into account also his momentum at that time).

Many blame lack of promotion, when album didn't reach the expectations they had.

But lets face it. Michael would have never ever have reached the numbers of Thriller. Doesn't matter how much they promote him and the albums.

Michael sales average 7mil albums in the US. And all 3 albums (Bad, Dangerous, History) have reached those numbers. It was no need for him to tour in the US, no need to spend more money in promotion.

The fans should stop comparing Thillers success with the rest of the albums. It was once in the life time phenomenon, and Michael would have never repead this, no matter what he do. Even if the scandal in '93 didn't occur.

The average worldwide sales of each album is 30mio. And those numbers have been reached more or less.

An album does not sell itself. It has to be properly & wisely promoted which makes a lot of sense.

But MJ was poised to go even further & reach the same level of the huge commercial success of the ‘Thriller’ album (or even to surpass it).

As a result, he adopted a very aggressive promotional campaign during the period of the ‘Dangerous’ release, for example:

- He gave a stunning live performance during the Superbowl Halftime show in 1993 in front of a staggering number of viewers. The performance resulted in significant sales of the ‘Dangerous’ album.

- He gave a detailed, personal TV interview (Oprah Live) in 1993 where he discussed also songs & projects from the ‘Dangerous’ album. Due to that interview ‘Dangerous’ climbed significantly the chart positions at the ‘Pop albums’ category.

- The ‘Dangerous’ album was the first project of his new deal with Sony, the largest contract in the entertainment industry up to that point. So, the stake, pressure & expectations were great.

- He released nine singles (out of fourteen tracks) with a view to release one more in the first months of 1994.

- He shot very expensive video clips (which included extremely popular public figures also) that accompanied the ‘Dangerous’ album.

- He adopted a very wise marketing strategy by using a lot of controversial material so as to gain huge, free press coverage (violence, sexual connotations of the full video of ‘Black Or White’, for example).

- The album & its accompanied music clips appealed (from the very beginning) to crossover audiences due to their global themes.

- He decided to perform outside North America (at least, in the beginning) where his vast majority of his fans is located (Western European countries, Japan, for example).

- The stage for the 1993 leg of the ‘Dangerous’ Tour was wider (270 feet) than the America’s widest one (the one that belongs to ‘Radio City Music Hall’ in New York & measured 190 feet). He wanted to be more spectacular than before which also boosted even further the album’s sales.

- His closest collaborators during the making of the ‘Dangerous’ album often said that he wanted to surpass the commercial success of ‘Thriller (some overly optimistic mentioned that his goal was to sell 100 million copies of the ‘Dangerous’ album).

- During that period he appeared on a great number of magazines covers not only American but also international ones (‘Le Figaro’, ‘Stern’, ‘Rennbahn Express’, 'Bravo', 'The Wire’, for example) & in many cases magazines devoted their entire edition’s space to MJ’ s material (‘Black Beat’, for example).

- He shot a number of promos & commercials (along with his video clips) so as to increase even more his popularity.

- He sold the filming rights of his ‘Dangerous’ Tour to HBO network so as the broadcast of his concert to boost even further his popularity & sales of the ‘Dangerous’ album.

 

[OnirMJ]

‘Decade’ would have comprised tracks from ‘Off The Wall’ as well because it was meant to cover his adult solo career. Also, without tracks from ‘Off The Wall’ it would have looked incomplete.

So, it was meant to be a classic compilation album, full of classic hits (along with few new songs) that would have sold significantly (taking into account also his momentum at that time).

Absolutely! And not just Off The Wall. I think State Of Shock and Heartbreak Hotel would be included also. This is the tracklist I had saved from a thread like this some time ago (Thanks to the original poster):

It was scheduled for release November/December 1990. Some songs such as "Come Together", "Men In Black", "I'll Be There (Adult Version)", "Never Can Say Goodbye (Adult Version)" plus a few new songs (now on Dangerous album) were all considered for the album.

This was one version of the tracklist (minus Men In Black):
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Rock With You
Off The Wall
She's Out Of My Life
Can You Feel It
This Place Hotel
Someone In The Dark
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
The Girl Is Mine
Thriller
Beat It
Billie Jean
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
Say Say Say
State Of Shock

Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Another Part Of Me
Man In The Mirror
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Dirty Diana
Smooth Criminal
Leave Me Alone
Come Together
I'll Be There (Adult Version)
Never Can Say Goodbye (Adult Version)
Who Is It
Gone Too Soon
Black Or White
Heal The World

Decade was also brought up again in 1993. Steven Speilberg wrote his piece on Michael in August 1993 for this project. Ultimately, it became HIStory.

 

[OnirMJ]

Also this:

There's a vinyl acetate for Decade: 1979-1989, which was unveiled on the latest issue of Black & White magazine. There were a very few copies pressed. It is also said that the owners of these copies are Walter Yetnikoff, Tommy Mottola and Donald Nancy.

Here's the tracklist from the 1989 acetate:

Billie Jean
Beat It
It Doesn't Really Matter (early version of Who Is It)
The Girl Is Mine
Rock With You
She's Out Of My Life
Thriller
Say Say Say
The Way You Make Me Feel
Dirty Diana
Heartbreak Hotel

Black Or White
Bad
Come Together
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Heal The World
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Smooth Criminal
Strawberry Fields Forever (unreleased cover of the Beatles song)
Man In The Mirror

 

[mj_frenzy]

Absolutely! And not just Off The Wall. I think State Of Shock and Heartbreak Hotel would be included also. This is the tracklist I had saved from a thread like this some time ago (Thanks to the original poster):

It was scheduled for release November/December 1990. Some songs such as "Come Together", "Men In Black", "I'll Be There (Adult Version)", "Never Can Say Goodbye (Adult Version)" plus a few new songs (now on Dangerous album) were all considered for the album.

This was one version of the tracklist (minus Men In Black):
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
Rock With You
Off The Wall
She's Out Of My Life
Can You Feel It
This Place Hotel
Someone In The Dark
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
The Girl Is Mine
Thriller
Beat It
Billie Jean
P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
Say Say Say
State Of Shock

Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Another Part Of Me
Man In The Mirror
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Dirty Diana
Smooth Criminal
Leave Me Alone
Come Together
I'll Be There (Adult Version)
Never Can Say Goodbye (Adult Version)
Who Is It
Gone Too Soon
Black Or White
Heal The World

Decade was also brought up again in 1993. Steven Speilberg wrote his piece on Michael in August 1993 for this project. Ultimately, it became HIStory.

The track ‘Come Together’ has a rather turbulent story (in terms of its commercial inclusion).

Initially, David Geffen asked MJ to write a new, original song for a soundtrack album that his record company (‘Geffen Records&#8217 was about to bring out during that period. I am referring to the soundtrack of the movie ‘Days of Thunder' (starring Tom Cruise).

MJ refused to write a new song for inclusion in that soundtrack, but Geffen insisted that a MJ’s track has to be included in that soundtrack album. After compromises, they decided to include an already recorded track (‘Come Together&#8217 in the soundtrack of ‘Days of Thunder’. But Walter Yetnikoff did not give his permission. In fact, Yetnikoff refused any MJ’s track to be included in that soundtrack. Later, the song ‘Come Together’ was seriously considered for a possible inclusion in the ‘Decade’ album. Finally, it ended up in the ‘HIStory’ album.

Also, MJ fired Frank Dileo in February (1989) & after a very successful collaboration. No official explanation was ever given which led to various speculations. Among others, it was said that MJ fired Dileo because he did not succeed in getting a theatrical US release of ‘Moonwalker’. Dileo when asked about the cause of his firing, he put the blame on “record executives who would like to see Michael’s power cut in half and by getting rid of me was half the power”.

Later, MJ (acting possibly on Geffen’s advice) fired also John Branca & at the same time hired Grubman as his new attorney. Also in October (1990) MJ expressed his wish to leave ‘CBS Records’ & to sign a new contract with another record company (possibly with ‘Geffen Records&#8217.

It was a very problematic period, full of legal & very serious disagreements that probably are to blame for the cancellation of the ‘Decade’ album.

 

[barbee0715]

^^I need to search to see if there is a thread about Geffen and his place in Michael's story. It's a part where I know (like the above referenced) facts but not much else.
It seems like after Geffen became so important that a lot of things career wise changed-not for the better. He seemed to have a lot of influence obviously but Michael still wouldn't write a song for his movie.
I don't know, it's always had me a bit curious- I watched a bio of Geffen last year and I swear half the pix in it were him with Michael yet Geffen never connected officially.
What was the ulterior motive for Geffen to wield all this power (and not just the Decade album) if he never signed Michael.
(I mainly knew Geffen before this because of saving Cher-but he signed her).

 

[Electro]

Finally, it ended up in the ‘HIStory’ album.

Besides the inclusion in Moonwalker 1988, it was released as a B-Side of the Remember The Time single in 1992 though.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Absolutely! And not just Off The Wall. I think State Of Shock and Heartbreak Hotel would be included also. This is the tracklist I had saved from a thread like this some time ago (Thanks to the original poster):

It was scheduled for release November/December 1990. Some songs such as "Come Together", "Men In Black", "I'll Be There (Adult Version)", "Never Can Say Goodbye (Adult Version)" plus a few new songs (now on Dangerous album) were all considered for the album.

This was one version of the tracklist (minus Men In Black):

Decade was also brought up again in 1993. Steven Speilberg wrote his piece on Michael in August 1993 for this project. Ultimately, it became HIStory.

Also this:

There's a vinyl acetate for Decade: 1979-1989, which was unveiled on the latest issue of Black & White magazine. There were a very few copies pressed. It is also said that the owners of these copies are Walter Yetnikoff, Tommy Mottola and Donald Nancy.

Here's the tracklist from the 1989 acetate:

Apart from those songs, it was mentioned also a duet with his brother Marlon called ‘Doing Dirty’ that was meant for the ‘Decade’ album.

One of the causes of those conflicts between MJ & company’s top executives (that took place at that time) was also a very serious disagreement regarding the final selection of the classic hits that were going to make the ‘Decade’ album. This is probably the reason that explains the various, different ‘Decade’ track lists that circulate every now & then.

Also, prior to the ‘Decade’ release, MJ (reportedly) demanded his royalties rates to be paid twice as compared to his, until that point, usual rates. As a result of that, the record company had to sell 6 million copies of the ‘Decade’ album in order to break even!

Steven Spielberg was indeed asked to write liner notes in August (1993) for a compilation album that was going to get a release at that time. Later, those notes were included in the ‘HIStory’ album.

Besides the inclusion in Moonwalker 1988, it was released as a B-Side of the Remember The Time single in 1992 though.

I was referring to its inclusion in terms of an album.

For this reason, I did not refer to its commercial appearance as a B-side single.

But, anyway, thanks.