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Dirty Diana on HIStory?

Hot_Street

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Is there an official statement why Dirty Diana (Bads fifth #1) is missing on HIStory?
 
RIP_2009 said:
Maybe due to space as disc was already full?
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Why are TGIM, WBSS, SOOML, RTT, HTW on the disc? They weren't #1 like Dirty Diana.

The allegations could be the reason, why Dirty Diana is missing. Michael sings in DD:
Because he's sleeping with me
This could've been taken out of context.

Smooth Criminal is also missing, maybe for the same reason.
 
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Hot_Street said:
The allegations could be the reason, why Dirty Diana is missing. Michael sings in DD:
Because he's sleeping with me
This could've been taken out of context.
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Maybe, but when Michael sings that line it’s for the perspective of Dirty Diana so Dirty Diana says that not Michael but Michael has to sing it for her. Hopefully this made sense
 
Hulkamaniac said:
the reason is for people to buy the other CDs/vinyls lol. you can't expect to have EVERY #1 song on a greatest hits. They had to sell the other albums too.
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Dirty Diana is a greater hit than the ones that took its space on the disc.
It's the only #1 that is missing, except Say Say Say and Ben.
 
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History disc 1 had 5 songs from Thriller, 4 songs from Bad, 3 songs from Dangerous & 3 songs from Off The Wall.

Considering that Thriller was Michael's most successful and mainstream album, and the fact that there was limited space on the disc, I think the greatest hits tracklist on disc 1 of History was perfect, as it showed enough love to all of Michael's four studio albums pre History.
 
Some of the things posted on this site are truly jaw dropping, and unfortunately not in a good way.
 
Hot_Street said:
Is there an official statement why Dirty Diana (Bads fifth #1) is missing on HIStory?
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Because MJ wanted to follow up HIStory with a sequel album, including old and new songs with hits like Dirty Diana, Smooth Criminal, Dangerous, Human Nature, etc. It didn't happen because MJ was too preoccupied with the HIStory tour so he settled with an album like BOTDF instead.
"Michael had considered following HIStory with a sequel album, HIStory Book II which engineer Rob Hoffman said would have followed a similar format, with both new songs and greatest hits. "It would have included more old hits because there were songs such as 'Human Nature', 'Dirty Diana', 'Smooth Criminal' and 'Dangerous' that weren't on part one, and then there were the big songs from HIStory, like 'You Are Not Alone' and 'Earth Song', that they were going to add."

"But recording a whole new album at this stage would have been time consuming, and Michael was interested in a shorter project. "The HIStory Book II concept was talked about but never that big of an idea in Michael's mind," Brad Buxer said. "Michael's desire was for an album with a limited amount of new tracks and one that wouldn't be that complicated or take that long to do."
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I never liked the idea of HIStory Book II. Even though it's in the name. It just ruins that truly one of a kind feel. HIStory shouldn't even exist as it is, it's like an artifact of a bad timeline.
 
Although certain classic hits (like, 'Smooth Criminal') should have been included on the 'HIStory' disc 1, there are some other bigger problems with the 'HIStory' album.

For example, it was unethical to force fans to buy also the 'HIStory' disc 1, which has songs that fans had already bought in the previous years.

Also, the classic hits (on the disc 1) should have been placed in chronological order because they chronicle the singer's journey in music.

Additionally, putting the disc 1 (with his classic hits) next to the disc 2 (with his new songs), this automatically makes the disc 2 pale in comparison.
 
There was no need to include songs from Dangerous for the most part because none of the songs were all that big save for "Black or White". "Heal the World" had no place at all. "Remember the Time", "In the Closet" and "Will You Be There" were fairly popular singles, but they weren't tremendous successes, so they didn't need to be included. And they're so recent compared to most of the first disc. If 15 tracks had to be limit, then it's better to mainly go for old hits; you don't need more than one of the newer hits.

1. Don't Stop til You Get Enough
2. Rock with You
3. The Girl is Mine
4. Billie Jean
5. Beat It
6. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
7. Human Nature
8. Thriller
9. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
10. Bad
11. The Way You Make Me Feel
12. Dirty Diana
13. Man In The Mirror
14. Smooth Criminal
15. Black or White

Is what the first disc should have been.
 
Spaceship said:
There was no need to include songs from Dangerous for the most part because none of the songs were all that big save for "Black or White". "Heal the World" had no place at all. "Remember the Time", "In the Closet" and "Will You Be There" were fairly popular singles, but they weren't tremendous successes, so they didn't need to be included. And they're so recent compared to most of the first disc. Better to mostly include older hits; of the newer ones, just pick the biggest one.

1. Don't Stop til You Get Enough
2. Rock with You
3. The Girl is Mine
4. Billie Jean
5. Beat It
6. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
7. Human Nature
8. Thriller
9. I Just Can't Stop Loving You
10. Bad
11. The Way You Make Me Feel
12. Dirty Diana
13. Man In The Mirror
14. Smooth Criminal
15. Black or White

Is what the first disc should have been.
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This isn't Number Ones. It's songs Michael wanted and liked. Idk why that's so hard for people to understand.

I will give @mj_frenzy some leeway, because a double disc album is a lot more expensive than a regular album, to be fair. That didn't stop the fans but it is nice to be able to get them separate if you want.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
This isn't Number Ones. It's songs Michael wanted and liked.
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It's supposed to be a greatest-hits album lol. You're supposed to include the songs the general public most remembers. Otherwise, you defeat the purpose of making a greatest-hits album. MJ just picking the songs he liked most is arbitrary.
 
Anyway, I never saw the point of releasing a whole new studio album together with a greatest hits album. I read that Mottola thought it'd boost the sales due to MJ's declining popularity post-1993, but the album being double discs only raised the price; how is making the album more expensive to buy going to boost sales?

Although History evolved from "Decade", an older concept for a greatest hits album that went back to 1989. It was originally just going to have a few new songs, but MJ was so happy with "Stranger In Moscow" that he decided to make a full studio album.
 
Spaceship said:
There was no need to include songs from Dangerous for the most part because none of the songs were all that big save for "Black or White". "Heal the World" had no place at all. "Remember the Time", "In the Closet" and "Will You Be There" were fairly popular singles, but they weren't tremendous successes, so they didn't need to be included. And they're so recent compared to most of the first disc. If 15 tracks had to be limit, then it's better to mainly go for old hits; you don't need more than one of the newer hits.
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Remember The Time was a big hit. It reached the top 10 in literally every music market, including the USA where it peaked at number 3. Heal The World wasn't a big hit in the USA, but it was a top 10 hit in international markets. I can see why there were included.
 
Spaceship said:
It's supposed to be a greatest-hits album lol. You're supposed to include the songs the general public most remembers. Otherwise, you defeat the purpose of making a greatest-hits album. MJ just picking the songs he liked most is arbitrary.
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Nite Line said:
Remember The Time was a big hit. It reached the top 10 in literally every music market, including the USA where it peaked at number 3. Heal The World wasn't a big hit in the USA, but it was a top 10 hit in international markets. I can see why there were included.
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They are songs the general public remembers. And they are Part of his History. Stop trying to act like MJ was supposed to stamp out his identity anyway.
 
@Spaceship what makes you think heal the world doesn’t belong on dics 1. It is not because it flopped in the US that it wasn’t a huge hit.

It reached nr 2 in France and the UK and nr 3 in Germany. These 3 countries make up the majority of single sales in Europe.
If it wasn’t for the freak once in a lifetime hit “i will always love you” by Whitney Houston it would have been nr 1 in Europe. It stalled at nr 2 for 4 weeks in the UK I seem to remember. It got fairly close to a million physical sales in the UK alone.

It was also one of the best performing singles after Michael’s death reaching top 10 (again) in several countries. The way I see it, it is one of Michael’s most famous songs, I think basically everybody can sing along with the chorus.
 
Nite Line said:
Remember The Time was a big hit. It reached the top 10 in literally every music market, including the USA where it peaked at number 3.
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Definitely not as big as "Dirty Diana", so no reason for it to make the cut over that. Charted higher than "Smooth Criminal" on the Hot 100, but they sold about the same number of copies as singles worldwide. "Remember the Time" only came out 3 years before History, though. "Smooth Criminal" was 8 years old at the time and had more classic status.
 
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