Family Thing - What Do We Know?

SRT99

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I remember when I first heard this song a couple years ago, I really liked the Halloween-ish vibe of it and I was always interested to know if there was a more complete version recorded before it got canned and what's the story behind it?

We know that it was recorded for the 1993 film, Addams Family Values, along with Ghosts and Is It Scary (which were released later on), but then contractual obligations got in the way and as such, MJ and Paramount Pictures were forced to cut ties with each other. Most people assume it was because the allegations that happened the same year, but that seems to not be the case.

Another thing we know is that a short film was also being produced for Is It Scary, and a workprint was released a few years ago. However, that got canned as well, but was later turned into the longer short film, Ghosts.

I'm curious if anyone here has knowledge of how much work got done on it and if anyone has been able to hear a HQ version of the song?
 
According to Paramount Pictures, the ‘Family Thing’ song was removed from the film because of contractual differences between Michael Jackson and Paramount Pictures.

But Paul Rudnick (the writer of the film) provided a different explanation for the song’s and also for the video's removal, and he stated it was because of the child abuse allegations against Michael Jackson at the time.

“… I think he completed the video for it, but it was just a little too risky to include it in the final movie at that point … I think it involved him living in the Addams Family mansion and all of his neighbors storming the place with pitchforks and torches. So it was a little too close. That's why it wasn't included …” (Paul Rudnick, writer of the ‘Addams Family Values’ film)

There are also three alternative titles of the song, ‘Addams Groove’, ‘Family Values’, and ‘Family Morales’.
 
Back in the early 90s there was a very popular music mail order in Germany "Disc Center", with a giant stock including lots of mint backstock Michael Jackson vinyl, CD, singles, rare poster bag singles, the "Someone Put Your Hand Out" MC etc.

They sent out catalogs with the full stock every month, and I remember sometime in 1993 one listed Michael Jackson "Family Thing". I still remember this, because back then it boggled my mind what the hell that would be, and thought it was a mistake / mixup with another artist.

Unless this is a strangely corrupted memory I have there, it could mean that likely a complete version of this song exists. Sony (or whoever was releasing the music to the film) probably wouldn't hand out infos about upcoming releases to distributors if a song wasn't even finished yet.

It think the catalog listed 2-3 things with this title. Like single CD and 7" single or so. Which were up for pre-order.

Does anyone from Germany still have a collection of Disc Center catalogs from 1993 by any chance? :D

Just an example of those catalogs...
558788-426365620743325-1816560859-n.jpg
 
This was discussed some ages ago. This is what I found in my notes.

JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 2] CDM - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 6] 12" - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 2] CD - 10/26/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 6] LP - 10/26/1993







Interestingly, "Adam'S Groove" (same song as "Family Thing" or different one?) was slated for a 1999 release.

"Adam'S Groove" CD https://www.amazon.co.uk/AdamS-Groove-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068F/
"Adam'S Groove" 12" https://www.amazon.de/AdamS-Groove-Maxi-Single-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068G/
 
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This was discussed some ages ago. This is what I found in my notes.

JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 2] CDM - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 6] 12" - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 2] CD - 10/26/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 6] LP - 10/26/1993







Interestingly, "Adam'S Groove" (same song as "Family Thing" or different one?) was slated for a 1999 release.

"Adam'S Groove" CD https://www.amazon.co.uk/AdamS-Groove-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068F/
"Adam'S Groove" 12" https://www.amazon.de/AdamS-Groove-Maxi-Single-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068G/

October 26th 1993 would have been the release date of the Greatest Hits album that later became HIStory. It looks like Family Thing was going to be on the album.

I know a lot of people don't consider Shana Mangatal a credible source but she talked about the song a while ago. She basically confirms that Michael wrote lyrics for the verses too:


Some unreleased lyrics she mentions in the video:

''Squeeze the trigger til' I'm dead,
The blood is running good and red,
And the pain is quite enormous,
Also I wouldn't be human if I laid here and ignored this,
But I'm hard as nails.''
 
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Well the situation of the song is just mumbling in verses with some extra words, but chorus is vocally full. … Those lyrics aren´t recorded.

tada tada tada inside your head… (that is the very first line... )

1st verse
Pre chorus
2nd verse
Pre chorus
short Chorus
3rd verse
pre chorus
longer chorus + adlibs
instrumental bridge
longer chorus + more adlibs
instrumental outro
 
''Squeeze the trigger til' I'm dead,
The blood is running good and red,
And the pain is quite enormous,
Also I wouldn't be human if I laid here and ignored this,
But I'm hard as nails.''
:imbad
 
This was discussed some ages ago. This is what I found in my notes.

JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 2] CDM - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Family Thing [EPC 659688 6] 12" - 10/18/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 2] CD - 10/26/1993
JACKSON, Michael - Greatest Hits [EPC 474709 6] LP - 10/26/1993







Interestingly, "Adam'S Groove" (same song as "Family Thing" or different one?) was slated for a 1999 release.

"Adam'S Groove" CD https://www.amazon.co.uk/AdamS-Groove-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068F/
"Adam'S Groove" 12" https://www.amazon.de/AdamS-Groove-Maxi-Single-Michael-Jackson/dp/B00007068G/

Where did you get those from?
 
Pretty sure the demo was tracked in August ‘93, shortly before Michael started the third leg of the Dangerous tour, then everything went to hell once the Chandler accusations popped up.
 
lubyss;4295076 said:
Well the situation of the song is just mumbling in verses with some extra words, but chorus is vocally full. … Those lyrics aren´t recorded.

Did any of Michaels studio people say this? Otherwise how can we be sure that there isn't a finished version?



Fuzball;4295142 said:
They were posted on a MJ forum in the early 2000s. As far as I remember they're printed in some german magazine. It could be the one Electro had mentioned, but I'm not positive on that.

Those Disc Center mail order catalogs didn't show the Epic release catalog numbers though, nor release dates (see example in my last post). They must have gotten this info from a distributor. So this probably showed up in other places as well.

Actually it was unusual that Disc Center would do pre-orders. What they listed, they usually had in stock. So once this showed up, it was probably meant to be available at that point. Maybe it had been cancelled long before, but the info somehow was stuck in the system.


"Adam's Groove" showing up on Amazon in 1999 could be some fan fake. Was Amazon even selling anything but books by 1999? Not sure how long their "Marketplace" service is available, but now it's not too hard to open a seller account on Amazon and create new products.
 
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Wow. i'm just now hearing and discovering this song. love it! i love the bass and the melody. i hope we will be able to hear the unreleased version one day. :listeningtomusic (y)
 
Brad Said it, and there is no reason that he would play unfinished version, if the finished existed :)

Those Disc Center mail order catalogs didn't show the Epic catalog numbers though, nor release dates. They must have gotten this info from a distributor. So this probably showed up in other places as well.
Maybe there's a more finished version than the one Brad has on cassette. It's not impossible that such one could exist on MT reels.
 
Brad Said it, and there is no reason that he would play unfinished version, if the finished existed :)

But Man In Black was also played (I don't know if it was Brad's seminar or Bryan Loren's) and it isn't the finished version.
 
From a thread in the German jacksonville forum (info was collectively assembled):

Addam's Groove (1993) (Michael Jackson)
Alternative titles: Adam's Groove, Family Affairs, Family Thing, Family Values
Michael Jackson

This song was recorded for the late 1993 movie ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES
which is the sequel to comedy classic THE ADDAMS FAMILY from 1991.
The whole project was canceled due to the highly publicized bogus allegations.
There have been several plans to release the song one way or another.
These include the following scheduled releases (all canceled!):

Greatest Hits" (474709 2)
Release date (canceled): 26th October 1993
Article number for Japan: ESCA-5030-1
Set to include 4 never-heard-before tracks.
"Family Thing" (659688-2/6) [CDM / 12" Vinyl]
Release date (canceled): 18th October 1993
Article number for Japan: ESDA-7086
"History (His Story)" [2CD-Set]
Release date (canceled): October 1994
Set to include 5-7 brand-new tracks (with "Is It Scary")
plus 25 remastered tracks, first concept for HIStory!

Canceled OFFICIAL releases:
(_:__) "Adam's Groove"
(Single, CD, December 1993)
EAN: 5099765968828
(_:__) "Adam's Groove"
(Single, Vinyl, December 1993)
EAN: 5099765968866
ASIN: B00007068G


Sources:
Amazon GERMANY
Ciao.de
Epic Records / SONY Music
"Musikexpress Sound" (German magazine, October 1993 issue)
"Musikwoche" (German magazine, October 1993 issue)
 
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@Electro I found ""Musikexpress Sound" (German magazine, October 1993 issue)" on the magazines website. How can I flip through it? Any idea?



 
@Electro I found ""Musikexpress Sound" (German magazine, October 1993 issue)" on the magazines website. How can I flip through it? Any idea?


Looks like you need a subscription.
10 euro for 3 issues. Then you also have access to the online archive.
But probably that issue doesn't have more info than that extract.
 
The thing I've found when it comes to following Michael's unreleased material is expect nothing and you'll be surprised by everything

I never thought I would love A Place With No Name and Price Of Fame so much so that they would be in my top Mike songs but I also never thought I'd find myself unable to get a hook like, "Deep in the night, deep in the night" out my head, (also that works as a great lullaby, I used to play it to get my girlfriend's sister to sleep)

My point being is, who knows really? Personally I doubt it would have ever got to distribution level of release with a first line that goes,
"tada tada tada inside your head", but maybe it was to be a special b side release aimed at fans who crave anything Mike regardless of level completion. Maybe the song Ghosts, had the working title Family Thing, like how Tabloid Junkie had it's title? Then it became it's own song, much like how Is It Scary happened?

I do like the demo as we have it now, I love freedom and the funkiness it's got to it. A higher quality release of it one day would be great.

Do we know who produced Family Thing and when it was first written (1993?)
 
@Electro I found ""Musikexpress Sound" (German magazine, October 1993 issue)" on the magazines website. How can I flip through it? Any idea?





I don't know why but I can open it (sadly I can't speak german at all). I can't make a screenshot because that page doesn't allow me to do it. Anyway, on page 92 (right column) it says:

NEUE SAMPLER
von A-Z


(a list of some artists and then...)

MICHAEL JACKSON
Greatest Hits
Sony Music 474709


I leave the link here in case someone wants to check it out
https://www.musikexpress.de/wp-con...ess/bkC8nxCxa0V10/index.html#/html5///page/92
 
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October 26th 1993 would have been the release date of the Greatest Hits album that later became HIStory. It looks like Family Thing was going to be on the album.

I know a lot of people don't consider Shana Mangatal a credible source but she talked about the song a while ago. She basically confirms that Michael wrote lyrics for the verses too:


Some unreleased lyrics she mentions in the video:

''Squeeze the trigger til' I'm dead,
The blood is running good and red,
And the pain is quite enormous,
Also I wouldn't be human if I laid here and ignored this,
But I'm hard as nails.''

While I don't trust her thank you for this.
 
Pretty sure the demo was tracked in August ‘93, shortly before Michael started the third leg of the Dangerous tour, then everything went to hell once the Chandler accusations popped up.
I think August '93 is too late for that Demo. The release date that was set for the single was October 18, 1993. And on August 26, 1993 the third leg of Dangerous Word Tour started. The false allegations broke on August 18, 1993.

The most logical conclusion for me would be that this song and Ghosts were recorded earlier in 1993 and then they were scrapped because of contractual difficulties with Paramount Pictures.

We also know that the scrapped music video was filmed without any dance scenes as the music wasn't done yet.

So if the Demo is recorded in August of 1993 and if the music video was being filmed at the same time, there would be no time to finish it because of the Dangerous World Tour.

So, it is more logical that both the song and the video were being done earlier in 1993 and that they were cancelled because something other than false allegations. Because even if allegations never happened, I don't see when MJ would have time to finish the music and video!

When Dangerous Tour, third leg started, MJ had no time to come back to States to finish the music (record his vocals), and to film all the missing dance scenes with heavy special effects in the post production.

The only time during the 3rd leg that he had more days off was between Europe and South America from September 26, 1993 to October 8, 1993, but that would be too close to the release date. The movie came out on November 19, 1993.

There is a version of the song where Bryan Loren sings the verses, that Korgnex has, so the lyrics must have been written. Maybe it was intended to be a duet song, something similar to Do The Bartman but with more MJ on the chorus? Either way, there would still be no time to film the dance scenes for the music video. Also in my opinion, that song is not very "dancable" so my opinion is that Ghosts song would have been the dance number. We know that MJ worked on it in 1993 (with Teddy Riley?) because that is the year of the leaked multitracks with Pavarotti intro. That also has unfinished lyrics!

Even though the short film was called "Is It Scary?", I don't believe Is It Scary (song) would actually be featured in the video as music for that song was composed by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis a year later (at least) during the HIStory sessions. I think that name was used for the video because of the line MJ says in it. And that that line influenced MJ to write the song around the music composed by Jam & Lewis for the HIStory album. Or did MJ write the song first, and then they composed the music around it? I believe the first one is more logical as that's how they worked on Scream & Tabloid Junkie (maybe HIStory as well).

These are all just my opinions. If someone has exact recording and filming dates, or some book with reliable sources, please comment.
 
I think August '93 is too late for that Demo. The release date that was set for the single was October 18, 1993. And on August 26, 1993 the third leg of Dangerous Word Tour started. The false allegations broke on August 18, 1993.

The most logical conclusion for me would be that this song and Ghosts were recorded earlier in 1993 and then they were scrapped because of contractual difficulties with Paramount Pictures.

We also know that the scrapped music video was filmed without any dance scenes as the music wasn't done yet.

So if the Demo is recorded in August of 1993 and if the music video was being filmed at the same time, there would be no time to finish it because of the Dangerous World Tour.

So, it is more logical that both the song and the video were being done earlier in 1993 and that they were cancelled because something other than false allegations. Because even if allegations never happened, I don't see when MJ would have time to finish the music and video!

When Dangerous Tour, third leg started, MJ had no time to come back to States to finish the music (record his vocals), and to film all the missing dance scenes with heavy special effects in the post production.

The only time during the 3rd leg that he had more days off was between Europe and South America from September 26, 1993 to October 8, 1993, but that would be too close to the release date. The movie came out on November 19, 1993.

There is a version of the song where Bryan Loren sings the verses, that Korgnex has, so the lyrics must have been written. Maybe it was intended to be a duet song, something similar to Do The Bartman but with more MJ on the chorus? Either way, there would still be no time to film the dance scenes for the music video. Also in my opinion, that song is not very "dancable" so my opinion is that Ghosts song would have been the dance number. We know that MJ worked on it in 1993 (with Teddy Riley?) because that is the year of the leaked multitracks with Pavarotti intro. That also has unfinished lyrics!

Even though the short film was called "Is It Scary?", I don't believe Is It Scary (song) would actually be featured in the video as music for that song was composed by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis a year later (at least) during the HIStory sessions. I think that name was used for the video because of the line MJ says in it. And that that line influenced MJ to write the song around the music composed by Jam & Lewis for the HIStory album. Or did MJ write the song first, and then they composed the music around it? I believe the first one is more logical as that's how they worked on Scream & Tabloid Junkie (maybe HIStory as well).

These are all just my opinions. If someone has exact recording and filming dates, or some book with reliable sources, please comment.
The leaked demo of “Family Thing” was at the very least bounced in mid-August 1993. It certainly could have been recorded earlier.

As far as recording/filming dates conflicting with the Dangerous tour, don’t forget that MJ was consistently pulling double duty. Half of the short films made between 1988 and 1997 were shot while MJ was on tour or rehearsing. Numerous songs and projects, too, came to be between show dates (the five Blood on the Dance Floor tracks, “On the Line,” “Someone Put Your Hand Out,” “Whatzupwitu,” etc.). Vocal recording could take place in any country, and filming could be (and has been) scheduled for any decent gap between show dates. Production could even be relocated to another country.

In terms of the scheduled single release date, how many times has MJ actually made the original release goal? Plus, pushing things to the last minute isn’t exactly uncharted territory for him: he was still recording vocals for Dangerous and Invincible weeks before they hit shelves. The idea that “Family Thing” was still in embryonic shape two months before its intended release is completely believable.

My theory: MJ started working on the song in August 1993, but got sidetracked when the Chandler accusations landed. He was under the assumption that the song would still come out, so he asked Bryan Loren to give it a try and see what could be added to it. Shortly thereafter, the filmmakers rescinded their invite and the song was forgotten on the shelf.

Of course, this is all speculative (other than the demo mix date). Perhaps I’m completely wrong. But I don’t think that’s entirely impossible.
 
I mean Tabloid Junkie existed prior to Jam and Lewis' involvement, the same could be said for Is it Scary.
Michael probably had it as a home-grown demo with Brad Buxer and the team and then got them to work on it to further develop it, much like Dangerous with Bill Bottrell then going to Riley.
 
I mean Tabloid Junkie existed prior to Jam and Lewis' involvement, the same could be said for Is it Scary.
Michael probably had it as a home-grown demo with Brad Buxer and the team and then got them to work on it to further develop it, much like Dangerous with Bill Bottrell then going to Riley.
What is the source that Tabloid Junkie existed before Jam & Lewis? I'm not talking about title, I'm talking about the song (vocal melody, lyrics). Engineer Rob Hoffman said that Jam & Lewis brought almost finished track when they came to work on the album the second time. First time they brought Scream, Runaway and one other. Tabloid Junkie came later.

"I was there when they first played the track ideas for MJ. There were 3 ideas. One of course became Scream, the second became "Runaway" for Janet, and I don't recall the third, but I'm fairly certain it was not Tabloid or History. I also assisted on the Scream vocal sessions with both Jimmy and Terry. This was all in New York. Janet, as has been said before, recorded her leads back in Minneapolis while we moved our camp to Los Angeles.

When we got to L.A., Jimmy spent a lot of time at Larrabee studios with both Andrew Scheps and I. He had brought Tabloid and History out from Minneapolis with him. "Tabloid" sounded almost finished from the very first time we pulled it up."
 
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