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Forgettable Songs

I'll tell you something MJ fans... If this biopic is successful (I think it will be a huge hit) then expect all these songs to get much more exposure once MJ gains millions of new fans.

This forum will explode with new members and his songs will be streamed at an even higher rate.

Y'all are aware of this, right?
 
BuffaloBill87 said:
I'll tell you something MJ fans... If this biopic is successful (I think it will be a huge hit) then expect all these songs to get much more exposure once MJ gains millions of new fans.

This forum will explode with new members and his songs will be streamed at an even higher rate.

Y'all are aware of this, right?
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@Gaz salivates.

There'll be a lot more people to defend Best of Joy and The Lost Children as well, you are aware? And they'll outlive us probably.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Right. But there's lots of album tracks MJ was on that even the fans catch up to. This one just slips through the cracks even of the hardcore fandom.
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A album track on a Michael Jackson album might get radio airplay. With Thriller & Bad, just about everything on them was a released as a single. Artists like Kenny Loggins, Paul McCartney, and even Jermaine Jackson, the general audience had some knowledge of them. That isn't the case with Bill Wolfer. People who bought Kenny Loggins albums might know Who's Right, Who's Wrong. People who didn't are less likely to know of it, but the mainstream audience will probably know This Is It, which was the hit single from Kenny's album. I don't think most people are aware The Man (Paul McCartney) or that old TV special Free To Be... You And Me exists. It's like Beatle fans are not necessarily fans of their solo stuff, it's the opposite with post Thriller Mike fans.

A lot of people don't even listen to the Jackson 5/Jacksons or The Wiz soundtrack, stuff that was pre-Thriller. That is also the majority of Mike's records, he has few releases after Thriller.
BuffaloBill87 said:
This forum will explode with new members and his songs will be streamed at an even higher rate.
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I doubt it. Most people will just post on Twitter or make Youtube videos or something. I don't think these kinds of fan sites are much of a thing anymore, it's like Myspace (which still exists). Especially for a older artist who's deceased and has little or no current news. Maybe a Taylor Swift site is busy and they're of the generation who spends a lot of time staring at their phones anyway, lol. Also a person is not as likely going to pay to watch a movie about a person that they had no previous interest in, if they do watch it they'll just wait for it to get to streaming. I think TikTok is a better way to get a younger audience than a biopic, if the video happens to go viral. It worked for Fleetwood Mac.šŸ˜‚
 
We're mostly talking about what fans on this forum will mention. Not necessary radio singles.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Also, So Shy by Bill Wolfer is the most forgotten MJ song (feature). I never see it mentioned at all. That man played the iconic synth riff of Billie Jean for crying out loud.
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Never heard of the guy. But I found this. It gets a bit technical (for me) but it's an interesting interview.

"Wolfer is a former session musician and solo artist known for working with Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Finis Henderson and Jon Gibson, among others. He worked with Jackson on several tracks from Thriller, and is credited in the album's liner notes for playing keyboards on "Beat It", and playing and programming synthesizers for both "Wanna Be Startin' Something" and "Billie Jean".

"I played the CS-80 chords on Billie Jean, both on the demo, and for the album," Wolfer continued. "The reason Michael called me to do it was that he had heard a sound I was fooling around with on a CS-80 when I was playing keyboards for him and his brothers on the 1981 Triumph tour. Anyone could have played that part, but I'm proud of the fact that it was my sound design, and it was for that reason that Michael called me to do it, to get that sound."

"In addition to staking his claim to the synth parts on "Billie Jean", Wolfer also provided a detailed description of how exactly he programmed the sounds in question. "The sound was an attempt to do strings and brass at the same time using one voice of the CS-80 for strings, the other for brass. The strings are using fairly narrow pulse waves, with pulse width modulation for motion. The filter envelope has a slightly shorter release than the VCA envelope. When done with the right cutoff frequency and envelope amount, it simulates the slight reverb of a stringed instrument's body."


www.musicradar.com

Michael Jackson collaborator Bill Wolfer sets the record straight on "Billie Jean" synth sound: "Anyone could have played that part, but I'm proud of the fact that it was my sound design"

"Forty years later, I like to think back on that, and know that nearly everyone on the planet has heard me play. I'm the least famous musician that everybody has heard play!"
www.musicradar.com www.musicradar.com
 
Bill Wolfer and Michael in 1981

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BuffaloBill87 said:
I love time waits for no one plus that's what you get for being polite are brilliant Jacksons songs.

Few others like dreamer, even though you're gone and show you the way to go - šŸ”„
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Agreed but I think Skywriter is even more overlooked. :(

Certain songs, however brilliant, are just destined to have a lower profile, imo. Who can say why it happens?

NeoGardiV8 said:
Going back to the topic of the thread, i guess Little Susie counts, i usually never see it mentioned when people talk about HIStory.
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Little Susie is a brilliant song. I've said this many times, for me it's like an opera. But bc it's so heart-wrenchingly sad I only play it once or twice a year, that's all I can cope with. And I definitely couldn't have a conversation about it. I know some people don't like the Pie Jesu at the start of the song but I think that's a masterly touch from Michael. The transition is awesome.
 
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Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Right. But there's lots of album tracks MJ was on that even the fans catch up to. This one just slips through the cracks even of the hardcore fandom.
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There are rare MJ songs or features and then there is this.....

This is so obscure to the point that I wouldn't even consider it a feature, it slips through the crack because there is about 0.1% MJ on it

You can hear him doing background vocals on tracks from The Dude but this is ridiculous.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Little Susie is a brilliant song. I've said this many times, for me it's like an opera. But bc it's so heart-wrenchingly sad I only play it once or twice a year, that's all I can cope with. And I definitely couldn't have a conversation about it. I know some people don't like the Pie Jesu at the start of the song but I think that's a masterly touch from Michael. The transition is awesome.
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I think i can count the times in my life i've listened to Little Susie with just one hand, however i still like it for what it is.
You made me realize last year i only listened to Little Susie once lmao
 
NeoGardiV8 said:
I think i can count the times in my life i've listened to Little Susie with just one hand, however i still like it for what it is.
You made me realize last year i only listened to Little Susie once lmao
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I was like that up until a few days ago, I never listened to the song much or even thought about it at all but now I can't stop listening to it lol. It has to be MJ's most somber song and I still can't get over how he wrote it during his OTW days.
 
@Mister_Jay_Tee

I had never heard of ā€œso shyā€ before, so thanks for that but I canā€™t hear MJ at all. Which parts is he supposed to have sung?
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The end of the song, La la la la la la la lala.
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That is where I figured but it is hard to hear for me.

It is a song build for MJ imo, it fits completely into Michaelā€™s style early 80s. Not a bad track but the vocals are uninspiring. Michael would have elevated this enormously.
 
to Gaz. YOU'VE BEEN A FAN SENSE 1978!?!??!?!?!???!?!?!??!?!??! THAT'S CRAZY!!!!! SO YOU LIVED IN MICHAEL'S TIME!!!!! AHHH!!! YOUR SOOOOO LUCKY!!! I was born a year after he died so it's crazy to me that some people got to see/live in the time of Michael
 
@mjfanatic777 said:
to Gaz. YOU'VE BEEN A FAN SENSE 1978!?!??!?!?!???!?!?!??!?!??! THAT'S CRAZY!!!!! SO YOU LIVED IN MICHAEL'S TIME!!!!! AHHH!!! YOUR SOOOOO LUCKY!!! I was born a year after he died so it's crazy to me that some people got to see/live in the time of Michael
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Son, we all lived through Michael's time.... This is crazy to me.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
No, who you tellin lol. Still, the 2000s were so interesting. Wish I had paid more attention.
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I mean the 80's, that was Michael's peak. I'm envious of those who got to see the release of the Thriller, Bad album and see the video clips come out in real time. Most of what happened in the 2000's was the release of T25 and the announcement of the This Is It concerts.

I do have some pleasant memories from that time though, I'm not complaining entirely. I remember hearing the remix of TGIM being played on the radio around the time T25 came out and watching This Is It in the cinema with my parents. But that pales in comparison to see MJ putting out new records/music videos and going on tour.
 
@mjfanatic777 said:
to Gaz. YOU'VE BEEN A FAN SENSE 1978!?!??!?!?!???!?!?!??!?!??! THAT'S CRAZY!!!!! SO YOU LIVED IN MICHAEL'S TIME!!!!! AHHH!!! YOUR SOOOOO LUCKY!!! I was born a year after he died so it's crazy to me that some people got to see/live in the time of Michael
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Itā€™s pretty cool to see him still picking up new fans.
 
Seeing Voices is absolutely the most forgotten song MJ ever made. Even I totally forgot it, I only remembered because some classical music I heard reminded me of it.

It's a fine song, pretty good actually. But, more like a ditty. Just a simple pleasant thing that leaked out and we enjoyed it, then moved on.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Seeing Voices is absolutely the most forgotten song MJ ever made.
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Oh, always remembered her, she's on my regular playlist. But I don't remember it being talked about on the forum lately. It reminds me of a song for a musical.
I love Michael's voice in it and the sounds of the orchestra.
 
hope said:
Oh, always remembered her, she's on my regular playlist.
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I listened to Seeing Voices for the first time last year so it's still quite new in my life.

hope said:
But I don't remember it being talked about on the forum lately.
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There's a thread for the song. I think that's how I found out about it.

Seeing Voices - The Appreciation Thread

Ohhh I love this song already! I've always thought that Michael's voice would've been amazing on Broadway~ Right! I can really see that on Broadway!
www.mjjcommunity.com www.mjjcommunity.com

hope said:
It reminds me of a song for a musical.
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That's exactly what it sounds like. Old-school, 1940's or 50's Hollywood musical style. I keep expecting Judy Garland to join in, lol.

hope said:
I love Michael's voice in it and the sounds of the orchestra.
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I always say Michael's voice was perfect for this type of song.
 
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