Michael Jackson's History album will officially turn 25 in the year 2020. I know there hasn't been anything to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Dangerous, but I wouldn't give up. Since the Off the Wall reissue came out two years too late, I think there is a small possibility that we may see a Dangerous 25 package next year in 2017. Maybe not, but we have to hope and you never know what could happen.
Anyway, back on topic, History 25 will be in 2020. I remember reading a thread about a third Michael Jackson documentary after Bad 25 and Journey from Motown to Off the Wall. Spike Lee has stated that he wants to do one on Thriller so that he will have a trilogy of documentaries centered on Michael's three albums with Quincy Jones. However, many of us fans want to see documentaries on his other albums (Dangerous, History and Invincible). And John Branca, co-executor of Michael's Estate, has stated himself that he wants a History documentary since he feels that was Michael's most unappreciated album.
For a while now, there's been rumors of a possible History Tour theatrical release in 3D (which I don't support by the way) and now that Branca is interested in a History documentary, I think there is a great chance that we may see History receive its 25th anniversary celebration when it hits that number in 2020. Of course Dangerous 25 will probably have to come first, but still, we have plenty of time. Anyway, I'm here today to ask you guys what would you like to see happen for History 25?
1.) History 25 Album:
Consisting of disc two of the original album (completely removing the greatest hits disc) and a new CD consisting of the five original tracks from Blood on the Dance Floor ("BOODF", "Morphine", "Superfly Sister", "Ghosts" and "Is It Scary"), "On the Line" and five all-new unreleased songs from the History sessions: "Humanity" (I read that this was written and recorded for a new Jacksons album that was shelved, so it's possible Michael may have recorded this with his brothers), "Bassouille", "Face", "Fear", "Not Guilty" and "We Be Ballin" (ft. Ice Cube and Shaq).
Also included --- the original demos to Earth Song ("What About Us") and Little Susie ("Susie"), the live audio of "Elizabeth, I Love You" from Elizabeth Taylor's 75th Birthday Celebration, the early demo version of "Ghosts". And two bonus tracks: "Why" and "I Need You", Michael's two songs with 3T.
2.) History Tour - Live in Hawaii 1997:
As I said above, I'm not really in favor of seeing the History Tour in theaters in 3D, but I am interested in seeing one of the shows, a show we haven't seen before, receive a physical release, specifically for this celebration. The show I would like to see released would be Honolulu. As you may or may not know, Michael performed two sold-out shows of the tour at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on January 3rd and 4th respectively. He was the first artist to ever sell out to Aloha Stadium and they were his last solo performances in the USA. What I think they should do is take footage from both shows and combine them together into a compilation show called "History Tour: Live in Hawaii" or something like that, and release it on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the deluxe History 25 set and its own release like Wembley 1988. But no 3D or anything.
Bonus features I would include with this show are --- "Blood on the Dance Floor" from Bremen 1997 with the red jacket, any performance of "Come Together / D.S.", Michael's birthday surprise in Denmark and an all-new documentary giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the tour using interviews, rehearsal footage, that kind of stuff.
3.) A History documentary:
If Spike Lee won't agree to direct this, then pass the torch over to either Prince or Taj Jackson, both are said to be interested in filmmaking and surely wouldn't pass an opportunity like this. The documentary would have to talk about the entire process of not only the History album but the Blood on the Dance Floor album and Ghosts as well. Other topics including how the media treated him at the time and social issues like racism and injustice that are the key themes of his songs will have to be discussed as well.
People who I would like to see interviewed include...well, obviously Branca, Joseph Vogel and probably Questlove are gonna be interviewed since they were interviewed in the last two documentaries. But I would like to also see people who worked on the album with Michael --- Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Bruce Swedien, R Kelly, Dallas Austin, Bill Bottrell, Spike Lee (whether he wants to direct this or not, he still directed "TDCAU"), Shaquille O Neal (for his "2Bad" rap) and many others. They can also use archive footage of Stephen King being interviewed for "Ghosts" if they have any.
Family members who I wanna see interviewed are Janet, 3T and Prince and Paris (since they were born around the History era). And I also want to see Lisa Marie Presley and her two eldest children, Riley and Ben Keough, since Michael's marriage to Lisa was a big part of the History era and because she was in the "You Are Not Alone" video. In addition, I would like to hear from Riley and Ben what it was like having Michael Jackson as a stepfather.
There's probably others I'm missing, but I can't list everyone so we'll stop there.
4.) History: The Short Films
Just like Dangerous, History deserves its own Blu-ray/DVD release of short films and live performances from the era including "Scream", both versions of "TDCAU", "Stranger in Moscow", "Earth Song", "You Are Not Alone", "Childhood", "Blood on the Dance Floor", "Why", the VMAs 95 performance and of course the full-length, record-breaking version of "Ghosts" directed by Stephen King. Those are just to name a few. There's so many others, I can't think.
Anyway, that's all I can really think of for right now. If I have any other ideas, I'll be sure to update the post.
But anyway, what would you like to see happen for History 25? What do you want to see? Let me know. Leave your thoughts and thank you very much
MAJOR UPDATES:
* I removed the greatest hits disc from the album since I agree it's not really necessary for History 25.
* I agree that the rehearsal footage for One Night Only should be made available. I don't know how I forgot about that though.
* Like Bad 25, I wanna see History 25 receive a big deluxe collector's set of his own with all that cool memorabilia and everything like a replica ticket to Honolulu 1997, a 7" single of "Scream"/"Childhood" (the first single from History), one of those old History-era T-shirts. Those are just to name a few things.
* Although I still haven't thought of anyone else I'd like to see in the documentary if there ever was one, I still stick by my word that 3T, Janet, Prince and Paris, Lisa-Marie and her children Riley and Ben should be interviewed. And if Spike Lee refuses to direct it, pass the torch along to either Prince or Taj. They're both inspiring filmmakers from what I understand and I'm sure they wouldn't pass an opportunity like this.
* Although the History-era videos and performances should in fact be given their own release, I agree Ghosts should receive its own release too with behind-the-scenes footage and everything.
Anyway, back on topic, History 25 will be in 2020. I remember reading a thread about a third Michael Jackson documentary after Bad 25 and Journey from Motown to Off the Wall. Spike Lee has stated that he wants to do one on Thriller so that he will have a trilogy of documentaries centered on Michael's three albums with Quincy Jones. However, many of us fans want to see documentaries on his other albums (Dangerous, History and Invincible). And John Branca, co-executor of Michael's Estate, has stated himself that he wants a History documentary since he feels that was Michael's most unappreciated album.
For a while now, there's been rumors of a possible History Tour theatrical release in 3D (which I don't support by the way) and now that Branca is interested in a History documentary, I think there is a great chance that we may see History receive its 25th anniversary celebration when it hits that number in 2020. Of course Dangerous 25 will probably have to come first, but still, we have plenty of time. Anyway, I'm here today to ask you guys what would you like to see happen for History 25?
1.) History 25 Album:
Consisting of disc two of the original album (completely removing the greatest hits disc) and a new CD consisting of the five original tracks from Blood on the Dance Floor ("BOODF", "Morphine", "Superfly Sister", "Ghosts" and "Is It Scary"), "On the Line" and five all-new unreleased songs from the History sessions: "Humanity" (I read that this was written and recorded for a new Jacksons album that was shelved, so it's possible Michael may have recorded this with his brothers), "Bassouille", "Face", "Fear", "Not Guilty" and "We Be Ballin" (ft. Ice Cube and Shaq).
Also included --- the original demos to Earth Song ("What About Us") and Little Susie ("Susie"), the live audio of "Elizabeth, I Love You" from Elizabeth Taylor's 75th Birthday Celebration, the early demo version of "Ghosts". And two bonus tracks: "Why" and "I Need You", Michael's two songs with 3T.
2.) History Tour - Live in Hawaii 1997:
As I said above, I'm not really in favor of seeing the History Tour in theaters in 3D, but I am interested in seeing one of the shows, a show we haven't seen before, receive a physical release, specifically for this celebration. The show I would like to see released would be Honolulu. As you may or may not know, Michael performed two sold-out shows of the tour at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu on January 3rd and 4th respectively. He was the first artist to ever sell out to Aloha Stadium and they were his last solo performances in the USA. What I think they should do is take footage from both shows and combine them together into a compilation show called "History Tour: Live in Hawaii" or something like that, and release it on Blu-ray and DVD as part of the deluxe History 25 set and its own release like Wembley 1988. But no 3D or anything.
Bonus features I would include with this show are --- "Blood on the Dance Floor" from Bremen 1997 with the red jacket, any performance of "Come Together / D.S.", Michael's birthday surprise in Denmark and an all-new documentary giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the tour using interviews, rehearsal footage, that kind of stuff.
3.) A History documentary:
If Spike Lee won't agree to direct this, then pass the torch over to either Prince or Taj Jackson, both are said to be interested in filmmaking and surely wouldn't pass an opportunity like this. The documentary would have to talk about the entire process of not only the History album but the Blood on the Dance Floor album and Ghosts as well. Other topics including how the media treated him at the time and social issues like racism and injustice that are the key themes of his songs will have to be discussed as well.
People who I would like to see interviewed include...well, obviously Branca, Joseph Vogel and probably Questlove are gonna be interviewed since they were interviewed in the last two documentaries. But I would like to also see people who worked on the album with Michael --- Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Bruce Swedien, R Kelly, Dallas Austin, Bill Bottrell, Spike Lee (whether he wants to direct this or not, he still directed "TDCAU"), Shaquille O Neal (for his "2Bad" rap) and many others. They can also use archive footage of Stephen King being interviewed for "Ghosts" if they have any.
Family members who I wanna see interviewed are Janet, 3T and Prince and Paris (since they were born around the History era). And I also want to see Lisa Marie Presley and her two eldest children, Riley and Ben Keough, since Michael's marriage to Lisa was a big part of the History era and because she was in the "You Are Not Alone" video. In addition, I would like to hear from Riley and Ben what it was like having Michael Jackson as a stepfather.
There's probably others I'm missing, but I can't list everyone so we'll stop there.
4.) History: The Short Films
Just like Dangerous, History deserves its own Blu-ray/DVD release of short films and live performances from the era including "Scream", both versions of "TDCAU", "Stranger in Moscow", "Earth Song", "You Are Not Alone", "Childhood", "Blood on the Dance Floor", "Why", the VMAs 95 performance and of course the full-length, record-breaking version of "Ghosts" directed by Stephen King. Those are just to name a few. There's so many others, I can't think.
Anyway, that's all I can really think of for right now. If I have any other ideas, I'll be sure to update the post.
But anyway, what would you like to see happen for History 25? What do you want to see? Let me know. Leave your thoughts and thank you very much
MAJOR UPDATES:
* I removed the greatest hits disc from the album since I agree it's not really necessary for History 25.
* I agree that the rehearsal footage for One Night Only should be made available. I don't know how I forgot about that though.
* Like Bad 25, I wanna see History 25 receive a big deluxe collector's set of his own with all that cool memorabilia and everything like a replica ticket to Honolulu 1997, a 7" single of "Scream"/"Childhood" (the first single from History), one of those old History-era T-shirts. Those are just to name a few things.
* Although I still haven't thought of anyone else I'd like to see in the documentary if there ever was one, I still stick by my word that 3T, Janet, Prince and Paris, Lisa-Marie and her children Riley and Ben should be interviewed. And if Spike Lee refuses to direct it, pass the torch along to either Prince or Taj. They're both inspiring filmmakers from what I understand and I'm sure they wouldn't pass an opportunity like this.
* Although the History-era videos and performances should in fact be given their own release, I agree Ghosts should receive its own release too with behind-the-scenes footage and everything.
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