Eventidescape1
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After a bit of researching, I thought I'd share my 'watered-down' version of the making of Dangerous between 1989 and 1991... From a more recording & production perspective. Please let me know your thoughts.
June 1989: Recording officially began for Dangerous, at that time for the Decade compilation with a few new tracks… Michael already had some song ideas he'd written earlier that year and from prior to that. He started with Matt Forger and Bill Bottrell once again, as he did for the early Bad sessions... Mostly, he was vocally dictating sounds, ideas & melodies to his musicians/programmers (plus, in Bill's case, producer) and they would execute that.
June 1989: Recording officially began for Dangerous, at that time for the Decade compilation with a few new tracks… Michael already had some song ideas he'd written earlier that year and from prior to that. He started with Matt Forger and Bill Bottrell once again, as he did for the early Bad sessions... Mostly, he was vocally dictating sounds, ideas & melodies to his musicians/programmers (plus, in Bill's case, producer) and they would execute that.
- Michael and engineer Matt Forger worked at Westlake Studio C in Los Angeles on various ideas – early versions of “Heal The World”, “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Earth Song” (the latter two to appear on HIStory)...
- At the same time, Bill Bottrell was at Ocean Way Studios working on ideas including “Monkey Business”… After a few weeks (July 1989), he moved to Westlake Studio B where he started “Black Or White” and his production of “Earth Song" among others. Of note, Bottrell introduced Michael to keyboardist/programmer Brad Buxer and they hit it off immediately, forming a long-term partnership.
- October: Producer & musician Bryan Loren joined the team at Westlake by then, bringing a more R&B and funk feel like on “She Got It”… Most of his work, however, would be done at Record One. With Bryan, he would write & record the music first, then work with Michael on the melody and leave it to Michael for the lyrics.
- Basically: of the finished album, “Heal The World” and “Black Or White” date from these early Westlake sessions.
- At Record One, Michael had both studio rooms locked out for nearly 2 years, renting for $4000 a day(!). Studio A had a vintage Neve console, which Swedien and Bottrell mostly shared, whilst Bryan Loren took the smaller Studio B with an API console…
- Early 1990: “Will You Be There” is started, worked on by Michael, Swedien and Forger
- May 1990: “Gone Too Soon” was recorded after Ryan White’s passing from AIDS
- September 1990: Bill Bottrell begins recording an early version of “Dangerous”, plus “Give Into Me” and “Who Is It”
- “Jam” was started as well at Record One… It was originally a drum groove by Bruce Swedien and René Moore under the working title “Time Marches On”, which Michael and Teddy Riley would later add to.
- Earlier, he demoed around 12 instrumental grooves & ideas at Soundtrack Studios in New York to present to Michael. Once Teddy played the DAT from those sessions, Michael was instantly smitten by the grooves, especially the first one which became "Blood On The Dance Floor"... The DAT also included early ideas for "Remember The Time", "In The Closet", "She Drives Me Wild", "Can't Let Her Get Away" etc. plus, of course, "Blood On The Dance Floor" and "Joy" which ended up elsewhere.
- Teddy and his engineer Dave Way worked at Record One's Studio A for around a month. However, with three other production teams working at the same time at two rooms there, it was decided to find another studio.
- Like at Record One, Larrabee North had all three studio rooms booked full-time at a similar rate, equipped with SSL consoles… Teddy Riley did most of his production work there, with the SSL's suiting his more industrial and New Jack Swing sound. Bruce Swedien would also work there, both with Teddy and on his own productions for the record ("Jam" /w Teddy, "Keep The Faith" etc.)
- Meanwhile, Bill Bottrell and Matt Forger mostly stayed at Record One... Bryan Loren also remained at Record One until he left the project a few months later, when it became clear to him that none of his songs would make the cut.
- Summer 1991: Sony was putting pressure on Michael to complete the record in time for thanksgiving. They started working 18-hour shifts, focusing on Michael's vocals, overdubs and mixing... There was a moment when Michael broke down when laying down scratch vocals on "Keep The Faith", but once the song key was lowered a semi-tone, he finally pulled himself together and carried on.
- August 1991: Teddy Riley produces his version of “Dangerous” from scratch, which Michael loved and became the final track.
- 29 October: The album is officially completed and delivered to Sony after 2 years in the making.
