Missed Opportunities

[mj_frenzy]

Yes, it seems like it. Those HBO rehearsals were confirmed to be filmed and given to Michael. The whereabouts of these rare footage is still a mystery. I guess it'll be a big discovery if ever it will located...in this lifetime.

LaVelle Smith has the tapes. He's already shared some of it. He's the one behind some of the recent concert leaks.

The whereabouts of these tapes is definitely a mystery.

This has been confirmed by several reliable sources.

One of those sources is Jeff Margolis, the producer/director of that 1995 HBO Special.

“… The tapes have vanished... They’ve disappeared. Michael ended up with all of the tapes. That was part of his agreement. HBO has nothing. His management company has nothing. His lawyers have nothing. I have nothing. Nobody had anything, except for Michael, and needless to say, they disappeared years ago…” (Jeff Margolis)

MJ, the one who had those tapes, lost them back then (it was not unusual for him to lose audio or video material).

Executors of MJ’s Estate do not know the location of these tapes, too.

LaVelle Smith has not the actual tapes of the entire footage, but he has just few video segments shot by his own camera.

 

[PolkaN]

The whereabouts of these tapes is definitely a mystery.

This has been confirmed by several reliable sources.

One of those sources is Jeff Margolis, the producer/director of that 1995 HBO Special.

“… The tapes have vanished... They’ve disappeared. Michael ended up with all of the tapes. That was part of his agreement. HBO has nothing. His management company has nothing. His lawyers have nothing. I have nothing. Nobody had anything, except for Michael, and needless to say, they disappeared years ago…” (Jeff Margolis)

MJ, the one who had those tapes, lost them back then (it was not unusual for him to lose audio or video material).

Executors of MJ’s Estate do not know the location of these tapes, too.

LaVelle Smith has not the actual tapes of the entire footage, but he has just few video segments shot by his own camera.

Does anyone knows what are the things stored in those storage warehouses. As per my understanding there are 5 places of them with Michael's belonging including Grammies and other awards. This might sound stupid but what if these tapes also amoung the stuff stored on those places? I am wondering why estate is not making an effort to find out whats on those storages.

 

[Moviefan2k4]

I think Michael should have toured more, after the Bad era. He did a mostly-overseas one for HIStory, but avoided the USA which was very disappointing. I'd have also liked him to tour for Invincible, but I understand him wanting to focus more on his kids.

 

[Nite Line]

I think Michael missed a golden opportunity to promote Invincible during his 2002 performances at the American Bandstand and the Bill Clinton gala show, especially the American Bandstand show. He choose to perform songs from the Dangerous album, a ten year old album yet completely neglected the Invincible album, that only came out 6 months ago. A performance of a song from Invincible or medley of Invincible songs at the American handstand show would have definitely kept the Invincible album on the charts for a few more week. A massive missed opportunity.

Also, it would have been nice had Michael done a one night special show (similar to the cancelled one from 1995) in 2002 to promote the Invincible album. I know he didn’t want to tour at that point, which is understandable but instead he could have done a special one off concert to promote the Invincible album.

I know we blame Sony for the lack of promotion for the Invincible album, but Michael wasn’t completely faultless too.

 

[Doggone]

I think Michael should have toured more, after the Bad era. He did a mostly-overseas one for HIStory, but avoided the USA which was very disappointing. I'd have also liked him to tour for Invincible, but I understand him wanting to focus more on his kids.

I’m sorry. But the US didn’t deserve Michael during that time. They treated him like shit. No wonder Michael did not want to tour there. I wonder why he chose to tour in Honolulu, but not on the mainland...

 

[Robbsaber01]

I’m sorry. But the US didn’t deserve Michael during that time. They treated him like shit. No wonder Michael did not want to tour there. I wonder why he chose to tour in Honolulu, but not on the mainland...

AMEN
The universe doesnt revolve around the US.
I do however, wish he came back to Canada on his solo tours. We're the nice country remember? lol.

The missed opportunity that will always stand out for me is official concert material.
A filmed Bad tour concert should have been released at the end of the tour.
Maybe Packaged with Moonwalker.
Currently the film is either lost or just hasn't been catalogued....

 

[kai]

AMEN
The universe doesnt revolve around the US.

a bit off-topic but i agree.
I feel like americans believe the USA is first priority always.
I know a lot of people from the US aren't like that.
But i feel like the USA have more patriots than any other country or state.

 

[mj_frenzy]

I'd have also liked him to tour for Invincible, but I understand him wanting to focus more on his kids.

Focusing more on his kids was not the reason for not touring for the ‘Invincible’ album.

He told Sony (during the final stages of making that album) that he was leaving the company (because of the known legal reasons).

So, it would make no sense at all for him to support that album by touring (because that would benefit the company that he just left).

But more importantly, his mental & physical health condition was on downward spiral at that time.

In fact, MJ was in no position to tour for that album because of his (drug-related) health issues.

His confession to Cory Rooney (about the health effects of a possible tour in 2001), or even the incident he had in 2001 (according to his then-bodyguard Michael LePerruque) when he passed out in the hallway of the suite at a Disney World hotel in Orlando (Florida) are two examples that spring to mind.

Does anyone knows what are the things stored in those storage warehouses. As per my understanding there are 5 places of them with Michael's belonging including Grammies and other awards. This might sound stupid but what if these tapes also amoung the stuff stored on those places? I am wondering why estate is not making an effort to find out whats on those storages.

The Estate did make an effort to find out what is on those places/storages, but no HBO tapes came up.

 

[Fuzball]

Re: Missed opportunity's

- Thriller 25 was a terrible release. Michael messed up by not releasing any unreleased songs on T25. Bad 25 was a very good release as it featured 6 unreleased songs from the Bad sessions. Thrilled 25 had one new song that was from the Dangerous era. Songs such as Behind The Mask, Nite Line, Hot Street, Best of Joy (Thriller version) should have been on T25.

The initial plan was to release T25 with four bonus tracks and no remixes at all. Acording to Peter Lopez (his then attorney) two of the tracks were For All Time and Don't Be Messin' 'Round. Those are still recordings from the dangerous sessions, though.

 

[analogue]

Another missed opportunity is Michael not having a cameo appearance in Home Alone 2.

 

[Mikky Dee]

I think Michael should have toured more, after the Bad era. He did a mostly-overseas one for HIStory, but avoided the USA which was very disappointing. I'd have also liked him to tour for Invincible, but I understand him wanting to focus more on his kids.

I don't blame him at all for not touring much in the USA, considering his treatment there. Also he wasn't well enough, emotionally, to tour for Invincible; 9/11 plus the war on terror pretty much put an end to any thoughts he might have had of flying around the globe.

 

[Mikky Dee]

Does anyone knows what are the things stored in those storage warehouses. As per my understanding there are 5 places of them with Michael's belonging including Grammies and other awards. This might sound stupid but what if these tapes also amoung the stuff stored on those places? I am wondering why estate is not making an effort to find out whats on those storages.

I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to point out that Karen Langford is the archivist for the Michael Jackson Estate. She has painstakingly catalogued everything that is in the warehouses and still oversees the collection, as far as I'm aware.

This is an article from 2013. There was a story on 60 Minutes, back then, which gave viewers a guided tour through the warehouses.

A look in Michael Jackson's closet
"60 Minutes" cameras given access to Michael Jackson's personal possessions for a story about the king of pop's lucrative legacy

In life, Michael Jackson earned hundreds of millions and spent even more, accumulating an estimated half-billion dollars in debt towards the end of his life, when a tarnished image curtailed his earning power. In death, the King of Pop is doing just fine, however. He's never been more popular, with almost 60 million Facebook "friends," and music sales and business deals made by his estate have earned more than enough to repay his debt. Lara Logan reports on this unprecedented turnaround and gets a private tour of some of the personal items that meant the most to the late star for a 60 Minutes story to be broadcast Sunday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

While the Jackson Estate amasses millions through The Michael Jackson Immortal Tour, an acrobatic performance to his music by Cirque Du Soleil, iTunes and album sales, his possessions sit in storage. Nobody knows what they are worth. It's anybody's guess at what they could bring at auction with the right people biding.

Karen Langford, a friend of Jackson's who worked with him since 1981, is the archivist for the Jackson estate. She takes Logan for a tour of a warehouse full of Jackson's memorabilia.

The tour begins, appropriately, with the Neverland sign sitting on the floor of the 20,000-foot warehouse. It once sat atop the gates to his famous compound that included an amusement park, zoo and his mansion.

Inside, Logan sees Grammy awards, a fleet of cars, antiques, video games, and some of the clothing he wore on stage. The sequined glove he wore on the Billie Jean Tour, worth an estimated $80,000, is kept in a safe on premises.

Other things may not have obviously high value but were priceless to the star, including the wooden rocking horse given to Jackson by one of his closest friends, Elizabeth Taylor. "To MJ, Love ET," reads the inscription.

The items will be stored until Jackson's children come of age and decide what they want to do with them. Meanwhile, the revenue machine that has taken in over $600 million since the entertainer's death in 2009 -- more than any other single living artist has earned over the period -- is predicted to hum along for many years to come.

Sunday evening after the program, 60MinutesOvertime.com, the 60 Minutes web show, will present an even deeper look into the memorabilia few have ever seen since Jackson's death.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-look-in-michael-jacksons-closet/

 

[DifferentKindOfLady]

I don't blame him at all for not touring much in the USA, considering his treatment there. Also he wasn't well enough, emotionally, to tour for Invincible; 9/11 plus the war on terror pretty much put an end to any thoughts he might have had of flying around the globe.

The one who should be complaining its me
He only came to my country once three months before I was born and never came back. Why why I had to be born in the end of 1992?!

 

[dethorro]

I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to point out that Karen Langford is the archivist for the Michael Jackson Estate. She has painstakingly catalogued everything that is in the warehouses and still oversees the collection, as far as I'm aware.

This is an article from 2013. There was a story on 60 Minutes, back then, which gave viewers a guided tour through the warehouses.

A look in Michael Jackson's closet
"60 Minutes" cameras given access to Michael Jackson's personal possessions for a story about the king of pop's lucrative legacy

In life, Michael Jackson earned hundreds of millions and spent even more, accumulating an estimated half-billion dollars in debt towards the end of his life, when a tarnished image curtailed his earning power. In death, the King of Pop is doing just fine, however. He's never been more popular, with almost 60 million Facebook "friends," and music sales and business deals made by his estate have earned more than enough to repay his debt. Lara Logan reports on this unprecedented turnaround and gets a private tour of some of the personal items that meant the most to the late star for a 60 Minutes story to be broadcast Sunday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

While the Jackson Estate amasses millions through The Michael Jackson Immortal Tour, an acrobatic performance to his music by Cirque Du Soleil, iTunes and album sales, his possessions sit in storage. Nobody knows what they are worth. It's anybody's guess at what they could bring at auction with the right people biding.

Karen Langford, a friend of Jackson's who worked with him since 1981, is the archivist for the Jackson estate. She takes Logan for a tour of a warehouse full of Jackson's memorabilia.

The tour begins, appropriately, with the Neverland sign sitting on the floor of the 20,000-foot warehouse. It once sat atop the gates to his famous compound that included an amusement park, zoo and his mansion.

Inside, Logan sees Grammy awards, a fleet of cars, antiques, video games, and some of the clothing he wore on stage. The sequined glove he wore on the Billie Jean Tour, worth an estimated $80,000, is kept in a safe on premises.

Other things may not have obviously high value but were priceless to the star, including the wooden rocking horse given to Jackson by one of his closest friends, Elizabeth Taylor. "To MJ, Love ET," reads the inscription.

The items will be stored until Jackson's children come of age and decide what they want to do with them. Meanwhile, the revenue machine that has taken in over $600 million since the entertainer's death in 2009 -- more than any other single living artist has earned over the period -- is predicted to hum along for many years to come.

Sunday evening after the program, 60MinutesOvertime.com, the 60 Minutes web show, will present an even deeper look into the memorabilia few have ever seen since Jackson's death.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-look-in-michael-jacksons-closet/

Thx for this! Never seen it before.

 

[Luis Camacho]

I think some of the biggest missed opportunity's were a live performance of Give Into Me with Slash. I never understood why that never happened, and The Making Of Thriller having a DVD/Blu Ray release for Thriller 25. That one should have been a no brainer.

Can anyone else think of anymore missed opportunity's throughout Michael's career?

There is little to no tape of Michael dancing tap. We need the HD recordings.

 

[TheThrillerGuy]

Re: Missed opportunity's

Missed opportunities in no particular order.

1. Not shooting Captain Eo in 1984.: The whole Thriller campaign throughout 1983 went exactly as planned, and he ended the year with the release of Thriller in December of that year, with it's release as the final single in January of 1984. So while that germinates, all he had to do was collect awards that year and shoot Captain Eo that summer, so that it could be released in 1985. I'm not sure what the specifics were as far as who was on-board to direct and so on. But I'm sure with the Michael-mania at that time, it'd be strange for any top-tier director/producer to turn down the opportunity to work on a project like Captain Eo. Since it was already in pre-production in 1983 and Michael was pretty mum about it. Having We Are The World, the Thriller sales still going, AND Captain Eo would've kept Michael's lead amongst the industry, and given everyone else less time to catch up. He would've done it all in a short amount of time.

2. Not tour "Thriller", Thriller Tour: In hindsight, I think the Victory Tour and album was totally unnecessary and I completely understand why Michael was against it because it did way more harm than good for sure. Although I am a big fan of the Jackson brothers, at the same time I think that he would've better off touring alone with the four other back up dancers ala the ones he went on to have rather than an incomplete set of Jacksons. Choreography wise, the tour took a big hit with Jackie being injured and unable to dance on the tour. In terms of performing Jacksons material, Michael, Marlon and Jackie are kind of a packaged deal. Although the performances were stellar, in comparison to the Triumph tour I feel like they were missing something on songs like "Things I Do For You", "Lovely One", "Heartbreak Hotel" to name a few. Now subtract the time spent in the studio recording and working on Victory, the Pepsi deal, Don King, Chuck Sullivan and that idiotic lottery-ticket system courtesy of Don King and whomever else who thought that forcing lower, working class people a mandatory $120 money order was fair. Getting rid of the Pepsi deal Michael did not want in the first place also means, no Pepsi accident as well! Now add all that extra time and divert it to him spending all that time to creating the show, auditioning the right back-up ensemble dancers as well as background singers, the initial Quaker Oats deal, and a set-list including Thriller and PYT which he never performed live ever. That tour would've easily surpassed Victory's ticket sales which were great but but were already hampered because of the negative press from jump.

3. Not shooting Torture: For a song with next to no promotion whatsoever to peak at No.17 on the Hot 100 says alot about that song. The only thing that stopped that song from charting higher was the fact that he was not in the video itself. That video had a similar budget to Thriller that CBS actually came out of pocket for, versus Thriller which Michael had to exercise other elaborate options to secure the financing for it. The whole entire Victory campaign was rushed and the video was no exception. I read that it had close to no pre-production time and a lot of things were done last minute. People bash that video for whatever reason but it's got Michael's influence written all over it, particularly the horror/fantasy element of it which he went on to do again in the 90's. Because the special effects in that video was so ahead of it's time, I think it could've easily gone down in history as one of the greatest videos of all time as well as the zenith point of the Jacksons visually. It would've been the first music video/short film to showcase his sequined garb glove/socks and sunglasses, since his others videos did not. I think it would've done a great job at capturing Michael's aura, and it may have defeated the necessity for Captain Eo since the themes of both are cut from the same cloth.

4. Prince not participating on the Bad song/album. I think Prince's ego got in the way of what could've been a moment in music history. I'm sure both of them had a "my way or the highway" mindset going into it. Since Prince sent Michael a record and Michael passed on it and vice versa. But the same way Michael and Freddie Mercury collaborated on a few records, Michael and Prince could've done the same.

5. Whitney Houston not appearing on I Just Can't Stop Loving You, another moment in music history that was missed. All because of politics really.

6. Moonwalker not being released in theaters. That movie did well overseas theaters and had sales of 60 million on a 20 million dollar budget, 800k on home video sales that year. Frank Dileo not being able to secure that release is some type of freak of nature that ruined their relationship. Moonwalker being released on Christmas '89 would've boosted Bad sales for sure.

7. Michael not starring in his own feature length film. Michael should've had his own Purple Rain, which was Moonwalker but the problem with Moonwalker is that it didn't have much dialogue and the theme/plot was too here and there. I don't blame critics for placing it in the anthology category/genre. Either it had to have that Smooth Criminal theme from start to finish or something entirely different. With as much dialogue as there was music. Purple Rain was realistic whereas Moonwalker was fantasy. Joe Pytka should've listened to Michael and made The Way You Make Me Feel Longer and revolved a short film or longer around that.

 

[DuranDuran]

movie

Michael not starring in his own feature length film. Michael should've had his own Purple Rain, which was Moonwalker but the problem with Moonwalker is that it didn't have much dialogue and the theme/plot was too here and there. I don't blame critics for placing it in the anthology category/genre. Either it had to have that Smooth Criminal theme from start to finish or something entirely different. With as much dialogue as there was music. Purple Rain was realistic whereas Moonwalker was fantasy. Joe Pytka should've listened to Michael and made The Way You Make Me Feel Longer and revolved a short film or longer around that.

Purple Rain was R rated though. It's doubtful Mike would have done a movie with that rating. Also Prince was at a company (Warner Brothers) that made films and TV shows. CBS Records/Epic didn't make movies. In the USA, Moonwalker was released on VHS on CMV Enterprises, which put out music video compilations.

The interesting thing about Purple Rain is that it was made at all. At the time Prince was just starting to get mainstream recognition after the 1999 album. He wasn't really a superstar yet. Prince's albums before 1999 were primarily popular with the R&B audience. Other than the parents, nobody in the movie was a professional actor and they weren't really household names that would get people to buy movie tickets. Commercial wise it would have made more sense to make a movie starring Journey.

I think Prince put up part of the money to get it made. Before when movies were made with music acts, they were really big superstars like Elvis & The Beatles. A lot of the early rock n roll movies were cheap & quickly made. The Purple Rain movie made Prince way more popular than he was, it was a surprise success. I think he was the first to have a #1 movie & album at the same time. Prince's next movie Under The Cherry Moon did not do well at all. Putting out a black & white movie in the mid-1980s was not likely to get much of an audience. :rofl:

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Doing more movies and acting. he was an very good actor. I would of loved him to do more movies he wanted to do.

 

[analogue]

4. Prince not participating on the Bad song/album. I think Prince's ego got in the way of what could've been a moment in music history. I'm sure both of them had a "my way or the highway" mindset going into it. Since Prince sent Michael a record and Michael passed on it and vice versa. But the same way Michael and Freddie Mercury collaborated on a few records, Michael and Prince could've done the same.

Honestly, I'm glad Prince never appeared on BAD. That song is perfect with just Michael by himself, but I would have loved to have them work on another song together. But I think it would have had to have been a one off single that wasn't going to be on any of their albums.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Michael was an fantasy man. he was more into fantasy than reality. so it's understanding why Michael movies and acting wouldn't be nothing like Prince. i loved the Moonwalker. the plot was very small but cute. Michael was a man who loved short films and musicals so i'm guessing that what he was going for. also he liked the kids so i'm really thinking the movie was for kids. after all Michael was nothing a big kid himself.

I think the plot for the moonwalker to use your imagination. to believe. stay far away from drugs. help kids. and help save the world and fight for justice etc.

that's what i think the moonwalker was about. i give the movie 3 in half stars. it's one of my favorite movies now though it doesn't actually have a plot. i like Michael taste of humor and entrainment. it's so simple yet something to be amaze about and think about the plot or song yourself.

he nothing just big kid himself and somewhat a great story teller.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Missed opportunity's

6. Moonwalker not being released in theaters. That movie did well overseas theaters and had sales of 60 million on a 20 million dollar budget, 800k on home video sales that year. Frank Dileo not being able to secure that release is some type of freak of nature that ruined their relationship. Moonwalker being released on Christmas '89 would've boosted Bad sales for sure.

I agree. it really should of have been release in theaters in the USA back in 1988. Michael really could had more sales off the BAD album. not saying it didn't sale well because it did. but could of did so much more.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Missed opportunity's

5. Whitney Houston not appearing on I Just Can't Stop Loving You, another moment in music history that was missed. All because of politics really.

I did not know she was gonna be on that. dang that's sucks. that would of been great i would of loved her and Michael do an duet together. sucks they never did any duets. samething goes for him and diana. so yeah Michael should of done more duets with people. i'm not saying the duet with him and siedah garrett was bad but I still would loved him to it with Whitney.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Re: Missed opportunity's

1. Not shooting Captain Eo in 1984.: The whole Thriller campaign throughout 1983 went exactly as planned, and he ended the year with the release of Thriller in December of that year, with it's release as the final single in January of 1984. So while that germinates, all he had to do was collect awards that year and shoot Captain Eo that summer, so that it could be released in 1985. I'm not sure what the specifics were as far as who was on-board to direct and so on. But I'm sure with the Michael-mania at that time, it'd be strange for any top-tier director/producer to turn down the opportunity to work on a project like Captain Eo. Since it was already in pre-production in 1983 and Michael was pretty mum about it. Having We Are The World, the Thriller sales still going, AND Captain Eo would've kept Michael's lead amongst the industry, and given everyone else less time to catch up. He would've done it all in a short amount of time.

I agree. that would of been nice.