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Quincy Jones sues Michael Jackson’s estate over royalties

What makes me angry about Q is that he thinks Michael became mega successful because of him, also thinks he owns Q because of it. He helped him with the music production, no doubt but Michael composed those classics he's best known for, Michael made short films a new art form which helped to give Thriller and BAD a huge boost. Those 2 albums are in fact his most sucessful commercial ones but lyrically and musically Dangerous and HIStory are better. I'm glad Michael moved on!

It also angered me those comments he made during the trial and about Michael's children that were not his because they don't look like him when he was still here with us were incredibly evil. Hasn't he seen his children? Most of them look biracial, Rashida, Kidada and Quincy don't look like him at all! IMO it's personal, he wants to get royalties from songs he didn't even composed.

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He has an older daughter as well I think Mary is her name.. by his first baby mama or wife, she doesn't look like him either. It's funny how he is 'allowed' to have children looking like Rashida, Kedada, Mary, Kenya and Quincy IIII but Michael is not.
 
I too want to commnet about how media gives all the credit of Thriller and MJ career to Quincy. I find it extremely interesting that when media talks about Frank Sinatra (Quincy worked with him too), media doesn't say Quincy made him. Frank S was prior and after Quincy well known artist and his success wasn't depending on Quincy's input.

When media talks about MJ, according to media and critics, his success was depending on Quincy's input! Michael was well known artist before Quincy, and his albums (J5 and Jacksons) sold millions without Quincy.

Thriller was already released November 82, but it was only when Michael showed up in Motown 25 in May 83 and did his magic when Thriller really took off and started selling like hot cakes (there was an article about Thriller starting sell after Motown 25). Not to mention of all the videos MJ did to support Thriller album that helped with sales, and Quincy had nothing to do with videos.
I wonder if without MJ appearance in Motown 25 and videos to support, would Thriller been as successfull as it was, or would it had sold similar numbers as OTW? How much credit Q really deserves?

Thriller had been on shelves for four months by the time of the televised concert and "Billie Jean" was the number one song in the country, but Jackson's performance brought his fame to a whole other level. One could even argue that it was the highpoint of his entire career. It also overshadowed a pretty amazing night of music, including the first performance by Diana Ross and the Supremes since 1969 and sets by Marvin Gaye, the Miracles, Stevie Wonder and an amazing "battle of the bands" between the Temptations and the Four Tops."

Reminder, Quincy didn't want Billie Jean to Thriller album, and if Quincy had kept BJ out of the album, there wouldn't have been Motown 25 BJ, there wouldn't have been BJ video (we know its credits breaking racial barriers in MTV etc), so I can honestly say Quincy's input to MJ's succesful career is highly exaggerated
 
The media act as if quincy wrote billie jean dont stop beat it etc etc. mj wrote pretty much all his greatest songs. do lieber and stoller get treated the same when it comes to their elvis.jones was a co producer who didnt even want b.j on the album.

jones is like landis. they were famous in their own right before mj but because of mj and their work with him it overshadowed what they did on their own and they became known to the masses as the guy that worked with mj.that made them bitter and resentful
 
Bubs said:
Thriller was already released November 82, but it was only when Michael showed up in Motown 25 in May 83 and did his magic when Thriller really took off and started selling like hot cakes (there was an article about Thriller starting sell after Motown 25). Not to mention of all the videos MJ did to support Thriller album that helped with sales, and Quincy had nothing to do with videos.
I wonder if without MJ appearance in Motown 25 and videos to support, would Thriller been as successfull as it was, or would it had sold similar numbers as OTW? How much credit Q really deserves?
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Well, it's not quite fair to say Thriller started to sell only after Motown 25. Thriller started to sell when Billie Jean came out as the second single with the accompanying video and then Beat It. That's when the album became Nr 1 - as well as Billie Jean and Beat It as singles. Motown 25 then added to the success as well as the Thriller video, but the album was already in full gear by Motown 25. People did not watch Motown 25 for nothing - and it was the most watched musical TV program to date at the time. That was the MJ effect and that was because Thriller was already a phenomenon as an album. Thriller was already a Nr 1 album before Motown 25. OTW was never Nr 1 - so Thriller was always going to be more successful than OTW, with or without Motown 25.

But yeah, Billie Jean was fully Michael's song - even production wise - and Quincy did not even want it on the album. I don't think Thriller would have been the same without that song. The album's best and most successful songs (Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin') were written by Michael. Those are the songs which made Thriller.
 
respect77 said:
Well, it's not quite fair to say Thriller started to sell only after Motown 25. Thriller started to sell when Billie Jean came out as the second single with the accompanying video and then Beat It. That's when the album became Nr 1 - as well as Billie Jean and Beat It as singles. Motown 25 then added to the success as well as the Thriller video, but the album was already in full gear by Motown 25. People did not watch Motown 25 for nothing - and it was the most watched musical TV program to date at the time. That was the MJ effect and that was because Thriller was already a phenomenon as an album. Thriller was already a Nr 1 album before Motown 25. OTW was never Nr 1 - so Thriller was always going to be more successful than OTW, with or without Motown 25.
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I didn't say in my post that Thriller didn't sell prior MJ's Motown appearance. What I said, it started to selling like hot cakes after Motown was aired:) If 50 million watched that shown and saw MJ strutting his stuff, some of them were bound to go to record store and buy Thriller.

There was an article about how Motown 25 affected Thriller sales, and it was even posted here on MJJC but I cannot find it:-(


Otherwise I agree with your post:)
 
Bubs said:
I didn't say in my post that Thriller didn't sell prior MJ's Motown appearance. What I said, it started to selling like hot cakes after Motown was aired:) If 50 million watched that shown and saw MJ strutting his stuff, some of them were bound to go to record store and buy Thriller.

There was an article about how Motown 25 affected Thriller sales, and it was even posted here on MJJC but I cannot find it:-(


Otherwise I agree with your post:)
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We do not disagree about Quincy, but I already heard people say that Thriller's success was all about Motown 25 and John Landis' video and not about the music and that's just as flawed as to say it's all about Quincy. It was a full multimedia phenomenon and you cannot take out one element and credit one element for the album's success. You suggested without Motown 25 Thriller might not have been any more successful than OTW but it was already a lot more successful than OTW before Motown 25. It was catapulted to Nr 1 when Billie Jean came out in January 1983.

Quincy was a part of the puzzle, an important one too, but not the most important. And the mistake that most people make is that they think he was. To be honest a lot of that comes from ignorance with people not even being aware of the basic facts, just assuming things such as that Quincy wrote Michael's music.

The most important element was clearly Michael himself. Not only he wrote the best and most successful songs on the album, but he had the idea to revolutionize the music video industry, he was the man behind the dance moves, the iconic clothes etc. He was certainly the catalyst. It's great to have people like Quincy, Rod Temperton, John Landis, Michael Peters etc. on your team. But without Michael and his own creative input either in music, dance or video none of it had worked the way it did. None of it had even been created at all. John Landis might have directed American Warewolf before, which was an inspiration for Michael, but it was Michael's idea to make a music video of such a theme and put it into a whole different context with choreographed dance and all. And today Thriller is a lot more iconic and culturally significant than American Warewolf (which is a pretty ridiculous movie by today's standards, I did not find it entertaining at all).

Quincy's discography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincy_Jones_production_discography

It shows that none of his other albums - whether his own or ones he produced for other artists - was anywhere near to the success he achieved with Michael. Which tells us Michael was the most important element in that success and not Quincy.
 
@Respect

Do you purposely twist my words or misunderstanding them?
I didn't nor suggested without Motown 25 Thriller wouldn't have been success.
I said: I wonder if without MJ appearance in Motown 25 and videos to support, would Thriller been as successfull as it was, or would it had sold similar numbers as OTW? How much credit Q really deserves?

That is my thinking out loud, not suggestion or nothing definate, just a though what if .....
 
No one is twisting your words, Bubs. I pointed out that Thriller was already more successful than OTW before Motown 25.
 
For those who think that Quincy is "in the dark" about the attorney he has hired, and would not want to associate with someone who called Michael a monster, etc.,... think again!

Quincy Jones was the head producer of "Mad TV". People not from the U.S. may not be aware of Quincy being behind it, but he was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADtv

Just go to YouTube and search for "Michael Jackson Mad TV". You will then know that Quincy doesn't give a darn about Michael Jackson or his reputation.
 
I agree with Bubs media is partially responsible to diminish Michael's genius and savviness for making BAD and specially Thriller very successful commercially but Quincy Jones gives himself too much credit he doesn't deserve:

We all made history together. We owned the '80s and our souls would be connected forever.
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Like I said before, Q helped him, I'm not denying that but Michael owned the 80's not him. He wasn't responsible for all those groundbreaking short films, nor in his innovation in dancing, nor his success in commercials and The BAD World Tour.
 
GreenEyes said:
For those who think that Quincy is "in the dark" about the attorney he has hired, and would not want to associate with someone who called Michael a monster, etc.,... think again!

Quincy Jones was the head producer of "Mad TV". People not from the U.S. may not be aware of Quincy being behind it, but he was.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MADtv

Just go to YouTube and search for "Michael Jackson Mad TV". You will then know that Quincy doesn't give a darn about Michael Jackson or his reputation.
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That's sad.


Here is the full complaint of Quincy: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/custom/Documents/ESQ/quincyjones.pdf
 
Bob Hoerburger writes,

“It wasn’t until “Billie Jean” was released as a single in early 1983 that “Thriller” really took off. It had that long, sinuous bass-line intro, paranoiac synth warnings, a hiccupping vocal; it was the ultimate crossover dream, a song both timely and out of its time. And it had a first-rate video in which Jackson came off like a musical James Bond, sexy, sly and licensed to dance. The song climbed to No. 1, stormed the ramparts at MTV and, buoyed even further by Jackson’s dazzling performance on the “Motown 25” TV special that May, led the way for the album’s other hits and for other black artists. By the end of 1983, “Thriller” had become a nine-track stimulus package for the entire music business.”

Hoerburger, Bob. “’Thriller’ and the Lessons of the Mega-Super-Album.” NY Times, August 31, 2012.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/m...the-lessons-of-the-mega-super-album.html?_r=0

Joe Vogel, The Ten Top MJ Songs in his book Featuring MJ

“1.) Billie Jean
No surprises here. “Billie Jean” is nearly unanimously heralded as Michael Jackson’s defining masterpiece, and justifiably so. Perhaps no other song more perfectly embodies the paradoxes, tensions, magic and mystery of its creator. It is the rare dance track that is instantly accessible (with its bewitching bass line and minimalist frame), yet profoundly layered and evocative. Its dark, ominous story could not stand out more from traditional Top 40 pop, yet the single somehow managed to sit at #1 for seven weeks in 1983 and has remained popular with listeners ever since. Music critic Mark Fisher calls it “one of the greatest art works of the twentieth century, a multi-leveled sound sculpture whose slinky, synthetic panther sheen still yields up previously unnoticed details and nuance nearly thirty years on.” Bottom line: Any argument for Jackson as an artist begins with “Billie Jean,” a track made all the more remarkable by the fact that it was written, composed, arranged and co-produced by Jackson himself at the age of 23.”



Wikipedia entry on 'Motown 25'--and MJ


"Widely hailed as Michael's breakthrough performance as a solo artist, he performed "Billie Jean", which at the time was in the middle of a seven-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 music charts. This was also the first time he performed what would become his most famous signature move, the moonwalk. Michael's performance at the show was unique in that he was the only artist given time to perform music that wasn't written under the Motown label."


From Wikipedia entry on Billie Jean:

"Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was watched by 50 million people and Jackson's routine earned him an Emmy nomination. With the performance, Jackson reached a new audience and increased the sales of Thriller, which eventually became the best-selling album of all-time."



What did Q do with BJ: "I ain't got no time for BJ," he is reported to have said--this is on the MJ Icon dvd. MJ had to go to Epic/Sony and beg for it to be on the album. Q also wanted him to change the name to "Not My Lover" and worst of all, cut the long bass intro. Finally, Q and MJ had a fight over MJ wanting producer credit for BJ b/c he argued that the demo he gave to Q was the same as what was done on the album. Can't believe there was any question about any of that.

Q--your judgment sucked when it came to BJ. Sucked.
 
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Probably the only good thing Q did for Billie Jean is choosing the right mix as Bruce Swedien told. Michael asked Bruce to mix more than 90 times, I don't remember which was the correct number. He told them mix no. 5 was the one and it's the killer version we know. Michael was always the genius and mastermind behind his success and Q was holding him back.
 
I loved BAD25 docu for the most part, (except Nelson George and JB) I was glad Spike Lee didn't interview Jones personally because I'm not interested what he has to say about Michael nowadays, we already know most of it is bullshit. Like I said before in other threads, the fact you don't like something doesn't make you automatically a hater. Many of us loved the docu, some of other didn't; I'm fed up with some people using the word "hate" whenever they provoke it just because we express our dislikes.
 
I don't believe he respects Michael at all. Even if this is just business in his mind, the way he talks about Michael doesn't show respect to me at all. I am sure Michael could have bashed a lot of people but he never did. Especially publically he always was respectful. It amazes me how there are so many smart and talented people. Yet when it comes to human decency and treating others with respect they have no clue how to do it.
 
ChrisC said:
Certainly to a younger generation, and the general public en masse, Quincy's fame is largely connected with Thriller.

I always found it odd he wasn't in that awful Spike Lee documentary. Perhaps the Estate have been shutting him out?
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Someone said he wanted money for it.

It sounds believable to me considering this lawsuit.
 
Qunice's the ultimate smiling tiger, scheming ,coniviving
back-stabber.
To think he showed up at hand cementing ceremony
being all pal-ly with Prince & Paris reeks of a perpetration waiting to happen.
I wouldn't put past when Michael told Prince & Paris
there a some people that should'nt be trusted, he's one of them.
So what he'd help produced the best selling album of all time,
with this kind of punch he pulled,
respect flies outta the window a long time ago, have a nice life
 
Some comments from fans who saw MJ perform BJ at Motown 25 (some fans were too young to see it live:

"when Michael moved to one side of the stage, and the brothers exited to the other side, and the lighting changed, and Michael put on that hat as the first few bars of Billie Jean started up, I got goosebumps. We were seeing a transformation before our very eyes: from little boy to man, from group member to solo star, and from star to superstar. It was amazing, and Michael just kept amping it up. By the time he got to the moonwalk, I thought my heart would stop. Electrifying is the best word for it. (J5 Collector)

This is the other thing about this performance. His later performances of Billie Jean (ie: tour and TV performances) are much more technically sound (not to mention quite often longer with the expanded dance to the drum beats, etc.) HOWEVER, they can never compare to this original performance for many reasons. As others have said here, it was a coronation of sorts, and really catapulted MJ to the world's consciousness like never before, hence the boost in album sales. But for me, this first one stands out and can never be beat because it is so unbelievably RAW, from the way the movement of his feet are always within the beat of the song (which is amazing for a "first time" performance) and especially the raw emotion in his eyes and facial expressions as he performs it. That kind of raw emotion could never be matched. (Ron ‘MJPC’)


i swear its the moment that sent him into the superduper untouchable red giant star arena. (Howard Lloyd)


i was able to appreciate a moment of pure, unbridled joy when i saw that performance. it was brand new to me and totally awesome. i thought i was gonna hurt myself i was so excited. (SoWhat)

Dude turned Motown 25 into his kick off to immortality. (Murph71)

In a Top 100 list compiled by VH1 and Entertainment Weekly in 2000, Jackson's performance was ranked as the sixth greatest rock 'n' roll TV moment. Five years later, Entertainment Weekly named Jackson's Motown 25 performance as one of the most important pop culture moments in history. "It was a moment that crossed over in a way that no live musical performance ever had. There was a messianic quality to it", Entertainment Weekly editor Steve Daly commented. (from Wikipedia on Billie Jean)

I think people who weren't old enough at the time (1983 to see it live) maybe can't fully understand how truly amazing a performance it was and how much it meant to all of us who saw it live. When he did the moonwalk, I couldn't believe anyone could move like that. It was as if he was able to break the rules of gravity. And--to bring it back to Q--none of that would have happened if he had had his way and kept BJ off the album, and now he asks for $10 million--wtf????
 
Does he ask for $10 million or 2x$10 million? Reading his complaint to me it seems like it's actually 2x$10 million.

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Will we get the reply to court from the Estate? This isn`t probate-court, rihgt?
 
^^This is about the estate and it is in probate. I think the same judge will get it due to this.
 
Bubs don't people file a case in one court and then it is moved to another court where it is handled? Could this be the reason? I don't know myself.
 
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