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Somebody's Watching Me

Dtwmjj

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A new remix of Somebody's Watching Me has appeared on Hocus Pocus 2. The difference is Michael & Jermaine's vocals were removed.

 
Not gonna lie, the is pretty blah without Michael. He's what saved the song back in the day. The only reason it was a hit. Whoever's decision to do this, it was a bad idea.

But if it turns out the estate/Sony decided to not sign off on this, then they are just as much to blame too. This movie sequel is long awaited and is garnering attention.
 
filmandmusic said:
The ghost of LN looms
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It could also be because of rights issues, let's not jump to conclusions. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I just wanted to point this out. Michael's music has been featured on other soundtracks in recent years and so far nobody has complained.

All that being said, MJ is the main reason that song became a hit in the first place, so it's still pretty stupid and not smart, whatever the reason may be.
 
Thanks to Disney for delivering proof of the incredible vocal talent of Michael.
This version without him is crap.
 
BTW, talking about Somebody's Watching Me... we know Michael loved the song. I always wondered: was he also inspired by the cover design of Rockwell's album? The way Rockwell's eyes are used on that... looks like inspiration for the Black or White single and Dangerous album... what do you think?

ab67616d0000b27398a2f8673ac879074d30d1ff.jpg
 
staywild23 said:
because of Michael's voice 😍
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Exactly, lol. I personally don't think it's mediocre, I really like it although it's absolutely Michael who makes the song.

Which is why I hate it so much that they removed him aaaarghhhhhhh I don't even care why, it just sucks!!!!! People want Michael!!! Yes they actually do, believe it or not. Shocker!!! (This is directed towards whoever made this dumb decision, lol.)

Imho, if it really is a rights thing, or a cancel culture thing for that matter, they should've just not included the song to begin with. Like why even bother at that point??? Heck even a possibly-not-so-great cover version with an MJ-imitator backup singer would've been better, because at least he'd still be acknowledged in that case.

*deep breath*
Okay, okay. Perhaps I might just spam some pictures later on the picture threads, I need positive things! Yes. Alright.
 
filmandmusic said:
For once I am not engulfed in doom and gloom because Michael isn’t even credited on the song. Non fans probably don’t realize it is MJ on the chorus
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Not sure I agree with that, his voice is so recognizable! Plus it was featured on the Scream compilation, y'know, by Michael Jackson... I always knew, it was clear as day, even long before I became a fan. I guess I must be extraordinarily observant or whatever. 😅
 
This doesn't sound like a remix to me, just the same song with a female robot on the chorus. 🤪 They could have just used the Morris Day version which was recorded for the Eddie Murphy movie & soundtrack Haunted Mansion. That was a Disney movie, so they should already own the track.
filmandmusic said:
What I find most puzzling is why exactly this song still gets tons of airplay while it is completely mediocre.
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I like the song and have Rockwell's album, but what I'm surprised about is that another song on the album called Knife is so popular on Youtube. That wasn't a single, I've never heard it on the radio. Yet there is a video with 44,925,350 views (as of right now), I wonder was it in a popular movie or was it a hit single in countries outside of the USA. There are a lot of comments in Portuguese, it might have been a single in South American countires. Knife is not a dance song, it's an adult contemporary ballad. I could picture Julio Iglesias or Air Supply singing it, lol.
 
DangerousGal91 said:
Not sure I agree with that, his voice is so recognizable! Plus it was featured on the Scream compilation, y'know, by Michael Jackson... I always knew, it was clear as day, even long before I became a fan. I guess I must be extraordinarily observant or whatever. 😅
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Well so did I but we are fans, we love his voice. I listen to the radio a lot and each time MJ is getting a spin the people I am with go all excited and point out to me “heeeeeyy MJ is on the radio“ because they know how much I love it when his music gets played. I never heard them do that when ”somebody’s watching me” is on, they simply don’t realize it is him and the DJ’s never mention it either because he isn’t credited.

Why that song is on that compilation is beyond me, the entire existence of that album is a big question mark 😄
 
DuranDuran said:
I like the song and have Rockwell's album, but what I'm surprised about is that another song on the album called Knife is so popular on Youtube. That wasn't a single, I've never heard it on the radio. Yet there is a video with 44,925,350 views (as of right now), I wonder was it in a popular movie or was it a hit single in countries outside of the USA. There are a lot of comments in Portuguese, it might have been a single in South American countires. Knife is not a dance song, it's an adult contemporary ballad. I could picture Julio Iglesias or Air Supply singing it, lol.
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Interesting, probably a tiktok thing lol
 
filmandmusic said:
Interesting, probably a tiktok thing lol
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I don't think that's it. Knife had high numbers before TikTok existed. That would be an odd song to make a TikTok video with anyway, you can't really make a funny dance to it, it's pretty slow. Not only that but there's several other Knife videos with millions of views, one with over 20 million and even a Karaoke version with over 18 million. I don't get it. I remember Obscene Phone Caller being an R&B hit and it has a music video, but the video with the highest views is only 523,218. It's not even a million. But making a quick guess without actually adding up the exact numbers of all of the videos, Knife has to have over 100 million views. I just checked the official video for Somebody's Watching Me and it has 167,822,903 views.
 
DuranDuran said:
I don't think that's it. Knife had high numbers before TikTok existed. That would be an odd song to make a TikTok video with anyway, you can't really make a funny dance to it, it's pretty slow. Not only that but there's several other Knife videos with millions of views, one with over 20 million and even a Karaoke version with over 18 million. I don't get it. I remember Obscene Phone Caller being an R&B hit and it has a music video, but the video with the highest views is only 523,218. It's not even a million. But making a quick guess without actually adding up the exact numbers of all of the videos, Knife has to have over 100 million views. I just checked the official video for Somebody's Watching Me and it has 167,822,903 views.
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I translated some of these Portuguese comments on youtube but nothing shows up why it is in fact that popular. Weird indeed.
 
filmandmusic said:
For once I am not engulfed in doom and gloom because Michael isn’t even credited on the song. Non fans probably don’t realize it is MJ on the chorus
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I actually think it's the opposite - I have heard people on discos ask for "The Michael Jackson song - Somebodys watching me"

So I think many think it's an MJ song. - His vocals are what made the song a hit IMO.
 
‘knife’ proves that Rockwell can actually sing quite well. he put on a mock British accent on ‘somebody’s watching me’. it was meant to be a parody.

having said that, Michael absolutely made that song. it’s unlikely that the song would have been a hit without him. the ‘secret’ of his uncredited vocal was already revealed in the ‘on the road with Michael’ book published in the summer of ‘84. Janet also did an interview during that time, in which she shared a unique take on the song’s creation. she claimed that Rockwell tricked Michael into thinking that his vocals were part of a choir (though this seems unlikely with michael’s ad-libs).

most people associate the song with Michael. the song was remixed and released in the early 2000s. only michael’s vocals were sampled.
the same thing happened with ‘say say say’.

having said that, I’ve noticed that when radio stations were reluctant to play Michael in recent years, they would play ‘somebody’s watching me’ instead of ‘thriller’. they would play jackson 5/Jacksons instead of the solo work. I’m not surprised by this.
 
In Denmark I actually think they play MJ more often than ever before.

I hear MJ songs on the radio many times each day. - So in Denmark LN have had no impact whatsoever.
 
filmandmusic said:
Well so did I but we are fans, we love his voice. I listen to the radio a lot and each time MJ is getting a spin the people I am with go all excited and point out to me “heeeeeyy MJ is on the radio“ because they know how much I love it when his music gets played. I never heard them do that when ”somebody’s watching me” is on, they simply don’t realize it is him and the DJ’s never mention it either because he isn’t credited.

Why that song is on that compilation is beyond me, the entire existence of that album is a big question mark 😄
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As I said in my comment, I already knew Michael was on the track long before I became a fan. I'm talking my teen years here, when I still had "complicated feelings" towards Michael. His voice is very apparent on it, and judging from some of the other comments here, many people used to think the song was entirely by Michael, aka the exact opposite. So uh, no, me being a fan now has absolutely nothing to do with it.
 
DangerousGal91 said:
Exactly, lol. I personally don't think it's mediocre, I really like it although it's absolutely Michael who makes the song.
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I don't think it's mediocre either. I think it's a really fun song. Not high art, for sure haha. But fun! Even the verses are just silly and make me laugh. But the chorus is the only reason I listen to it. I would listen to MJ sing quite literally anything and fall apart over it like it's the greatest thing. I am not a critical consumer. I hear his voice and I'm just 🥰

DangerousGal91 said:
Which is why I hate it so much that they removed him aaaarghhhhhhh I don't even care why, it just sucks!!!!! People want Michael!!! Yes they actually do, believe it or not. Shocker!!! (This is directed towards whoever made this dumb decision, lol.)
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My guess is that it would be a licensing thing over a cancel culture thing. It's disappointing his voice isn't included, but I wouldn't read too much into it. Money and legality get in the way of a lot when it comes to music being used in films/tv. It's a shame because it's excellent promotion. But Michael is certainly not the only artist who deals with this stuff. Though I fully understand why we are all sensitive to it, because he has been attacked so much. I'm not trying to diminish that fear/frustration at all. Plus I could be completely wrong. But it was certainly cheaper to use an alternate version, so I could see that being all this comes down to.
 
83magic said:
‘knife’ proves that Rockwell can actually sing quite well. he put on a mock British accent on ‘somebody’s watching me’. it was meant to be a parody.
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I always thought Rockwell was rapping on Somebody's Watching Me. The cadence sounds like early hip hop songs. It's not much different from Rapture by Blondie & Wham! Rap by Wham!. It also has a new wave sound that was popular during that time.
 
staywild23 said:
I don't think it's mediocre either. I think it's a really fun song. Not high art, for sure haha. But fun! Even the verses are just silly and make me laugh. But the chorus is the only reason I listen to it. I would listen to MJ sing quite literally anything and fall apart over it like it's the greatest thing. I am not a critical consumer. I hear his voice and I'm just 🥰


My guess is that it would be a licensing thing over a cancel culture thing. It's disappointing his voice isn't included, but I wouldn't read too much into it. Money and legality get in the way of a lot when it comes to music being used in films/tv. It's a shame because it's excellent promotion. But Michael is certainly not the only artist who deals with this stuff. Though I fully understand why we are all sensitive to it, because he has been attacked so much. I'm not trying to diminish that fear/frustration at all. Plus I could be completely wrong. But it was certainly cheaper to use an alternate version, so I could see that being all this comes down to.
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Oh trust me, I don't know why they took it out of course and I'm not making assumptions either way. I just don't like it regardless because I do stand by my opinion that Michael made the song. And without it... yeah, it's just there? If you know what I mean.
 
filmandmusic said:
What I find most puzzling is why exactly this song still gets tons of airplay while it is completely mediocre.
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It is one of the most popular Halloween songs. I always see it on playlists on Spotify during the Halloween season.

A shame that Michael’s other horror songs such as Ghosts, Is It Scary and Threatened (much better songs) don’t get the same recognition.
 
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