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The Discussion of MJ's Unreleased Tracks

This might sound bad and a bit grim, and no disrespect to any of MJ's collaborators. But does anyone else get sorta nervous when some say that certain tracks or time periods will be discussed "at a later date" or "at the right time" ? Considering most of the ones I'd say are key players are getting up in age already.
 
FlyAway0086 said:
This might sound bad and a bit grim, and no disrespect to any of MJ's collaborators. But does anyone else get sorta nervous when some say that certain tracks or time periods will be discussed "at a later date" or "at the right time" ? Considering most of the ones I'd say are key players are getting up in age already.
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That's what John Barnes used to say but for him, I think he was waiting for seminars to go into further discussion.
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
I wish mj registered more of the bad outtakes like BB, MoB, CK, TMO etc. also McKeller, lonely bird and make a wish
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I wonder how's the selection process for a song to get registered is like and why a vast amount of songs aren't picked for registration, even after MJ's death there's a good amount of songs that were left out which we would otherwise never know of their existence if it weren't for pieces of notes left in his room.

Songs like Everybody Wants To Be A Movie Star, Love Heals, Too Late To Turn Back Now, etc. fill me with so much curiosity and are as mysterious as it gets, even more so than the songs made in Bahrain imo. I seriously do hope we get to learn more about them someday.
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
I wish mj registered more of the bad outtakes like BB, MoB, CK, TMO etc. also McKeller, lonely bird and make a wish
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ChanceToDance said:
I wonder how's the selection process for a song to get registered is like and why a vast amount of songs aren't picked for registration, even after MJ's death there's a good amount of songs that were left out which we would otherwise never know of their existence if it weren't for pieces of notes left in his room.

Songs like Everybody Wants To Be A Movie Star, Love Heals, Too Late To Turn Back Now, etc. fill me with so much curiosity and are as mysterious as it gets, even more so than the songs made in Bahrain imo. I seriously do hope we get to learn more about them someday.
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He just didn't submit them, which isn't unusual it seems.

I'm curious as to why he registered so much music at the end of 1984. A lot of his early 70's material began being registered in 1984 but I think it's because he was most likely starting his publishing company and was sorting out the material
 
BlackAnon said:
I'm curious as to why he registered so much music at the end of 1984. A lot of his early 70's material began being registered in 1984 but I think it's because he was most likely starting his publishing company and was sorting out the material
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The deposition in Chicago, which took place on 6th December 1984, might have been a reason for MJ to register some of his unreleased songs.
 
AlwaysThere said:
Tweet Recaps: DAMIEN SHIELDS

GENERAL NOTES & OBSERVATIONS
  • The exact number of unreleased MJ–Jerkins collaborations is unknown, though Fred Jerkins III stated that there were “a few,” including “Escape,” “Get Your Weight Off of Me” and “We’ve Has Enough.”
  • MJ and Rodney Jerkins briefly reunited in 2006 to discuss a future collaboration, but no actual writing or recording took place.
  • At least three Neff-U pieces are sonically reminiscent of Dr. Dre’s “The Watcher,” though their time together ultimately did not yield any releasable songs.
  • MJ met with Rod Temperton “a couple of times” ca. 2008 to obtain his input on several existing demos (listed below). If any work was conducted between the two, it likely wasn’t “anything noteworthy.”

SPECIFIC SONG NOTES
  • “11PM.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “ADORE YOU.” No lead vocals. “Some background vocals which build into a full-blown choir type of thing at the end.”
  • “BEAUTIFUL GIRL.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008. Appears five times in miscellaneous handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “BEST OF JOY.” Originally written and recorded as “The Toy” in 1981-82, re-recorded with new lyrics and an updated instrumental in April 1991, and re-recorded again with an as-yet-unreleased third verse in November 2008. The 2008 version understood to be MJ’s “last fully-complete vocal.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008. Appears on multiple handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “BOTTOM OF MY HEART.” Alternatively titled “From the Bottom of My Heart.” Produced by MJ and Buxer. No relation to “I Have This Dream,” despite contradictory reports.
  • “BOY NO.” Verses “largely mumbled.” Contains a musical element (“maybe a classical guitar”) reminiscent of “Days in Gloucestershire.” Unfinished lyrics mention “seeing the city lights, being alone, and having nowhere to go.” Overall theme is “a vagabond who isn’t welcome anywhere.” Chorus lyrics: “Boy, no / [We/they] ain’t got a place for [you/me] to stay.”
  • “BROKEN CHAIR” (working title). Instrumental only / no vocals. “Booming digital drums and rock/electric guitar.”
  • “BUTTER FUNK.” Written by MJ & Michael Prince. Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “CAN’T STOP LOVING YOU.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008.
  • “THE CHILDREN’S HOUR.” “Children’s song.”
  • “CRAZE.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “D.I.E.” Instrumental only / no vocals. “Epic. Hard hitting drums and bass with really strong strings. It also has these moments where the music stops and a haunting choir thing comes in creating an ominous build, then the beat drops again.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008.
  • “DARK LADY / H2O.” Recorded in 2008. Consists of a single-take scratch lead vocal and supplementary BG vocals. Verses are “totally nonsensical gibberish.” Bass line reminiscent of Queen’s “Under Pressure.” Verse lyrics: “Dark lady will get what she wants every time / Dark lady don’t know what she is.” Pre-chorus lyrics: “She get the right one.” Chorus lyrics (falsetto): “And you should save me from heaven / Save me from [?].” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008.
  • “DEEP IN THE NIGHT.” Appears on a handwritten “to-do” list ca. 2009.
  • “DON’T BE MESSIN’.” Appears on a handwritten “to-do” list ca. 2009.
  • “DON’T MAKE ME STAY.” Musically complete. Scratch vocal throughout; no coherent lyrics other than the title. Recorded with a room mic (“It sounded very distant — like MJ wasn’t near the mic when it was recorded or something”). Chorus reminiscent of Janet’s “Runaway.”
  • “EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A MOVIE STAR.” Appears in several handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “FOR THE WORLD.” Recorded post-1998. Two minutes long. Vocals “mostly mumbled,” with scattered “alright” and “ooh” ad-libs, and concludes with MJ “stop[ping] the track and giv[ing] notes/instructions.” Opening drum beat and overall “light production” and “breezy vibe” compared to “Free” and “I Was the Loser.” Consists of “[drum] beat, shakers, bass, and strings.” Verse lyrics mostly incoherent other than random utterances of the words “sun” and “trees.” Chorus lyrics: “We do it for the world.” No relation to the spoken word piece circulating online.
  • “GREEN HORNET GROOVE.” Worked on with Brad Buxer. Instrumental only / no vocals. Written as a pitch for the Seth Rogen film The Green Hornet.
  • “HE WHO MAKES THE SKY GRAY.” Vocals exist, though their state of completion is uncertain.
  • “HOLLYWOOD TONIGHT.” Unreleased elements include bridge ad libs (“She’s too young to understand”) and rhythm guitar by David Williams. One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008.
  • “HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME.” Recorded at Marvin’s Room between 1998 and 2003.
  • “I HAVE THIS DREAM.” Arrangement by John Barnes. All-star charity version complete, featuring Ciara, Snoop Dogg, James Ingram, Jermaine, Shirley Caesar, the O’Jays, and R. Kelly (who MJ sought to remove), among others. MJ intended to the-record his demo vocals. Leaked writer’s demo is authentic.
  • “I LOVE YOU.” Written by Taryll Jackson for an unreleased 3T album. MJ, who helped produce the project, wanted to record a solo version, but “died before he got around to it.”
  • “I LOVE YOU MORE.” Written by MJ, Michael Prince, and Eric Kirkland. Two writers demos recorded; existence of MJ vocals unclear.
  • “I WAS THE LOSER.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008. Appears on multiple handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “INNOCENT MAN.” “Super soft” chorus vocals only.
  • “IS SHE COMING BACK.” Written and produced by Dr. Freeze. One of several songs submitted for MJ’s consideration in 2008-9. Appears on several handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “JUNGLE.” Written and produced by Dr. Freeze. Existence of MJ vocals unclear.
  • “KING TUTANKHAMEN.” Recorded in 2008. Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “LADY OF SUMMER.” Classical piece. One of two presented to David Michael Frank in 2009 for a planned classical album.
  • “LIGHT THE WAY.” No lead vocals; “Just music [and a] choral chorus.” Features a “horn section intro.” Chorus lyrics: “Light the way / Let’s pray, pray for peace.”
  • “MICHAEL’S AFFIRMATION.” Spoken word piece, with “Photographs” used as incidental backing music. Dedicated to Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, who was recovering from an onstage injury in late 2003.
  • “MONSTER.” Recorded in 1998. Strings arranged by Michael Prince based on an MJ voicemail. Chorus vocals only. “Epic production. Lots of layers.” Chorus lyrics: “You created a monster.”
  • “NEVERLAND LANDING.” “Children’s song.”
  • “PAJAMAS.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “PHOTOGRAPHS.” Instrumental only / no vocals. Used as incidental backing music on “Michael’s Affirmation.”
  • “RED EYE” (likely working title). Instrumental only / no vocals. Could be the title of two separate songs; unconfirmed.
  • “REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU.” Alternatively titled “Just Remember.” Recorded in Las Vegas in 2008. 90 seconds. Scratch vocals. Structurally similar to “Speechless”: “Starts off acapella and builds into an epic finale with many [vocal layers].” Consists of a piano and finger snaps. Lyrics: “Remember what I told you, and remember for all time.”
  • “ROCK TONIGHT.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “ROCKER” (working title). Recorded in a Neverland bathroom “sometime before the end of 2004.” Consists of a single-take scratch vocal and supplementary BG vocals. Vocal melody reminiscent of Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” while the “aggressive spitting” delivery Is comparable to “They Don’t Care About Us” and “Morphine.” Verses are “complete nonsense,” while the “anthemic” chorus is “close to complete.” Chorus lyrics: “And the world is one big melting pot of life.”
  • “SATURDAY WOMAN.” Appears on a handwritten “to-do” list ca. 2009.
  • “SCARED OF THE MOON.” Appears three times in miscellaneous handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “SHE DON’T LOVE ME.” Recorded in 2008. Chorus vocals only. Sonically similar to the 2014 mix of “Do You Know Where Your Children Are” (“Both sound like computer-generated video game music”). Chorus lyrics: “She don’t love me, she don’t want me / She don’t need me / She doesn’t care, she doesn’t care.”
  • “SHUT UP AND DANCE.” Written by MJ, Michael Prince, and Eric Kirkland. MJ never recorded vocals, though a writers demo by Kirkland exists.
  • “SILENT SPRING.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “STAND TALL.” Sung by a male session singer, in addition to “what sounded like a choir.” Chorus and bridge vocals only. Existence of MJ vocals unclear.
  • “THANK HEAVEN.” MJ delivers a spoken intro dedicating the song to “my son Michael Jackson Jr.”; main demo sung by a female session singer and choir. “Sounds like a lullaby/nursery rhyme.”
  • “THAT” (working title). Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “THINK TWICE.” Instrumental only / no vocals. “Synthesized electric guitars.”
  • “THROWIN’ YOUR LIFE AWAY.” Reworked by Neff-U in 2010 for Michael, but never seriously considered. Strings and guitars were added to an existing mix, as the multitracks were unavailable.
  • “TOMBOY.” Instrumental only / no vocals. “Synth drums, bass, guitar riff, very nice strings, similar sounds to Captain EO at times.” Musical element bears similarity to the vocal melody of “I bet you remember” from “Remember the Time.”
  • “WALK AWAY.” Instrumental only / no vocals.
  • “THE WAY YOU LOVE ME.” One of eight songs presented to Rod Temperton in 2008. Appears on multiple handwritten “to-do” lists ca. 2009.
  • “WHAT MORE CAN I GIVE.” Recorded in 1998.
  • “WHAT YOU DO TO ME” (1985). Vocal completion uncertain, though his notes indicate “there is at least enough there to consider it ‘complete’ by some standards.” Mid-tempo, with a “similar breezy vibe” as “I’m So Blue” and “Free.” Chorus lyrics: “You just don’t know / You just don’t know / You just don’t know what you do to me, do to me, do-do-do to me.”
  • “WHAT YOU DO TO ME” (1998). Early demo of “The Way You Love Me” with “primitive production,” “scratch vocals on the chorus (no verse vocal),” and “MJ scatting/yodeling at the end.”
  • “WORLD OF CANDY.” “Children’s song.”
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Thanks for that lists! So sad that most of these songs seem to be in a non releasable state.

Do you guys have any idea what the 25 apparently finished songs are that Michael Prince has? Someone mentioned that in the forum couple days ago.
 
FlyAway0086 said:
This might sound bad and a bit grim, and no disrespect to any of MJ's collaborators. But does anyone else get sorta nervous when some say that certain tracks or time periods will be discussed "at a later date" or "at the right time" ? Considering most of the ones I'd say are key players are getting up in age already.
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I thought the same. I fully respect their decision to keep some things private and to wait for the right time to share certain stories or anecdotes, but knowing that so many things are permanently lost with John’s passing.
 

AlwaysThere said:
I thought the same. I fully respect their decision to keep some things private and to wait for the right time to share certain stories or anecdotes, but knowing that so many things are permanently lost with John’s passing.
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I just hope BB & MP specifically are writing down stories, archiving the material and making good in-depth notes about each version. It’d be a shame for them to pass on without getting their full stories down. Buxer specifically is holding things back. He mentioned at a seminar I was at that “the final session I did with him was so amazing, it would give people so much depth to Michael” or something along those lines. When people asked for him to share he said “not at this time, one day”
 




Guys I found this different at 4.21 minute than version that leaked before one month
Those both versions. You can notice that
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
I just hope BB & MP specifically are writing down stories, archiving the material and making good in-depth notes about each version. It’d be a shame for them to pass on without getting their full stories down. Buxer specifically is holding things back. He mentioned at a seminar I was at that “the final session I did with him was so amazing, it would give people so much depth to Michael” or something along those lines. When people asked for him to share he said “not at this time, one day”
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Was this from the Bradx2 seminar recently or is this from some other time?
 
firmware-god said:
The someone was me. If I reveal to much information on the conversation itself, Michael Prince and other associates would know who I am. I am trying to prevent that.

Ask specific questions and I might answer them as in depth as I can.
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Did he mention any post trial tracks as being “complete”? Potentially Just Remember or Boy No? Also did he mention the third track recorded at the bel air hotel in October 2008? Ik BoJ and The Loser but he said “three tracks” in one of his interviews
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
I just hope BB & MP specifically are writing down stories, archiving the material and making good in-depth notes about each version. It’d be a shame for them to pass on without getting their full stories down. Buxer specifically is holding things back. He mentioned at a seminar I was at that “the final session I did with him was so amazing, it would give people so much depth to Michael” or something along those lines. When people asked for him to share he said “not at this time, one day”
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I recall Buxer saying there were "song packets" with info on every track worked on with MJ. So hopefully those cover much of the recording details.
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
Recap of ITSWMJ day with Buxer + Prince:

They did something new for Brad’s seminars, we went through invincible track by track



They started by talking about how the sessions started right after the history tour. MP mentioned “Monster”, “Bio” & “Hanson”. I was really hoping they’d play Monster, but they did not.

Unbreakable - people bobbed along and after the majority of the track finished, Brad asked BB & MP what they thought; Buxer said “I didn’t work on that one”

Heartbreaker - this was pretty cool because when they played the track but once the chorus he solo’ed the background vocals, very cool!

invincible - just the album version from memory. By the end of the 3 tracks the crowd was clearly not impressed with the jerkins tracks. Buxer said “I’m not a fan of Rodney’s tracks but I love him” or something along those lines.

Break of Dawn - a breath of fresh air! One of my favourites. The crowd was clearly enjoying it. After Buxer & Prince talked about dr freeze and praised him. Buxer mentioned “remember when we got him to sing “jungle”? He sounds just like Michael. You know with the fake tracks, if they were going to try to get someone to sound like Michael they should have gone for him”

Heaven can wait - cool track, nothing special

Butterflies - cool story, they argued about the adlib vocal from the woman at the end when she really belts. Buxer said it was autotuned and Prince and Sundberg said no. They played the solo’ed vocals

Speechless - highlight right here, Buxer told the story of how it was born, then played the track, acapella, background vocals. Strings solo’ed (which sounded amazing). There was 2 choirs on it, Tom bahler’s choir and another I cannot recall. They played both by themselves. Buxer said the track is “candy ass”

The lost children - Buxer absolutely hates this song lol. He said it was a mistake and that he wished it never came out. He said “just be done with the kids stuff man”

Whatever happens - highlight. Amazing track, crowd was feeling this one. Someone requested to hear Santanas solo isolated. Cool.

That’s all the tracks from invincible we listened too.

Buxer and Prince said “let’s listen to some stuff that we really like”

Stranger in Moscow - Buxer told the story about conception. Played along on his keyboard while it played

Childhood - same thing

Will you be there - same thing

In the back (voicemail) - highlight. MJ calls Buxer and says “I got an idea” or something along those lines. He then beat boxes in the back while singing the lyrics. He released “like that you know” a lot. Very very cool moment.

In the back - played the released version just to show how it progressed

Beautiful girl - highlight. Played the released version. Then this was the cool part. MP did a live mix of the song, he started with the percussion adding in little by little, then the guitar, strings etc before adding in BGV and finally lead vocals. It was amazing to witness.

Hollywood tonight (2008 version) - highlight. It starts just like the leaked demo with drum machine. But the rhythm guitar played by David Williams was PHENOMENAL. It takes the track to a whole new level, super funky. Way better than the leaked demo and the released version. Apparently there was additional vocals in the bridge but I don’t recall. On the bridge there was no “keep the drums playing” I believe it was just a rhythm guitar solo. MP told us how MJ recorded the guitar and MJ gave some really good tips to them to get the plucky sound he was going for.

Hollywood tonight (released version) - boring, would have liked to listen to the 2008 version again lol

That’s the extent of the unreleased material they played. No TWYLM, IAAL, or DIG, it was clear that they would not play anything unreleased that wasn’t connected to an already released demo, unfortunately.

Day 2 and 3 with Brian Vibberts & Matt Forger didn’t have any unreleased or new music at all. I did ask Forger about “Buffalo Bill” on a break but the music was playing so loud i had to yell into his ear for him to hear me. He said “I worked on that very quickly”. I asked about the state of the vault, because he works with the estate, I asked him if he has copies of some of the demos. He said “the estate has everything”. A person asked about “Tunring me off” and asked if they have it and if they’d play it. They said they don’t have it, Sundberg said “I liked that one”
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Thank you so much!

Listen, I’m not as critical as most when it comes to posthumous works, but the fact that Teddy and Neff-U had a full rhythm guitar recording from David Williams and didn’t f*cking use it is criminal.
 
AlwaysThere said:
Thank you so much!

Listen, I’m not as critical as most when it comes to posthumous works, but the fact that Teddy and Neff-U had a full rhythm guitar recording from David Williams and didn’t f*cking use it is criminal.
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Man you have no idea. It was so freaking good. The bridge reminded me a lot of WBSS bridge where the guitar just hits you. I’ve never really been a huge fan of HT because I don’t like the album version, or the demo. The 2008 version was amazing.
 
Inthestudiowithmj said:
Recap of ITSWMJ day with Buxer + Prince:

They did something new for Brad’s seminars, we went through invincible track by track



They started by talking about how the sessions started right after the history tour. MP mentioned “Monster”, “Bio” & “Hanson”. I was really hoping they’d play Monster, but they did not.

Unbreakable - people bobbed along and after the majority of the track finished, Brad asked BB & MP what they thought; Buxer said “I didn’t work on that one”

Heartbreaker - this was pretty cool because when they played the track but once the chorus he solo’ed the background vocals, very cool!

invincible - just the album version from memory. By the end of the 3 tracks the crowd was clearly not impressed with the jerkins tracks. Buxer said “I’m not a fan of Rodney’s tracks but I love him” or something along those lines.

Break of Dawn - a breath of fresh air! One of my favourites. The crowd was clearly enjoying it. After Buxer & Prince talked about dr freeze and praised him. Buxer mentioned “remember when we got him to sing “jungle”? He sounds just like Michael. You know with the fake tracks, if they were going to try to get someone to sound like Michael they should have gone for him”

Heaven can wait - cool track, nothing special

Butterflies - cool story, they argued about the adlib vocal from the woman at the end when she really belts. Buxer said it was autotuned and Prince and Sundberg said no. They played the solo’ed vocals

Speechless - highlight right here, Buxer told the story of how it was born, then played the track, acapella, background vocals. Strings solo’ed (which sounded amazing). There was 2 choirs on it, Tom bahler’s choir and another I cannot recall. They played both by themselves. Buxer said the track is “candy ass”

The lost children - Buxer absolutely hates this song lol. He said it was a mistake and that he wished it never came out. He said “just be done with the kids stuff man”

Whatever happens - highlight. Amazing track, crowd was feeling this one. Someone requested to hear Santanas solo isolated. Cool.

That’s all the tracks from invincible we listened too.

Buxer and Prince said “let’s listen to some stuff that we really like”

Stranger in Moscow - Buxer told the story about conception. Played along on his keyboard while it played

Childhood - same thing

Will you be there - same thing

In the back (voicemail) - highlight. MJ calls Buxer and says “I got an idea” or something along those lines. He then beat boxes in the back while singing the lyrics. He released “like that you know” a lot. Very very cool moment.

In the back - played the released version just to show how it progressed

Beautiful girl - highlight. Played the released version. Then this was the cool part. MP did a live mix of the song, he started with the percussion adding in little by little, then the guitar, strings etc before adding in BGV and finally lead vocals. It was amazing to witness.

Hollywood tonight (2008 version) - highlight. It starts just like the leaked demo with drum machine. But the rhythm guitar played by David Williams was PHENOMENAL. It takes the track to a whole new level, super funky. Way better than the leaked demo and the released version. Apparently there was additional vocals in the bridge but I don’t recall. On the bridge there was no “keep the drums playing” I believe it was just a rhythm guitar solo. MP told us how MJ recorded the guitar and MJ gave some really good tips to them to get the plucky sound he was going for.

Hollywood tonight (released version) - boring, would have liked to listen to the 2008 version again lol

That’s the extent of the unreleased material they played. No TWYLM, IAAL, or DIG, it was clear that they would not play anything unreleased that wasn’t connected to an already released demo, unfortunately.

Day 2 and 3 with Brian Vibberts & Matt Forger didn’t have any unreleased or new music at all. I did ask Forger about “Buffalo Bill” on a break but the music was playing so loud i had to yell into his ear for him to hear me. He said “I worked on that very quickly”. I asked about the state of the vault, because he works with the estate, I asked him if he has copies of some of the demos. He said “the estate has everything”. A person asked about “Tunring me off” and asked if they have it and if they’d play it. They said they don’t have it, Sundberg said “I liked that one”
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Thank you for this excellent recap! I agree with Buxer and Prince, lots of issues with the Jerkins tracks and The Lost Children should’ve definitely stayed in the vault. Hope to hear that Hollywood Tonight mix and the In The Back voicemail at some point.
 
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