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The Discussion of MJ's Unreleased Tracks

Eventidescape1 said:
But I find it strange such a title has appeared out of nowhere. Alongside songs such as Smooth Criminal, Liberian Girl etc. etc. in this report. While “Snakepit” has not really surfaced elsewhere or been mentioned by other collaborators (not even Bill Bottrell).
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Now with Bruce and Q gone, only Matt or Russ would know about Snakepit and BB.


Eventidescape1 said:
Michael must have thought it had potential as an album track but abandoned it for whatever reason.
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Maybe same fate as PoF (Pepsi ads)
 
Eventidescape1 said:
Wonder if such a video exists anywhere. Then it must have been a song important enough to have a video made for it.

But I find it strange such a title has appeared out of nowhere. Alongside songs such as Smooth Criminal, Liberian Girl etc. etc. in this report. While “Snakepit” has not really surfaced elsewhere or been mentioned by other collaborators (not even Bill Bottrell).

It does not really make sense since the final selection of songs from Michael was narrowed down before the official Bad sessions started in August 1986. Smooth Criminal, Bad, IJCSLY etc.

The only explanations I can think of are it was a working title for another song used on Bad, or it was developed with vocals as “Snakepit” based on an untitled Hayvenhurst groove (or even Bill’s African Groove).
Michael must have thought it had potential as an album track but abandoned it for whatever reason.
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Then again, "Snakepit" could've been an track submitted by outside writers that Quincy championed but Michael didn't like. Why else would "Just Good Friends" make it in but not "Snakepit?"
 
Derek1984 said:
Brad Sundberg was at Westlake. He should know but I wouldn't count on him giving much information.
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I doubt he has that much inside on what was going on with the inner circle at that time.

Brad himself said he's just a studio runner back then.
 
its hard to say if theres any music videos in the vault. theres conflicting information about smile, for example, that michael began shooting test footage as the tramp before the chaplin estate put an end to it. makes me wonder if its like the desert smooth criminal thing? conversely, it could be that snakepit was like that or a little more developed. either way, we havent seen everything
 
SmoothCriminal1995 said:
What is Snakepit? I've seen it mentioned a few times on here but I have no idea what it is or how we find out about it
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A song title mentioned in early 1987 reports but nowhere else. Not even Michael’s former collaborators (or anyone who’s worked on Bad) have confirmed the title yet.

Might as well be a working title of something else, but info is incredibly scarce on it. Such that we don’t know if it is a genuine title or a media fabrication.

Comes as a surprise considering the final songs were basically narrowed down when the sessions with Quincy Jones began…
 
Eventidescape1 said:
Comes as a surprise considering the final songs were basically narrowed down when the sessions with Quincy Jones began…
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The final songs WRITTEN BY MICHAEL, but not the ones by outside writers. "Groove Of Midnight," "Man In The Mirror," and "Just Good Friends" were songs by outside writers that came later, and it's very likely that "Snakepit" is in the same ballpark as well.
 
SeriousFX said:
The final songs WRITTEN BY MICHAEL, but not the ones by outside writers. "Groove Of Midnight," "Man In The Mirror," and "Just Good Friends" were songs by outside writers that came later, and it's very likely that "Snakepit" is in the same ballpark as well.
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Yes, that was what I meant by “basically” narrowed down.
Wasn’t until February 1987 that Quincy sought songs from other writers. Right around the time of the first mention of Snakepit.

They already had songs from Rod Temperton (including Groove of Midnight) but Michael was reluctant to use them or even record it. Matt Forger said he could not even locate a properly-recorded version with Michael’s vocals on it.

Could also be the case Michael also came up with a new song on the spot with the Westlake team. Though Hayvenhurst was where most of the creative work was done for Bad on Michael’s songs.
 
^ Snakepit could have been a song recorded pre-Victory with John Barnes or even Brian Malouf in one of those smaller LA studios
 
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