What songs did MJ re-record?

I read somewhere that Earth Song was originally written and recorded during the BAD Era, as What About Us... and also They Don't Care About Us... but he kept them until they were released in the HIStory Album. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, I have heard that too. What About Us was definitely written before the Dangerous sessions it was recorded during. Also, Little Susie was written back then, possibly even during the Thriller era.
 
MJ wrote Earth song in a hotel room in Vienna during BWT. Little Susie was written in 1977/8 (along with Baby Smiles, Be Not Always, Things I Do For You, Life of Chico, You Not Me >became later This Had To Be)



So yeah. BOTDF, Is It Scary and Superfly Sister were all written and most liekly first recorded during the Dangerous sessions. Do we know if Michael just used those old vocal takes for the album, or re-recorded them? I would assume the former due to touring commitments not giving him time to record at that point.

the Blood tracks:
Blood & S. Sister & Ghosts are from the Dangerous sessions. Only Ghosts was rerecorded.
Is It Scary & Morphine are from HIStory sessions
 
MJ wrote Earth song in a hotel room in Vienna during BWT. Little Susie was written in 1977/8 (along with Baby Smiles, Be Not Always, Things I Do For You, Life of Chico, You Not Me >became later This Had To Be)





the Blood tracks:
Blood & S. Sister & Ghosts are from the Dangerous sessions. Only Ghosts was rerecorded.
Is It Scary & Morphine are from HIStory sessions

Wrong. Sorry but Is It Scary was written for the Adams Family Values soundtrack, dropped due to contractual reasons. It was then reworked into Ghosts for the short film.
 
MJ was dropped from the Adams Family soundtrack because of the controversy he was going through....nothing to do with contract issues.
 
So yeah. BOTDF, Is It Scary and Superfly Sister were all written and most liekly first recorded during the Dangerous sessions. Do we know if Michael just used those old vocal takes for the album, or re-recorded them? I would assume the former due to touring commitments not giving him time to record at that point.
I asked Brad Sundberg about BOTDF during the seminar (he had the multitracks with him) and he said it was written during the Dangerous Tour, so after the Dangerous sessions. Not sure if that was already known, but it was news to me. Superfly Sister was one of the tracks Bryan Loren worked on with MJ during the early Dangerous sessions (before Teddy came in). During the seminar Brad played an early instrumental loop of it from the Dangerous sessions. It sounded very similar to the album version.

I know I keep mentioning these seminars. I don't mean to, but I do think they are a great source of information! If anyone from the board is going to an upcoming seminar, be sure to ask some detailed questions and take notes!
 
MJ was dropped from the Adams Family soundtrack because of the controversy he was going through....nothing to do with contract issues.

Yeah I knew that too. But "contractual reasons" sounds nicer, lol. It is also the stated reason on many, MANY sites. Either way, the song Is It Scary was written for that film in 1993.

I asked Brad Sundberg about BOTDF during the seminar (he had the multitracks with him) and he said it was written during the Dangerous Tour, so after the Dangerous sessions. Not sure if that was already known, but it was news to me. Superfly Sister was one of the tracks Bryan Loren worked on with MJ during the early Dangerous sessions (before Teddy came in). During the seminar Brad played an early instrumental loop of it from the Dangerous sessions. It sounded very similar to the album version.

I know I keep mentioning these seminars. I don't mean to, but I do think they are a great source of information! If anyone from the board is going to an upcoming seminar, be sure to ask some detailed questions and take notes!

I did not know that about BOTDF either. Teddy Riley always made it seem as if it was a Dangerous out take, hence he was so pissed when he wasn't asked to finish it. I wouldn't worry about referencing the seminar to much man, I would be doing the exact same thing had I been lucky enough to attend one.
 
What about the BOTDF tracks? 3 (I think) were at least written during the Dangerous sessions and at least 2 recorded back then too.

Blood on the Dance Floor, Superfly Sister and Ghost were all from the Dangerous sessions; Is It Scary from summer 1993; Morphine from HIStory. To my knowledge, the only song that needed a significant amount of new vocals was Blood. Everything else was either overdubs, backing vocals or finalized mixes.

But Michael was behind that one in 2008 - he had to know - don't you think?

I considered that, but I still can't wrap my head around why he would release a Dangerous outtake labeled as one from Thriller. It's not like there aren't enough quality cuts from the latter album; Behind the Mask was still unreleased at that point.

I read somewhere that Earth Song was originally written and recorded during the BAD Era, as What About Us... and also They Don't Care About Us... but he kept them until they were released in the HIStory Album. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Earth Song, as previously stated, was written in 1988, but first recorded in July 1989. They Don't Care About Us was written around 1990, and both were revitalized for HIStory.
 
Here I am with another "Brad Sundberg said" post... :lol:

Blood on the Dance Floor, Superfly Sister and Ghost were all from the Dangerous sessions; Is It Scary from summer 1993; Morphine from HIStory. To my knowledge, the only song that needed a significant amount of new vocals was Blood. Everything else was either overdubs, backing vocals or finalized mixes.
Well, again, Brad was adamant that BOTDF was written in 1992, during the Dangerous Tour.

I did not know that about BOTDF either. Teddy Riley always made it seem as if it was a Dangerous out take, hence he was so pissed when he wasn't asked to finish it. I wouldn't worry about referencing the seminar to much man, I would be doing the exact same thing had I been lucky enough to attend one.
One tidbit that Brad added about BOTDF is that the base of the track (the core of the final instrumental) was an idea created by Teddy rather quickly. Apparently, Teddy only saved a quick final mix of his idea rather than the multis, so when they later wanted to go back to it, they only had that one track. Teddy tried to reproduce it from scratch but was unable to, so it ended up on the final track.

And I hope you get the chance to attend a seminar yourself soon! It was a great experience. I read in another thread that you are from the UK. I heard some rumours that Brad is planning to go there later this year, so you might be able to go sooner than you think.

Earth Song, as previously stated, was written in 1988, but first recorded in July 1989. They Don't Care About Us was written around 1990, and both were revitalized for HIStory.
At the seminar Brad played us an Earth Song demo that was dated October 1988. This surprised us because this was during the Bad tour, but Brad was sure that the date was accurate. The demo featured just Michael's voice and a (simple) piano accompaniment. The song structure and melody were already pretty much in place. The lyrics were similar but not the same as the DAT leak and album version, and at times incomplete, and the tempo was also a little higher than the final version.
 
Blood on the Dance Floor, Superfly Sister and Ghost were all from the Dangerous sessions; Is It Scary from summer 1993; Morphine from HIStory. To my knowledge, the only song that needed a significant amount of new vocals was Blood. Everything else was either overdubs, backing vocals or finalized mixes.

GHOSTS* Come on man, you should know better ;) Why do so many forget the S? There is no release of it where it is titled as such. Remember; MJ = GhostS. Demi Moore = Ghost. Anyway, Ghosts is a rewrite of IIS and wasn;t done till the short film began production (first time).

At the seminar Brad played us an Earth Song demo that was dated October 1988. This surprised us because this was during the Bad tour, but Brad was sure that the date was accurate. The demo featured just Michael's voice and a (simple) piano accompaniment. The song structure and melody were already pretty much in place. The lyrics were similar but not the same as the DAT leak and album version, and at times incomplete, and the tempo was also a little higher than the final version.

Oh wow. I would so love to hear that. Does he play the same songs at every seminar? Also, could someone with twitter maybe tweet Brad, ask if it is coming to the UK? Thank You.
 
GHOSTS* Come on man, you should know better ;) Why do so many forget the S? There is no release of it where it is titled as such. Remember; MJ = GhostS. Demi Moore = Ghost. Anyway, Ghosts is a rewrite of IIS and wasn;t done till the short film began production (first time).



Oh wow. I would so love to hear that. Does he play the same songs at every seminar? Also, could someone with twitter maybe tweet Brad, ask if it is coming to the UK? Thank You.

I think Ghosts was first, then came IIS from Ghosts. Some version of Ghosts existed during the Dangerous sessions.
 
Here I am with another "Brad Sundberg said" post... :lol:


At the seminar Brad played us an Earth Song demo that was dated October 1988. This surprised us because this was during the Bad tour, but Brad was sure that the date was accurate. The demo featured just Michael's voice and a (simple) piano accompaniment. The song structure and melody were already pretty much in place. The lyrics were similar but not the same as the DAT leak and album version, and at times incomplete, and the tempo was also a little higher than the final version.

Woow!
This along with other "first" demos of already released (selfpenned) MJ songs are urgently needed to be released.

A boxset full of demos that highlight the creative process of MJs songwriting. The Estate should really think about such a release.
 
I think Ghosts was first, then came IIS from Ghosts. Some version of Ghosts existed during the Dangerous sessions.

Hmmmm. I think this may need to be researched a bit. I'll ask PG13, he is like a living MJ encyclopaedia. Cos I am just not convinced. I have always known it to be IIS first, then Ghosts.

Woow!
This along with other "first" demos of already released (selfpenned) MJ songs are urgently needed to be released.

A boxset full of demos that highlight the creative process of MJs songwriting. The Estate should really think about such a release.

Yeah, another "Ultimate Collection" type set would be great. Maybe with a Victory tour concert this time =D And more demos!!
 
Earth Song, as previously stated, was written in 1988, but first recorded in July 1989. They Don't Care About Us was written around 1990, and both were revitalized for HIStory.
No, TDCAU was written earlier in mid 1980s and first recorded (in a proper studio) in June 1989.


Yeah, another "Ultimate Collection" type set would be great. Maybe with a Victory tour concert this time =D And more demos!!

Not really a type of TUC. Just the first demo recording of his (solely) selfwritten songs.

2 songs from OTW
4 songs from Thriller
10 songs from Bad
4 songs from Dangerous
7 songs from HIStory & 1 song from Blood
2 song from Invincible
========================================
30 songs in total

^
they'd fit onto 2 cds
 
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GHOSTS* Come on man, you should know better ;) Why do so many forget the S? There is no release of it where it is titled as such. Remember; MJ = GhostS. Demi Moore = Ghost. Anyway, Ghosts is a rewrite of IIS and wasn;t done till the short film began production (first time).

It was a typo! I swear! *mischievousness look* ;) but actually, that isn't true. Ghosts was written around 1990 with Teddy Riley, but was rejected. Around 1993, when Michael was putting together the track for Addams Family Values, he recycled the lyrics.

Well, again, Brad was adamant that BOTDF was written in 1992, during the Dangerous Tour.

I'm not sure that's wholly accurate. Teddy Riley has said that Blood was, indeed, worked on around 1990, but was forgotten when Michael became enamored with tracks like In the Closet and She Drives Me Wild.

At the seminar Brad played us an Earth Song demo that was dated October 1988. This surprised us because this was during the Bad tour, but Brad was sure that the date was accurate. The demo featured just Michael's voice and a (simple) piano accompaniment. The song structure and melody were already pretty much in place. The lyrics were similar but not the same as the DAT leak and album version, and at times incomplete, and the tempo was also a little higher than the final version.

Hmm, interesting. I'll have to read up on that one. Guess the source I was jumping off of was wrong/misled. Thanks for the info.

No, TDCAU was written earlier in mid 1980s and first recorded (in a proper studio) in June 1989.

Not quite sure where you get the information you have. There has been no proper confirmation on any side that suggests that TDCAU was written any earlier than 1990.
 
Oh wow. I would so love to hear that. Does he play the same songs at every seminar? Also, could someone with twitter maybe tweet Brad, ask if it is coming to the UK? Thank You.
I am not sure if he is active on Twitter. He does have a FB page.

The UK thing is something other fans who were at the seminar were talking about. They said he was planning to go there (specifically London) later this year, but nothing more concrete. Take that for what it's worth.

As for what he plays at the seminars, it's not the exact same at every seminar. He does have a script, but frequently strays from it and adjusts to what the audience wants to hear and the questions he gets. As time goes on, he also acquires new material to play at the seminars by going through his old tapes as well as getting in touch with former colleagues (e.g. Matt Forger, Steve Porcaro, etc). He does have a few staples that he plays at every seminar though (and rightfully so, amazing stuff), which you might have read about here or on other forums already.

Woow!
This along with other "first" demos of already released (selfpenned) MJ songs are urgently needed to be released.

A boxset full of demos that highlight the creative process of MJs songwriting. The Estate should really think about such a release.
I really hope we will get a box like this some day. It's tremendous to hear early demos or alternate takes of these songs and to get a glimpse of how they emerged and evolved. As the stuff Brad plays shows, some songs started out already sounding similar to their final versions (e.g., Earth Song), whereas others are almost unrecognizable (such as an early demo of Someone Put Your Hand Out which you cannot recognize until the chorus, and an early instrumental demo of Jam that was a cool but very different groove - it sounded like it did not get the Teddy Riley New Jack Swing treatment yet).

I'm not sure that's wholly accurate. Teddy Riley has said that Blood was, indeed, worked on around 1990, but was forgotten when Michael became enamored with tracks like In the Closet and She Drives Me Wild.
Hmm, interesting. I guess one possibility could be that Teddy worked out his basic idea for the track around that time, but that MJ did not touch it and work on it until later.

It is also possible either Teddy or Brad just misremembers. Brad seemed quite sure about this, but then again, he also told a story about For All Time which I had some doubts about. He played us what sounded like the writer's demo (Steve Porcaro was singing), but also featured MJ singing "that's for all time" in the chorus, and also an early MJ-only demo of the song. Anyway, he said Steve Porcaro told him that he wrote it for his daughter, and mentioned something about her and some girls at her school. Now, I have heard this exact same story before about Human Nature (more specifically, Steve Porcaro's daughter came home to tell him she was bullied at school). Lyrically, that song being Human Nature certainly makes a lot more sense, and I doubt Steve Porcaro wrote two songs for Michael Jackson that had to do with his daughter and what was going on at her school.

So, who knows... Would be interesting if we could establish more clearly when BOTDF was written though!

Hmm, interesting. I'll have to read up on that one. Guess the source I was jumping off of was wrong/misled. Thanks for the info.
Sure, no worries! With this one I think it is less likely that Brad could have misremembered, because he read us the filename and it had a date on it (which he presumably copied from whatever original source he digitized it from).
 
Not sure if this was already mentioned, but I'm fairly certain that the only time Michael ever went back and re-recorded one of his songs entirely is with Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008. And I'll be damned if that man didn't sound incredible for being 49 years old.

But I'm with SoCav and coffre with the idea of a box set featuring some of Michael's early demos/alternate takes. I'm dying to hear the incomplete mix of Black or White that was played at Brad Sundberg's seminar, along with the Whatever Happens-esque introduction to Streetwalker.
 
Well, I'm new here, but I'm pretty sure there's a few things that Michael had recorded earlier in his career that got re-recorded later. I'll try to this in order.

"Can't Get Outta the Rain" was basically a Thriller-era remake of the last part of "You Can't Win". So I guess that counts as a re-record.

"Pyramid Girl" which was supposedly written (and maybe recorded) for Victory.

"Buffalo Bill" which also was from the Victory era. It's also said to have been in consideration for what became Bad, so maybe he re-recorded it without his brothers? Regardless, I'd love to hear the song.

"Scared Of The Moon", which is from 1984 I'm pretty sure may have also been re-recorded for Michael's follow up to Invincible as it featured one of Michael's lists of songs (that he was likely considering for his new album) that were apparently hanging in his house when he died.

"Throwing Your Life Away", just like "Scared Of The Moon" was originally recorded in the '80s and was also featured on one of Michael's lists that were apparently hanging in his house when he died. So he coulda possibly been looking to re-record this song.

"Cheater" has already been mentioned as possibly being re-recorded during the Invincible sessions. What wasn't mentioned however is that it seems it was also in consideration for Michael's follow up to Invincible, due to it being on one of Michael's lists that were apparently hanging in his house when he died.

....and then of course it seems he had "Beautiful Girl" and "The Way You Love Me" which both seem to be have been in contention for Michael's follow up to Invincible.

Anyways, I'm sure there's more. I do think this is an interesting subject though.
 
It's funny I wonder what a Thriller era Mike would sound like singing You Rock My World or a BAD era Mike singing Screem lol I can hear it in my head though.
 
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^
try to imagine, a 10-year old Mike's singing She Was Loving Me:)
 
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