MUSIC






Who is the "In the Closet" 'Mystery Girl'?
Does Michael play any instruments?
How does Michael compose his songs?
How many songs has Michael written, including those unreleased?
Was "Is This Scary" meant to be on a movie soundtrack?
What is the story behind the Steeltown recording "Big Boy"?
Is there an MJ single called "Someone Put Your Hand Out"?
What is the theme song that Michael wrote for Siegfried and Roy?
What is the greeting to fans on Disc 1 of limited edition of HIStory?
Who is "Dom Sheldon" from the song "D.S."?
Is there an MJ single called "My Love 4 Kids Is True"?
What classical music has MJ used in his tours and recordings?
Why was the intro to "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" left out?
What does "mama se mama sa ma ma coo sa" mean?
Where can I find "We Are Here to Change the World"?
Who discovered the Jackson 5?
Is there an MJ Live recording available?


Who is the "Mystery Girl" who sings on "In the Closet"?

Princess Stephanie of Monaco, according to Black & White and MTV Australia. Michael confirmed this while speaking with fans in Gstaad in 1993.
In an interview on British TV, Madonna revealed that she was the original choice to be the Mystery Girl. When Michael asked her to do a duet, she agreed, and he played a preliminary version of the song for her. She asked him if he knew what the title meant, and he said he did. Not realizing the joke, she found this very unexpected and intriguing of Michael and went home and wrote more lyrics in the spirit of the title. He didn't like the new lyrics, so they ended up not doing the song together.


Does Michael play any instruments?

Jennifer Batten, MJ's guitarist on the Bad,Dangerous, and HIStory World Tours, told a club member in Holland that Michael plays about every instrument used in modern music, including drums, percussion, keyboards, piano, guitar, and bass. He is credited on the HIStory album with playing keyboards, synthesizer, drums and percussion, and guitar. See the artistic credits section for more.


How does Michael compose his songs?

MJ explained his composing process on the June 7, 1995 "Prime Time Live" special "Michael Jackson: The Man and His Music", on the videotaped deposition he gave for the "Thriller"/"The Girl is Mine"/"We Are the World" copyright lawsuit heard in Mexico City (Nov. 1993), during his testimony in the "Dangerous" copyright lawsuit heard in Denver, Colorado, and in the Internet Chat. He does not read or write music, so he sings the melody and vocally imitates the bassline, strings, and other parts into a tape recorder. As he said in the Internet Chat, "The process is creating a vocal rhythm to a click track -- which is a sound, a timed beat. And you're doing these mouth sounds to that beat. These sounds can be looped according to how you sample it in the computer again and again. This is your foundation for the entire track -- everything plays off this. It's the rhythm, like the beatbox rhythm. Every song I've written since I was very little I've done that way. I still do it that way! .." A lso, as guitarist David Williams related in Rolling Stone in 1992, at times MJ sings the sounds directly to the musicians, and when they accurately reproduce his ideas, this is recorded. The tape is then turned over to others who transcribe the notes onto staff sheets.


How many songs has Michael written, including the ones that have not been released
?
According to his testimony in the "Dangerous" copyright lawsuit, he has written a few hundred songs.


Was "Is This Scary" meant to be on a movie soundtrack?

"Is It Scary" was originally recorded for the soundtrack of "Addams Family Values", the sequel to the "Addams Family" movie. Michael ended up not doing the soundtrack after all because of a contract dispute. The song, produced by Teddy Riley in the New Jack Swing style, was originally set to be included on HIStory but was dropped because it had too strong of a New Jack style and didn't fit with the other songs on the album. However, it was resurrected for limited release in the US in Fall 1996 as part of the new 35-minute film "Ghosts". "Is It Scary" was one of five new compositions released on 'Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix in May 1997.


What is the story behind the Steeltown recording "Big Boy"?

In the 1960s, the Jackson 5 won Gary, Indiana's first city-wide talent show and were signed to Steeltown Records. In 1967, they recorded an album at Steeltown that was never released. In 1968, the single "Big Boy" from this album was a minor hit in the Chicago area. In 1994, former Steeltown record executive Ben Brown claimed to have rediscovered the original tapes of "Big Boy" in his mother's pantry. Through a New York City label called Inverted, he remastered and re-released more than 250,000 limited-edition, gold-plated copies of the single. However, Brown's re-release bears a strong resemblance to the remixed recording released by Gordon Keith on the SDEG label in 1989, and the sound quality is poor. On the original Steeltown recording, Michael's lead vocals come through loud and clear, but on Brown's reissue, they are obscured by overdubs. (from VOA, Jackson 5 Magazine)
"Big Boy" was included on the album "Pre-History: The Lost Steeltown Recordings" released in June 1996 by Inverted Records.
The "Pre-History ..." album is a compilation of songs from the group's pre-Motown days, recorded for the Steeltown label. It also includes 2 recordings made when the group called itself Ripples & Waves Plus Michael. Contains 14 tracks.


Is there an MJ single called "Someone Put Your Hand Out" that was never released on any album?

The single was released in Europe and Asia in 1992 as part of the Pepsi Promo Pack associated with the Dangerous Tour. Side A contains the song and Side B has a medley of songs from the Dangerous album. Fans could obtain the single either by buying a certain amount of Pepsi or through promotional giveaways at radio stations. A short instrumental version of the song was played during the Dangerous concerts just before the start of "Heal the World".


What is the theme song that Michael wrote for Siegfried and Roy?

It is called "The Mind Is Magic", written and performed by Michael Jackson and arranged by MJ and Bryan Loren. Since April 1995, it has been available on the Siegfried and Roy CD "Dreams and Illusions" on the Edel Company label. It may be available in record stores in Europe and at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.


What is the text of the greeting to fans on Disc 1 of the limited edition of HIStory? Where was it released?

"Hi, this is Michael Jackson. I want to thank all of my fans in [country] for their continuing love and support over all the years. I hope to come and visit you all very, very soon and perform for you. I look forward to seeing you very soon. Until then, good bye. I love you all. Good bye."
It was released in Germany, Holland, France, and Canada.


Who is "Dom Sheldon" from the song "D.S."?

Michael has never revealed the identity of the person targeted in the song, if he is real. However, many think that the song refers to Santa Barbara County District Attorney Thomas Sneddon, who with Los Angeles County District Attorney Gilbert Garcetti headed the 1993-1994 investigations into the child-molestation allegations. They point to the fact that it does not sound as if MJ is saying "Dom Sheldon" in the song, but he could be saying "Tom Sneddon". However, the pronunciation is indistinct, and MJ could just as well be singing "Dom Stanton" or "Tom Stephan", as a NY Times reviewer of HIStory thought. When Tom Sneddon was asked how he felt about the tune, he declined to have the lyrics read to him or to listen to the song, but laughed, saying that he didn't care what Michael Jackson said or did. He went on to say that he was proud of the job he and others had done on the investigation, and if asked, he would always answer that. He also expressed no interest in a lawsuit.


Is there an MJ single called "My Love 4 Kids Is True"?
Is there an MJ single called "My Love 4 Kids Is True"?
It's an illegal bootleg CD with remixes. There are many illegal Michael Jackson recordings.


What classical music has MJ used in his tours and recordings?

"O Fortuna" from the section "Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi" (Fortune, Empress of the World) of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" forms the introduction to "Dangerous: The Short Films" and was used at the beginning of nearly all the Dangerous concerts.
"Will You Be There"/Dangerous
Symphony No. 9 in D minor Opus 125: presto (Ode to Joy)
composed by Ludwig van Beethoven
Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, director Robert Shaw
Cleveland Orchestra, conductor George Szell
The "Ode to Joy" is the anthem of the European Union.
"HIStory"/HIStory: Past, Present, and Future,Book 1
"Pictures at an Exhibition"
composed by Modeste Mussorgsky
arranged by Maurice Ravel
Philadelphia Orchestra
"HIStory"/HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book 1
"Beethoven Lives Upstairs"
from Susan Hammond's Classical Kids
The Children's Group, Inc.
"Little Susie"/HIStory: Past, Present, and Future, Book 1
Requiem Opus 9, "Pie Jesu"
Composed by Maurice Durufle'
Atlanta Symphony and Chorus, director Robert Shaw


Why was the spoken intro by MJ taken out of the track "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" on the Bad album and Disc 1 of HIStory?

When Bad was first released in 1987, this spoken introduction was present:
"I just wanna lay next to you for a while.
You look so beautiful tonight.
Your eyes are so lovely, your mouth is so sweet.
A lot of people misunderstand me,
that's because they don't know me at all.
I just wanna touch you, and hold you.
I need you. God I need you. I love you so much."
For later editions of Bad and for the HIStory album, they used the masters tapes, which do not contain the introduction.


What does "mama se mama sa ma ma coo sa" from "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin" mean?

Nothing. It is a chant in the style of songs in Cameroon, where the "words" are used for the sound effect, not a particular meaning. (from Rolling Stone)


Where can I find "We Are Here to Change the World", from "Captain Eo"?

Unfortunately, it's not on any album and has not been released as a single.


Who discovered the Jackson 5?

Several people have been credited for discovering the Jackson 5 : from Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, to Bobby Taylor. But it should be pointed out that it was Joseph Jackson who first recognized or 'discovered' his sons' talent. It was Joseph who worked with his sons to hone that talent in the beginning stages of their phenomenally successful career and popularity.
Gladys Knight was the first person connected to Motown to see the Jackson 5 perform in 1967.
Sometime later, in 1968, Bobby Taylor saw them perform and brought them to the attention of Motown.
Marlon Jackson explained how this happened in the videotape 'The Legend Continues' : "Some say it's Diana Ross who discovered us, some people say Gladys Knight, some people say Bobby Taylor. But I know the truth, because I was there when it all happened. Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers. Bobby Taylor saw us and wanted to bring us to Motown. And we decided we would go this time."
Suzanne De Passe, a Motown executive when the Jackson 5 were signed to the record company, said that "One day, Bobby Taylor called me up. He said 'you got to come downstairs and see something, you're not gonna believe."
Diana Ross, however, also played a major role in helping to make the Jackson 5 a household name. Diana was chosen by Motown to present the Jackson 5 to the public because of her star status at the time. The J5 first album was titled: "Diana Ross presents the Jackson Five" and she also introduced them to the US audience on her television show. Thus began the legend that it was Diana Ross who discovered them.


Is there an MJ Live recording available?

To date, Michael has not released any solo live recordings. If you find any live recordings, they are bootlegs and thus are illegal.


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