Menschen die sich an eine Begegnung mit Michael Jackson erinnern

[BlaueBlume]

Kindergärtnerin Felecia Childress erinnert sich an das Kind Michael Jackson

http://abclocal.go.com//story?section=news/someone_you_should_know&id=6903467

Der Artikel (inkl. Video) ist auf Englisch.

[rip.michael]

Zu #1146:
Teacher remembers young Michael Jackson

July 7, 2009 (GARY, Ind.) -- Michael Jackson had millions of fans- but only one kindergarten teacher. Felecia Childress, 92, taught Jackson in Gary, Ind.
"I think I remember his eyes because he was so happy and he was almost bouncing around the room...and I remember Michael was the center of a lot of attention," said Childress.
Childress said it is not generally known, but Jackson had a slight speech impediment.
"Michael had this stammer, but when he sang he would not miss a note and his pitch was perfect. He must have had an excellent ear because his little voice was just right on tune and everything you know and he was happy," said Childress. Jackson attended Garrett Elementary School and when he shot to stardom at such a young age, Childress said she felt for him.
"My heart ached for him because I remember the joy that he had mixing with his little friends, but it was so short lived. He didn't have time to be a child. H e just had to leave all of that behind and go to the serious part of life. And, that bothered me because I felt you know that's the way you learn so much about your relationships; is how you play."
Her heart ached again when Jackson died at 50.
"I thought what an awful, awful waste...because here was a man who could have accomplished even more than he had," said Childress.

(Copyright ©2015 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)


Michael Jackson hatte millionen fans - doch nur eine kindergartenlehrerin

Felecia Childress, 92, unterrichtete Jackson in Gary, Ind.

"Ich erinnere mich seiner augen, er war so glücklich und sprang immer herum .. und ich erinnere mich daran, dass Michael im mittelpunkt der beachtung stand," erzählte Childress.

Childress sprach davon, dass es nicht allgemein bekannt war, dass Jackson eine leichte sprachstörung hatte.

"Michael stotterte, doch wenn er sang erwischte er keinen falschen ton und seine stimmlage war perfekt. Er muss ein ausgezeichnetes (musikalisches) ohr besessen haben, denn seine junge stimme war stets genau richtig abgestimmt und alles, was man sich vorstellen kann, und er war glücklich," sagte Childress.

Jackson besuchte die Garrett Elementary School und als er in ganz jungem alter zum star wurde, fühlte sie mit ihm.

"Mein herz wurde mir schwer weil ich mich daran erinnerte, wieviel spass er mitten unter seinen kleinen freunden hatte, aber diese zeit war viel zu kurz. Er hatte keine zeit ein kind zu sein. Er musste das alles einfach hinter sich lassen, um den ernst des lebens zu erleben. Ich war deswegen besorgt, denn ich wusste, der weg viel über die beziehungen untereinander zu lernen ist spielend zu lernen."

Das herz wurde ihr erneut schwer als Jackson mit 50 jahren starb.

"Ich dachte, was für ein schrecklicher, heilloser verlust ... denn das war der mann, der noch mehr hätte vollbringen können, viel mehr als er schon hatte," erklärte Childress.

[BlaueBlume]

für die Übersetzung rip.
Hier ein Foto von Felicia Childress + Jennifer Batten

[rip.michael]

UK loves MJ
·

Remembering the time ~ [Excerpts from interview with Danny and Michael Sembello] ~ In Photo ~ Michael, Marlon and Danny Sembello
Danny Sembello: [Brother] Michael was musical from an early age, but I wasn't as sure that the music business was the right place for me. It took me a little longer to realize that I wanted to make music. My cousin was playing with the Jackson 5 in Philly and he had invited them over for dinner before the show. Sitting around my cousin's table eating pasta, Michael [Jackson] began to egg me on saying that your brother bragged about how great of a keyboard player I was. I replied, " Well, I'm actually a better basketball player but I'll play something if you want. So I played "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground" then I segued into "The Secret Life of Plants" a song I learned in the studio with my brother and Stevie Wonder. Michael became captivated with the melody and asked me to play it at least a half dozen times. Each time I played, Michael leaned a little further over the piano to watch my hands. That night was truly magical for me. The day Michael died my brother and I both lost a great friend and inspiration.

Q: ~ Being that you both knew Michael Jackson; Danny having played piano for him early in his career and Michael writing "Carousel" which was released on the Special Edition of Thriller, what went through minds when he passed away earlier this year?

Michael Sembello: I immediately called Danny. I was going through a rough spot in my life and Michael's passing truly broke my heart. I had the opportunity to work with him when he was picking songs for Thriller. At the time, I had written "Carousel," which Michael loved and actually recorded a demo of. It was slated to be on the album, but then the orders came down from Quincy [Jones] that there was only room for one song on the album with that kind of groove and "Human Nature" won that slot. "Carousel" was released on the Special Edition of Thriller a few years ago, and in Quincy's commentary he talks about the song and my time with Michael. He will always be a legend to me.

Danny Sembello: To be honest, I cried. Playing piano for Michael is a memory I never forget. Having him respond the way he did made me want to be a musician. It was the first time I felt I had inspired someone and witnessed first hand what music can do. Right after that, I graduated high school and then jumped on a plane to California to become a musician.

By 17 Michael Sembello was already part of Stevie Wonder’s band and went on the play with him for 7 years. Younger brother Danny Sembello followed in Michael’s [Sembello] footsteps and at the same age had his first hit recorded by Donna Summer and produced by Quincy Jones, he has written for several top artists inc Celine Dion and is best known song is "Neutron Dance" which was recorded by The Pointer Sisters.







Remembering the time ~ [Auszüge aus dem IV mit Danny und Michael Sembello]

Auf dem foto - MJ, Marlon und Danny Sembello

Danny Sembello:
(Bruder) Michael war schon in sehr jungem alter mit der musik verbunden, doch ich war mir nicht sicher, ob das musikbusiness der geeignete platz für mich sei. Es brauchte ein wenig länger festzustellen, dass ich musik machen wollte. Mein cousin spielte mit den Jackson5 in Philadelpia und er hatte sie vor beginn der show zu einem dinner eingeladen. Wir sassen am alle am tisch meines cousins und aßen pasta, als Michael (J) damit anfing mich anzustacheln, in dem er sagte, dass unser bruder damit geprahlt hätte, was für ein grosser keyboardspieler er sei. Ich gab zurück, "Augenblicklich bin ich zwar ein besserer basketballspieler, aber ich spiele euch vor, was ich wollt." Also spielte ich "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground" dann ging ich zu "The Secret Life of Plants" über, einem song, den ich im studio zusammen mit meinem bruder und Stevie Wonder kennengelernt hatte. Michael war ganz gefesselt von der melodie und bat mich schliesslich, sie noch locker ein duzend mal zu spielen. Jedes mal wenn ich spielte, lernte Michael noch ein wenig mehr über das piano, indem er meine hände beobachtete. Dieser abend war wirklich magisch für mich. Am tag als Michael starb, verloren mein bruder und ich beides, einen großartigen freund und inspiration.

Q: ~ Ihr kanntet beide Michael Jackson; Danny am beginn seiner karriere spielte für ihn auf dem klavier und Michael schrieb "Carousel", der titel erschien auf der Special Edition von Thriller, welche gedanken hattet ihr, als er dieses jahr starb?

Michael Sembello:
Ich rief sofort Danny an. Ich stand an einem wunden punkt meines lebens und Michaels tod brach mir wahrhaftig das herz. Ich hatte die gelegenheit mit ihm zu arbeiten, als er die songs für Thriller zusammenstellte. Ich hatte "Carousel" geschrieben und Michael liebte es und nahm es schliesslich als demo auf. Der song war für das album vorgesehen, doch es kam eine maßgabe von oben, von Quincy Jones, dass nur platz für einen song mit diesem bestimmten groove gäbe, und diesen platz nahm "Human Nature" ein. "Carousel" kam auf der Special Edition von Thriller vor ein paar jahren heraus, und Quincys kommentar gibt einiges von dem song preis und über meine zeit mit Michael. Er wird stets eine legende für mich sein.

Danny Sembello:
Offen und ehrlich, ich weinte. Dass ich für Michael klavier spielte ist einen unvergessliche erinnerung für mich. Schliesslich brachte mich seine art des lancierens dazu musiker zu werden. Das war das erste mal, dass ich mich durch jemanden inspiriert fühlte und erlebte aus erster hand, was musik bewirken kann. Danach schloss ich die high school ab und letzte mich in einen flieger nach Kalifornien, um musiker zu werden.


Schon mit 17 war Michael Sembello teil von Stevie Wonders band und spielte dort 7 jahre. Der jüngere bruder Danny Sembello trat in Michael (Sembello's) fussstapfen und hatte im gleichen alter seinen ersten hit mit Donna Summer und Quincy Jones war der produzent. Er schrieb für einige top künstler einschliesslich Celine Dion und sein bekanntester song ist "Neutron Dance", eine aufnahme der Pointer Sisters.

[rip.michael]

UK loves MJ

~TRUTH About The King Of Hearts...~
"...Another memory from my time with him in Las Vegas is when we were in the “Caesar’s Palace”, again shopping. This time he went to one of those trendy clothing shops. Michael looked around and then said to the staff that he wanted to buy “the whole rack of this” and “the whole rack of that”. I was standing by and wondering all the time what in the world he wanted to do with all those clothes in all those different sizes and colours. In the end he had bought almost the whole shop and spent more than $4000.00. To me it just did not make sense at all, until I heard him talk to his assistant. He told her to let the clothes be wrapped up into little presents and gave her an address of an orphanage somewhere at the east coast of the US..."
by Wayne Galley


~ Die wahrheit über den King of Hearts ~
"... Eine weitere erinnerung meiner zeit mit ihm in Las Vegas ist wiedermal eine shopping tour im "Caesar's Palace". Wir gingen in einen trendigen klamottenladen. Michael schaute sich um und dann sagte er zum verkaufspersonal, dass er "einen ganzen ständer davon" und "und einen ganzen ständer von diesem" kaufen wolle. Ich stand dabei und fragte mich die ganze zeit, was in aller welt er mit all diesen kleidungsstücken vor hatte zu tun, alle in verschiedenen grössen und farben. Schliesslich kaufte er fast den ganzen laden leer und gab mehr als 4000 $ (oder soll's 40.000 $ bedeuten) aus. Für mich ergab das nicht wirklich einen sinn, bis ich ihn mit seiner assistentin reden hörte. Er gab an, dass die kleidungsstücke zu kleinen geschenkpäckchen gepackt werden sollten. Er händigte die adresse eines waisenhauses irgendwo an der ostküste der USA aus.







Wayne Galley war 2003 - weiss nicht, für welchen zeitraum generell - Michaels bodyguard.
Ein längerer artikel in englisch, wen's interessiert. Er schildert diese besondere zeit mit MJ und mehr.

[rip.michael]

Oral history: MJ meets MJ for 'Jam' video

(Bilder enthalten, hab ich weggelassen,anm. rip.michael)

3/13/2013

Last month, the world celebrated the legacy of Michael Jordan with his 50th birthday. But perhaps the coolest off-the-court thing he did in his career, back in the spring of 1992, was forgotten.
That's when Jordan, the biggest athlete on the planet, collaborated with the biggest musical artist, Michael Jackson, for the video to his song "Jam." When it occurred, not only were music videos in their heyday, but also the entertainment world had never seen a cross-over interaction of that magnitude on a global scale. Plus, MJ and MJ had a special ring to it.
At the time, Jordan recalled: "First I said, 'I don't know if I want to do this, because this guy's going to try to get me out there to dance, and that's going to be really embarrassing.' But then I said: 'Well, shoot, it's Michael Jackson. When would you ever get an opportunity to get to know him socially for a little bit, and yet at the same time, get to do his video?' So I changed my mind and went on and did it."
Twenty-one years later, ESPN Playbook has captured exclusively the many behind-the-scenes moments never shared before from Jordan and Jackson's first and only time working together. Here is "Jam" director David Kellogg and producer Phil Rose, who are both still actively working together on commercials, with their vivid memories from the once-in-a-lifetime shoot, which also featured rappers Heavy D and Kris Kross:

THE PLANNING

Kellogg: Michael Jackson lined up Jordan, so we knew already that he was going to be in it. I think Jackson talked to Jordan first. Jordan was harder to get. Michael Jackson is really about his music, so he's always sort of available. He's really into the videos. While he had a few events on the side, Jordan was certainly the hardest. We did it in Chicago just because of him.

Rose: Sandy Gallin, [Jackson's] manager at the time, was more involved with managing that. I know that Michael was a huge fan of Michael Jordan. When you're at that level, if you want to work with someone that you're a fan of, I'm sure it's quite easy to work out.

Rose: I think originally it was Michael's choreographer, [Travis Payne], who was going to direct ["Jam"], but Michael was preparing for a world tour and [Payne] just got too crazy. And David came into the mix. The first conversations we had were on our way to the airport to discuss what we were going to do in Chicago. "Jam" was our first project together, but I had done others for Michael. I did a song called "2300 Jackson Street," and it was the entire Jackson family, which was interesting, and then I did one in Germany with him and Slash, after "Jam."

Kellogg: That was my first Michael Jackson music video. At that time, I had done music videos for Lionel Richie, Dave Matthews, a lot of Quincy Jones, David Crosby.

Rose: Once the concept was worked out [for "Jam"], then they hired me to meet with the initial director, and then budget and schedule and start the process of where we were going to shoot, which was going to be in L.A. on a sound stage. The budget was sizable for the time. It was smaller [than] the [usual] budgets that Michael was doing at the time, but it was still sizable -- over $1 million. I was working at Propaganda Films at the time, and then I just segued right into working with David and we moved the idea to Chicago. It was because of Jordan's schedule; he was playing at the time. The L.A. riots were also going on [in late April/early May].

Rose: It was one of those kind of you land and you just grind your way through it. I mean, we didn't have any locations that we locked down. I think we literally arrived on Thursday, and we were scheduled to start shooting the following Thursday. And in that time, we had to find a location, secure it and then, of course, build this basketball floor and court, and then cast for a bunch of vignettes. So it was literally a run-and-gun thing.
We started looking into what was available in the city, and there was something that was close to where the Bulls were playing at the time. I think it was the South Side of Chicago. It was pretty depressed, so there weren't many industrial warehouses there that had a ceiling high enough. Then we noticed that there was this bombed-out old armory, and we just came in and had a look around, and it was perfect. It has a huge open space I guess for drilling at one point. It was a dump and the production designer, Rob Pearson, put in a full-sized basketball court. I mean, it was surreal to just be in this sort of completely old building and have this gorgeous basketball floor set up there.

Kellogg: We had endless money really. It was kind of whatever we needed to do. It was pretty big what we built because we went into sort of an empty warehouse or old factory, and it was bad. It wasn't in a particularly good neighborhood, and it was really messed up. I didn't know what was going on in there, but it was just a mess. The floor was really bad and it was really dirty.

Rose: I had to meet with the local police chief and everything else without revealing who was in the video, so we portrayed it as a Hellmann's mayonnaise commercial, so we wouldn't draw any attention to ourselves. The call sheet itself, we kept [the actual video details] off there; we kept it off of the crew lists. Anything that had any kind of printed material on it was basically listed as a mayonnaise commercial. With any typical shoot or making a commercial, you don't really advertise it, but you do have street signs up directing equipment and crew.

THE ARRIVALS

Rose: When Michael Jackson arrived [to the set], he was very secretive. His bus pulls in and then it's tented between the bus and the building. The whole walkway is hidden. No one ever could see him. The police chief was just like, "I can't believe you didn't tell me it was Michael Jackson. This is crazy. We've got to get more police here. This could be a riot." I was like, "OK, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Michael was on the set probably about a couple of hours, and then Michael Jordan pulled in. And he just pulled in driving his BMW. He just drove up to the set and parked, got out. The police chief just looked at me like, "Are you f---ing kidding me?" [laughs] I said, "Well, it's actually Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson together." And he's like, "Oh my god." So they beefed up security. I think there was more security buzzing about Michael Jordan than they were about Michael Jackson.

THE FILMING

Kellogg: I knew going in that these guys are really interesting physical performers. We knew we were going to have them both cross over into each other's world. A lot of times in music videos, you just start playing the music and people kind of start doing something. At the very basic level, it was Michael Jordan teaching Michael Jackson how to play basketball, and Michael Jackson teaching Michael Jordan how to dance. It was never scripted. They played basketball first. We would just play the music and throw a basketball out there, and let them play and sort of see what happens. Then I think we said to Michael Jackson, "Well, show him how to moonwalk." The music was playing at that point, so we didn't record sound. Honestly, we went back in and we sort of looped Michael Jordan's voice to that [scene] using the guy from Michael Jordan's cartoon. It was done like two weeks later. It was kind of cheesy that we did that [laughs]. Michael Jackson did his part.

Rose: There was a lot of improvisation, especially when you're working with two people like that whose schedules are what they are. Michael [Jackson]'s strength is performance, of course, and the other Michael's strength is sports. Jordan was a bit clumsy dancing, I have to say, and I would say Michael's jump shot was probably as weak as Jordan's dancing [laughs]. So it was really just about capturing moments between them and then using the footage we gathered.
It felt very natural. I mean, it really was kind of more documentary filmmaking than composed filmmaking. I was on set every minute and it was so surreal. In our business sometimes -- David and I joke about it -- when you're filming a stunt or an explosion, I always say to David, "Look at it real because you can always look at the replay later." But when you're working with two stars like that, it's like every minute is real. You're just starstruck.

Kellogg: Michael Jackson and his team were really concerned about lighting. There was no secret about that. There were no rules with the two of them together, but it was only when [Jackson] performed that they cared a lot about the lighting. They really didn't like any side lighting because I think he felt that his face was really angular and the shadow he didn't really like. He didn't like light coming from the side and having a shadow on one side of his face. He preferred a silhouette or straight-front lighting and pretty soft, so behind the camera there would just be sort of a wall of light.
In a way, it was sort of beauty lighting like you would do in a makeup commercial. He was really particular about that. He had a stand-in that we would use to kind of line up everything and the light before Michael would come out. That was the time when he was wearing that sort of surgical mask a lot. But I thought he looked great. He sort of got a bad rep about that.

Rose: One thing that made [the video] a little bit more expensive, because it could've been done cheaper, is we had to light for every single option. In other words, in a traditional film set, say you're shooting some scene in a room, you would shoot one actor and then you'd shoot the other actor and you would re-light. But because we had limited time with both Michaels, we lit that entire armory with any kind of option that we might want. That was one of the reasons the budget was a little more than it would normally be.

Kellogg: Because we went in and did it as a mayonnaise commercial, no one really bothered us. People were kind of wondering what was going in and out. Eventually, big cars were parked there and motor homes. Michael Jackson was really good. There was a crowd of people outside and he would go to the window every now and then and say hello. I think the people were, honestly, a little more excited with Michael Jordan, probably because it was his hometown.

Rose: There was no press on hand [except for NBA Entertainment] because we had buried [the video] so deep as being what it wasn't. I mean, the police were pretty mad that we didn't let them know in advance, but I kind of felt like that was the better choice. Towards the end, there started to be a lot of crowds gathering. The police presence increased, but it was towards the end of our last shoot day, so we managed to just sort of squeak under the wire.

THE PERSONALITIES

Kellogg: They're both really good people and easy to work with. I think they really did like each other, and you could see that. Michael Jordan was a really good sport about it because he had the most to embarrass himself. Michael Jackson is a kid, and he brought water balloons, Super Soakers and remote-control cars to the set. Jackson was playful with Jordan, and he was happy running around with a basketball. He didn't have particularly good form or anything. It was fun to watch them. It was interesting in that they're two really good performers. Michael Jackson is just a bad basketball player and Michael Jordan just couldn't catch up with Michael Jackson with the dancing. It was fun to sort of see that like, "Wow, they can control their bodies in completely different ways."

Rose: There was not a lot to do without Michael [Jackson]. When Jordan was on the set, it's interesting because Michael Jackson is more sort of quiet and introverted and retreats to his trailer, and Michael Jordan was completely happy to stay on the court and shoot some hoops. Then there were some kids we had come in. I don't think we revealed to them who they were going to play, so it was like a starstruck dream come true for them to come in and see this kind of surreal basketball court in the middle of this armory. [Jordan] was great. He was definitely cool. He was not this sort of standoffish type person at all. He was really warm and friendly.

Kellogg: We had Jordan for about three days, and one day he knew he would be only there for two hours. I just remember him looking over his shoulder to me and sort of tapping his finger to his wrist like he was pointing to his watch. He knew what time it was and he knew that we were the kind of people that would just drag this thing on. He had done enough shoots at that point that he knew. I think his attention is about as long as a game. It's sort of hard to keep him around. We were a little bit worried that we would lose Michael Jordan. Sometimes you do little things to keep [celebrities] around, and I believe we got him one of those golf driving ranges, like an arcade game, to keep him interested.

Rose: Michael [Jackson] worked in a very particular way, so a lot of my dealings were never directly with him because he is so secretive. He's so gentle about being within himself that his people were the middlemen between us all the time. A classic example of Michael's way of working is on one of our shoot days, I called to say, "Michael, we need you on the set," and his people said, "Well, he won't be there until later." And I said, "Oh, OK, well we can probably fill the morning with some work, but what time do you think he'll be here?" And so they said, "Well, he'll probably be there in a couple of days." I said, "Wait, we're in Chicago. He was here just yesterday. What happened?" They said, "He had a lunch appointment." And I said, "Oh, OK, can he cancel it because [the video setup is] expensive?" And they said, "Oh, it's with the President." [George Bush at the time.] So I was like, "Oh, OK [laughs]." His schedule is a lot more out of my realm. We shut down just for Michael to have that lunch, and we went back to L.A. until he returned to Chicago.

Kellogg: I remember Michael Jackson was kind of sick. I don't know if he had the flu or what during this. Michael Jackson would sort of sit in the corner. We would set up a shot and he looked bad, like not healthy. But as soon as you put the music on, he would step up. To be 12 feet away from that, it's pretty awesome to see him. It was really inspirational. I think that the crew and everybody else were like, "How can he pull it together so much and be so energetic and so sharp?" It was pretty amazing. That's kind of like chills up your spine kind of stuff.
That's probably one of my biggest takeaways from the whole shoot like, "Is that just adrenaline? Where does that come from?" It made me think a lot about clutch performances, like in a sports way. We didn't really push Michael Jordan. He was in the middle of the season and we sort of didn't want to mess that up. I had done other commercials with athletes and when you kind of work them during the day, and then they go and play at night, sometimes they don't play so well, and I feel really like personally responsible.


THE RECEPTION

Kellogg: In hindsight, it was actually a very special video to work on, and I think people liked it. Music videos are kind of dying form of art now, but it was an era back then. We had a lot of creative freedom.

Rose: I think people genuinely liked it a lot because it was a departure from Michael Jordan, because he's this sports figure and I didn't know if he had done that before. I also think that David had a really unique way of editing, where he has like these moments that would just pop up, so I think overall it was really fresh for the time.
When MTV first came out, it was the only place to go and see music. Now, you can go anywhere and see it. I've done music videos, commercials, TV shows and movies, and I can say the most creative freedom I ever had was in a music video, like ["Jam"]. You're given a small amount of money and you can go off and do what you do. It just seems to be there's a lot of creativity there, and sometimes adding more money to it doesn't necessarily make it more creative.


THE LASTING MEMORY

Kellogg: It has nothing to do with directing, but it was the moments where they came together and you try to get that on film. That's challenging to bring people together like that. I really didn't know what kind of relationship they had. It was possible that they had never met before. Both of them were sort of at their best, and that's the kind of stuff I didn't really think about. If I could do it again, I probably would have tried to capture that moment. That was what the video was kind of about, and I kind of missed it in a way.

Rose: Not really a specific conversation, but more so just in terms of Jordan. It was just the way he was. He's just kind of like such an approachable, likable guy. I did tell him once, "We will be ready for you in 10 minutes," and he said, "I can't take a s--- in 10 minutes [laughs]." I think it was just his sense of being completely authentic. I was just blown away with someone who has that kind of fame, who just deals with it as just a regular guy.




zu #1151:

Eine mündlicher bericht: MJ trifft MJ für's "Jam' video

13.03.2013

Im vergangenen monat feierte die welt mit seinem 50sten geburtstag seine legacy. Doch das wahrscheinlich coolste, was er während seiner karriere abseits eines spielfelds tat wurde vergessen - rückblick auf das frühjahr 1992.

Das ereignis der zusammenarbeit des weltgrössten athleten Jordan mit dem grössten musikalischen künstler Michael Jackson für das video zu seinem song "Jam". Als sich das ereignete hatten nicht nur musikvideos ihre glanzzeiten, sondern die unterhaltungswelt hatte bis dato nie einen cross-over dieser grössenordnung auf der messlatte des globaler standards gesehen. ( Plus, MJ and MJ had a special ring to it. - weiss ich nicht sicher, was damit gemeint ist, anm. rip.m. vorschlag?)

Jordan rückblickend: "Zuerst war ich der ansicht, 'Ich weiss nicht, ob ich das machen möchte, denn dieser typ wird mich zum tanzen bringen und das wird wirklich blamabel.' Doch dann sagte ich: 'OK lasst uns drehen, es ist Michael Jackson. Wann kriegt man schon mal die gelegenheit geboten, ihn ein klein wenig im sozialen miteinander kennenzulernen und gleichzeitig dieses video zu drehen? Also änderte ich meine ansicht und so kam es, dass wir die sache machten.“

Einundzwanzig jahre später beinhaltete ESPN playbook viele nie geteilte behind-the-scenes-momente von Jordan’s und Jackson’s erster und einziger zusammenarbeit. Hier sind der„"Jam"“ regisseur David Kellogg und produzent Phil Rose, die beide noch immer in der werbung zusammen arbeiten, sie teilen ihre lebhaften erinnerungen dieser einmaligen dreharbeiten. Sie zeigen auch rapper Heavy D und Kris Kross.

DIE PLANUNG

Kellogg: Michael Jackson wollte Jordan haben, also wussten wir sowieso, wie es laufen würde. Ich denke, Jackson sprach zuerst mit Jorden. Jordan war nicht leicht zu kriegen. Michael Jackson ist immer bei seiner musik, also ist er immer irgendwie erreichbar. Er legt wirklich grossen wert auf seine videos. Er hatte ein paar events am laufen, Jordan war sicherlich der schwierigste brocken. Seinetwegen drehten wir das ganze in Chicago.

Rose: Sandy Gallin, [Jackson’s] damaligem manager war mehr mit dem managen des ganzen befasst. Ich wusste, dass Michael ein riesiger fan von Michael Jordan war. Wenn man dieses level einnimmt und mit jemanden zusammenarbeiten möchtest, dessen fan du bist, ich bin sicher das ist ziemlich leicht zu begreifen.
Rose: Ich denke, ursprünglich war es Michael’s choreograf, Travis Payne, der vor hatte bei „Jam“ regie zu führen; Michael bereitete sich für eine welttournee vor und Payne spielte verückt. Da kam David ins spiel. Unsere erste unterhaltung hatten wir auf dem weg zum flughafen und wir setzten uns darüber auseinander, was wir in Chicago auf den weg bringen würden. „Jam“ war unser erstes gemeinsames projekt, ich hatte schon andere für Michael realisiert. Z.b. „2300 Jackson Street“ mit der gesamten Jackson familie, was interessant war und ich setzte nach „Jam“ noch was um mit M. und Slash in Deutschland.

Kellog: Das war mein erstes Michael Jackson musikvideo. Zu der zeit hatte ich schon einige musikvideos mit Lionel Richie, Dave Matthews, eine ganze menge für Quincy Jones und David Crosby umgesetzt.

Rose: Sobald das konzept für Jam erarbeitet war, wurde ich eingestellt mich mit dem ursprünglich vorgesehenen regisseur zu treffen, dann gings um’s budget, den zeitplan und dann begann der geplante prozess des drehens, zu anfang in L.A. auf einer sound stage. Das budget war für die damalige zeit beträchtlich. Es war kleiner als die budgets, die Michaels projekte üblicherweise damals beanspruchten, doch immer noch umfangreich – über 1 million $. Ich arbeitete damals für Propaganda Films und ich wechselte in die zusammenarbeit mit David und wir transferierten unsere vorstellungen richtung Chicago. Es war wegen Jordans terminplan, er spielte zu der zeit. Und die aufstände in L.A. waren im gange (ende April/ anfang Mai).

Rose: Es war wie ein ankommen und weg finden. Ich meine damit, wir hatten keinerlei gesicherte location. Wir kamen an einem Donnerstag an und der drehbeginn war für den drauf folgenden Donnerstag geplant. Während dessen mussten wir eine location finden, sichern und dann natürlich ein basketballspielfeld vorbereiten und dann noch eine horde charaktäre casten. Es war sprichwörtlich so ein friss-oder-stirb-ding.

Wir begannen damit in der stadt nach brauchbarem ausschau zu halten, und es gab eine räumlichkeit nahe dem ort, wo die Bulls zu der zeit spielten. Ich glaube es war im südlichen Chicagos. Es machte einen ziemlich deprimierenden eindruck, es gab nicht viele industriegebäude, deren raumhöhe ausreichend gewesen wären. Dann wurden wir auf dieses demolierte, alte waffenfabrik, und wir kamen, sahen und die sache war perfekt. Das gebäude hatte sehr grosse, offene räume, wahrscheinlich für die fertigungsmaschinen ehemals. Es war ein vermüllter ort und der produktions designer, Rob Pearson, installierte dort einen kompletten basketballplatz. Ich meine, es war derart surreal in einem derartigen gebäude zu sein, völlig alt und mit diesem grossartigen basketballspielfeld darinnen.

Kellogg: Wir hatten wirklich unbegrenzte mittel. So dass wir so gut wie alles verwirklichen konnten. Wir bauten wirklich grosses; wir nutzten eine art leeres lagerhaus oder alte s fabrikgebäude, ziemlich schlecht beieinander. Das war nicht in er einer besonders guten nachbarschaft und war wirklich vergammelt. Ich hatte keine ahnung, warum das dort so aussah, aber es war einfach vergammelt.

Rose: Ich musste mit dem örtlichen polizeichef zusammen kommen und alles mögliche regeln, was das video betraf, wir stellten es als einen Hellmann’s mayonaise werbespot dar, so würden wir keine aufmerksamkeit auf uns ziehen. Die telefonkontakte sowie die aufzeichnung über die video details und die listen der crew tauchten nicht auf. Alles relevante, alle gedrucken aufzeichnungen waren in form eines mayonaise werbespots ausgelegt. Mit allen typischen drehmerkmalen oder dem umsetzen eines werbespots, es wurde nichts wirklich angezeigt, doch es gab hinweisschilder, die crew und equipment an den richtigen ort schleusten.

DIE ANKUNFT

Rose: Als Michael Jackson am set ankam, war er sehr verschwiegen. Sein bus kam an und der bereich zwischen dem bus und dem gebäude war abgeschirmt. Der komplette zugang war abgeschirmt. Wirklich niemand konnte ihn sehen. Der polizeichef bemerkte sowas wie „Ich kann nicht glauben, dass sie mich nicht davon in kenntnis setzten, dass MJ ankam. Das ist verrückt. Wir müssen mehr polizeikräfte abstellen. Das könnte sonst einen aufstand geben.“ Ich sagte darauf „OK, tut mir leid, tut mir leid.“

Michael war wahrscheinlich ein paar stunden am set, da tauchte Michael Jordan auf. Und er kam in seinem BMW angefahren. Er fuhr einfach aufs set, parkte und stieg aus. Der polizeichef schaute zu mir rüber und sagte sowas wie „Wollen Sie sich über mich lustig machen?“ ich antwortete lachend „Ja es sind tatsächlich Michael Jordan und Michael Jackson zusammen.“ Er darauf „Oh mein gott.“ Also verstärkten sie die security. Ich denke, es schwirrte mehr security um Michael Jordan als um Michael Jackson.


DIE FILMARBEITEN

Kellogg: Mir wurde im verlauf klar, dass diese typen interessante leibhaftige performer sind. Indem wir sie zusammen brachten, wussten wir, dass sich ihrer beiden welten kreuzen würden. Musikvideodrehs laufen oft so ab, dass die musik gestartet wird und leute beginnen irgendwie zu agieren mit irgendwas. Michael Jordan brachte Michael Jackson bei, wie basketball gespielt wird und Michael Jackson brachte Michael Jordan bei, wie man tanzt –beides auf grundlegendem level. Das stand in keinem drehbuch. Sie spielten zuerst basketball. Wir würden einfach die musik laufen lassen und einen basketball werfen und sie spielen lassen, was immer auch zustande käme. Dann dachte ich, dass wir zu Michael Jackson sagen, „OK, zeig ihm den moonwalk.“ Die musik lief an der stelle, also machten wir keine soundaufnahmen. Honestly, we went back in and we sort of looped Michael Jordan's voice to that [scene] using the guy from Michael Jordan's cartoon. So zwei wochen später war die sache im kasten. Das ganze war irgendwie kitschig (lacht). Michael Jackson gab seinen part.
Rose: Es gab einen menge improvistationen, schon deswegen allein, weil der terminkalender der beiden menschen mit denen wir arbeiteten, ihr sein bestimmte. Michael Jacksons stärke ist die künstlerische performance und die stärke des anderen Michaels ist der sport. Jordan war ein ein wenig ungelenker tänzer, muss ich sagen, und Michael’s sprungwurf war ebenso schwach wie Jordans tanzen (lacht). Also machte das ganze das auffangen des moments zwischen beiden aus und dann nahmen wir das vorhandene material.

Für mich war alles sehr natürlich. Es war mehr eine art dokumentarischen filmwerk beabsichtigt als einen kompostitorischen film. Ich war zu jeder zeit am set und es war so surreal. David und ich witzelten oft darüber – in unserem business wereden oft stunts oder eine explosion gefilmt, ich sagte stets zu David, „Kuck’s dir in echt an, die aufzeichnung kannst du dir immer ansehen.“ Doch wenn du mit stars dieser liga arbeitest ist jede minute echt. So faszinierend ist die welt der stars.

Kellogg: Michael Jackson und sein team waren sehr besorgt wegen der beleuchtung. Es gab keine geheimnisse. Es standen keine regeln zwischen den beiden (Michaels), doch wenn Jackson performte, wurde grösste sorgfalt auf die beleuchtung gelegt. Er mochte kein licht von der seite, ich meine, er wollte nicht, dass man die schatten seines knochigen gesichts sähe. Er mochte das licht von der seite nicht und schatten auf einer seite seines gesichts. Er bevorzugte eine silhouette mit weichem licht, also mit einer art wand aus licht hinter der kamera.

Der aufwand glich vergleichsweise dem für eine makeup werbung. Da war er wirklich sehr speziell. Es gab jemand, der seine stelle beim line up einnahme und während die beleuchtung eingerichtet wurde, dann erst kam Michael hinzu. Zu der zeit trug diese op masken oft. Ich war jedoch der meinung, dass er gut aussah. (He sort of got a bad rep about that.) Er fürchtete einen schlechten ruf (wegen des tragen dieser OP masken) zu bekommen.

Rose: Eines machte das video etwas teuer, ob wohl es hätte kostengünstiger sein können. Wir mussten jede einzelne variante aufnehmen. Mit anderen worten, bei einem herkömmlichen set werden einige szenen in einem raum gefilmt; zuerst wird mit einem der mitwirkenden, dann mit dem anderen gedreht (and you would re-light.) Aber da uns nur begrenzte zeit mit beiden Michaels zur verfügung stand, also machten wir die beleuchtung mit dem ganzen materialbestand, samt allem optionalem, was wir brauchen könnten. Das war einer der gründe, warum das budget ein wenig höher war, als es normalerweise gewesen wäre.

Kellogg: Weil wir loslegten, als ob wir einen mayonaise werbeclip drehten, wurde von niemanden gross beachtet. Die leute fragten sich, was da vor sich ginge. Grosse wagen und wohnmobile/wohnwagen waren dort geparkt. Michael war wirklich gut. Da war eine ganze menge leute draussen und er ging jedes mal ans fenster und sagte hallo. Ich meine die leute waren ehrlich gesagt ein bisschen mehr aufgedreht wegen Michael Jordan, wahrscheinlich weil wir in seiner heimatstadt waren.

Rose: Es war keine presse anwesend (mit ausnahme der von NBA Entertainment) weil wir die videoarbeiten entsprechend kaschiert hatten. Die polizei drehte ziemlich am rad, sie erfuhren nichts aus erster hand, doch ich hatte das gefühl, das das die bessere wahl sei. Gegen ende gab es oft grosse menschenansammlungen. Die polizeipräsenz wurde erhöht, doch gegen ende unseres letzten drehtages kamen wir gerade so durch.


DIE PERSÖNLICHKEITEN

Kellog: Beide sind wirklich gute leute und es fällt leicht, mit ihnen zu arbeiten. Ich glaube sie mochten sich und das konnte man sehen. Michael Jordan war ein guter sportler und er lief am meisten gefahr, sich zu blamieren. Michael Jackson ist ein kind, er brachte wasserbomben, super soakers und fernsteuerautos mit ans set. Jackson und Jordan agierten spielerisch miteinander, und MJ war happy mit dem basketball umherzurennen. Er war nicht mal besonders gut in form oder dergleichen. Es war eine freude ihnen zuzusehen. Es war interessant zu sehen, dass beide gute performer waren. Michael Jackson ist ein schlechter basketballspieler und Michael Jordan konnte Michael Jackson in puncto tanzen nichts vormachen. Es machte freude beobachten zu können: „Wow, sie können ihren körper auf völlig unterschiedliche art und weise kontrollieren.“

Rose: Ohne Michael (Jackson) war nicht viel zu tun. Wenn Jordan am set war, zeigte sich, dass MJ mehr von der ruhigen und introvertierten sorte war und sich in seinen trailer zurückzog und Michael Jordan war völlig happy auf demspielfeld ein paar körbe zu werfen. Wir baten ein paar kinder ans set. Ich denke nicht, dass wir ihnen sagten, dass es um’s basketball spielen ging, es erfüllte sich für sie der traum das leben von stars kennen zu lernen und dieses unwirkliche basketballfeld inmitten einer (alten) waffenfabrik zu sehen. Jordan war klasse und ausserordentlich cool Ich denke nicht, dass wir ihnen offenbart haben, die sie dabei waren zu spielen, so ist es einem für sie erfüllten Starstruck-Traum ähnlich gewesen, um einzugehen und diese Art des surrealen Basketballgerichtes in der Mitte dieser Waffenkunde zu sehen. Er war gar nicht der reservierte typ mensch. Er war wirklich warmherzig und freundlich.

Kellogg: Jordan war 3 tage hier und er wusste, dass er an einem tag nur für zwei stunden hier sein würde. Ich erinnere, dass er mit einem blick über seine schulter und tippte mit dem finger auf sein handgelenk, die uhrzeit andeutete. Er kannte den zeitrahmen und auch, dass wir die sorte leute waren, die das gerne mal verschleppten. Er hatte genug shoots absolviert und wusste das. Ich denke, seine aufmerksamkeit währt ungefähr so lange wie ein spiel dauert. Es war nicht einfach, ihn bei der stange zu halten. Wir waren ein wenig besorgt Michael Jordan zu verlieren. Manchmal veranstaltet man dann für celebrities dinge, um sie bei laune zu halten

Rose: Michael Jackson hatte eine ganz besondere arbeitsweise, ich verhandelte fast nie mit ihm selbst, er war so geheimnisvoll/diskret/geheimnistuerisch. Er war so dezent in bezug auf sich selbst, dass stets seine leute als mittelsmänner um uns waren. Ein typisches beispiel von Michael’s arbeitsweise zeigte sich an einem unserer drehtage und rief an, „Michael, wir brauchen dich am set,“ und seine leute gaben zurück, „Ok, er wird nachher da sein.“ Ich entgegnete, „O OK, wir können den morgen mit anderer arbeit ausfüllen, um welche zeit wird er hier sein?“ Die antwort, „Nun ja, er wird wahrscheinlich in ein paar tagen hier sein.“ Ich zurück, „Hallo, wir sind in Chicago. Gestern war er noch hier. Was ist los?“ Sie sagten, „Er hat eine verabredung zum mittagessen.“ Und ich sagte drauf, „Oh OK, kann er das canceln, das video setup ist teuer?“ Und sie erklärten, „Es ein verabredung mit dem Präsidenten.“ (damals Goerge Bush) Ich sagte sowas wie, „O OK (lacht). Sein terminkalender steht weit über dem meinen. Wir unterbrechen nur für Michael, dass er diesen lunch haben kann und gehen nach L.A. zurück bis er wieder zurück in Chicago ist.“

Kellogg: "Ich erinnere, dass Michael Jackson irgendwie krank war. Ich weiss nicht, ob er die grippe hat oder was immer. Er sass in einer ecke rum. Wir bereiteten aufnahmen vor und er sah gar nicht gut aus, irgendwie nicht gesund. Doch sobald die music lief, stand er auf. Es war ziemlich verblüffend ihn so zu sehen, nur 12 fuss entfernt. Es war wirklich inspirierend. Ich denke, die ganze crew und überhaupt jeder dachte so: "Wie schafft er es, auf abruf trotzdem hochkonzentriert zu sein und so voller energie und bestechend scharf auf dem punkt?" Das war ziemlich erstaunlich. Ein ereignis von der sorte, was dir einen schauer über den rücken laufen lässt.

Das ist wahrscheinlich eines der bedeutentsten ereignisse, die ich vom gesamten shot mitnahm ‚Ist das einfach nur adrenalin? Woher/wie kommt das?‘ Das liess mich oft an jene packenden performances denken, wie sportveranstungen etwa.‘ Wir mussen Michael Jordan nicht wirklich pushen. Es war mitte der spielsaison und wir wollte vermeiden, das da was durcheinander gereit. Ich hatte schon mit anderen athleten werbeclips gedreht, wenn sie also tags drehten und abends ein spiel hatten, und sie spielten dann manchmal nicht so gut, dann fühlte ich mich persönlich verantwortlich.

DER EMPFANG
Kellogg: Rückblickend war es eine arbeit an einem sehr speziellen video und ich meine, die leute mochten es. Musik videos sind heutzutage eine aussterbende kunstform, nicht so in dieser früheren ära. Wir hatten eine menge künstlerische freiheit.
Als MTV an den start ging, war das der einizige platz, wenn man music videos sehen wollte. Heutzutage kann man sie überall sehen. Ich machte musik videos, werbeclips, TV shows und filme und ich kann sagen, die grösste kreative freiheit, die mir je begegnete, war die umsetzung eines musik videos wie ‚Jam‘. Ein schmales budget wird gewährt und du kannst loslegen und tun was du möchtest. Es schien, als ob das ganze von jede menge kreativität geprägt wäre, und manchmal brauchte es mehr geld, was das ganze nicht notwendigerweise kreativer machte.


DIE BLEIBENDE ERINNERUNG

Kellog: Das hatte nichts mit regiearbeit zu tun, es waren die momente, die sich ergaben, wenn sie zusammen waren und du versuchtest das filmisch festzuhalten. Es ist herausfordernd leute auf diese weise zusammenzubringen. Ich habe keine ahnung, welche art verhältnis sie miteinandere pflegten. Es war möglich, dass sie sich nie zuvor trafen. Jeder von beiden war einer der besten ihrer profession, über solches machte ich mir nicht wirklich gedanken. Wenn ich es noch ein mal tun könnte, hätte ich wahrscheinlich versucht, diesen moment festzuhalten. Das bildete ein besonderes merkmal des videos und ich vermisse einiges irgendwie.

Rose: Es war keine wirklich spezielle unterhaltung mehr oder weniger in bezug auf Jordan. Es war einfach so, wie es mit ihm war. Er ist einfach eine art von zugänglichem, sympatischem typen. Ein mal sagte ich zu ihm: "Wir werden in 10 minuten für dich bereit sein" und er erwiderte lachend, "Ich kann nicht mal in 10 minuten schei...." ( ) Ich denke, es war einfach seine art des völlig authentischen rüberkommens. Ich war einfach vollkommen hin und weg von jemand seiner berühmtheit, der mit uns umging wie ein ganz normaler typ.



Bilder vom video dreh hier.

[geli2709]

By Christopher Currell ColumnsApril 28, 2015

THE EVENT HORIZON -“SYNCLAVIER, MUSIC AND
MICHAEL JACKSON” – PART 2





The Making of the “Bad” Album

Michael’s album project was to be recorded at Westlake Recording Studios in Studio D. Westlake is located at Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, California. The day prior to officially starting the album, I had Michael’s Synclavier brought into the studio. The main tower was set up in a small room just outside the control room. The keyboard and terminal were set up in the control room. This was to be the Synclavier’s permanent home for the next 12 months. As I was setting up the Synclavier, Michael came in and we just chatted for a while. He was clearly excited that we were finally beginning to record his next album. One of the things he said during that conversation stayed with me always. He said to me, “The key to success in this business is to be humble.”

The next day, Bruce Swedien and Quincy Jones came in to the studio. I had already met Bruce but Michael introduced me to Quincy. Their demeanor was very polite but professional. I was thrilled to be working with these people. They were very top professionals in the music industry and the vibe was that we were there to make an album to top Thriller, the biggest selling album of all time! This was going to be a big task!

The Synclavier was new to Quincy. All he knew was that Michael had made his song demos on it. Bruce had a little experience on his prior movie score project for “Running Scared.” Both Bruce and Quincy had worked together many times so they already had a way of working together. Quincy’s way as a producer was to bring in combinations of various musicians and record them. Bruce’s way was to get the performance recorded as close as possible to what the musicians were playing live. The Synclaveir was about to change that idea of working.

My professional view was that I was there to operate the Synclavier and to be quiet and observe these talented people at work. For the next couple of weeks, I observed Quincy’s method of production and Bruce’s method of recording.

The main recording/production team that would work on the album nearly everyday for the next 12 months consisted of Michael Jackson (Artist, Producer), Quincy Jones (Producer), Bruce Swedien (Engineer), Craig Johnson (Second Engineer) and myself (Synclavier). Of course there were many musicians and technicians that would also be working as well. There are so many stories I could tell but there is not enough room to tell them all here, but here are a few.



I remember one day very early on, Quincy had his favorite session keyboard player Greg Phillinganes come in to record. The approach Quincy had was to re-record the Synclavier tracks with live session musicians. Quincy told me to play the Synclavier version of the song “Smooth Criminal” for Greg. I played the song and when it was near the end of the song, Greg asked if there was anything different on the fade out. I said, “No, it just repeats.” So he said, “Ok, let’s do it!” I called up the first sound and hit go. Bruce began to record and Greg proceeded to play every single part on the song…with only one take on each of the tracks! This included all the drums and percussion, the bass, the chords…everything! Perfectly! But what really amazed me was that he had only heard the song once! I was mind boggled! No wonder he was Quincy’s first call keyboardist!

Another day, Quincy brought in bass player Louis Johnson from the Brothers Johnson to play bass on some of the tracks Greg had played. Slam’n bass!

But I soon began to notice that there was no attention being paid to synchronizing these tracks with the Synclavier. There are many reasons why the Synclavier should be in sync with these recordings. I saw a possible train wreck in the near future if this was not addressed. I decided to break my usual silence and explain to Bruce. He basically told me that they have everything under control. So I said “Ok.”

I would arrive every day at about 10:00 am and we would work until maybe 7:00 pm or later. I would then drive to Michael’s house and work until about 1:00 or 2:00 am. We would work on Saturdays at Westlake but usually take Sundays off. But on Sundays, I would go to Michael’s house and work on songs all day and late into the night. This was to be my basic schedule everyday for the next 12 months.

One interesting note, for the first two weeks of working, Bruce would comment out of the blue everyday how he and the other Synclavier operator from his previous movie project, would do such and such and how cool it was and how good a Synclavier operator he was. Talk about pressure! All I could do is acknowledge and do my best. Then one day, again for no particular reason, Bruce turned to me and said, “You know, you are a lot better than (un-named)!” I was totally surprised! Bruce never mentioned him again! Wow!

One morning, John Robinson, drummer extraordinaire and another of Quincy’s top guys brought in six of Michael’s songs that he had programmed on an Oberheim drum machine. Most drum machine parts I had heard sounded very mechanical. Not so with these tracks. They sounded amazing! The feel was great! John said “He programed them in real time and were not quantized to a click.” John said He finished just in time because he was going on tour the next day with the famous group The Band. We recorded his drum tracks from the drum machine to digital tape. That day I was just observing. The next day, Michael came in to hear the tracks. I told him they sounded great. He listened and was dancing. When we finished listening, Michael agreed, they sounded great but…the arrangements were completely wrong! John was already gone on tour so he could not redo the tracks!

Bruce was perplexed as to what to do. I said, “I can put those tracks into the Synclavier and then rearrange everything correctly.” So he said “Ok” and I did it. This is when Bruce realized the importance of being able to sync the recordings with the Synclavier. So we proceeded to redo everything that we had already done, so we would have a solid framework from which to do anything. We could replay parts, change sounds, change arrangements…anything. I could even make a breathable click track from John’s drum machine performance so as to not mess with the feel! So for a few more weeks, the Synclavier became a “Band Aid.” We re-recorded everything in order to begin at square one.

Also, early on, when live tracks were being recorded, Michael would listen and say he liked the Synclavier versions better. This happened all the time, so soon, Quincy changed his way of working and we began to use the Synclavier for everything.



So many interesting people came into the studio during the making of the album. All friends of Michael or Quincy. People such as Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Taylor, George Lucas, etc., etc., etc. Very interesting!

After about six months of recording, Quincy decided, as a change of pace, to bring in a group of the best session players to record a ballad. I think it was the song, “I can’t stop loving you.” Everyone thought this was a good idea. As I recall, this group consisted of, among others, Greg Phillinganes (Keys Synclavier), Nathan East (Bass), N’dugu Chancler (Drums) and Paulinho da Costa (Percussion). When this group of musicians got together at Westlake, they realized that Michael was using the Synclavier. Nathan said, “So YOU’RE the reason why no one was being called.” What was interesting, these Los Angeles first call studio musicians had been aware that Michael was working on a new album but they were wondering why no one was being called to record. I was not received well by these musicians at the time because they thought I was taking away their work. What a great introduction to LA’s finest studio musicians! Yikes! Actually, I had never even considered that I was taking away work from anyone. I was just using the Synclavier as a creative tool for manifesting Michael’s musical ideas. As it turned out, Michael liked the Synclavier version of the song better...…Wow!

One day, Quincy informed me that Jimmy Smith was coming in to play. Quincy decided to bring in his modified MIDI Hammond B3 for Jimmy to play. We could record his performance via MIDI into the Synclavier. We could then have the possibility to modify his performance or change the sounds after the fact. Quincy said, “Jimmy is good for only a couple of takes so make sure you capture his performance the first time.” Quincy was correct. I got his performance into the Synclavier no problem. I even sampled every note of the Hammond sound he was using after he left the studio. Later, Quincy decided to crossfade his Hammond performance with a more modern synth solo by Greg. This is what ended up on the album.

I remember when Run-DMC came to Westlake for a meeting with Michael. Quincy thought Rap music was going to be the next big thing and he wanted Michael to do a collaboration with them. After the meeting, nothing seemed to happen. Later I asked Michael how it went. It seems they were very arrogant and demanding. Wrong attitude for them! Michael thought the vibe wasn’t right. Anyway, I asked Michael what he thought about Rap music. He said, He did not like it very much. It was not musical enough for him. He liked melodies and real singing.



Michael liked to double and triple track his vocal harmonies. Generally, Michael liked to really go for it on one set of harmonies to get the emotional impact. Then I would put those in the Synclavier and insert them in all the places in the song where those harmonies appeared. This procedure also reduced vocal fatigue from just repeating the same things multiple times…especially on repetitive out-choruses that went on for 5 minutes for dance mixes.

At one point in the project, Michael became concerned that for some reason, the songs were not sounding the same as we had originally recorded them into the Synclavier at his house. He had discussed this with Bruce but he did not seem to understand Michael’s concern. Michael liked to listen LOUD!!! When he would come into the control room at Westlake to listen to something…



everyone would run out of the room as he turned up the 25,000 watt speaker system to nearly full! He wanted to “feel” the music! Quincy even joked that during the making of Thriller, the speakers actually caught fire. This was taken as a sign for a hit album! Westlake blew a tweeter while we were doing the song “Bad”!

Anyway, Michael was concerned that the “punch” of the music was being lost somehow. Michael called a meeting with me and his manager Frank DiLeo to listen to the original tracks of the songs at Michael’s studio on the Synclavier. Frank agreed that there was a difference. Michael especially noticed this on the song “Smooth Criminal.” More attention began being put on this aspect of the recordings.

On “Speed Demon,” the original demo had a synthesizer sound doing a sweep up in the break before the solo. I thought that this was not very creative or interesting and had nothing to do with the song’s content. My idea was to replace it with a race car shifting through gears. I dropped the sounds into the Synclavier, made a patch, which included the gear shift sound and I played the race car shifting through the gears in the right timing with the groove. Michael loved it, so it is what you hear in the final song.



I don’t remember who’s idea it was to record Michael’s heartbeat for “Smooth Criminal.” It was an interesting project. Michael contacted Dr. Eric Chevlen and flew him down to Westlake from the Bay area. Dr. Chevlen had special equipment for recording the human heart. I recorded Michael’s heartbeat directly into the Synclavier in stereo. I digitally processed it in the Synclavier to give it a bit more clarity. I then controlled the speed of his heart digitally, slowly speeding it up. You can hear it in the beginning of “Smooth Criminal.”

During the recording of “Smooth Criminal,” Michael began shooting the dance scenes for the video. The song was not even close to being finished. I remember messengers coming to the studio every couple of hours to get the newest mix of what I was doing on the Synclavier so they could use it for the dance choreography over at the video sound stage.

On the song “Bad,” Michael was hearing a very specific bass sound. He was looking for a certain feel. This proved to be a bit of a challenge. I tried many bass sounds. Michael liked them but always there was something missing. In the end, the solution was to mix all the sounds Michael liked into one bass sound. To accomplish this took nine different bass sounds, which included synth sounds, organ bass pedal sounds as well as electric bass sounds. The composite worked and it is what you hear today on the song.

Michael really liked the demo of the song “Bad” so he made a special appointment for Quincy to hear it. Quincy liked it and thought it would be the hit single off the album. Quincy then played the tune for the executives at CBS and they liked it, too. Michael then thought the title of the album should be called “Bad.” Quincy said that the album better be good because the critics will really have a great time with that title!



I remember when Michael had hired Martin Scorsese to direct the “Bad” video. All of a sudden I was informed that I might have to go to New York with the Synclavier in case Michael needed it during the shoot. We were also working on other songs at Westlake (as well as working at Michael’s house) so there was a bit of a panic. This is where the phrase, “Chris needs to be cloned” became popular! It was common that I needed to be in two or three places at once! Finally, the day before we were supposed to leave, it was decided I should stay working at Westlake! Never a dull moment!

When the “Bad” video was rough edited, it was discovered that there were a few spots where Michael was singing some vocal effects on the video but there was no sound to go with them…such as his popular high pitched oooooo! So…I had to go find some of those ooooos on other recordings and drop them into the “Bad” track in the right place so it looked correct! It was then that Michael noticed that there was no intro to the song on the video. The job was given to me to create an intro for the song. I did this at my own studio on the Synclavier. Jerry Hey had just finished a terrific horn arrangement on “Bad” so I thought I would sample some of the horn hits from other sections of the song. I then re-pitch them, mixed in a percussion hit and a metallic sound and used this composite as a single keyboard sound. I then played in the intro that you hear at the beginning of “Bad”!

Michael liked the idea of the song “Bad” so he decided to call the upcoming tour the “Bad Tour.”

Michael became dissatisfied with the recording of “Smooth Criminal” so we re-recorded it. Michael liked it better but was still not convinced. More on this later.



Since nearly a year had passed of recording, CBS records wanted the album finished, so suddenly there was a flurry of activity at Westlake. Two rooms were going at the same time to put finishing touches on the album.

The making of the album was starting to wind down. Many people were asking me to work with them. Including Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd and others. Since there were some holes in my work schedule, I thought I might find a bit of time to work on these other projects. When I mentioned them to Michael, he said “No”…he needed me to work on videos, the tour, as well as finish the album. He had not mentioned these things before so I turned down all other work.

I asked Frank DiLeo when Michael’s tour would start. He told me that he was working on opening in Japan in three months. I then asked Michael, I have some time, so maybe I should start preparing the music for the tour. He said no, that the album had to be finished and done correctly or there will be no tour. I thought ok…no problem. Another month passed. The dates that DiLeo had mentioned were coming closer. I asked Michael again if I should be working on the music in preparation for the tour. He gave me the same answer. Michael was keeping me busy, but there was a bit of time to work on tour things and I always like to be prepared. I knew the band on the “Victory” tour with Michael’s brothers had rehearsed for three months. Since there was no word about the tour, I thought, there is no way that with only about eight weeks left that the tour would begin in Japan as Frank suggested.

On June 29, 1987, I remember coming home from Michael’s house in time to turn on the 11:00 news. Suddenly, the announcement came on, “Michael Jackson announces world tour to begin September 12, 1987 in Japan!” I had been working for Michael for over one and a half years nearly everyday and I find out about the tour on the 11:00 news! Wow! Essentially, we had to prepare maybe the biggest tour ever with the most famous singer of all time in about eight weeks! There was no band, no musicians…nothing!

The next morning my phone was ringing off the hook as everyone was in a panic!



Next month, I will conclude my Synclavier, Music and Michael Jackson story: The “Bad” world tour.
See you next month here at the Event Horizon!

- See more at: http://headphone.guru/the-event-hori....yVI3QZXl.dpuf

[rip.michael]

Danke für's herbringen @geli! Wie immer eine bereicherung !
Mir ist so, als ob dieser teil 2 schon in teilen oder ganz übesetzt wurde ... "malsuchengeht"
Wenn's im nirwana ist, hammer pech gehabt
Bin gespannt auf Teil 3



Hier ist Teil 1 der schilderungen von Christopher Currell:

THE EVENT HORIZON – “SYNCLAVIER, MUSIC AND MICHAEL JACKSON” – PART 1

Many people are interested in my work with Michael Jackson and have requested that I share some of my experiences. I thought about this and decided to talk a bit about my music interaction with Michael Jackson. We will return to “Out of Your Head” in two months.
Throughout the 70’s, I had been playing in various bands and doing recording sessions playing guitar. I had always been trying to alter or extend the sounds of my electric guitar. I found that, for me, the sound of guitar was limited compared to the sounds I heard in my head. I was always looking for some way to get some kind of abstract sound out of my guitar. I was already very familiar with the Moog synthesizer. But since it was attached to a keyboard and I was a guitar player, my access to new sounds was limited. There were no reliable guitar controllers for synthesizers at that time (circa 1970).
A big shift in my music career began when I was first introduced to the Synclavier II at the Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in May 1980. The Synclavier was originally developed as the “Dartmouth Digital Synthesizer” by Dartmouth College Professor Jon Appleton, in association with New England Digital Corp. (NED) co-founders Cameron W. Jones and Sydney A. Alonso. The Synclavier would become the pioneering prototype hardware and software system for all digital non-linear synthesis, polyphonic sampling, magnetic (hard-disk) recording and sequencing systems technology that is commonplace in all music and sound effects/design today.

When I heard the Synclavier II at AES, I was completely mesmerized by its sound quality. It had 32 voices. It also had what was called a digital memory recorder, essentially a built in 16 track, 15,000 note digital sequencer. The musician could control the parameters via the front panel or through a computer terminal. I could type notes and events into the Synclavier to create my compositions. It was not as easy as playing my guitar but I could interact with this system in a musical way.
I thought that if I had the Synclavier, I could play all my music myself without other musicians. Around this time period, I had become frustrated with the band concept because musicians were unreliable. I would put in lots of hours in rehearsal time and promotion just to have a band member quit because he needed to get a day job or he was not spending enough time with the wife, etc. The idea that I could compose all my music and perform it myself on the Synclavier was very appealing.
The Synclavier seemed like an answer to my musical dreams! I wanted one right away! That’s when I had an extreme reality check…this system was $40,000.00! I could barely afford my $500.00 month rent! It seemed I would have to make some real money to afford the Synclavier! My current lifestyle would need to be seriously upgraded to make a Synclavier purchase a reality.
I started calling many people who had a Synclavier or had access to one and tried to learn as much as I could about the machine. I probably was quite annoying since I was always asking questions but I was always treated courteously. These people were very generous with their time and I was given much help and information. One of these people was the west coast NED distributer, Denny Yeager.
I first tried to get a business loan. I went to many banks. I learned a lot about banking doing this. Every time I applied for a loan, I had to ask Denny to send the cost estimates. This began to be a routine. After being turned down by ALL the banks, I changed my strategy and tried to find a sponsor or investor. Again I had to ask Denny for the breakdowns for each time I did a business plan and submitted it to a potential investor. Meanwhile, I spent my last $80.00 on the Synclavier manual, which was the size of an LA phone book!
After two years of unsuccessfully trying to acquire the funds to buy a Synclavier and my last hope for an investor went south, Denny commented, “You really want a Synclavier don’t you?” I said “Of course!” Then he told me he had one sitting in his closet and that he would sell it to me on time as a personal loan. I was thrilled to say the least! He sent it back to NED to make sure everything was working properly and up to date. It arrived at my house in the summer of 1982!

I started using the Synclavier for music productions. I was then asked to talk to UCLA students about digital synthesis and I used the Synclavier as a teaching tool. I was also asked to do a local cable talk show about innovation and creativity. It was while I was doing this show that a representative of Warner Bros Records happened to tune in. He was impressed so he called me up and invited me over to Warner Bros for a meeting. At this meeting, he gave me an artist to produce. He also recommended an engineer, Paul Brown. Paul is now the number one producer for Smooth Jazz. We hit it off well and started a production company and began producing artists. The Synclavier was our main production tool. We had a sound that other producers and artists could not reproduce. The Synclavier was a good marketing tool! I was able to pay off the original loan to Denny with no problems and I started upgrading my Synclavier.
In 1983, sampling and a new keyboard were added to my system. For the next two years, I was doing various sessions with the Synclavier. I had branched off on my own as a producer and Synclavier programmer. It was in the summer of 1985 that I got a call from Michael Jackson. He had heard about me from the New England Digital company. Michael had a huge Synclavier system and he asked me if I would teach him how to use it. Apparently he had had many programmers operating his Synclavier but not being musicians, Michael couldn’t relate to them so he decided to learn it himself. I put together a nice learning program and schedule for Michael to learn the Synclavier. We finally scheduled a time where we could meet and begin my teaching. I went to his personal studio at his house on a Sunday morning. He introduced himself and was very hospitable and polite. I liked him right away. We sat down in front of the Synclavier and began his first lesson.
He told me “I don’t know anything about computers.” I said “no problem, first, you insert this floppy disk.” He said “time out” and said he did not know what a floppy disk was. I realized Michael barely knew how to operate a cassette recorder! His hands on with technology was very limited! So I got more simple and we continued. After three hours, I had taught Michael how to power up and boot up the Synclavier, call up his sound library and showed him how to call a sound down to the keyboard for him to play.
He said “That’s all I can take for today, can you come back tomorrow for a session?” I said “sure!” Little did I know that this would be the beginning of the most interesting four years of my life!
I came back the next day and we worked on one of Michael’s songs. He wanted me to come back everyday. He said to me “I want you to make unusual sounds.” I said “sure, no problem!” I like doing that all the time anyway! This was not work, this was fun! I began to think…if I want to continue to be here, I have to expand my job. I had realized that by having so many programmers and musicians using the Synclavier in the past, his sound library was in chaos. I thought that no matter if it is me or someone else that uses Michael’s Synclavier, the sound library had to be in some logical order that can be accessed easily. There were thousands and thousands of sounds on hard disks and computer storage tapes everywhere and none of them were organized in any way! I presented to Michael the problem and that I could organize his library for him. He said “sure!” So I began working longer hours. I was at his studio from about 10:00 am to about 1:00 am every day. This job ended up taking me six months, seventeen hours a day seven days a week! The year was 1986.
In the meantime, I was continuing to make “unusual sounds.” Unusual sounds are fun but they have no real meaning unless they are in some kind of context, so I would create grooves and various musical pieces that would demonstrate the possible uses for the sounds I was creating. When I was finished, I would run them off on a cassette tape and slide it under his bedroom door every night before I would go home. Many times, he would call my house at 2:00 am and would be all excited about some sounds or groove. I could hear the tape I had made blasting in the background! Michael likes to listen to music LOUD!
After a few weeks of working closely together, we both realized that our ability to communicate together was a bit unique. We just both understood each other about musical ideas and grooves. We noticed that words were used less often and we just “knew” what we were feeling or thinking. It quickly got to the point where Michael would say to me “make me a sound that makes me do this”…and he would do a dance move. I got it right away…and I could make him the sound that he was feeling. I have never worked with anyone else where we had this kind of musical rapport.

After about six months working with Michael everyday on various songs, sound design and library work, I got the word that Michael was soon to start his next album with Quincy Jones. We had lots of songs demoed. I was wondering if I was going to be working with Michael and Quincy or if my fun job would finally close.
One day, I was working in Michael’s studio when his secretary came in and announced to me and the engineer that Michael was having guests that evening and we could all go home at 5:00 pm. I thought ok cool. I worked for a few hours and as it was near 5:00, Michael’s secretary came in and said that Michael said I can stay. I really did not think much of it. Everyone left and I was alone making music on the Synclavier. It was dark outside when I heard voices of people entering the studio in the next room. Suddenly the door opened and in walked Michael with Diana Ross and an entourage of people. I was very surprised! Michael was giving Diana a tour of his studio. He then introduced me to Diana and told her what I did and showed her the Synclavier. Clearly he was showing off! Then he continued the tour and they walked out. This kind of experience would become normal over the next four years.

I was working one afternoon when Michael told me that he was going to start the new album very soon and that Bruce Sweden, his engineer for the Thriller album, was coming for a visit. Bruce was going to be the engineer for the new album so he was visiting Michael on a kind of combined social PR visit. Bruce came in the studio and was very friendly. Michael introduced me and told him what I did. Bruce acknowledged but was very focused on what he wanted to convey to Michael. He had just finished the sound track for a movie called “Running Scared” starring Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal. Bruce said that this was the first time he had done a whole project digitally and it sounded great! He was telling Michael all the details. Bruce then said that it was also the first time he had worked with the Synclavier and how amazing it was to be able to create sounds so fast and move tracks easily, etc. He said that the Synclavier operator was really good and a very nice person and that they had become friends. I knew who most of the Synclavier operators were, but not all personally. I knew the operator Bruce was talking about by name only.
I thought, wow, Bruce is promoting his Synclavier guy. It looks like I will be out of a job soon. I was a bit depressed but I had a good time the past six months and it had been a great experience. I was pretty sure I would not be working on the new album.
Everyone in Michael’s camp knew in a week, all the work at Michael’s studio would shift to WestLake Studios where the new album would be recorded. No one said anything to me. I did not know what would become of me. I just kept working as usual. Then the day before the work was to begin at Westlake, Michael’s secretary came in the studio and said to me that Michael wanted me to work on the album and to move the Synclavier to Westlake. Wow! Michael wanted me to work on the album! I was in! To say the least, I was thrilled!

Next month, I will continue my Synclavier and Michael Jackson story:
The making of the “Bad” album and the “Bad” world tour.

[rip.michael]

UK loves MJ “One of my fondest memories of M.J. is the first time he and I sat down to write out a set list for the show. He showed me a computer print out of what the fans voted as the songs they most wanted to hear, and then he showed me his own handwritten list of what he wanted based on that information. He asked me my opinion and I told him I liked it so far, but he didn't have any J5 or "Off The Wall" stuff on the list. He said, 'I don't?' and grabbed it, looked at it and then balled it up. We had a very difficult time trying to get that list together. If we did all of his hits, he would have been on the stage for about two weeks. What was great about the time we had together that day was seeing first hand the love and passion he had for pleasing his fans and wanting to make sure they were getting what they wanted from our show. I don't think I've ever worked with an artist that loved his fans more!”
Michael's music director Michael Beardon





"Eine meine schönsten erinnerungen an Michael ist die, als wir uns zum ersten mal zusammen setzten und eine set list für die show erarbeiteten. Er zeigte mit einen computerausdruck mit dem ergebnis eines fan votings der beliebtesten songs und zeigte er mir seine, eigene hand geschriebene liste, basierd auf der voting info. Er fragte mich nach meiner meinung und ich antwortete ihm, dass ich sie soweit gut fand, doch er hatte keine songs der J5 oder "Off The Wall" auf seiner liste. Er meinte, "Hab ich nicht?" und schnappte sie sich, sah sie durch und knüllte sie dann zusammen. Es war ziemlich schwierig zu versuchen diese liste zusammenzustellen. Wenn wir alle seine hits ausgewählt hätten, wäre er ungefähr zwei wochen auf der bühne. Wahrhaftig grossartig war das zusammen sein an diesem tag als ich aus erster hand miterleben durfte wie er die liebe und leidenschaft seinen fans widmete und sicherstellen wollte, dass sie das sehen würden, was sie von der show erwarteten. Ich denke nicht, dass ich je einen künstler kennen lernte, der seine fans mehr liebte!"

Michael's music director Michael Beardon

[rip.michael]

Auch eine art, sich an Michael Jackson zu erinnern.

Satiremagazin Charlie Hebdo titelte kurz nach MJ's tod:



"Michael Jackson endlich weiß"

*blasswerdumfall*

[rip.michael]

Ein essay: Dancing with Michael Jackson by Toni Bowers

Baltimore and its discontents

May 14th, 2015
Come and see, the moon is shining.
Come and see, the moon is walking.
Come and see, the moon is dancing.
— Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Got a feeling that we’re gonna raise the roof off!
Everybody just get down!
— Michael Jackson

BY NOW, videos of Dimitri Reeves dancing in various parts of Baltimore to the strains of Michael Jackson’s music have been watched millions of times. In the best-known clip, filmed by reporter Shomari Stone, Reeves delights startled spectators when, with “Beat It” blaring out from the curb, he unexpectedly starts floating down a littered street, mimicking Jackson’s jubilant, angry dance moves and bringing caution to an incendiary moment.

Don’t want to see no blood, don’t be a macho man. They’ll kick you, they’ll beat you, they’ll tell you it’s fair, so beat it.
On his Facebook page Reeves asked that viewers of the videos not parse out too minutely the possible significance of the lyrics he chose to dance to — “Beat It,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Will You Be There,” “Black or White,” and others. “I just wanted to dance,” he says. It was a superb instinct. When Reeves turned up the volume and reanimated magical steps from long ago, shared joy became present in the angry, grieving city, and the city responded. Individuals, knots of young men, and eventually, large crowds began jamming alongside Reeves, determination and joy written unmistakably on their faces.A strange, unexpected beauty materializes before our eyes, and we glimpse another Baltimore, very different from the media images — a city finding a way to heal from within.
(Bild enthalten)

On the same day as Reeves’s first videotaped dance, I was pacing around an expensive “specialty” grocery in Philadelphia. The muzak must have been buzzing away unnoticed until suddenly there it was: the air filled with an ageless, raucous beat, and “Thriller” came on. In an instant, everyone was moving. The man slicing the meat swayed ever so slightly left and right. The face of the armed guard at the entrance (the only person of color in the store) softened; he began to nod. A woman near me paused and gazed away. Feet tapped. For a mysterious instant, something that we needed and had lost became present again.
It was a great moment, but there was something missing, too. Though everyone responded to the music, it was with an odd furtiveness — not openly, communally, or with the infectious jubilation going on in Baltimore. No eyes met, no one laughed or sang, no one moved without restraint or melted into the beat. Another song came on. We went back to shuffling behind our carts and examining artisan cheeses. Nothing changed.
I’ve been thinking ever since about those two scenes which, different as they were, had one thing in common: Michael Jackson. Dimitri Reeves could have chosen to play a thousand more recent and hip tracks than “Beat It,” but his choice to dance to Jackson’s tune was unerring. For perhaps more than any other entertainer, Michael Jackson deliberately constructed his music as a gift of hope and healing. Song after song offers a uniquely compassionate vision, a stubborn belief in human capacities for connection, pleasure, and justice-making. Do those ideals seem canned or quaint to you? Does the notion that music can rearrange the world seem far-fetched? I have tended to think so myself. But the shimmering moments Reeves created in Baltimore suggest otherwise.
Reeves’s powerful dance reminds us that Jackson achieved more than irresistible, superbly marketable tracks, or even magnificent music. His work also remains politically potent. One reason for that is Jackson’s insistence on responsibility and empathy — who am I to be blind, pretending not to see their need? Another is his work’s constantly reiterated invitation: Come and dance with me. We busy shoppers declined to dance and the loss was ours; but Dimitri Reeves and his neighbors chose, more wisely, to dance with Michael Jackson: to turn it way up, take it to others, refuse self-consciousness and judgement, and rejoice.
Will dancing with Michael Jackson magically heal the world and make it a better place for the entire human race? Will it answer the question a little girl asks a policeman in “We’ve Had Enough,” How is it that you get to choose who will live and who will die? Will it bring about justice for Freddie Gray or repair a racist “justice” system? No. But it could help; indeed, as Reeves has shown, it is already helping.
What’s odd is the way mainstream culture in the United States, which needs all the help it can get, seems to resist Jackson’s outstretched hand. It’s noticeable: for a man who ruled the world of popular music for decades not long past, Michael Jackson has become a strangely shadowy figure. Not on the Las Vegas strip or at Sony Music, of course, where he continues to rake in millions every year and remains by far the highest-earning musician in the world, largely because of overseas sales.
(Bild enthalten)

What I’m talking about is mainstream, main-street cultures in the US, especially the cultures of privileged, white Americans like those at the Philadelphia grocery store. There, a cold-shoulder attitude toward Michael Jackson and his music has solidified, along with a reluctance to celebrate Jackson’s unabashed idealism, pioneering queer persona, and practices of inclusion and compassion. There is even a grudging quality to acknowledgments of his superb artistry. We don’t face Michael Jackson directly, with recognition. We don’t regard his achievement with the wonder it deserves. We don’t dance.
No matter what the context, this would be a pretty unworthy way to behave toward one of the 20th-century’s most important artists. But it’s an especially unwise attitude to take now, because it allows us to deflect the challenges that Jackson, both the man and the music, posed to ways of thinking and behaving that continue to poison communities in this country. Why should this be?
I asked a 20-something friend what he thought of Michael Jackson’s music: do kids still dance to it? My friend’s response was instructive. “Great music,” he said, “but when someone got up to what he did with little children, he’s better forgotten.” I was stunned. Is it possible? After one of the most expensive and intensive trials in American history resulted in “not guilty” on all counts, after repeated demonstrations that Michael Jackson engaged in no wrongdoing but was targeted by extortionists, and in the face of the now huge amount of consistent testimony to the honorable, damaged human being Jackson actually was, can it be that the media bottom-feeders who saw his lynching as a profit opportunity continue, to this day, to define Jackson and limit the power of his work? Apparently so. The slow-motion crucifixion of Jackson’s reputation that took place more than a decade ago still goes on.
It goes on, moreover, in unexpected ways. I do not want to suggest that what happened to Jackson is in any sufficient way comparable to what has happened to Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and scores of other Americans of color who have died recently at the hands of officers of the law. Jackson, after all, survived his ordeal (barely), and went on (briefly). I am not saying that all the recent suffering and injustice has some direct connection to Jackson’s specific experiences. But I do want to argue that the same structures of injustice that are permitting civil authorities to murder unarmed American citizens right now also hurt Jackson, and that his case can help us to understand and resist those structures.
The same nation of viewers who were willing to sit by and let the nightmare engulf Jackson now watches even more harrowing experiences overtake dozens of others. Some observers are using the irresponsibly selective footage from Baltimore that the national media have presented as fodder for reinforcing their prejudices. (Who would guess, watching TV, that destruction has been less common than orderly demonstrations and gestures of solidarity?) Jackson’s experiences and those of the many, many people of color who have recently run afoul of the police and died for it are not the same. But they are, in certain ways, related. They are disgraceful in similar ways, and for similar reasons. They expose similar pathologies that are eating away at us, and make us see more than we want to see about ourselves.
There is one thing that Michael Jackson’s experience makes clear. The acts of injustice that we are witnessing now are founded on, in a way authorized by, an appalling, long-standing fact of life in the US: that when it comes to respect, civil rights, and justice, it does matter if you’re black or white. Jackson was the most visible American of color in recent years who found that he had only to be accused to be treated savagely. But the discovery was by no means unique to him. (What was unique was how directly responsible the media were for what Jackson suffered; few actual criminals have to endure the ignominy he did in front of a global audience.) In Jackson’s case as in every one of the sickening cases we have heard about in the past couple of years, an American of color was denied one of the most precious rights all Americans supposedly enjoy: the presumption of innocence. Each of the cases is different, but in that important way, each is alike, too.
In Jackson’s case, what was perhaps most remarkable was the fact that every claim he made seemed somehow automatically impugnable, in the grossest and most intimate terms, by strangers, and in public. There were no rules and no respect. As a new husband, Jackson sat and listened while a journalist, on live international television, asked his wife to confirm that he was capable of sex. Not long before, another had asked him point blank whether he was a virgin. The anxiety that developed and intensified over the course of Jackson’s life was in fact a reasonable response to such monstrosity. No other hounded celebrity except the late Princess of Wales experienced the kind of ruthless, unrelenting invasions Jackson endured. Even Diana only faced the onslaught as an adult; Jackson had to deal with it all his life — from the nights when his venal father escorted groups of giggling girls to watch the adolescent Michael sleep to those final, outrageous, globally distributed images, snapped through the ambulance window, of a dying or already dead Jackson being pummeled and intubated. And then there was the much-reprinted image of the corpse, naked on the medical examiner’s gurney.
These media outrages and countless others were (and are) routinely explained via reference to Jackson’s peculiar character. He brought it on himself, we are told, with that confounding public persona — rather like an unarmed, racially marked teenager who “looks threatening.” But recourse to that kind of narrowly personal explanation deflects attention from the real problems, pervasive racism and systemic injustice. To cite the peculiarities or failures of the person you are brutalizing as a way to explain (excuse? extenuate?) the brutalization is a way of blaming the victim. It allows you to ignore how your own behavior and habits of thought accommodate brutality, if only through passivity.
To say so is not the same as saying that Michael Jackson was not remarkably vulnerable to abuse or that he didn’t make serious errors. He was, he did. Sentimental, reticent, and overly accommodating as victims of childhood abuse so often are, isolated, fragile, narcissistic, strange, and filthy rich, terrified of confrontation, spottily educated while burdened with genius, and used to his family making a meal of him, Jackson was, as Steven Spielberg famously put it, “like a fawn in a burning forest.” But none of that is the same as being a criminal, any more than running down a street or not allowing an unwarranted search of one’s home or cutting school is a reason to be shot. No wonder Jackson was overwhelmed. No wonder Americans are demonstrating in the streets. Who could do otherwise?
Beyond the reductive focus on individual peculiarities, there is another explanation relevant to both Jackson’s suffering and the civil rights crisis that we are facing now: racism. That’s the word, and it’s time to speak it out loud. Racism is not, primarily, about the people who suffer it; it is about those who practice it. It is not about different or strange individuals; it is about the everyday people who decide who is different and strange and choose to fear rather than celebrate them.
Once in awhile, the racism that always swirled in shadows around Jackson clearly showed its demon face — for instance when the ignorant, seeing vitiligo and its treatment, accused him of “wanting to be white.” Michael Jackson always identified as black (I just look in the mirror; I know I’m black) andcredited black entertainers as his major influences (James Brown, Jackie Wilson, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Otis Blackwell, and Sly Stone, among many others). He celebrated his African-American heritage to the point of giving both his sons his great-great-grandfather’s slave name, Prince. His music never abandoned, and always exalted, the glorious traditions of black American music. Nevertheless, Jackson is hated for his supposed desire to be white.
(Bild enthalten)
This irrational hatred dogs Jackson even after his death in June, 2009. Charlie Hebdo’s July cover that year showed a Jackson-accessoried skeleton with the caption “Michael Jackson, en fin blanc” — “Michael Jackson, white at last.”A squib circulating right now on the internet includes a photo of a fashion model with vitiligo and helpfully reminds us that this is the same disease Jackson “claimed” to have had. “Claimed,” despite a lifetime’s worth of photographic evidence, the unanimous testimony of family members, dermatologists, and make-up artists, the fact that the entertainer’s elder son seems also to have the rare hereditary disease, and even the autopsy’s definitive diagnosis. What white entertainer has ever won so little sympathy for a lifelong debilitating illness (one of several that Jackson suffered)? When has so little benefit-of-the-doubt been granted, so much malevolent nonsense been constructed? “He will not swiftly be forgiven for having turned so many tables,” James Baldwin wrote, presciently, as Thriller conquered the world.
It should not surprise anyone that Michael Jackson, like virtually every other person of color in this society, suffered racism. What is remarkable is how starkly and routinely the individual explanation has been substituted for the social one in Jackson’s case. The pattern is so egregious that, once we see it, it can educate us about our current dire state of affairs and show us the importance of naming and correcting this habit of deflection, self-justification, and continued abuse. Privileged white Americans need to learn to recognize their tendency to individualize oppression. Individuals of course contribute to their own lives; but in the context of America’s racial malaise, the problem is not primarily individual people of color; the problem is the system, and the habitual attitudes of those who enjoy the full privileges of citizens.
In the United States, we tend to understand difference as pathology. We are uncomfortable with anyone who exceeds our categories, disturbs our prejudices, or calls the bluff on reigning platitudes. Michael Jackson and his music did all that at once, on many levels. What is most important, though, and should not be forgotten, is that he did it with joy. To dwell over-long on Jackson’s suffering would be to forget his indomitable playfulness and strength of will. The amazing thing is not, finally, how weird Michael Jackson was or how difficult his life was, but how great was his capacity for delight, his generosity, his ability and determination to bring joy to others. Endlessly curious, delighted with people, and thrilled by the beauty of the world, he just had so much fun. He suffered, yes; he faced down and endured painful experiences. But that’s what makes his exuberance so remarkable, and makes the fact that he brought (and continues to bring) pleasure to other people so precious. No matter what, he danced. We need to remember and honor that, and dance along.
Dimitri Reeves taught us many things late last month. One was that we need Michael Jackson now more than ever. The shameful treatment Jackson received at the hands of the popular culture he did so much to enrich was not an isolated phenomenon — it was only too symptomatic. Considered carefully, Jackson’s experience exposes pernicious attitudes and habits that are still very much at work, right now. It would be far better, of course, if Jackson hadn’t had to go though what he did, just as it would be better if Americans of color could walk our streets safe from agents of the law. The more powerful majority ought to be able to learn how to behave without the suffering of those already disadvantaged, and no amount of learning or growth for the already privileged can begin to redeem the kinds of wrongs we are talking about. But at the same time, it is crucial that those who enjoy privileges realize that not everyone does, and use their power to change that. At the very least, we should be demanding at this moment that everyone enjoy the presumption of innocence, something that would require revisions in the way the media and law enforcement operate.
Thanks to Dimitri Reeves, we’ve seen one small way to start in a healing direction, a way that he drew directly from Michael Jackson: we can step out and dance in the street, spreading joy instead of fear. Come and dance with me, Jackson wrote; Join me in my dance, please join me now.* Reeves took Jackson up on the invitation.
To dance with Michael Jackson, to take his outstretched hand, is about more than honoring a difficult, extraordinary life and immense gifts — though it is high time we did that without grudging, judging, or telling lies. It is something we must do for ourselves and for each other — not in an attempt to keep ourselves safe from the present pain and danger, but to move farther into the most perplexing aspects of our own lives, and confront them with joy. It is a way of choosing the kind of future we want, and the kind of people we want to be.
Dancing with Michael Jackson will mean letting go of hatred and fear, acknowledging beauty in what seems strange to us, and being willing to take a chance. It will demand that we deal with other people imaginatively, empathetically, in what we think of as our own space, and with respect. In these ways, the dance Jackson invites us to dance is a kind of ethical practice. It is a way of living up to our creeds and professions, and of taking responsibility for our privileges.

Got the point? Good. Let's dance.


Resümee:

Danke an Dimitri Reeves für das aufzeigen seines wegs einer heilende richtung, einen weg, den er direkt von Michael Jackson bezog: wir können hinausgehen und auf der straße tanzen und freude verbreiten anstatt angst. 'Komm und tanze mit mir', schrieb Jackson; Begegne mir in meinem tanz, bitte komm jetzt.' Reeves nahm Jacksons einladung an.

Mit Michael Jackson zu tanzen, seine ausgestreckte hand zu nehmen, bedeutet mehr als ein schwieriges, ausserordentliches leben und immense begabungen zu ehren - es ist vielmehr höchste zeit das ohne widerwillen, urteilen und lügen zu verbreiten zu tun. Das ist eine aufgabe, die wir für uns selbst und füreinander tun müssen - nicht um uns vor gegenwärtigem schmerz und gefahr zu bewahren, sonderen den eigenen, verwirrenden aspekten des lebens zu begegen und ihnen freude voranzustellen. Solches tun bedeutet den gewollten weg in die zukunft zu wählen und die menschen zu werden, die wir sein wollen.

Mit Michael Jackson tanzen wird bewirken den hass und die angst gehen zu lassen, die schönheit zu sehen in dem was uns fremd vorkommt und bereit zu sein, eine chance wahrzunehmen. Das wird beanspruchen, dass wir unseren mitmenschen mit schöpferischer energie, mitfühlsam und mit achtung begegnen, so wie wir es selbst gerne erfahren möchten. Mittels des tanzes zu dem uns Michael Jackson einläd, entfaltet sich eine form einer ethischen übung. Es ist ein weg, unsere credos und bekenntnisse zu leben und für unsere privilegien verantwortung zu übernehmen.




Wer die vollständige übersetzung des essays lesen möchte, im All4Michael blog findet man sie.

1000 dank an dieser stelle für die tolle übersetzungsarbeit!




*Textfragment aus "Are You Listening?" - DANCING THE DREAM - Michael Jackson

[geli2709]

Animationsvideo: Slash über MJ

27. Mai 2015

Das neuste Interview, in dem Slash über MJ spricht, wurde mit einem Animationsvideo versehen.

Slash, der für das Dangerous Album erstmals mit Michael Jackson arbeitete und unter anderem auf der Dangerous Tournee mit dem King of Pop auf der Bühne stand, spricht in folgendem Animationsvideo von radio.com:

Quelle: jackson.ch, radio.com, youtube.com

Weiterlesen unter http://www.jackson.ch/animationsvideo-slash-ueber-mj/
Copyright © jackson.ch

Wer ist so lieb und macht eine Übersetzung/Zusammenfassung ?

[rip.michael]

UK loves MJ


"He starts the record with a scream, but ends it with a smile." ~

Happy 20th Anniversary to the HIStory album ~ a beautiful post from Brad Sundberg as he remembers the recording of the 'HIStory' album with Michael 20 Years


Let's set the stage.
In 1994 the world was not as innocent as perhaps it was a decade earlier. Rwanda was hit with a brutal massacre. Sarajevo was under attack by the Serbs, Chechnya was having some separation issues with Russia, and the US was sending the military to the Persian Gulf.
Nancy Kerrigan got beaten with a pipe, OJ Simpson was involved in the world's slowest car chase, arrested and charged with murder and Kurt Cobain tragically ended his own life. Tom Hanks became Forrest Gump and Whitney Houston won record of the year with "I Will Always Love You". And Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in the country's first inter-racial election.
All in the same year that we were in New York recording an album called HIStory.
Michael married a very pretty Lisa Marie Presley (a complete surprise to us), and we all enjoyed having her in the studio. She made him happy, and I think he did the same for her. They were fun to be around.
Michael had been through a crushing amount of stress those previous years since Dangerous. I can't imagine many people going through what he went through, and coming out the other side with as much joy, laughter and love as he did.
As we plowed through the production of the album, we were told it would be a quick three or four month project. I good-naturedly nodded my head in agreement, knowing it would take much longer - Michael's level of perfectionism was not something to be rushed.
Originally it was to be a "Greatest Hits" with a couple new songs. But the material was so strong, and Michael had so much to say that it was becoming a larger project. Brad Buxer reminded me of the day that he, Michael and I were in one of the lounges at The Hit Factory, and I looked at Michael and said, "You need to just do a full album of new music - there is too much good stuff here." That certainly was not the moment that the double-album was hatched, but I am glad to have at least shared my opinion on the matter.
In the spring of 1995, after mixing and mastering were completed, we knew we were sitting on an amazing musical product. Bruce Swedien and Michael were so driven to perfection that I was actually sent to the CD plant to inspect the process and get some initial discs to take back to the studio for testing. In fact, we tested the first batch of CDs, cassettes, LPs and - Minidiscs. Remember those?
I had a full listening rig set up at Hit Factory, and I would evaluate one after an other after another. I had heard some of those songs for nearly 15 months by then. And in the case of "Earth Song" and "Come Together", nearly a decade.
During one of those visits to a CD plant in New Jersey, I heard the news of the Oklahoma City bombing, killing so many people including a daycare full of innocent children. What a messed up world.
Michael used to talk about wanting to help every child in need, wanting to fix things that needed to be fixed. He was a dreamer, and he dreamed of a better world. He dreamed of a world filled with laughter and music, and in 1995 his contribution to our world was HIStory.
The greatest hits assortment truly was jaw-dropping in its depth of musical enormity, but Disc 2 was what people were waiting for. And the first thing Michael wanted them to hear was the duet with his sister Janet. He had a lot of stuff to get off his chest, and "Scream" was a good place to start.
By the time HIStory was released, I had known Michael for about 11 years. Was he the same young man I originally met during Captain EO? Yes, and no. But mostly yes. He had been hurt, he had been mocked, he had been bullied. But he still laughed. He still threw water balloons out of the studio window. He still was generous with his time. He still insisted that we bring fans into the studio and made sure they were fed. He still sent my family beautiful gift baskets when each of our daughters was born. He was still Michael.
Being so close to these albums, being a part of their birth, their growth and their graduation/introduction to the public is hard to explain, almost hard for me to understand. Michael moved so fast, he worked so hard, he pushed the team, the musicians and the technology as hard as possible, but he did it all with a smile. The work was enjoyable. The challenges were fun. Of course we can manage 14 studios across the country at once (I think). Of course we can harness nearly 200 digital tracks of music and nearly 200 moving faders in two studios side-by-side with miles of cable and millions of dollars of recording equipment and have it all come together flawlessly - just give us a couple hours to work out some of the details first.
"They Don't Care About Us" has become an anthem for many people around the world.
To this day I get chills when I hear "Stranger In Moscow", one of my favorite MJ songs of all time.
"Earth Song" points out so vividly the world that surrounded us in 1994 and 1995, and it remains just as strong today.
"2Bad" always makes me remember the insane video Michael produced for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPUcbQcUyVU I built a giant speaker rig for him to dance to on the set, and it was played so loud that I replaced many blown speakers to keep up with his desire to feel the music. "Hurt me, Brad!!" I still can't listen to the song a modest volume - it must be loud.
"Childhood", "Little Susie" and "Smile" are pure magic.
Each song on HIStory represents Michael wanting to tell you something. He had been through hell, and the world was not as soft as it was during "Off The Wall". He was older, and, like I said, he wanted to get some stuff off of his chest. But he was still Michael. He starts the record with a scream, but ends it with a smile.
I am proud of each of project, song, mix, demo, video, tour, amusement ride and special project I worked on with Michael. But I am especially proud of the "HIStory" album. It was an amazing time, and I am grateful and blessed to have been a part of it. Looking back twenty years later, I am just as proud as I was the first time I saw it for sale at Tower Records on Sunset.
Happy 20th Anniversary to the HIStory album, and a deep, sincere "thank you" to Michael for letting me be a small part of his history.
Brad




"Das album begann mit einem schrei und endete mit einem lächeln"

Herzlichen glückwunsch zum 20jährigen jubiläum des HIStory albums ~ ein schöner post von Brad Sundberg in erinnerung an die aufnahme des HIStory albums





20 Years

Let's set the stage.

1994 war die welt nicht so unschuldig wie vielleicht ein jahrzehnt zuvor. In Ruanda ereigneten sich die brutalen massaker. Sarajevo wurde von den Serben angegriffen, Tschetschenien verfolgte trennungsabsichten von Russland und die Vereinigten Staaten schickten das militär in der Persischen Golf.

Nancy Kerrigan (eiskunstläuferin) wurde mit einem metallrohr niedergestrecktg, OJ Simpson war in die langsamsten verfolgungsjagd per auto involviert, festgenommen und des mordes bezichtigt und Kurt Cobain beendete auf tragische art sein leben. Tom Hanks wurde Forrest Gump und Whitney Houston gelang die bestverkaufteste platte mit „I will always love you“. Und Nelson Mandela wurde zum präsidenten Südafikas gewählt in der ersten rassen übergreifenden wahl des landes.

Im allergleichen jahr waren wir in New York, um ein album namens HIStory aufzunehmen.
Michael heiratete die sehr hübsche Lisa Marie Presley (zu unserer vollkommenen überraschung), und wir waren alle sehr erfreut, sie im studio zu haben. Sie machte ihn glücklich und ich denke das galt auch umgekehrt. Sie hatten spass hier zu sein.

Michael hatte eine vielzahl von niederschmetternden momenten in den vorangangenen jahren seit Dangerous miterleben müssen. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass viele leute das durchleben mussten, was er erlebte und doch zeigte er sich am ende wieder so voller freude, lachen und liebe.

Als wir die produktion des albums durchgingen, wurde uns klar gemacht, dass es sich um ein rasches, drei- oder viermonatiges projekt handele. Ich nickte in wohlmeinender zustimmung, wusste aber, dass es viel länger beanspruchen würde – Michael’s level des perfektionismus konnte nicht mit flinker hand erledigt werden.

Ursprünglich sollte e sein “Greatest Hits” (album) werden mit ein paar neuen songs. Doch das material war so stark und Michael hatte so viel zu sagen, so wurde es also ein längeres projekt. Brad Buxer erinnerte an den tag, als Michael, er und ich uns in einer der lounges von The Hit Factory aufhielten ich wandte mich Michael zu und sagte, „Du musst einfach ein ganzes album mit neuer musik machen – das ist so viel guter neuer stoff.“ Das war sicher nicht der augenblick, wo ein doppelalbum beschlossene sache war, doch ich bin im nachhinein froh meine meinung dazu kundgetan zu haben.

Im frühjahr 1995 war das abmischen und aufnehmen abgeschlossen und uns war bewusst, dass wir da ein erstaunliches musikalisches produkt vor uns hatten. Bruce Swedien und Michael waren so erpicht nach perfektion, dass ich zum CD presswerk entsandt wurde, um den prozess in augenschein zu nehmen und ein paar pressfrische scheiben mit ins studio zu bringen um sie zu testen. Ja tatsache, wir testeten die ersten chargen CDs, kassetten, LPs und minidics. Erinnert sich noch jemand an diese?

Ich hätte die volle ausrüstung in der Hit Factory und ich bewertete alle songs nacheinander. Einige dieser songs kannte ich bereits fast 15 monate bis zu dem zeitpunkt. Im fall von „Earth Song“ and „Come Together“ war es nahezu ein jahrzehnt.

Während einer dieser besuche im CD werk in New Jersey, erreichten mit die news des bombenanschlags in Oklahoma City, so viele menschen kamen um einschliesslich der unschuldigen kinder einer tagesstätte. Was für eine besch… welt.

Michael sprach stets davon kindern in not helfen zu wollen, wollte für das sorgen, was gebraucht würde. Er war ein träumer und er träumte von einer besseren welt. Er träumte von einer welt voller lachen und musik und 1995 bildete HIStory seinen beitrag für unsere welt.

Die greatest hits auswahl war in der tat höchst erstaunlich in der tiefe seiner enormen tragweite, aber disc 2 war das, auf was die leute warteten. Und das erste, was Michael verlauten liess war das duett mit seiner schwester Janet. Er hatte eine menge am herzen liegendes material auf lager und durch „Scream“ war's ein guter beginn.

Als HIStory herauskam kannte ich Michael bereits seit 11 jahren. War er noch immer der gleiche junge mann den ich ursprünglich bei Captain EO traf? Ja und nein. Meistens jedoch ja. Er war verletzt worden, verspotted und schikaniert. Aber er lachte noch immer. Er warf noch immer wasserbomben aus dem studiofenster. Er ging noch immer grosszügig mit seiner zeit um. Er stellte noch immer sicher, dass wir fans ins studio brachten und sichergestellt war, dass sie versorgt wurden. Er sandte noch immer schöne geschenkkörbe an meine familie aus anlass der geburt jeder meiner töchter. Er war immer Michael.

So nahe am entstehen dieser alben zu sein, an ihrer geburt teil zu haben, an ihrem wachsen und abschluss und öffentlicher vorstellung teil zu haben ist schwierig verständlich zu machen, selbst für mich manchmal nicht leicht zu erfassen. Michael war so enorm eifrig, arbeitete so hart, pushte das team, die musiker und die technik so intensiv wie möglich, doch er tat das alles mit einem lächeln. Es war ein sehr erfreuliches arbeiten. Die herausforderungen waren eine freude. Selbstverständich waren wir auch in der lage 14 studios überall im land zu managen. Selbstverständlich nutzten wir nahezu 200 digitale musik tracks und fast 200 überblenden in zwei studios inmitten von kilometern von kabeln und millionenschwerem aufnahme equipement und führten alles fehlerfrei zusammen – obwohl uns gerade mal ein paar stunden gewährt wurden, um erste details auszuarbeiten.

"They Don't Care About Us" wurde für viele menschen überall auf der welt zu einer hymne.

Bis heute bekomme ich eine gänsehaut, wenn ich “Stranger In Moskow”höre, einer meiner grössten MJ favoriten aller zeiten.

“Earth Song” beschreibt so lebendig die uns umgebende welt von 1994 und 1995 und der song blieb bis heute stark.

“2BAD” erinnert mich mich stets an das verrückte video, was Michael dafür produzierte.
Ich stellte eine riesige lautsprecheranlage für ihn am set bereit, er tanzte dazu und der lautstärke wurde so stark aufgedreht, dass ich viele kaputte lausprecher ersetzen musste, um seinem wunsch gerecht zu werden, die musik spüren zu können. „Mach mich fertig, Brad!!“ Ich kann noch immer nicht einen song in moderater lautstärke hören – es muss laut sein.

“Childhood”, “Little Susie” und “Smile” sind pure magie.

Jeder titel auf HIStory repräsentiert Michael, indem er etwas vermitteln möchte. Er ist durch die hölle gegangen und die welt war nicht so soft, als sie zu zeiten von „Off The Wall“ war. Er war älter/reifer, und wie ich sagte, er war gewillt solchen stoff zu bringen, der ihm am herzen lag. Aber er war immer Michael. Er begann das album mit einem schrei und beendete es mit einem lächeln.

Ich bin stolz auf jedes projekt, jeden song, mix, demo, video, tour, amusement ride und speziellen projekten, die ich mit Michael ausarbeitete. Doch ich bin besonders stolz auf das „HIStory“ album. Es war eine ganz besondere zeit und ich bin dankbar und gesegnet, teil des ganzen gewesen zu sein. Aus der sicht von 20 jahren später, bin ich noch genauso stolz drauf, als zu der zeit, als das album zum allerersten mal bei Tower Records zum verkauf bereit stand.
Herzlichen glückwunsch zum 20jährigen jubiläum des HIStory albums und ein tief empfundenes, von herzen kommendes „danke“ an Michael, mich meinen kleinen beitrag zu seiner geschichte leisten zu dürfen.

Brad

[rip.michael]

Teile 1 und 2 sind hier ##1152, 1153

Hier ist teil 3:

UK loves MJ


THE EVENT HORIZON – “SYNCLAVIER, MUSIC AND MICHAEL JACKSON” PART 3 - more next month!
Christopher Currell, who toured with Michael on the 'Bad' Tour [Synclavier] with more info on preparing with Michael for the tour and Michael will perform 'Thriller' live for the first time!
These are long articles so have given the links below ~ If you missed parts 1/2 links for these are also at the end of the post.
Excerpt ~ An interesting story about performing Thriller. Michael told me he got a lot of negative reaction to the original release of Thriller from his church! They thought the song was the devil’s work and that under no circumstances should Michael perform it live. Michael told me he did not understand their reaction. His intention was not evil or devils work. He said it was just kids stuff…like Halloween and was not a serious thing. But pressure from the church was great so he caved in and agreed not to perform it. Moving forward in time…while we were recording Bad, Michael made the decision to leave his church. He still believed in the church’s basic teaching about being good and helping others, but he said he felt suppressed creatively, so decided to officially leave. I am sure this was not an easy decision for Michael. But now for the first time, Michael was going to perform Thriller live complete with the choreography, costumes and even his transition into the werewolf! YAY!!!
On Christopher's look for the show ~ It was decided by Karen Fay that I should get the KISS look. My face would be painted silver with a lightning bolt across my forehead. Also, she dyed my hair black. All the members had black hair except Jennifer Batten and Sheryl Crow. Their hair was to be long and blond. Karen also gave me hair extensions, which made my hair much longer! Wow!


Read more of PART 3 at this link ~
http://headphone.guru/the-event-horizon-synclavier-music-a…/
If you missed them here are the links to Part 1 and 2 ~
Part 1 ~ http://headphone.guru/the-event-horizon-synclavier-music-a…/
Part 2 ~ http://headphone.guru/the-event-horizon-synclavier-music-a…/
For a total of over 30 years, guitarist, composer, producer, sound designer and audio engineer Christopher Currell has composed, performed and synthesized a broad range of music, including classical, jazz, rock, avant-garde and pop including working with Michael ~ Christopher Currell shares his stories of working with Michael ~ "Many people are interested in my work with Michael and have requested that I share some of my experiences. I thought about this and decided to talk a bit about my music interaction with Michael Jackson.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/UK-lo...16222408446161






Christopher Currell (Synclavieer) tourte mit Michael während der 'Bad' tour bringt mehr info über die vorbereitungszeit der tour und der ersten live performance von 'Thriller'!

Auszug aus einem langen artikel (links s. oben): Eine interessante geschichte um das performen von Thriller.

Michael erzählte mir, dass er eine menge negativer kritik seiner glaubensgemeinschaft nach der ursprünglichen veröffentlichung von Thriller erhalten habe! Sie waren der ansicht, dass der song das werk des teufels sei und Michael solle den song unter keinen umständen live performen. Michael erklärte mir, dass er diese reaktion nicht verstand. Seine absicht war nicht böses oder teufelswerk zu tun. Er sagte, dass das nur so einen kinderkram wie Halloween sei, nichts ernsthaftes. Doch der druck seiner kirche war so stark, also nahm er sich zurück und stimmte zu, den song nicht zu performen. Später als er Bad aufnahm, traf Michael die entscheidung, sich von seiner kirche zu trennen. Ich bin sicher, das war keine leichte entscheidung für Michael. Doch dann nahm sich Michael vor, Thriller live zu performen, mitsamts choreographie, kostümen und mit seiner verwandlung in den werwolf! Juhu!!

Über Christophers look für die show ~ Karen Faye endschied, dass ich einen KISS look erhielt. Mein gesicht wurde silbern eingefärbt mit einem leuchtenden blitz/pfeil quer über meine stirn. Sie färbte mein haar schwarz. Alle hatten schwarze haare mit ausnahme von Jennifer Batten und Sheryl Crow. Sie hatten lange, blonde haare. Karen machte mir haarextensions, so schien mein haar viel länger! Wow!

[rip.michael]

One Day at Liseberg


In 1988, Michael Jackson contacted the then 14-year old star of "My life as a dog" Anton Glanzelius. He remembers the day they spent together at Liseberg, the largest amusement park in Scandinavia. The park was closed to the general public for the sake of Jackson and his friends' privacy.
Anton Glanzelius met Michael Jackson for the first time when he was 13. Jackson had seen the movie "My life as a dog", directed by Lasse Hallström and with Glanzelius as the leading star, and had enjoyed it so much he invited the boy to his home Neverland. Michael had seen the movie twice, the second time with his mother. The movie was very special to him but Jackson' never revealed why or what the movie meant to him, to Anton. As a 13 year old growing up in Southern Gothenburg, he had no idea who Michael Jackson was. "I ran to the neighbors' house and asked them if they had any records with Michael Jackson. I wanted to see what he looked like." Anton arrived in Neverland along with his mother. They spent a couple of hours in Jackson's company but they did not get to know each other that well that time. Anton remembers that Jackson was very polite. Glanzelius explains that he was probably too young to realize the greatness of his friendship with the popstar. "As a child, you have a different perspective," he says. Anton Glanzelius describes his friend as "very kind-hearted and humble". On stage he was an artist who influenced the world. In private, he was very shy. "He was a very ordinary guy who lived an extreme life from early on." When Jackson came to Gothenburg in 1989, he contacted Glanzelius. "It was such an amazing and fun experience as a 14-year old to have the entire Liseberg to ourselves." Glanzelius remembers that they rode the rollercoaster "Loopen", Michael's favourite ride in the park, a dozen times. "He was laughing constantly, we had so much fun." The marketing director of Liseberg, Pelle Johansson, had been working the first half of -89 to bring Jackson to the amusement park. Jackson was going to hold a concert at Erikberg, Gothenburg, and the owners of Liseberg saw their chance to put the amusement park on the map. They made hundreds of phonecalls and sent letters to Jackson and his managers, but it was still uncertain whether he was going to show up. "We didn't think it would actually work. The huge media coverage made it hard for him to even leave the hotel and get here," Johansson says. Jackson arrived with his friend Glanzelius and a company of approximately 100 people. "We closed the park and they were able to move as they pleased in the park without any photographers or journalists. The only thing we asked in return was his handprint."The roofs were filled with photographers trying to get a picture of the smiling Jackson. The visit lasted 3-4 hours. Jackson and Glanzelius also rode the bumper cars, which he really enjoyed, Glanzelius tells Göteborgsposten. "He was fooling around and laughing and we were chasing each other trying to get a hit. He was such a sweet, humble, warm and lovely person."
(Glanzelius now works as a TV-producer and is no longer acting.)

Read more: http://www.truemichaeljackson.com/true-stories/one-day-at-liseberg/
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1988 kontaktete Michael Jackson den damals 14jährigen star aus "My life as a dog", Anton Glanzelius. Er erinnert an den tag, den sie zusammen in Liseberg, dem grössten vergügungspark Skandinaviens, verbrachten. Der park wurde für den normalen publikumsverkehr geschlossen, um eine privatheit für Jackson und seine freunde zu gewährleisten.

Anton Glanzelius traf Michael Jackson zum ersten mal im alter von 13 jahren. Dieser hatte den film „My life as a dog/Mein leben als hund“ unter der regie von Lasse Hallström und in der hauptrolle Glanzelius und war so davon angetan, dass er Glanzelius zu sich nach hause nach Neverland einlud. Michael hatten den film zwei mal gesehen, das zweit mal gemeinsam mit seiner mutter. Der film bedeutete etwas ganz besonderes für ihn, doch Jackson offenbarte nie, warum der der film für ihn so besonders war, erklärte Anton. Als 13-jähriger, welcher auf einer der hauptstadt Göteburg vorgelagert insel aufgewachen war, hatte er keine vorstellung wer Michael Jackson ist. „Ich rannte zu den nachbarn hinüber und fragte sie, ob sie platten von Michael Jackson hätten. Ich wollte wissen wie er aussah.“ Anton besuchte zusammen mit seiner mutter Neverland. Sie verbrachten ein paar stunden gemeinsam, lernten einander damals jedoch nicht so ausgiebig kennen. Anton erinnert, dass Jackson sehr höflich war. Glanzelius erklärt, dass er wahrscheinlich zu jung war, um die bedeutung seiner freundschaft mit dem popstar zu begreifen. „Als kind hat man eine andere sichtweise,“ bemerkt er. Anton Glanzelius beschreibt seinen freund als „sehr warmherzig und bescheiden“. Auf der bühne war er ein künstler der die welt beeinflusste. Privat war er sehr zurückhaltend. „Er war ein sehr normaler typ, der seit seinen sehr jungen jahren ein extremes leben führte.“ Als Jackson 1989 nach Göteborg kam nahm er kontakt zu Glanzelius auf. „Es war eine sehr aussergewöhnliche erfahrung mit viel spass, den ganzen Liseberg park exklusiv für sich zu haben.“ Glanzelius erinnert, dass sie ein duzend mal mit der achterbahn ‚Loopen‘ fuhren, Michaels lieblingsfahrgeschäft im park. „Er lachte andauernd und wir hatten so viel spass.“ Der Liseberg marketing direktor, Pelle Johansson, hatte das halbe jahr 1989 vorbereitungen getroffen, Michael den vergnügungspark vorzustellen. Jackson hatte vor, ein konzert in Erikberg zu geben. Göteborg und die eigentümer von Liseberg nahmen die chance war, den vergnügungspark bekannt zu machen. Es liefen hunderte telefongespräche und briefe an Jackson und seine manager, doch es blieb unsicher, ob er sich dort zeigen würde. „Wir glaubten nicht dran, dass es wirklich funktionieren würde. Die riesige medienbeobachtung machte es ihm nicht leicht, überhaupt das hotel zu verlassen und hierher zu kommen,“ erklärt Johansson. Jackson kam zusammen mit seinem freund Glanzelius und einem tross von ungefähr 100 leuten an. „Wir schlossen den park und das ermöglichte ihnen den parkbesuch ohne journalisten und fotografen. Wir baten ihn lediglich um seinen handabdruck. „Die dächer waren von fotografen belagert, die versuchten ein bild von dem lächelnden Jackson zu machen. Der besuch dauerte 3 bis 4 stunden. Jackson und Glanzelius fuhren auch mit den autoscootern, was er ganz besonders genoss, erzählt Glanzelius Göteborgsposten. „Er machte quatsch und lachte und verfolgten einandere, um uns gegenseitig anzuschubsen. Er war ein so lieber, bescheidener, freundlicher und liebenswürdiger mensch.“

(Glanzelius arbeitet jetzt als TV produzent und nicht mehr als schauspieler.)