# RIP Michael Jackson



## Ashermusic (Jun 25, 2009)

Very sad.


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## R. Soul (Jun 25, 2009)

I can't believe it. 
Yesterday Andy Hughes from The Orb died at 44 and today Michael Jackson at just 50. What a sad week for music.


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## Mark Belbin (Jun 25, 2009)

Sad day indeed. Sad also that the media will likely try to remind us of all his eccentricities. Try to remember the wicked amazing singer/dancer entertainer. He was something else...

-B


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## midphase (Jun 25, 2009)

Sad indeed, he was a huge influence in my life and I have always hoped that he would have a good comeback in him at some point in the future.


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## SvK (Jun 25, 2009)

The Michael I remember:

"I'll Be There"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6bARIaMhCM

rest in Peace Michael!

ps: This touched me much more deeply than I ever thought it would.....

SvK


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## Jaap (Jun 25, 2009)

Pfff just read it.

Big loss. Indeed a much greater impact then I expected.

May he rest in peace after such a difficult and and strange life.


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## mikebarry (Jun 25, 2009)

wow, what a bummer.

I can't tell you how many parties I have been in and when "Beat It" comes on, everyone goes crazy.

It's a shame his life became so messed up. Too much for most humans to handle.


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## madbulk (Jun 25, 2009)

I will never forget the day after that Motown special, everyone in school going, "What the hell was that !!!!?"
And for weeks thereafter, till someone we knew learned how to moonwalk.


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## Dave Connor (Jun 25, 2009)

Incredible talent who could do it all. When Fred Astaire says, _You remind me of me,_ that's quite a statement to a Pop 'Singer'.

I was taking a vocal lesson from one of the best teachers around back in the early 80's and taking note of the fact that there just weren't any real singers in Pop music asked him, _Who sings well anymore_? 'Michael Jackson' was the immediate response. MJ was really an astonishing bundle of talent and real artist. He will be missed as the world is now displaying.


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## kid-surf (Jun 25, 2009)

I can hear the helicopters and sirens from my house...

BTW -- I was just in that emergency room last week...

RIP


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## Ed (Jun 25, 2009)

After delaying his concert over and over I bet his promoters are pissed off now more than ever. Just think of how much money they will loose.


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## choc0thrax (Jun 25, 2009)

This really sucks. Michael may have been crazy but he was crazy talented. The Thriller music video is a part of my childhood. My father had that on VHS and I would watch it all the time.


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## Stevie (Jun 25, 2009)

I also remember that other video, Ghost.
It was so hyped on TV. Never seen CGI, etc...

RIP Michael, you were a very gifted person.


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## kid-surf (Jun 25, 2009)

choc0thrax @ Thu Jun 25 said:


> This really sucks. Michael may have been crazy but he was crazy talented. The Thriller music video is a part of my childhood. My father had that on VHS and I would watch it all the time.



That's one thing that trips me out; young dudes/chicks who know that video...


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## kid-surf (Jun 25, 2009)

It's crazy how many people his music effected world wide...

And...

It's crazy he's been a HUGE celebrity his entire life...

Crazy life...

Not much of a fan but Dirty Diana was the one tune that caught my ear when I was a kid. Cool tune...


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## midphase (Jun 25, 2009)

"My father had that on VHS"

What is this VHS you speak of?


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## Alex W (Jun 25, 2009)

Very sad. Lots of childhood memories, lots of long car trips with his tapes in my walkman.

His most immediately obvious talent might be his dancing, but he's also got an amazing voice really. So pitch perfect - with a high pitch but still lots of power and dexterity.


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## Thonex (Jun 25, 2009)

Yeah... this hit me harder than i thought too. I was actually in shock when my brother called me with the information. 

What an amazing talent.


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## david robinson (Jun 25, 2009)

sadly missed.
RIP MJ.
David Robinson.


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## synergy543 (Jun 25, 2009)

Sadly, now forever in Never Never Land.
MJ himself and Bruce Swedien on MJ:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... t=1&f=1021

And a nice celebrity tribute by Michael himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ethtD4R1kk


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## Hal (Jun 25, 2009)

Sad news 
i kept hoping for more albums
he is no doubt one of the greatest talents and a big influence to me 

yeah i cant imagine the concert organizers Loss !


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## artsoundz (Jun 25, 2009)

I'm just stunned. I found out an hour ago- just such a sad shock.

Man In The Mirror.


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## nikolas (Jun 25, 2009)

WOW! Just found out! I didn't expect this.

RIP Michael


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## Blackster (Jun 25, 2009)

nikolas @ Fri Jun 26 said:


> WOW! Just found out! I didn't expect this.
> 
> RIP Michael



Same here!!! 

RIP Michael. Great music, great talent!


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## David A (Jun 26, 2009)

Rest In Peace Michael. A truly amazing and God given talent for music that touched so many lives. You leave us all with fond and joyous memories.


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## Audun Jemtland (Jun 26, 2009)

I don't think of music really when I think of Michael. I always remember the love he had for everyone,and his undescribable good intensions of helping others
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWQp1E6ImY0&feature=related

I feel there's a two pieced love necklace here:Michael Jackson & Quincy Jones.
They have contributed so much to the world with music and love.

God bless you


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## autopilot (Jun 26, 2009)




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## SvK (Jun 27, 2009)

I am convinced of Chopra's sincerity....and I'm a cynic at heart...........I felt for a long time that Chopra might be trying to be "Mega Church for Dems".......I think differently now..........I will study him and read his books......I am a former addict....7 years sober....ALL of what Chopra said in this clip is accurate.......RIP Michael...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FuBIAQt6FE


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## artsoundz (Jun 27, 2009)

Steven, thanks so much for the link and your sharing of your own personal trials. Very important stuff.

You're no slouch at "making the world a better place".


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## bryla (Jun 30, 2009)

Originally posted at Gearslutz, just thought everyone should read this:

I was fortunate enough to work with MJ early in my career. He was an incredible artist. Talented beyond your wildest dreams. Extremely generous, and a hard worker. I actually went from a staff assistant at the Hit Factory in NYC to freelance engineer under Swedien and MJ. They were due to start in Los Angeles when the Northridge earthquake hit so they moved to New York. One room was all Bruce, the second room was the writing room. I started assisting Bruce's writing partner Rene Moore. I would track stuff with Rene, and Bruce would come in and tell me what I did wrong, sit in for a few hours and set us straight. After a couple months MJ arrived and the entire tour rig was moved in along with Brad Buxer, Andrew Scheps, and Eddie Delena. I continued to assist them until the whole crew moved to L.A., they decided to take me with them. I would assist Bruce during the day, and help out every where else at night - assisting, engineering, programming, and on one song playing guitar. We had two rooms at Record One, and two rooms at Larrabee where I met John. At one point in NYC we had just about every room at the Hit Factory. The crew was great, and I learned so much from all of them. I learned to engineer from Bruce Swedien, John, and Eddie, and got to sit in with producers like MJ, Jam And Lewis, Babyface, David Foster, Teddy Riley, and Dallas Austin. 

I was actually asked to leave the project early on because there were too many people around and MJ didn't know me. Luckily, I was rehired about 10 days later. At the wrap party MJ apologized profusely, and expressed his gratitude. Truly the most sincere man you will ever meet. 

Some random memories:


One morning MJ came in with a new song he had written overnight. We called in a guitar player, and Michael sang every note of every chord to him. "here's the first chord first note, second note, third note. Here's the second chord first note, second note, third note", etc., etc. We then witnessed him giving the most heartfelt and profound vocal performance, live in the control room through an SM57.

He would sing us an entire string arrangement, every part. Steve Porcaro once told me he witnessed MJ doing that with the string section in the room. Had it all in his head, harmony and everything. Not just little eight bar loop ideas. he would actually sing the entire arrangement into a micro-cassette recorder complete with stops and fills. 

At one point Michael was angry at one of the producers on the project because he was treating everyone terribly. Rather than create a scene or fire the guy, Michael called him to his office/lounge and one of the security guys threw a pie in his face. No further action was needed . . . . .

During the recording of "Smile" on HIStory, Bruce thought it would be great if Michael would sing live with the orchestra. But of course, we didn't tell the players that. We set him up in a vocal booth off to the side. They rehearsed a bit without vocals in, then during the first take Michael sang, just about knocked them out of their chairs. 

His beatboxing was without parallel, and his time was ridiculous. 

His sense of harmony was incredible. Never a bad note, no tuning, even his breathing was perfectly in time. 

Once, while we were taking a break, I think we were actually watching the OJ chase on TV, there was a news program talking about him being in Europe with some little boy. I was sitting next to the guy while the news is making this crap up. He just looked at me and said this is what I have to deal with. 

I spent close to 3 years working with him, and not once did I question his morals, or ever believe any of the allegations. I wasn't even a fan then. I saw him interact with his brothers kids, other people's children, and at one point my own girlfriend's kids. I got to spend a day at Neverland with them. A completely incredible human being, always looking for a way to make all children's lives better. Every weekend at Neverland was donated to a different children's group - children with AIDS, children cancer, etc., and most of the time he wasn't there. 

He was simply living the childhood he never had. In many ways he never grew up. 

I was assisting Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis while they recorded the background vocals for "Scream" with MJ and Janet. The two of them singing together was amazing. Super tight, no bad notes. One part after another. When they took a break they sang the showtunes they used to sing as kids. Again, perfect harmony. Mj refused to sing the "stop f*ckin' with me part" because he would NOT curse. 

I was the tape op for the recording of the background vocals on "Stranger in Moscow". Scared the hell out me. Michael was dropping in and out on syllables, rearranging the notes and timing as he put it down. No Pro Tools at the time, just 2" tape, and my punches. 

I erased a live keyboard overdub that he played one night. He came in the next morning, replaced it, and never uttered another word about it. 

I was there when Lisa Marie was around. They acted like two kids in love. Held hands all the time, and she hung out at the studio for quite a while. I never questioned their love for each other. 

We recorded a Christmas song during the summer of '94 that needed a children's choir. Michael insisted that the entire studio be decorated with xmas lights, tree, fake snow and a sled for their recording. And he bought presents for everyone. 

The last weekend of recording on HIStory he came to me and Eddie Delena, and said "I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us are going to sleep this weekend. There's a lot to get done, and we have to go to Bernie on Monday morning". He stayed at the studio the entire time, singing, and mixing. I got to spend a couple quiet moments with him during that time. We talked about John Lennon one night as he was gearing up to sing the last vocal of the record - the huge ad libs at the end of "earth song". I told him the story of John singing "twist and shout" while being sick, and though most people think he was screaming for effect, it was actually his voice giving out. He loved it, and then went in to sing his heart out. . . .

Later that night, while mixing, everyone left the room so MJ could turn it up. This was a common occurrence during the mixes, and I was left in the room with ear plugs, and hands over my ears, in case he needed something. This particular night, all the lights were out and we noticed some blue flashes intermittently lighting up the room during playback. After a few moments we could see that one of the speakers (custom quad augspuergers) was shooting blue flames. Mj liked this and proceeded to push all the faders up . . . . 

MJ liked hot water while he was singing. I mean really hot !!!!! It got to the point that I would melt plastic spoons to test it. 

Bruce and I were talking about walking to the studio everyday in NYC, and what routes we took. Michael looked at us and said we were so lucky to be able to do that. He couldn't walk down the street without being harassed. It was a sad moment for all of us. 

The studio crew got free tickets to the Janet show so we all went right from work one night. About halfway through the show we see this dude with a long beard, dressed in robes dancing in the aisle behind. I mean really dancing . . . it was Mj in disguise. Kind of like the costume Chevy Chase wears in Fletch while roller skating. 

He got one of the first playstations from sony in his lounge . . . we snuck in late at night to play the games that hadn't been released yet. 

A couple people on the session hadn't seen Jurassic Park while it was out, so MJ arranged a private screening for us at Sony. 

He was a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral . . . . 

I was lucky enough over the course of 3 years to have access to the multitrack masters for tour prep, videos, and archive purposes. To be able to pull these tracks apart was a huge lesson in production, and songwriting. A chance to look into the minds of geniuses. 

Of all the records I've worked on, MJJ was the only company to give platinum award records. 

One day we just all sat in the studio listening to his catalog with him for inspiration. He loved the process, he loved the work.
__________________
Rob Hoffman


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## lux (Jun 30, 2009)

Nice read, thanks Thomas


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Jun 30, 2009)

> He was a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails Downward Spiral



Wow - my mind is now officially blown. =o I LOVE that album.

Is it just me or is CNN having a complete, massive ORGASM over MJ's death?


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## Stevie (Jul 1, 2009)

Wow, what an insight. Thanks for sharing Thomas.


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