Diana Riverjackson I want to know what kind of pranks he pulled on people and what was the most emotional recording he ever did?
A - Pranks. The “standard” pranks would be putting candy all over Buxer’s keyboard, or on the console in front of Bruce. He was very respectful of the studios and all the gear, so he never got too crazy. That said, we had a bunch of paparazzi hanging around Hit Factory soon after he married Lisa Marie in ’94, and he sent out for a bunch of water balloons and start chucking them out of the 6th floor window at them. When NYPD showed up I “encouraged” Michael that it might be a good time to stop and get back into his lounge.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson One more quick thought - we were BIG into popcorn during the Bad project. It's not really a "prank", but Michael would throw a lot of popcorn at guests, friends, engineers, etc. Crazy mess for the studio crew to clean up!
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Brandy Peacock - Who won that jenga game you guys were playing?
A - The Jenga photo. Record One was like a big house with a full kitchen, living room, fireplace, etc. We would play games, cook, read, etc., when we weren’t working. He would be mad at me for tell you this, but I won this match! He was SO competitive and hated to lose – for real – it really bugged him. I laughed and he yelled at himself. I think he won the next few matches…
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Evan Young - What were the craziest lengths you had to go to to satisfy one of Michael's requests, either on a studio project or a Neverland projekt?
A -Tough question, I like it. Some of the techie stuff on Dangerous was crazy – Jam I think was 180 tracks to mix. We actually linked two studios (SSLs) and 4 x Sony 48 track machines together for that song – it was nuts. Bruce ran up and down the hallway mixing in two rooms at the same time! Michael was likely in his lounge watching 3 Stooges. There are so many Ranch stories, but the system that we built for the Ornate gate was astounding. I think we were pushing more than 20,000 watts (10x more than the song title!), just for gate music. His instructions to me were – “make it loud enough to shake a bus!” It was.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Stepfan Holley - How often would Michael (if any) randomly sing someone else's song and what was your reaction to it?
A - Good question. He would sometimes hum/sing older J5 stuff, Motown songs, etc. He would beatbox a lot… always thinking of new ideas. It was so common that we wouldn’t really ask if it was a new song, we just waited for him to ask for a fresh piece of tape. I don’t really remember him singing current “Top 10” stuff – but we would make him tapes of the Top 10 songs (pop, dance, R&B) for him to listen to. We did this for years…
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Fred Nichols How many songs were actually finished and ready to go for the BAD sessions? It's been said that BAD was going to be a 3 album set with 33 songs. Is this really true? If so, where are the songs? Why have they not released BAD the way Michael originally intended?
A – Hmmm, I’ve never heard of it being 3 albums. That would go against Quincy’s style pretty strongly. That said, we worked on perhaps 70 songs for Bad to some degree. There were a lot – A LOT – of demos that got sent in from all over the world, and crazy numbers have been floated around, but I would estimate that 60-70 got some level of treatment from Quincy and Bruce.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson @Sandra Digit Rhodes In the studio when michael spoke was his voice ALOT Deeper than when out in public? And how many times a day did he order KFC?
A – So many opinions and theories… His voice was very soft and natural – with a bit of a “country” sing-song feel. He would giggle a lot when he was comfortable. I have heard the DEEP voice when he is talking to the press or somewhere, and it always sounded odd, a bit of an act maybe?
A – KFC. I know he loved it, but not very often. We make our own wings during the Dangerous project for a long time, as hot as we could make them, and he would tear into them! He loved McDonald’s too once in a while… don’t we all? : )
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Sandra Turnbull - Any evidence that he damaged his ears with all that LOUD listening?!
A- Great question. He listened loud – like really, really loud. However, in the years that I worked with him (1984 through around 2003) I never really noticed him leaning in to hear, but I think he was a pretty good lip-reader. Also – this is just my opinion – but I actually think loud studio monitors, which are very low in distortion, are far less damaging then cheap ear-buds. Also, he would listen loud for a few minutes to hear a mix, then he would disappear into his lounge. It wasn’t 18 hours of continuous loud music.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Arsen Madinov - How many unreleased songs have you recorded with Michael? And which song of Michael is you favorite?
A – Many. He recorded all the time, some great songs and some not-so-great. My fav songs? In particular order and ignoring whether or not they have been released – a few tops would be; Human Nature, Streetwalker, Will You Be There, Someone Put Your Hand Out, Stranger In Moscow, Smooth, TWYMMF, Give In To Me, Who Is It, Willing and Waiting, If You Don’t Love Me.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Stepfan Holley What kind of impact did Michael have on your personal life? A - Great Question! Tough to answer in a short response, but I think I will go with Patience. Michael was remarkably patient, and taught me to relax under the pressure of a studio . We always took our jobs very seriously (most of the time!), but if something failed, he was very patient, no ego or temper. Great quality, and I learned from it.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Belinda O. How many hours Michael worked in the studio? Did he have a routine when he worked in the studio or was everytime he was in the studio different? - A - Great question! We USUALLY worked from 12 noon to about 9 or 10 at night, but not always. During vocals and mixing we sometimes worked later. He would not sing every day, rather he would monitor the various studios, offer ideas, or just hang out with us during recording.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Jenny Lovern What was his favorite (or tops) songs he recorded? What was his favorite instrument to mimic? How did he mentally prepare before recording? (I'd love to kno as a learning vocalist) A - I don't know his favorite song to record, but I do know that songs like "Gone Too Soon" and "Will You Be There" were very emotionally draining and his performances were legit and amazing. As to mimicing an instrument, he could beat-box better than anyone I have ever heard, and he could "sing" guitar parts, bass parts, keyboard sounds, etc., for the musicians to get ideas and his direction for a song.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Makgame Pro What MJ song surprised you the most when he sang it? What is your favorite MJ's album era? Is it during Bad, Dangerous, or HIStory? What was it like working on the song "Morphine" if you was there on that project? A - Great questions, let me jump on them quickly. Oddly enough, I think you answered it yourself - I would "Morphine" surprised everyone, including me! I really love the song, but wow... it's not what anyone might expect. It was dark and very NIN-esk, and he wanted to push the boundries pretty hard on that one. Favorite album era? They were all so different and fun/special in their own, but I always go with Dangerous.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Rosetta Durham - Michael seemed to have a facility for singing in foreign languages, and seemed to enjoy it (from TII film footage). Were there any songs considered for translation to other languages but never made it, or were recorded but not released? - A - I don't know about the later years, but during Bad I helped record the Spanish and French of IJCSLY, which was a bit of a mess. The French translation, so I am told, is not correct. But - Michael enjoyed doing them and I think he wanted to do something for his fans from other parts of the world. Just my opinion...
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Sandra Turnbull Any idea why Michael never built a permanent studio at Neverland? - A - Great great question. I discussed a studio at Neverland with Michael many times, and always cautioned against it. A "real" studio (especially back then) is a terrible investment, requires a ton of maintenance, and never works as well as a commercial studio. i even encouraged him to rent a recording truck (Le Mobile or Record Plant) if he really wanted to record at Neverland, but then send it away so he could have his home back. In the later years with Buxer and Michael Prince, they DID turn the dance studio into a very functional studio, but more of a writing/production room.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Stacie Naab Are you like me in hoping that someone in the music industry buys Neverland? My husband was worried,I told him that if we won the past large powerball I was buying Neverland hands down. - A - I have mixed feelings about the future of Neverland - it will never be the same without Michael, and trying to "recreate" it would be challenging. Dumb as it may sound, I almost think it is best to be left as a memory and photos. Funny thing - Even during it's peak Neverland always "felt" different when Michael was away. When he drove through the gates it always felt like the ranch came back to life.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Helena Berglind Hi, Brad. These are questions from myself as well as from two other fans who are dear friends of mine... Do you have any interesting stories from the recording of the song In The Closet? What was the set up and was Michael embarrassed ? - A - It was pretty funny on songs like that (that one in particular) where he could sing some pretty "interesting" lyrics, groans, etc., and then just laugh it off. We didn't really evaluate lyrical content, he just sang the songs and we might tease him a bit, but not much - it was his show. And no.. he was not embarrassed...
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Joyce Frame Michael used the name Suzie in several song lyrics. Was it just a name that he liked for the lyrical sound and quality or did he ever give any other reason for the use of Suzie in these different lyrics? Which do you think Michael enjoyed more...creating the music or the lyrics for a song, or did it depend on the song itself? - A - Suzie (or Susie) - Not something we ever discussed as to why he liked that name, so - I don't know. 2nd question - good question. I don't know for sure, but he LOVED when a great groove grew into a killer song. The music was very powerful for him, and it showed in his response. Not trying to sound weird, but he didn't dance to words, he danced to music. I think he knew the power of the lyrics for the listener, but it was the groove that had to grab people first. Just my opinion...
In The Studio With Michael Jackson June Jackson - I have heard that when HIStory album was completed Michael cried after giving a preview to people of Sony because they gave no react. Is it true? Do you know something about it? - A - I've heard that story also, but I wasn't there. I WAS at the playback party for CBS/Epic for Bad... and there was no one crying that day - they all but danced on the tables.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Stepfan Holley With everyone in his family creating and releasing music how would Michael critique them? Same with music in general, would he listen to a song like (I Will Always Love You by Whitney) and say I would change this or I would have sung it like that? - A - (It's a trap!! Beware!!) Kidding... I think he was very supportive of his family's music projects. He was very competitive in everything he did, so he wanted his music to be better than anyone else's - family or otherwise.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Artiom Kozlov In moments when Michael felt really down and hopeless - how did he restore his faith? How did he find strength to carry on and not lose faith? - A - Great question, and you won't like my answer, but I don't know. He was, arguably, the most bullied man on the planet. The most. Yet he got up every day and carried on... with a smile. He was remarkably strong.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Brandy Peacock Was there a story behind the song Little Susie? Its such a beautiful and brilliantly written composition. Did he ever mention meaning behind it? It's so different than almost anything he had done before, musically. - A - Love that song Brandy. I didn't know this until a few years ago, but according to Brad Buxer it is about the Holocaust. It was very heavy and beautiful. In fact, I love the flow of that portion of the album, starting at 2Bad, HIStory, Little Susie and Smile. It need to be heard in a dark studio or room, in the order that Michael wanted. It's very theatrical and beautiful.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Yevgeny J Potapov Thank you very much for this Q&A.
I have a few questions:
1. When Michael wasn't satisfied with his performance - what would he do? A - He would do it again. And again. And again. He was a perfectionist.
2. What would you two really talk about? What are YOUR heartfelt moments and memories about Michael? A - We talked about Disney, family, travel, youth, music, everything. He was very curious.
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Blues Away I remember one of your memories of Neverland and I wonder if Michael spent much time there all alone, I mean alone without friends, family... nobody else with him during day and night. Did he talk with you about feeling lonely in Neverland? Also, what did use to do during break time in the studio? Was he shy or talkative and relaxed in the family fridays? Thank you very much, Brad - A - He would be at Neverland "alone", sort of - but there was always staff. Usually he had friends or family around, but there were many times when I would be up there and it was just him puttering around in his Batman golf cart. Truthfully we never had any talks about loneliness, he was too busy laughing the throwing popcorn at me. He was always relaxed in the studio - not just on Fridays!
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Daria Korablina Brad, I'm really sorry, but I wanna ask one more question
Were there times when Lisa came into the studio to spend time with Michael? What did they do together? Maybe Lisa gave some advises to Michael or she never was interested in the recording process? - A - No need for sorry! Lisa was awesome, very funny, very comfortable and very much into Michael. They laughed and called each other silly names, like a pair of Jr. Highers. She didn't really contribute to the recording process, she just sat on his lap... so maybe in some ways she did. : )
In The Studio With Michael Jackson Last question for this evening -
Toni Arias Why the Speed Demon fade out was fused with Liberian Girl intro on Bad album? - A - Bruce wanted as few fade-outs as possible, he wanted interesting endings to most of the songs, not fades. I can't speak for him, but I know that Speed Demon and Liberian were so different (and in the order that Michael, Quincy and Bruce chose) that it just felt right to cross-fade them the way he did. It took a bit of studio magic to get it just right, but I think it makes that transition a lot more interesting for the listener.