Public and Radio Reaction to "This Is It"

bobmoo79

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Ok, so I guess we've all heard the new single by now and I visited the site to find out what the general opinion was from radio DJs and the public but I couldn't find an easy reference point.
So I thought I'd let you know what I heard. If you have any news from your local stations (worldwide), feel free to add it hear.

All the stations near why I live were advertising the new song heavily this morning and I heard it premiere on BBC Radio1, Radio2, and Heart.
Overall, the DJs on Radio1 were very respectful. They obviosuly spotted this was not a new song and commented on the poor sound quality of the vocals but they all said they liked the song. Radio 1 is aimed at a young audience (teens to late 20s) and "This Is It" is not the kind of song that fits their programming so I don't expect they'll ever play it again, but I'm glad they didn't criticise the song too heavily. I'm sure the station manager was taken by surprise when he heard it for the first time as Sony advertised this as a 'new' song and he was probably expecting something a little (or A LOT) more modern.
Radio2 played the song later and the host Terry Wogan hadn't seemed to realise it was an old track and said (about Mike) "He still has it". A very brief comment before he played the next song, but maybe they discussed after that, I'm not certain.

Heart played the song after Radio2 and also seemed to like the song.

The song was alos played on GMTV and they had a music critic and a fan on the sofa. Unfortunately the fan was dressed in the Grammy awards costume, complete with shiny glove and socks and the critic was quite brutal with him, but the fan did seem to be slightly deranged. He also didn't seem to realise it was an old song.
The critic said several times that the song isn't very good but admitted he liked MJs catalogue very much and said this song does nothing to add to that. Why do shows have to find 'fanatical fans' to represent the fan community??


Personally I found it disappointing that the song vocal was so 'tinny' and that it is obviously unfinished. the song has managed to get massive coverage and attention, certainly it has across the UK and it is a bit of a let down. No other song released by Michael Jackson in the future (assuming there will be one) will manage to get that kind of attention across such a wide range of stations and I feel the opportunity has been wasted. Sony just found a demo with the same title as the concerts and put it out there, despite the fact there is no proper end to the song and the sound quality isn't up to scratch. They should have made the effort to secure some new material and send it out as a single. With a half good, contempory song, Sony could have achieved so much more. Shame.
 
The song was alos played on GMTV and they had a music critic and a fan on the sofa. Unfortunately the fan was dressed in the Grammy awards costume, complete with shiny glove and socks and the critic was quite brutal with him, but the fan did seem to be slightly deranged. He also didn't seem to realise it was an old song.
The critic said several times that the song isn't very good but admitted he liked MJs catalogue very much and said this song does nothing to add to that. Why do shows have to find 'fanatical fans' to represent the fan community??
I watched it too.... thought they were going to have a punch up in the studio! :lol: I still can't believe SONY aren't releasing this as a single. GMTV obviously thought it was going to be as they said it was expected to be the biggest selling single of the year!
 
I kind of feel the same as you - Sony could have done a better job. They had a news report on this on our 6pm news which I was quite surprised about. They didn't comment on the song they just played a few bars and said that the Jackson family are predicting it could be the highest selling single ever. They didn't really know what they were talking about as they said 'we wonder if this was accidentally release or intentional' - how dumb.

I love TII but I am confused about the quality though. Yesterday when the 43 second clip was leaked I found that there were 2 different quality versions - one had the 'tinny' sound and the other one was quite exceptional quality and much nicer to listen to. Now this full version on MichaelJackson. com has the 'tinny' quality so I'm not really sure what's going on. I would die if Sony deliberately put the 'tinny' one on the site for streaming but the beautiful quality one is the one you get if you pay. Actually I wouldn't die, it's to be expected from Sony
 
The biggest radio station in Australia, Nova, basically said it was boring but okay.
 
I had to come on the net to hear it,was waiting for alongtime for my radio station to play it at 7.30 but thay never did and then i heard it on gmtv as well,truely at the moment i just feel numb about it all.......... :( xoxo
 
Ok, so I guess we've all heard the new single by now and I visited the site to find out what the general opinion was from radio DJs and the public but I couldn't find an easy reference point.
So I thought I'd let you know what I heard. If you have any news from your local stations (worldwide), feel free to add it hear.

All the stations near why I live were advertising the new song heavily this morning and I heard it premiere on BBC Radio1, Radio2, and Heart.
Overall, the DJs on Radio1 were very respectful. They obviosuly spotted this was not a new song and commented on the poor sound quality of the vocals but they all said they liked the song. Radio 1 is aimed at a young audience (teens to late 20s) and "This Is It" is not the kind of song that fits their programming so I don't expect they'll ever play it again, but I'm glad they didn't criticise the song too heavily. I'm sure the station manager was taken by surprise when he heard it for the first time as Sony advertised this as a 'new' song and he was probably expecting something a little (or A LOT) more modern.
Radio2 played the song later and the host Terry Wogan hadn't seemed to realise it was an old track and said (about Mike) "He still has it". A very brief comment before he played the next song, but maybe they discussed after that, I'm not certain.

Heart played the song after Radio2 and also seemed to like the song.

The song was alos played on GMTV and they had a music critic and a fan on the sofa. Unfortunately the fan was dressed in the Grammy awards costume, complete with shiny glove and socks and the critic was quite brutal with him, but the fan did seem to be slightly deranged. He also didn't seem to realise it was an old song.
The critic said several times that the song isn't very good but admitted he liked MJs catalogue very much and said this song does nothing to add to that. Why do shows have to find 'fanatical fans' to represent the fan community??


Personally I found it disappointing that the song vocal was so 'tinny' and that it is obviously unfinished. the song has managed to get massive coverage and attention, certainly it has across the UK and it is a bit of a let down. No other song released by Michael Jackson in the future (assuming there will be one) will manage to get that kind of attention across such a wide range of stations and I feel the opportunity has been wasted. Sony just found a demo with the same title as the concerts and put it out there, despite the fact there is no proper end to the song and the sound quality isn't up to scratch. They should have made the effort to secure some new material and send it out as a single. With a half good, contempory song, Sony could have achieved so much more. Shame.


you hit the nail on the head completely. Sony know they can release a mediocre song now, on the back of Michael's recent death and make a fortune simply for that fact. They can then release a totally BANGING track in months or years to come and make another fortune. Problem is, by then, people may not care as they are so over being screwed over. Its like the boy who cried wolf....
 
Taking advantage of the freshness of his passing and his stratospheric popularity before it simmers down is key! Were they giving the King of Pop the time of day for marketing? Geez!
And yes! How often do you get the single with the title that IS the title of the movie!
Another wasted opportunity by Sony!
What were they thinking????
There will never, never another chance like this again.
Urgh! At times like these it's so tempting to cop out to conspiracy theories...
 
I love TII but I am confused about the quality though. Yesterday when the 43 second clip was leaked I found that there were 2 different quality versions - one had the 'tinny' sound and the other one was quite exceptional quality and much nicer to listen to. Now this full version on MichaelJackson. com has the 'tinny' quality so I'm not really sure what's going on. I would die if Sony deliberately put the 'tinny' one on the site for streaming but the beautiful quality one is the one you get if you pay. Actually I wouldn't die, it's to be expected from Sony


That's interesting. The radio stations versions all seemed 'tinny' but it doesn't make much sense to release that version and keep a better version for the album. The general public who hear this song on the radio aren't going to know there's a better one on the album (if that is the case) and therefore won't buy the album for it. Releasing the best quality possible to the radio is the only way to go IMO.
 
That's interesting. The radio stations versions all seemed 'tinny' but it doesn't make much sense to release that version and keep a better version for the album. The general public who hear this song on the radio aren't going to know there's a better one on the album (if that is the case) and therefore won't buy the album for it. Releasing the best quality possible to the radio is the only way to go IMO.

I agree - it's stupid. But I really hope my ears are right, and that the high quality one exists and will be on the CD (and in the credits of the movie!)
 
It does sound tinny - definitely unfinished. And if I am honest, it certainly doesn't touch some of his best work. I mean we've seen the quality in both production, vocals and melody of some of MJ's unreleased tracks - We've had Enough, For all Time, On the Line, Shout, Xscape, etc, and they have sounded awesome. I was expecting something a little more epic to fit with his legacy, rather than this. It makes me wonder what kind of unreleased material sony really do have.
 
Yeh i agree, although i do love the song probably because its new well... "new." But it is very tinny & clearly unfinished, particularly the ending as it fades out rather weirdly & quickly. So Sony have let Michael down here, they could have done a much better job. Fans & the world have been waiting for this and the song as a whole is a disappointment, with regards to its quality etc, however i still do like the song- it is Michael after all!

I really think they should have released Xscape as a single. I LOVE that song! Its good quality, its more modern cos younger people can relate to it, its upbeat, its got Michael written all over it!
 
Sony's greed is going to diminish the impact of the movie. I wouldn't have any problem with the song if they had just kept it at the ending of the movie, but presenting something now that isn't fantastic, could suggest that the movie isn't going to be as fantastic as expected either.

Fans are going to flock to this movie no matter what, but as a fan I want the general public to flock to it too. Providing an okay song could really affect overall interest. At this point, the movie itself should be the only thing getting this kind of fanfare. The general public should be seeing as many commercials as I saw for the Transformers, etc. It's a little over two weeks before the premiere, and I'm only seeing a small sprinkling of tv spots, and they should be all over the place.

I hope these folks get it together immediately and realize they are not helping their cause by exploiting every single aspect of TII that they possibly can. What they need to do is concentrate on the sure fire money maker, and not dilute it with an okay song.
 
I just heard the full song this morning. It's a good song....not great. It's not a home run for a hit single, thus I can see why Michael left it in the vaults.

I can see why Sony is hesitant to release it as a single. If that's the case, they should expand disc 2 of This Is It and pick out a stronger song that could launch up the charts........hey how about putting Butterflies on it and actually promoting that like they should have in 01/2002....or Speechless?
 
I FRIKEN HATE SONY!!! They took the greatest opportunity and made it fail. Publicity was on every corner of the earth! It was all over the news here in Australia and its so disappointing. This was the opportunity to show MJ's best work and that will never come again.

It makes me angry cause it makes Michael look bad. I'm convinced there is still a conspiracy with Sony against Michael. I'm so pissed.
 
Why do we care what other people think. Like I need some radio host to tell me whether or not Michael still has it.. have you heard the crap they play on radio? Demo or not, this song is still better than the sh-t they've shoved down our throats the past 10 years.

Forget the "missed opportunity" for publicity.. have you guys seen how much they've played his music since he passed away? It's everywhere. If people don't like him by now, they never will.

Also, what do I care what games sony plays? It's not like they're getting my money. Anything, anything they release from now on I'm going to download. This is the 96276296729 time they've f-cked us over so why is anyone surprised?

Oh.. and I like this song :clapping:
 
You can't cover up his voice. His voice sounds great. I like it. Its not a big massive hit song like Billie Jean but I still like it. It's wierd how it ends though, doesn't sound finished, I'm guessing this is a demo?. There are two versions though yeh? They played the old recording not the new one with the orchestra?

The more I hear it, the more I love it, if it was finished properly it could definitely be a big hit, actually it could be a big hit anyway because its Michael. But its not being released as a single - so theres no chance of that is there.


This is some more opinion:

Michael Jackson's new single This Is It was premiered on national radio across the UK this morning - and got a resounding thumbs up.
The song got it's debut at 7.55am on the Chris Moyles show on BBC Radio 1 and got the seal of approval from the breakfast show DJ, as well as the station's late morning host Fearne Cotton, who texted in to say she thought the track was "lovely."
The track - described by Moyles as "very much old school *****" - is a mid-paced ballad along the lines of You Are Not Alone or Heal The World.
It starts with a soft-voiced MJ saying the words "Ready? One, two, three, four" before the song proper begins with the first lyrics being the song title.
 
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Why do we care what other people think. Like I need some radio host to tell me whether or not Michael still has it.. have you heard the crap they play on radio? Demo or not, this song is still better than the sh-t they've shoved down our throats the past 10 years.

Exactly! Like I said in another thread, I couldn't give a flying **** what people think. Did they give a shit when he was alive? Umm...no. Therefore their opinions mean nothing to me.
 
Why do we care what other people think.

I care because I want the movie to be a major blockbuster, and putting out something supposedly representative of it, but that isn't Michael's general quality, could hinder the movie reaching the status I hope it does.
 
When the song fades out, I feel like it's Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, it's very rare that MJ fades out a song without sudden dramatic end to a song or a long ad-libbed vamp.

Regardless, it's a really pretty song & I definitely plan to buy the Cd in support of the movie.

I can't wait for remixers like Roger Sanchez, Louie Vega or Francois K remix This Is it, they'll take the vocals & make it a danceable.
 
The song was alos played on GMTV and they had a music critic and a fan on the sofa. Unfortunately the fan was dressed in the Grammy awards costume, complete with shiny glove and socks and the critic was quite brutal with him, but the fan did seem to be slightly deranged. He also didn't seem to realise it was an old song.
The critic said several times that the song isn't very good but admitted he liked MJs catalogue very much and said this song does nothing to add to that. Why do shows have to find 'fanatical fans' to represent the fan community??

I watched this aswell and that guy needed a kick up his as* but the fan didnt know it was an old song but he was trying his best to be positive about it wile the other guy was knocking it down.
Anyone know this guy ive seen him at the o2 a few times,HMV piccadilly and trafalgar sq
 
I care because I want the movie to be a major blockbuster, and putting out something supposedly representative of it, but that isn't Michael's general quality, could hinder the movie reaching the status I hope it does.

Hun, have you seen the pre-sale figures? It's already a hit. It's in the top 25 highest pre sales in history.

And actually, it made the TII album go #1 on Amazon so it wasn't exactly a complete failure.


I still like this song. :lol:
 
Why do we care what other people think. Like I need some radio host to tell me whether or not Michael still has it.. have you heard the crap they play on radio? Demo or not, this song is still better than the sh-t they've shoved down our throats the past 10 years.

kinda thinking the same thing aswell for once they cant blame mj. the music/arrangement isnt mikes he was never gonna release the song.sony found it saw the title and thought hey we can use this. and its not even being released so it cant be successful or not .so who really cares
 
Why do shows have to find 'fanatical fans' to represent the fan community??
to make us all looks like freaks. good ole media agenda.and what do ppl expect from the like of GMTV.
 
Hun, have you seen the pre-sale figures? It's already a hit. It's in the top 25 highest pre sales in history.

And actually, it made the TII album go #1 on Amazon so it wasn't exactly a complete failure.


I still like this song. :lol:


I know. It's had a record breaking response thus far. I want response to continue to build, and not have anything diminish potential.

Also, Michael had certain standards for his work. He was a perfectionist who only wanted his best work presented to the public. I don't think he considered this single as his best in its present form.
 
to make us all looks like freaks. good ole media agenda.and what do ppl expect from the like of GMTV.

So true. I was reading a nonMJ board with an article on Michael with a lot of comments from his fans. One poster said he was wondering where all these intelligent MJ fans were coming from because of their articulate comments.

Public perception is just ridiculous in most areas regarding him.
 
I know. It's had a record breaking response thus far. I want response to continue to build, and not have anything diminish potential.

Also, Michael had certain standards for his work. He was a perfectionist who only wanted his best work presented to the public. I don't think he considered this single as his best in its present form.

Well all his other, more recent music has R.Kelly and god knows who else messing around it. I don't think we'll see Michael's level of perfection again unless it was 100% finished and ok-ed by him.

*sigh* :(
 
Fearne cotton played in on Radio 1 at about 11am and was positive about the track saying it was lovely & really growing on her!!

Overall pretty good reaction I would say!!! Kiss are giving it the thumbs up too!!!
 
We care what people think because as always we care about how MJ is perceived.I didn't watch gmtv, but i hope the person who was on there isn't reading this. Its not very nice talking like that about someone. I do know what Elusive said is true though - they always want to portray michael's fans a certain way. Its just another way to put him down - to say that all his fans are only his fans because they are dellusional and crazy. They give fuel to the haters. I hate the media and all its propaganda.
 
The vocals are definitely from the Triumph era. 1980 would seem correct.
 
Anything, anything they release from now on I'm going to download. This is the 96276296729 time they've f-cked us over so why is anyone surprised?

Oh.. and I like this song :clapping:

You do realize by doing this your not taking part in keeping Michael's legacy alive?

I don't get the whole boycott Sony thing cause in reality your boycotting Michael. It is about Michael's legacy. Do you really think your $30 purchase is going to make them rich? Fair enough if you were spending $1000 but your not.

Unfortunately the whole world is run by money. Sony are no different. Are you going to boycott your doctor because he/she is getting "payed" to treat you? Or because you have to "pay" for a check up? Everything you do, you pay for. That's life. Nothing is for free and Sony aren't any different.

So the whole I'm going to download thing is stupid in my opinion. It's about Michael's legacy. That's what we as fans need to worry about and nothing else.Why is money always an issue with fans? That is none of our business. Let Michael's estate deal with that, lol.

No one is a hero by downloading instead. lol
 
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