DANGEROUSx said:

True that. Except with Invincible, half the album itself was wrong. LOL

I wouldnt be so harsh. I think sometimes - like Prince - you need to really listen harder to understand exactly what points mj is making on his songs - listen again to Blood on the Dancefloor and understand the point he is making. The History album started with Scream and ended with Smile , what does that say??
Ending with Stranger in Moscow would be the worst possible ending the album could have, and placing Smile next to Childhood would be a mess as both songs are very different sentiments.

I like Invincible

MikeMatronik said:

I like about 65% of Invincible. Does that count as liking it? or tolerating it?

Considering I like:

80% of Off The Wall
100% of Thriller
90% of Bad
100% of Dangerous
90% of HIStory

i love smile just because he sung it so well.

kash said:

I agree.

DANGEROUSx said:

Are you two competing to see who can be the dumbest? I don't even like History, but even I could see ending such a bitter album with a track like "Smile" was a masterstroke. It's MJ reminding himself not to lose his joy in living. Ending the album with "Stranger In Moscow" would've been the DUMBEST MOVE POSSIBLE! Thank God you're not one of his advisors. That would end the whole album on a defeatist note. As great as the song is, it would've been a downer to end the album that way.

Also, what was great about ending with "Smile" was it was IRONIC. It showed Michael had not lost his sense of humour. After all that recrimination and vitriol, "Smile" was the perfect way to undercut all the seriousness and show that life must go on, even after great despair. That was the whole point. Believe me, Michael knew what he was doing when he ended the album with that song.
[Edited 2/6/08 10:03am]

marnifrances said:

Yeah, Smile was to be the last single for the HIStory album and a video had been shot. Then Blood On The Dancefloor was released, and the single was cancelled. I remember Michael wasn't too happy about that decision

midnightmover said:

No, not exactly! BOTDF was released in April, that was followed by the double A-Side HIStory/Ghost in the summer and Smile was supposed to be the last single of the HIStory/BOTDF project in September/October!

Singles were already pressed! He was supposed to perform Smile on Wetten Dass and the Royal Variety Show, but both performances got cancelled, one week before he was due, so the single got cancelled (and destroyed) as well! A few promos and actual singles got out though! I have one... but they're rare and that's the reason why they rake big bucks obviously... it was never supposed to get out!

And as far as I know, there was no video shot! Michael talked about doing that video prior to the release of HIStory... he also posed as Chaplin for a photo shoot! But that was it!

There never was a real explanation! The HIStory tour ended on October 15th, he was supposed to be on Wetten Dass? on November 8th! So probably there wasn't enough time to get a video done, he was still exhausted from the tour and felt he needed a break, so he cancelled his appearances on the two shows and without a video and promotion Sony felt it's no use!? I don't know! It was a shame and a huge bummer! We all had our tix for the show already and were looking for another christmas #1!

FunkyBrotha said:

In other words, you agree with me, but you want me to mince my words.

midnightmover said:

No, not exactly! BOTDF was released in April, that was followed by the double A-Side HIStory/Ghost in the summer and Smile was supposed to be the last single of the HIStory/BOTDF project in November/December!

Singles were already pressed! He was supposed to perform Smile on Wetten Dass and the Royal Variety Show, but both performances got cancelled, one week before he was due, so the single got cancelled (and destroyed) as well! A few promos and actual singles got out though! I have one... but they're rare and that's the reason why they rake big bucks obviously... it was never supposed to get out!

And as far as I know, there was no video shot! Michael talked about doing that video prior to the release of HIStory... he also posed as Chaplin for a photo shoot! But that was it!
[Edited 2/6/08 17:00pm]

I know that singles were pressed, but I remember reading some fanclub I think it was Planet Jackson asked him about it and he said that a video had already been made.

Michael also didn't want to release BOTDF as a major release.

There's also unreleased videos for This Place Hotel, Wanna Be Startin Somethin(I think), and Just Good Friends,

Hmm, I just remember him being surprised that it was released... that was also in a Black and White/Planet Jackson interview!

midnightmover said:

In other words, you both agree with me.

bboy87 said:

I think I'd remember that... if he said something like that! He did an interview, shortly before HIStory was released (I think it was in UK's Smash Hit magazine) and talked about his plans to do that video... but I don't think it ever got made!


Hmm, I just remember him being surprised that it was released... that was also in a Black and White/Planet Jackson interview!


I think that' s deadwrong! If there would be videos that would be known by now!

PatrickS77 said:

There's an unreleased video for This Place Hotel. It's basically the Jacksons at Hayvenhurst singing the song around the pool.
You remember the Number Ones special was going to air footage of the Wanna Be Startin Somethin video that never got released.

Mjjackson and a couple of other sites said there was an unreleased video for Just Good Friends(maybe it was the performance from the November 1987 concert)

There's also a 25 minute version of The Way You Make Me Feel

PatrickS77 said:

There's an unreleased video for This Place Hotel. It's basically the Jacksons at Hayvenhurst singing the song around the pool.
You remember the Number Ones special was going to air footage of the Wanna Be Startin Somethin video that never got released.

Mjjackson and a couple of other sites said there was an unreleased video for Just Good Friends(maybe it was the performance from the November 1987 concert)

There's also a 25 minute version of The Way You Make Me Feel

bboy87 said:

The extended dance mix, that maxes out at like 7 minutes is enough for me. That song would get kinda dull after much more.

That being said, have you heard it or heard ABOUT it? I'd love to hear your review of it, if you have heard it.

Vanilli said:

No, there's a 25 minute version of the VIDEO

AlexdeParis said:

Yeah, but you didn't state the case forcefully enough so I had to finish the job.