I always wanted to hear this song

I never really cared for this song, but was there a different version that wasn't about Michael?

RipHer2Shreds said:

Yep! The version about Michael wasn't supposed to be heard but someone leaked it. Jermaine said that he only recorded it because that's how he was feeling at the time .. Then he went back in the studio and changed the second verse ..

ViintageJunkiie said:

I always thought that this was done in poor taste. If you have a problem with a sibling, keep it between the both of you. This is why I question Jermaine's and Latoya's "love", for Michael now.

Album Version


Now MJ and Left Eye are both gone...

ViintageJunkiie said:

Correct. It was only under the direct orders from Clive Davis (who gave La/Babyface the start up money for LaFace Records) that Jermaine had to rewrite the song OR else his new album was NEVER going to be release.

In a shocking twist, Jermaine rewrote Word To The Badd into a dis song about his brother Jackie's affair with Paula Abdul!

This was sad and desperate.

shorttrini said:

In fairness to all of the Jackson siblings, there was a time when Michael wasn't staying in touch with any of his brothers OR sisters (except of Janet). And lets not forget that the brothers' old wounds from Michael's announcement of The Jacksons' breaking up during the last show of the Victory Tour NEVER fully healed as music fans thought.

On Jermaine's part, his anger and disappointment he had with Michael was building for quite some time even as Jermaine's own solo career wasn't on the level as Michael's OR Janet's.

SIDENOTE: The Latoya is another thread in itself, so I wouldn't comment on it today!

I remember when this was "leaked" to radio suspiciously the same day Michael's "Black or White" premiered (usually played back to back). I always felt that Jermaine felt a little jealous of Michael (and maybe Janet's) success. I also noticed that Jermaine's solo career ended after the release of this song/album. It's ironic that the brother holding the grudge is now the Jackson family "mouth"

Yeah, I remember him saying he did this because he "couldn't reach" MJ. MJ had shut out him and other family members.

I never heard the whole song, though. Whoa..."You changed your shade! Was your color wrong?" Dang, Jermaine really went there. Sounds like Jermaine wasn't trying to hear about no vitiligo, which is odd since it runs in the family!

I always wondered what was MJ's response to this, as well as Latoya's book, accusations and Playboy spread. I also wonder how he felt about Janet's success and her more provocative songs.

shorttrini said:

I agree. I always thought it was tacky.

They all had the opportunity to be richer than fuck. It was not MJ's fault his family had no financial sense. Why the hell would you want to support grown ass men? I don't blame Michael at all for wanting to distance himself from Jermaine and the rest. Jermaine ended up declaring bankruptcy...and Jermaine had a good enough career that he should have been set for life, plus he still has a very good voice and could have kept on hustling for himself.

He know he was dead ass wrong to do this song. I hope he apologized!

BklynBabe said:

I agree.Jermaine is incredibly lazy.He could have been touring all these years,playing small venues,making money and paying his bills.Other male R&B singers from the 70s/80s are out there,touring regularly: Howard Hewitt,Jeffrey Osborne,Alexander O'Neal,Freddie Jackson,Al Green,etc.I get the feeling that Jermaine was sitting around all these years,hoping and praying that Michael would "rescue him" (again) by agreeing to a Jackson Five reunion tour.The brothers used him in 1984 for the Victory tour (a tour that he didn't really want to do) and it's obvious that they were trying to pull the same scam in recent years.A damn shame!




The song is horrible and in very bad taste.If he had a problem with Michael,he could have sat him down and discussed it in private.By releasing the song,Jermaine made himself look desperate,starving for publicity.It didn't work.His album flopped anyway

SoulAlive said:

Jermaine did say he tried to get with Mike, but he could never get him, having to make appointments and what not to his his own brother. That's wgat frustrated him (well, that's what he said anyway.)

BklynBabe said:

That's why I feel bad for Janet. She has to support these losers for the rest of her life?

uPtoWnNY said:

Losers? Those so called "losers" are the reason anyone knows her name ...

uPtoWnNY said:

Who said Janet's supporting these so-called "losers"
These losers are legends!!

midiscover said:

I want to expand on your comments. First of all, since when is the richer sibling suddenly supporting all the others by default? It's not her responsibility to do that. She had loaned Marlon $150,000 once. (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/elizondo9.html) However, to think Janet has to support anyone other than herself is ridiculous. It's such a bullshit statement. It's the same when people say "Oh she's just jealous of...." WHY is someone jealous? Gheez, people, come on.

Second, the brothers are legends, but even legends aren't rich forever. Motown used to have contracts that left the artist ALWAYS owing money to the record company. It was Barry Gordy's own math that made that possible, and it's why Diana Ross, and others leaving Motown always had huge money conflicts when they did leave Motown. But they also had the clout and mindset to have a better contract with Epic. Their money was their own, and they had to handle that the best way they knew how. Someone said Marlon was working at a grocery store or something "everyday" for a while. That's what happens.

Third, BklynBabe is right. The brother's probably blamed MJ a bit for not making money because he was very much against the Victory tour and Don King being involved. He ended up donating all his money to charity, just to keep his hands clean. He didn't like the lighting in the tour, and he wasn't happy with other things about it. He wanted to break free, and he did. We never had another Jacksons album with MJ after Victory. But that's MJ's right. He doesn't OWE his brothers a career. Jermaine was talented and so was Jackie. Janet got with Jam/Lewis and made a name for herself, after two not so great attempts at music.

So in the end, Janet isn't supporting anyone. No one is jealous of anyone. The sky is blue. The end.
[Edited 8/10/09 9:20am]

I've never heard this song, but heard about it for sure. It's a good song and definitely has that Babyface production to it.

For those who didn't know about the more generic version, he changed words like "brother" to "lover", etc to water it down a bit. I am not sure if I ever heard about him making into a story about Jackie and Paula, but even that seems a bit far fetched. It could be true of course, but why would Jermaine reach so far back just for that? Why not just make it generic and go on? Either way, it's the first time I've gotten to hear the song. I like it.

This is nice! I love the differences in Jermaine's and MJ's voice
MJ's is more in your face and bright while Jermaine's is electrifying yet smooth.

ernestsewell said:

I posted it earlier on the thread.

As I alluded to earlier, Left-Eye co-wrote this one. IIRC, the leak was right around the time "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" was released, so I'm not sure which one marks her first appearance.

Dang I remember that song. I have it on tape somewhere from taping from the radio days. It was kind of a whack song and messed up.

AlexdeParis said:

Yeah, I remember it getting such big attention because of the slam to MJ. I didn't know about the Left Eye thing until I looked up the lyrics earlier and saw her name on it. She also co-wrote a great song for NSync and rapped on it too.

I don't think I've ever heard that before. It's kinda catchy

shorttrini said:

Yea, it was.....

In all love relationships whether it's friends, siblings, lover's, husband & wife and sometimes children things are said in anger. Your words and/or actions said in anger or hurt feeling are later deeply regretted. One hopes Jermine and Latoya made peace with their brother before his passing just as one hopes he did the samething in return.

matthewgrant said:

You should get the cd if you find it. It has some great music on it.

TD3 said:

I remember that Jermaine said that LA and Face convinced him to record the song. They needed the controversy to get their record label off of the ground. After all, his was the 2nd or 3rd album issued on LaFace.

daPrettyman said:

LittleBLUECorvette said:

But that's still no excuse for releasing this song and airing Mike's dirty laundry in public Michael was already getting alot of vicious criticism from the media and tabloids.It's a shame that his own family members would betray him,too.

I'm sure that,eventually,Mike would have made time to hang out with him and discuss these issues IN PRIVATE.Jermaine was just trying to cah in on the media fascination with MJ.