MyLuv229 said:

http://www.movieline.com/...ghosts.php

The Cold Case talks to Mick Garris about 1997’s Ghosts, the all-but-forgotten 38-minute film he created with Michael Jackson, the late Stan Winston and horror legend Stephen King.
First things first: How did you come to be a zombie in Thriller?
John Landis had already been a friend for several years. We actually met when I was a receptionist for the original Star Wars at an off-lot office at Universal. John’s office was next door to mine when he was prepping Animal House. And Rick and his wife at the time, Elaine, had been very close friends and neighbors to me and Cynthia. So when they invited us, we came running. I was a hopeful writer then, doing publicity for studios and the like, just starting to get screenwriting jobs.

Was there the sense that you were seeing pop-culture history being made?
We knew we were doing something special, but had no idea just how special. We knew it was a much bigger scale than music videos at the time had been, and so much different than the usual 1980s performance things. But watching Michael come alive on that first night I was there was electrifying. I became a fan right there.

Did you become friends with Michael Jackson then?
We did not become friends at that point. Later on, when I was shooting The Stand, Stephen King and Michael put together a script for another scary music video — one with huge scale, even compared to Thriller. King recommended me for it, and that’s where I really met Michael on a one-to-one basis. We became friends through that experience.

What did you think Michael wanted to achieve with Ghosts?
Michael wanted to make the biggest, scariest music film ever. Well, I don’t know that that’s what happened; you can’t really be scary in this context, but it’s huge, the music and dancing are great, and it’s quite the spectacle. And it definitely got its point across. That theme of the outcast stranger that he and King created was important, and stayed the focus through various incarnations.

How did you get involved, and how did the collaboration between you, Michael, Stan Winston and Stephen King work?
I was actually the original director. It was begun in 1993, and I worked with him throughout pre-production and two weeks of production. It shut down for three years before resuming under Stan Winston, who was doing the effects work when I was directing. I recommended him to finish shooting when it resumed, as I was about to shoot The Shining. So yeah, I was on set a lot. But I was not there when the production continued in 1996. I’d get midnight calls from Michael, who was so passionate about finishing it, making it special. He and Stan had become friends way back when they did The Wiz together.

In the beginning, he and Steve did the script together, and I wasn’t really privy to what went on then. It was when it was greenlit that Michael and I and Stan would get together for hours on end, planning the complicated effects as well as the music and storytelling. But it started as something completely different. Nobody knows this, but it was originally going to be a video to promote Addams Family Values. In fact, Christina Ricci and the boy who played Pugsley were both in it. We shot for two weeks and never got to the musical numbers. It was very expensive and ambitious. And when the first so-called scandal happened, it was when we were shooting. Suddenly, Michael was out of the country, and the studio no longer wanted him to help promote that film.

What does it mean to you now that Stan and Michael are both gone?
It’s incredibly sad, of course, and really tragic. Stan was a very talented and funny and friendly man. But I was closer to Michael, spent more time with him. It really breaks my heart to see what happened to him. He was always very fragile, had lots of trouble sleeping. He reminded me a lot of Don McLean’s song about Vincent Van Gogh. The world can be mean, and Michael didn’t have a mean bone in him. Very vulnerable and sweet. And what most people don’t realize is how smart he was and especially how funny he could be. A very witty, explosively talented guy.
Did Michael hope Ghosts would break out as big as Thriller?
Michael always seemed to hope to make something that would be huge. He thought big, because his whole life seemed to be surrounded by magnitude. I don’t know what his hopes were in terms of comparing it with Thriller, but I know he thought it would be very special.

Ghosts and Thriller see him as a charismatic, playful “monster”. Do you think he kept having fun with that reputation, even when the media turned on him?
He was very playful with that image, though as the press got meaner, he was definitely hurt by it, and pulled back and became more reclusive. But though we were friends, it wasn’t like I saw him all the time. A couple years could go by without seeing or speaking with one another, but when we did, we always had a good time.

Where were you when you heard he’d died? What did you immediately think and feel?
I was driving in my car when I heard on the radio that he’d been found unconscious and had been rushed to the hospital. I was stunned, of course, like everyone. Then, about an hour or so later, when I heard it rumored that he had died, I just couldn’t believe it. It took a couple of days for it to sink in. Maybe it was inevitable, I don’t know. I just know that he was fragile, sensitive, and an incredibly sweet and generous guy. It broke my heart, just like it broke the world’s. And I really felt for his kids, who are terrific and unspoiled in a way you wouldn’t imagine. At least, they were when I last saw them a couple of years ago.
Did you see the loneliness and sadness claimed to have been his constant companion?
One of my earliest meetings with him was in New York, where he had a penthouse apartment in the Trump Towers. He was so very lonely. He’d take me to the window and point down at Fifth Avenue below and tell me he’d give anything to be able to just walk down there and go into the shops, but he couldn’t. I went out to visit him in Orlando, and was surprised to find that I was the only one, other than staff, that was around with him. There was nobody but us for a couple of days. I don’t think he had a lot of close friends, people who didn’t want something from him.

Your enduring memory of him will be…?
Making him laugh. When Michael laughed, when you got to him for more than just that giggle behind the hand, it was a sight to see. He just loved to laugh, and it was fun to tease him gently. Maybe one of my favorite memories was on the set of Ghosts; we’d finish a take, and if I wanted another, I’d put on Bullwinkle’s voice and say, “This time for sure!” The first time, he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Then he’d keep asking, even after the good takes: “Mick, do Bullwinkle!” That’s how I like to remember him.

Will Ghosts get a DVD release now?
I hope so. It was hugely expensive, and never released in the United States. He paid for it out of his own pocket, too. So I don’t know who owns it. But I think people would love it. It changed a lot from the time that I worked on it to the time it was finished, but it’s quite an accomplishment. I’d love to see it available. The only copy of it I have was one I came across in a music store in Hong Kong, on the old VCD format. It deserves better.

that's a great interview, one criticism I have and had of Michael was that he did try to use the same formula over and over and over again. Ghosts, music wise and dancewise was great but the dialogue sounding like an amateur wrote it. On the other hand, what is a superstar to do? prince caught hell for trying to keep up with hip hop, whenever Elvis tried to sound "modern" it sounded beneath him. I guess the pressure on what to do following huge success was a real killer for all of them. Prince handled it best I think, after Purple Rain he intentionally released an album which was half weak, half good and alienated most of the following he gained, taking enormous expectatiions off of himself. Michael was paralyzed for five years between Thriller and Bad. The result was a great album but no better recieved than what he could have done a few years earlier I'm sure.

and here's a link to Rosie O'donnells blog on Michael, bear in mind, she refused to speak to him a few years earlier calling him a freak, pedophile etc.., http://greginhollywood.co...ckson-7402

and

http://popdirt.com/rosie-...d-up/5414/

I guess jealousy has to have some part in all this love/hate, believe it or not, I saw Rosie O'donnell in seattle, hailing a cab, jokingly lifting her dress above her knee outside a mall here in Seattle. No one even bothered to stop or notice in the few seconds I watched. That's got to fuck with some of these narcissistic, attention whoring people in that business. Michael never would have been able to even show his face in a town like Seattle without a mob showing up.

[Edited 9/8/10 22:04pm]

seeingvoices12 said:

So inspired and influenced By MJ.....MJ would love this song

NEO UPDATES JACKSON VIDEO

It’s a few beats slower than Micheal Jackson’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” but Ne-Yo‘s new video for “One in a Million” recalls the gloved one’s 1987 girl-chasing clip. Instead of following a vixen through an alley in the middle of the night with a posse of dancing goons, Ne-Yo and a gang of gentlemen prance through city streets clean in shirts, slacks, and wingtips.

Ne-Yo, a self-described M.J. fanatic, does a wonderful job being true to himself without turning this into a corny carbon copy. I can see Jackson’s influence. But there’s no crotch-grabbing plagiarism. The smooth mid-tempo cut is the third single from the singer/songwriter’s forthcoming album, Libra Scale. Check out the video to see if Ne-Yo’s charming ways, wizardry, and smooth steps actually win the girl over after the jump.

Source: EW.com

dag said:

Anyone knows why he didn´t do RTT on any of the tours since they rehearsed it? It would have been so cool.

BTW, bboy where did you get the full rehearsal?

[Edited 9/8/10 10:15am]

I so wish he had done this live!!!! Would have been very cool. I love how Michael is kinda walking his way through things, and then in the dance break he steps in does some of the steps - misses a few, lol - and gets back into it.

Also something nice in hearing Kenny's voice at the end saying "Guy's where are the sound effects?"

ok so i would like to inquire about the track "history".

recently i created a mash-up which required a bit of in-depth listening to the j.dilla/jay dee/ummah acapella version of "history". i could not help but notice that during the chorus "every day create your history...." portion that has the muted, filtered type effect there is backing music that is very subdued that sounds to me (and to my friend that i shared this discovery) a lot like john lennon's "give peace a chance" with the strumming guitar, stomp, and clap.

relating that suspicion with the inspiring nature of the lyrics... does anyone know if "history" was inspired by "give peace a chance" or if there is some form of alternate demo containing this simple guitar stomp/clap track?

if u have the acapella, check it out! if anything the possibility almost demands another mash-up, right?

MyLuv229 said:

http://www.movieline.com/...ghosts.php

The Cold Case talks to Mick Garris about 1997’s Ghosts, the all-but-forgotten 38-minute film he created with Michael Jackson, the late Stan Winston and horror legend Stephen King.
First things first: How did you come to be a zombie in Thriller?
John Landis had already been a friend for several years. We actually met when I was a receptionist for the original Star Wars at an off-lot office at Universal. John’s office was next door to mine when he was prepping Animal House. And Rick and his wife at the time, Elaine, had been very close friends and neighbors to me and Cynthia. So when they invited us, we came running. I was a hopeful writer then, doing publicity for studios and the like, just starting to get screenwriting jobs.

Was there the sense that you were seeing pop-culture history being made?
We knew we were doing something special, but had no idea just how special. We knew it was a much bigger scale than music videos at the time had been, and so much different than the usual 1980s performance things. But watching Michael come alive on that first night I was there was electrifying. I became a fan right there.

Did you become friends with Michael Jackson then?
We did not become friends at that point. Later on, when I was shooting The Stand, Stephen King and Michael put together a script for another scary music video — one with huge scale, even compared to Thriller. King recommended me for it, and that’s where I really met Michael on a one-to-one basis. We became friends through that experience.

What did you think Michael wanted to achieve with Ghosts?
Michael wanted to make the biggest, scariest music film ever. Well, I don’t know that that’s what happened; you can’t really be scary in this context, but it’s huge, the music and dancing are great, and it’s quite the spectacle. And it definitely got its point across. That theme of the outcast stranger that he and King created was important, and stayed the focus through various incarnations.

How did you get involved, and how did the collaboration between you, Michael, Stan Winston and Stephen King work?
I was actually the original director. It was begun in 1993, and I worked with him throughout pre-production and two weeks of production. It shut down for three years before resuming under Stan Winston, who was doing the effects work when I was directing. I recommended him to finish shooting when it resumed, as I was about to shoot The Shining. So yeah, I was on set a lot. But I was not there when the production continued in 1996. I’d get midnight calls from Michael, who was so passionate about finishing it, making it special. He and Stan had become friends way back when they did The Wiz together.

In the beginning, he and Steve did the script together, and I wasn’t really privy to what went on then. It was when it was greenlit that Michael and I and Stan would get together for hours on end, planning the complicated effects as well as the music and storytelling. But it started as something completely different. Nobody knows this, but it was originally going to be a video to promote Addams Family Values. In fact, Christina Ricci and the boy who played Pugsley were both in it. We shot for two weeks and never got to the musical numbers. It was very expensive and ambitious. And when the first so-called scandal happened, it was when we were shooting. Suddenly, Michael was out of the country, and the studio no longer wanted him to help promote that film.

What does it mean to you now that Stan and Michael are both gone?
It’s incredibly sad, of course, and really tragic. Stan was a very talented and funny and friendly man. But I was closer to Michael, spent more time with him. It really breaks my heart to see what happened to him. He was always very fragile, had lots of trouble sleeping. He reminded me a lot of Don McLean’s song about Vincent Van Gogh. The world can be mean, and Michael didn’t have a mean bone in him. Very vulnerable and sweet. And what most people don’t realize is how smart he was and especially how funny he could be. A very witty, explosively talented guy.
Did Michael hope Ghosts would break out as big as Thriller?
Michael always seemed to hope to make something that would be huge. He thought big, because his whole life seemed to be surrounded by magnitude. I don’t know what his hopes were in terms of comparing it with Thriller, but I know he thought it would be very special.

Ghosts and Thriller see him as a charismatic, playful “monster”. Do you think he kept having fun with that reputation, even when the media turned on him?
He was very playful with that image, though as the press got meaner, he was definitely hurt by it, and pulled back and became more reclusive. But though we were friends, it wasn’t like I saw him all the time. A couple years could go by without seeing or speaking with one another, but when we did, we always had a good time.

Where were you when you heard he’d died? What did you immediately think and feel?
I was driving in my car when I heard on the radio that he’d been found unconscious and had been rushed to the hospital. I was stunned, of course, like everyone. Then, about an hour or so later, when I heard it rumored that he had died, I just couldn’t believe it. It took a couple of days for it to sink in. Maybe it was inevitable, I don’t know. I just know that he was fragile, sensitive, and an incredibly sweet and generous guy. It broke my heart, just like it broke the world’s. And I really felt for his kids, who are terrific and unspoiled in a way you wouldn’t imagine. At least, they were when I last saw them a couple of years ago.
Did you see the loneliness and sadness claimed to have been his constant companion?
One of my earliest meetings with him was in New York, where he had a penthouse apartment in the Trump Towers. He was so very lonely. He’d take me to the window and point down at Fifth Avenue below and tell me he’d give anything to be able to just walk down there and go into the shops, but he couldn’t. I went out to visit him in Orlando, and was surprised to find that I was the only one, other than staff, that was around with him. There was nobody but us for a couple of days. I don’t think he had a lot of close friends, people who didn’t want something from him.

Your enduring memory of him will be…?
Making him laugh. When Michael laughed, when you got to him for more than just that giggle behind the hand, it was a sight to see. He just loved to laugh, and it was fun to tease him gently. Maybe one of my favorite memories was on the set of Ghosts; we’d finish a take, and if I wanted another, I’d put on Bullwinkle’s voice and say, “This time for sure!” The first time, he just laughed and laughed and laughed. Then he’d keep asking, even after the good takes: “Mick, do Bullwinkle!” That’s how I like to remember him.

Will Ghosts get a DVD release now?
I hope so. It was hugely expensive, and never released in the United States. He paid for it out of his own pocket, too. So I don’t know who owns it. But I think people would love it. It changed a lot from the time that I worked on it to the time it was finished, but it’s quite an accomplishment. I’d love to see it available. The only copy of it I have was one I came across in a music store in Hong Kong, on the old VCD format. It deserves better.

[img:$uid]http://img829.i.../img:$uid]
[img:$uid]http://img816.i.../img:$uid]

suga10 said:

[img:$uid]http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00833/Jackson-1995_833210a.jpg[/img:$uid]

I love the way he looks, here... 95 VMA's

anyone seen a youtube video for this screencap

[img:$uid]http://195.149.248.189:8080/2010-09-08/98b6fa943fca9c94316a357ba5a39222_480x360.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://195.149.248.189:8080/2010-09-09/696459181361ea663c9bf13f8eaf0587_540x720.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a15/Savvy3/Celebrities/MJ/Dangerous%20Era/1993%20Grammy%20Awards/60612_21_122_625lo.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/8461/rodneyjerkins.jpg[/img:$uid]

[img:$uid]http://195.149.248.189:8080/2010-09-09/e81a1bcfbc78d39812bf5e71d8e00e89_720x505.jpg[/img:$uid]

The legendary Quincy Jones talks to Johnny Davis about Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, his last chat with Michael Jackson – and the fun he had at his own funeral

Quincy Jones is not taking any chances. Last week, the 77-year-old, who has two titanium knees and a hearing aid that whistles when he speaks, was at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, where 14 of "the best doctors in the world" spent six days giving him his annual checkup. "Craniology, urology, everything," he says.

From bebop right through to hip-hop, there's nobody left alive who has done more for American music than Quincy Delight Jones Jr. And that can have its down sides. "I've lost 174 people in four years," he says. "Last week, it was Abbey Lincoln. Before that Herman Leonard, Hank Jones, Lena Horne, Billy Preston – half these guys were younger than me. Sammy Davis was 64 when he died."

He has stopped going to funerals. "Who needs them?" Last year, Jones famously lost Michael Jackson, whom he used to call Smelly. They made three albums together – Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982, Bad in 1987 – a collaboration that changed pop for ever. "Then Michael fired me," Jones grins. He had been pushing Jackson towards hip-hop, but the singer had doubts. "He said, 'Quincy doesn't understand the business any more. He doesn't know that rap is dead.' But it's OK. It wasn't so obvious then."

Still, they were friends until the end. "I was in London when he sold out the 10 concerts, and then sold out 40 more. He called me. He wanted to bring the kids over. But I was with Mohamed Al Fayed at his place. I said, 'I'll see you in Los Angeles.' And that was the last time I talked to him."

Did you know he was in a bad way? "No, no," he says. "There was no way to know. There's no way anybody could be blamed for what happened. Artists of that stature – they can do whatever they want. You'd have to monitor him 24-7 to know what's going on." What about the number of performances? Was it too many for him to cope with? "I don't know, man. It's personal. So, so personal. There's too many details. Unless you're totally cognisant of everything, it's hard to make a judgment."

Jones was once at death's door himself. In 1974, he suffered two brain aneurysms that have left him unable to play the trumpet. He was given a 1% chance of surviving the operation: when the doctors shaved his head they kept his hair in a plastic bag, in case they needed to paste it back on to his corpse. He woke up to find an extravagant memorial service had been planned. So he reckoned it might as well go ahead. "Frank Sinatra said to me, 'Q, live each day like it's your last. And one day you'll be right.'"

Happily, the fleet of Swedish doctors has given him the all-clear. "Except I think vodka's out of my life for ever. Though they say two glasses of red wine is better than not drinking at all!" He certainly seems in the rudest of health. When we meet, at the Paris Ritz, he's looking at the receptionist with a glint in his eye (there have been three marriages and seven children, ages 17 to 56) and on discovering I'm from London, he's keen to practice his cockney. "I learned from the best, Michael Caine," he explains, after a quick round of, "Check out the Bristols on that Richard." Then he shows me Frank Sinatra's sovereign ring, a gift from Ol' Blue Eyes's daughter.

Of all his remarkable achievements, one constant in Jones's life has been an ability to turn great men and women (particularly musicians) into close personal friends. His bestselling 2001 book Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones comes with 50 pages of acknowledgements and seems to contain more celebrities than anecdotes. By the time he was 30, he'd backed Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, played trumpet behind Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, recorded Jacques Brel and arranged Ray Charles. As well as masterminding music's biggest ever album (Thriller) and single (We Are the World), his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon was the first music played by Buzz Aldrin when he landed there in 1969. There have been 33 movie scores and 79 Grammy nominations.

Ostensibly, he has crossed the Atlantic on an unlikely mission: to launch AKG's new line of Quincy Jones headphones ("the most organic, natural fit I could ever imagine"). But Paris is a special place for Jones. He was here in the 1950s, studying composition with Nadia Boulanger, tutor to Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. Soon he was off dining with Picasso and hanging out with Brigitte Bardot. "Ooh la la!" he twinkles.

When a beautiful blonde teenager practically sits down on top of him, it turns out to be one of his daughters, Kenya. "Nastassja Kinski's her mother," he says. Along with celebrities, the other constant in his life has been stunning women. "You think I'm gonna like ugly ones?" he says.

Jones came up the hard way: born in Chicago to a schizophrenic mother and raised by a grandmother who liked to fry rat on a skillet. Mum re-enters his life story like the proverbial bad penny, at one point conspiring to stop his "devil's music" by reporting Jones for non-payment of taxes. Her behaviour was enough to make him say now: "I didn't have a mother, so I had to make my own world. I started with four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, drum, bass and piano – all doing something different."

It's this arranger approach that's kept him moving forward, always mixing and matching – people, music, ideas. He worked with everyone from Akon to Bono, Chaka Khan to Shaquille O'Neal. Today, he's got a theory that rappers "could revolutionise education". He explains: "Everywhere in the world, they have kids in the palm of their hand. I put together a curriculum so schools know who rappers are – so kids don't have to pretend to be Columbine neo-Nazis saying 'Yo homie!' on the internet." He's been angling for a position within Barack Obama's administration, too. "We're the only country with no minister of culture," he says.

Jones has an LP coming out: a tribute record to himself called Q: Soul Bossa Nostra. It will be released on 700m mobile phones in China, Jones being the last person you'll find clinging to vinyl. "I've got a jazz mind, man," he says. "The music business as we knew it is over. I'm rolling with whatever the reality is." Amy Winehouse features on the album, covering Jones's first hit as a producer, 1963's It's My Party. They met at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert. "We hugged and I said, 'Why you got to mess up your life like this?' She said, 'I'm gonna be OK. My husband's getting out of jail soon.' I said, 'Wow! That's a big positive!' She's like Naomi, my other little naughty sister."

He means Naomi Campbell. Jones has just spent time with Campbell on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. With them were Jay-Z; Sarah, Duchess of York; and, ironically, Leonardo DiCaprio, star of the movie Blood Diamond. This was just after Campbell gave evidence in Charles Taylor's trial at the Hague for war crimes. Jones was at the meal the trial focused on, but he's not talking about it. "Naomi's fine," he says. "I see the bright side of her."

Thriller rides again

His diplomacy cracks at the mention of Lady Gaga, though. Why is he rolling his eyes? "I don't listen to her," he says. Why not? "Cos I heard it a couple of times!" He falls about: twice was apparently enough. It's Jackson he'll always be linked with, though. For Thriller, Jones whittled 800 songs down to nine. "Then I took out the weakest four and replaced them with The Lady in My Life, PYT, Beat It and Human Nature. Mix that with Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Something, and you have a serious album." There was a story on the website Pop***** saying Jones got so fed up with Jackson's yelps and whimpers that he took to kicking him. "Ha ha! No, but I knew how to handle Michael."

Now all those Thriller outtakes will probably be heard: Sony and Jackson's estate have done a $250m deal for 10 more albums. "I don't want to get involved," Jones says. "The poor guy's gone. He died younger than me when I produced him. He left something not many people are going to leave."

In terms of a legacy, Jones may rival Jackson. Witnessing all the talent that turned up for his 1974 memorial, which he attended with two metal plates in his skull, one thought went through his mind: "That's some lineup."

Source: The Guardian UK

bboy87 said:

The legendary Quincy Jones talks to Johnny Davis about Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, his last chat with Michael Jackson – and the fun he had at his own funeral

Quincy Jones is not taking any chances. Last week, the 77-year-old, who has two titanium knees and a hearing aid that whistles when he speaks, was at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, where 14 of "the best doctors in the world" spent six days giving him his annual checkup. "Craniology, urology, everything," he says.

From bebop right through to hip-hop, there's nobody left alive who has done more for American music than Quincy Delight Jones Jr. And that can have its down sides. "I've lost 174 people in four years," he says. "Last week, it was Abbey Lincoln. Before that Herman Leonard, Hank Jones, Lena Horne, Billy Preston – half these guys were younger than me. Sammy Davis was 64 when he died."

He has stopped going to funerals. "Who needs them?" Last year, Jones famously lost Michael Jackson, whom he used to call Smelly. They made three albums together – Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982, Bad in 1987 – a collaboration that changed pop for ever. "Then Michael fired me," Jones grins. He had been pushing Jackson towards hip-hop, but the singer had doubts. "He said, 'Quincy doesn't understand the business any more. He doesn't know that rap is dead.' But it's OK. It wasn't so obvious then."

Still, they were friends until the end. "I was in London when he sold out the 10 concerts, and then sold out 40 more. He called me. He wanted to bring the kids over. But I was with Mohamed Al Fayed at his place. I said, 'I'll see you in Los Angeles.' And that was the last time I talked to him."

Did you know he was in a bad way? "No, no," he says. "There was no way to know. There's no way anybody could be blamed for what happened. Artists of that stature – they can do whatever they want. You'd have to monitor him 24-7 to know what's going on." What about the number of performances? Was it too many for him to cope with? "I don't know, man. It's personal. So, so personal. There's too many details. Unless you're totally cognisant of everything, it's hard to make a judgment."

Jones was once at death's door himself. In 1974, he suffered two brain aneurysms that have left him unable to play the trumpet. He was given a 1% chance of surviving the operation: when the doctors shaved his head they kept his hair in a plastic bag, in case they needed to paste it back on to his corpse. He woke up to find an extravagant memorial service had been planned. So he reckoned it might as well go ahead. "Frank Sinatra said to me, 'Q, live each day like it's your last. And one day you'll be right.'"

Happily, the fleet of Swedish doctors has given him the all-clear. "Except I think vodka's out of my life for ever. Though they say two glasses of red wine is better than not drinking at all!" He certainly seems in the rudest of health. When we meet, at the Paris Ritz, he's looking at the receptionist with a glint in his eye (there have been three marriages and seven children, ages 17 to 56) and on discovering I'm from London, he's keen to practice his cockney. "I learned from the best, Michael Caine," he explains, after a quick round of, "Check out the Bristols on that Richard." Then he shows me Frank Sinatra's sovereign ring, a gift from Ol' Blue Eyes's daughter.

Of all his remarkable achievements, one constant in Jones's life has been an ability to turn great men and women (particularly musicians) into close personal friends. His bestselling 2001 book Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones comes with 50 pages of acknowledgements and seems to contain more celebrities than anecdotes. By the time he was 30, he'd backed Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, played trumpet behind Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, recorded Jacques Brel and arranged Ray Charles. As well as masterminding music's biggest ever album (Thriller) and single (We Are the World), his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon was the first music played by Buzz Aldrin when he landed there in 1969. There have been 33 movie scores and 79 Grammy nominations.

Ostensibly, he has crossed the Atlantic on an unlikely mission: to launch AKG's new line of Quincy Jones headphones ("the most organic, natural fit I could ever imagine"). But Paris is a special place for Jones. He was here in the 1950s, studying composition with Nadia Boulanger, tutor to Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. Soon he was off dining with Picasso and hanging out with Brigitte Bardot. "Ooh la la!" he twinkles.

When a beautiful blonde teenager practically sits down on top of him, it turns out to be one of his daughters, Kenya. "Nastassja Kinski's her mother," he says. Along with celebrities, the other constant in his life has been stunning women. "You think I'm gonna like ugly ones?" he says.

Jones came up the hard way: born in Chicago to a schizophrenic mother and raised by a grandmother who liked to fry rat on a skillet. Mum re-enters his life story like the proverbial bad penny, at one point conspiring to stop his "devil's music" by reporting Jones for non-payment of taxes. Her behaviour was enough to make him say now: "I didn't have a mother, so I had to make my own world. I started with four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, drum, bass and piano – all doing something different."

It's this arranger approach that's kept him moving forward, always mixing and matching – people, music, ideas. He worked with everyone from Akon to Bono, Chaka Khan to Shaquille O'Neal. Today, he's got a theory that rappers "could revolutionise education". He explains: "Everywhere in the world, they have kids in the palm of their hand. I put together a curriculum so schools know who rappers are – so kids don't have to pretend to be Columbine neo-Nazis saying 'Yo homie!' on the internet." He's been angling for a position within Barack Obama's administration, too. "We're the only country with no minister of culture," he says.

Jones has an LP coming out: a tribute record to himself called Q: Soul Bossa Nostra. It will be released on 700m mobile phones in China, Jones being the last person you'll find clinging to vinyl. "I've got a jazz mind, man," he says. "The music business as we knew it is over. I'm rolling with whatever the reality is." Amy Winehouse features on the album, covering Jones's first hit as a producer, 1963's It's My Party. They met at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert. "We hugged and I said, 'Why you got to mess up your life like this?' She said, 'I'm gonna be OK. My husband's getting out of jail soon.' I said, 'Wow! That's a big positive!' She's like Naomi, my other little naughty sister."

He means Naomi Campbell. Jones has just spent time with Campbell on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. With them were Jay-Z; Sarah, Duchess of York; and, ironically, Leonardo DiCaprio, star of the movie Blood Diamond. This was just after Campbell gave evidence in Charles Taylor's trial at the Hague for war crimes. Jones was at the meal the trial focused on, but he's not talking about it. "Naomi's fine," he says. "I see the bright side of her."

Thriller rides again

His diplomacy cracks at the mention of Lady Gaga, though. Why is he rolling his eyes? "I don't listen to her," he says. Why not? "Cos I heard it a couple of times!" He falls about: twice was apparently enough. It's Jackson he'll always be linked with, though. For Thriller, Jones whittled 800 songs down to nine. "Then I took out the weakest four and replaced them with The Lady in My Life, PYT, Beat It and Human Nature. Mix that with Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Something, and you have a serious album." There was a story on the website Pop***** saying Jones got so fed up with Jackson's yelps and whimpers that he took to kicking him. "Ha ha! No, but I knew how to handle Michael."

Now all those Thriller outtakes will probably be heard: Sony and Jackson's estate have done a $250m deal for 10 more albums. "I don't want to get involved," Jones says. "The poor guy's gone. He died younger than me when I produced him. He left something not many people are going to leave."

In terms of a legacy, Jones may rival Jackson. Witnessing all the talent that turned up for his 1974 memorial, which he attended with two metal plates in his skull, one thought went through his mind: "That's some lineup."

Source: The Guardian UK

at Q

[Edited 9/9/10 12:35pm]

NMuzakNSoul said:

bboy87 said:

The legendary Quincy Jones talks to Johnny Davis about Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, his last chat with Michael Jackson – and the fun he had at his own funeral

Quincy Jones is not taking any chances. Last week, the 77-year-old, who has two titanium knees and a hearing aid that whistles when he speaks, was at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, where 14 of "the best doctors in the world" spent six days giving him his annual checkup. "Craniology, urology, everything," he says.

From bebop right through to hip-hop, there's nobody left alive who has done more for American music than Quincy Delight Jones Jr. And that can have its down sides. "I've lost 174 people in four years," he says. "Last week, it was Abbey Lincoln. Before that Herman Leonard, Hank Jones, Lena Horne, Billy Preston – half these guys were younger than me. Sammy Davis was 64 when he died."

He has stopped going to funerals. "Who needs them?" Last year, Jones famously lost Michael Jackson, whom he used to call Smelly. They made three albums together – Off the Wall in 1979, Thriller in 1982, Bad in 1987 – a collaboration that changed pop for ever. "Then Michael fired me," Jones grins. He had been pushing Jackson towards hip-hop, but the singer had doubts. "He said, 'Quincy doesn't understand the business any more. He doesn't know that rap is dead.' But it's OK. It wasn't so obvious then."

Still, they were friends until the end. "I was in London when he sold out the 10 concerts, and then sold out 40 more. He called me. He wanted to bring the kids over. But I was with Mohamed Al Fayed at his place. I said, 'I'll see you in Los Angeles.' And that was the last time I talked to him."

Did you know he was in a bad way? "No, no," he says. "There was no way to know. There's no way anybody could be blamed for what happened. Artists of that stature – they can do whatever they want. You'd have to monitor him 24-7 to know what's going on." What about the number of performances? Was it too many for him to cope with? "I don't know, man. It's personal. So, so personal. There's too many details. Unless you're totally cognisant of everything, it's hard to make a judgment."

Jones was once at death's door himself. In 1974, he suffered two brain aneurysms that have left him unable to play the trumpet. He was given a 1% chance of surviving the operation: when the doctors shaved his head they kept his hair in a plastic bag, in case they needed to paste it back on to his corpse. He woke up to find an extravagant memorial service had been planned. So he reckoned it might as well go ahead. "Frank Sinatra said to me, 'Q, live each day like it's your last. And one day you'll be right.'"

Happily, the fleet of Swedish doctors has given him the all-clear. "Except I think vodka's out of my life for ever. Though they say two glasses of red wine is better than not drinking at all!" He certainly seems in the rudest of health. When we meet, at the Paris Ritz, he's looking at the receptionist with a glint in his eye (there have been three marriages and seven children, ages 17 to 56) and on discovering I'm from London, he's keen to practice his cockney. "I learned from the best, Michael Caine," he explains, after a quick round of, "Check out the Bristols on that Richard." Then he shows me Frank Sinatra's sovereign ring, a gift from Ol' Blue Eyes's daughter.

Of all his remarkable achievements, one constant in Jones's life has been an ability to turn great men and women (particularly musicians) into close personal friends. His bestselling 2001 book Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones comes with 50 pages of acknowledgements and seems to contain more celebrities than anecdotes. By the time he was 30, he'd backed Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, played trumpet behind Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker, recorded Jacques Brel and arranged Ray Charles. As well as masterminding music's biggest ever album (Thriller) and single (We Are the World), his arrangement of Fly Me to the Moon was the first music played by Buzz Aldrin when he landed there in 1969. There have been 33 movie scores and 79 Grammy nominations.

Ostensibly, he has crossed the Atlantic on an unlikely mission: to launch AKG's new line of Quincy Jones headphones ("the most organic, natural fit I could ever imagine"). But Paris is a special place for Jones. He was here in the 1950s, studying composition with Nadia Boulanger, tutor to Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland. Soon he was off dining with Picasso and hanging out with Brigitte Bardot. "Ooh la la!" he twinkles.

When a beautiful blonde teenager practically sits down on top of him, it turns out to be one of his daughters, Kenya. "Nastassja Kinski's her mother," he says. Along with celebrities, the other constant in his life has been stunning women. "You think I'm gonna like ugly ones?" he says.

Jones came up the hard way: born in Chicago to a schizophrenic mother and raised by a grandmother who liked to fry rat on a skillet. Mum re-enters his life story like the proverbial bad penny, at one point conspiring to stop his "devil's music" by reporting Jones for non-payment of taxes. Her behaviour was enough to make him say now: "I didn't have a mother, so I had to make my own world. I started with four trumpets, four trombones, five saxes, drum, bass and piano – all doing something different."

It's this arranger approach that's kept him moving forward, always mixing and matching – people, music, ideas. He worked with everyone from Akon to Bono, Chaka Khan to Shaquille O'Neal. Today, he's got a theory that rappers "could revolutionise education". He explains: "Everywhere in the world, they have kids in the palm of their hand. I put together a curriculum so schools know who rappers are – so kids don't have to pretend to be Columbine neo-Nazis saying 'Yo homie!' on the internet." He's been angling for a position within Barack Obama's administration, too. "We're the only country with no minister of culture," he says.

Jones has an LP coming out: a tribute record to himself called Q: Soul Bossa Nostra. It will be released on 700m mobile phones in China, Jones being the last person you'll find clinging to vinyl. "I've got a jazz mind, man," he says. "The music business as we knew it is over. I'm rolling with whatever the reality is." Amy Winehouse features on the album, covering Jones's first hit as a producer, 1963's It's My Party. They met at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert. "We hugged and I said, 'Why you got to mess up your life like this?' She said, 'I'm gonna be OK. My husband's getting out of jail soon.' I said, 'Wow! That's a big positive!' She's like Naomi, my other little naughty sister."

He means Naomi Campbell. Jones has just spent time with Campbell on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean. With them were Jay-Z; Sarah, Duchess of York; and, ironically, Leonardo DiCaprio, star of the movie Blood Diamond. This was just after Campbell gave evidence in Charles Taylor's trial at the Hague for war crimes. Jones was at the meal the trial focused on, but he's not talking about it. "Naomi's fine," he says. "I see the bright side of her."

Thriller rides again

His diplomacy cracks at the mention of Lady Gaga, though. Why is he rolling his eyes? "I don't listen to her," he says. Why not? "Cos I heard it a couple of times!" He falls about: twice was apparently enough. It's Jackson he'll always be linked with, though. For Thriller, Jones whittled 800 songs down to nine. "Then I took out the weakest four and replaced them with The Lady in My Life, PYT, Beat It and Human Nature. Mix that with Billie Jean and Wanna Be Startin' Something, and you have a serious album." There was a story on the website Pop***** saying Jones got so fed up with Jackson's yelps and whimpers that he took to kicking him. "Ha ha! No, but I knew how to handle Michael."

Now all those Thriller outtakes will probably be heard: Sony and Jackson's estate have done a $250m deal for 10 more albums. "I don't want to get involved," Jones says. "The poor guy's gone. He died younger than me when I produced him. He left something not many people are going to leave."

In terms of a legacy, Jones may rival Jackson. Witnessing all the talent that turned up for his 1974 memorial, which he attended with two metal plates in his skull, one thought went through his mind: "That's some lineup."

Source: The Guardian UK

at Q

[Edited 9/9/10 12:35pm]

Co-signing you with the " at Q" and a added to it. Whatever Quincy lol

Timmy84 said:

NMuzakNSoul said:

at Q

[Edited 9/9/10 12:35pm]

Co-signing you with the " at Q" and a added to it. Whatever Quincy lol

Swa said:

The next "King of Pop" title or the next Michael Jackson title has been awarded to so many artists in the press it is laughable - with most having peaks of chart success then fading.

To be fair though, in 83 when MJ was killing it with Thriller the press were dubbing him the new james brown - so it's nothing new.

Of the artists who have been compared (read influenced) by Michael, Usher, Justin Timberlake and potentially Neo have the talent and skills to have long term success (Usher and JT already have it). Will they be as big as Michael - no. But they will be the artists who from the list will prove themselves most worthy of being considered an heir.

The truth is - there will be no other Michael.

Hopefully instead, new artists will draw inspiration from him and just become their own performer.

Check out what Joyce Hawkins(Chris Brown's Mother) said yesterday!

[img:$uid]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/95448562/joyce.jpg[/img:$uid]

She's posted some follow-up tweets regarding this certain tweet,account:

"IM SORRY I OFFENDED ANYONE. THE STATEMENT MEANT CHRIS WOULD CARRY ON MICHAELS LEGACY"

ali23 said:

Swa said:

The next "King of Pop" title or the next Michael Jackson title has been awarded to so many artists in the press it is laughable - with most having peaks of chart success then fading.

To be fair though, in 83 when MJ was killing it with Thriller the press were dubbing him the new james brown - so it's nothing new.

Of the artists who have been compared (read influenced) by Michael, Usher, Justin Timberlake and potentially Neo have the talent and skills to have long term success (Usher and JT already have it). Will they be as big as Michael - no. But they will be the artists who from the list will prove themselves most worthy of being considered an heir.

The truth is - there will be no other Michael.

Hopefully instead, new artists will draw inspiration from him and just become their own performer.

Check out what Joyce Hawkins(Chris Brown's Mother) said yesterday!

[img:$uid]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/95448562/joyce.jpg[/img:$uid]

She's posted some follow-up tweets regarding this certain tweet,account:

"IM SORRY I OFFENDED ANYONE. THE STATEMENT MEANT CHRIS WOULD CARRY ON MICHAELS LEGACY"

Ms. Hawkins is wrong as hell. That's all.

Death to Twitter. lol

but, seriously, death to Twitter.

scorp84 said:

Death to Twitter. lol

but, seriously, death to Twitter.

Death to coonery on Twitter.

Timmy84 said:

scorp84 said:

Death to Twitter. lol

but, seriously, death to Twitter.

Death to coonery on Twitter.

Lol!

Just found this!

The version of Thriller on Video Greatest Hits: HIStory

[img:$uid]http://i53.tinypic.com/a2et6g.jpg[/img:$uid]

the version on HIStory On Film Volume 2

[img:$uid]http://i55.tinypic.com/ff4thy.jpg[/img:$uid]

the version on Moonwalker (the Retrospective mix)

[img:$uid]http://i54.tinypic.com/5oe6mc.jpg[/img:$uid]

I wanna see the full version that was used in Moonwalker

ali23 said:

Swa said:

The next "King of Pop" title or the next Michael Jackson title has been awarded to so many artists in the press it is laughable - with most having peaks of chart success then fading.

To be fair though, in 83 when MJ was killing it with Thriller the press were dubbing him the new james brown - so it's nothing new.

Of the artists who have been compared (read influenced) by Michael, Usher, Justin Timberlake and potentially Neo have the talent and skills to have long term success (Usher and JT already have it). Will they be as big as Michael - no. But they will be the artists who from the list will prove themselves most worthy of being considered an heir.

The truth is - there will be no other Michael.

Hopefully instead, new artists will draw inspiration from him and just become their own performer.

Check out what Joyce Hawkins(Chris Brown's Mother) said yesterday!

[img:$uid]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/95448562/joyce.jpg[/img:$uid]

She's posted some follow-up tweets regarding this certain tweet,account:

"IM SORRY I OFFENDED ANYONE. THE STATEMENT MEANT CHRIS WOULD CARRY ON MICHAELS LEGACY"

bboy87 said:

The version of Thriller on Video Greatest Hits: HIStory

[img:$uid]http://i53.tinypic.com/a2et6g.jpg[/img:$uid]

the version on HIStory On Film Volume 2

[img:$uid]http://i55.tinypic.com/ff4thy.jpg[/img:$uid]

the version on Moonwalker (the Retrospective mix)

[img:$uid]http://i54.tinypic.com/5oe6mc.jpg[/img:$uid]

I wanna see the full version that was used in Moonwalker

The Moonwalker version topped ALL OF THEM! It was so clear and his red outfit really stood out

seeingvoices12 said:

ali23 said:

Check out what Joyce Hawkins(Chris Brown's Mother) said yesterday!

[img:$uid]http://i870.photobucket.com/albums/ab267/95448562/joyce.jpg[/img:$uid]

She's posted some follow-up tweets regarding this certain tweet,account:

"IM SORRY I OFFENDED ANYONE. THE STATEMENT MEANT CHRIS WOULD CARRY ON MICHAELS LEGACY"

She was high when she tweeted

ViintageJunkiie said:

bboy87 said:

The version of Thriller on Video Greatest Hits: HIStory

[img][/img]

the version on HIStory On Film Volume 2

[img][/img]

the version on Moonwalker (the Retrospective mix)

[img][/img]

I wanna see the full version that was used in Moonwalker

The Moonwalker version topped ALL OF THEM! It was so clear and his red outfit really stood out

The need to put the full version on DVD along with the Making Of

bboy87 said:

ViintageJunkiie said:

The Moonwalker version topped ALL OF THEM! It was so clear and his red outfit really stood out

The need to put the full version on DVD along with the Making Of

...which will NEVER happen

Making of Thriller DVD/Blu-Ray + MORE Making of Thriller + EVEN MORE Making of Thriller (full rehearsal footage, make-up tests, casting, etc.) =

I know most people weren't really big on preserving piles of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage back in 1983 ("what for?"), but Mike wasn't most people. Being that he recorded/documented pretty much everything he's ever done, his estate has to be sitting on alot of material from that time.

scorp84 said:

Making of Thriller DVD/Blu-Ray + MORE Making of Thriller + EVEN MORE Making of Thriller (full rehearsal footage, make-up tests, casting, etc.) =

I know most people weren't really big on preserving piles of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage back in 1983 ("what for?"), but Mike wasn't most people. Being that he recorded/documented pretty much everything he's ever done, his estate has to be sitting on alot of material from that time.

Exactly! I'd love to see more rehearsal footage, footage of them in the movie theater, more footage of the opening scene...

ViintageJunkiie said:

scorp84 said:

Making of Thriller DVD/Blu-Ray + MORE Making of Thriller + EVEN MORE Making of Thriller (full rehearsal footage, make-up tests, casting, etc.) =

I know most people weren't really big on preserving piles of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage back in 1983 ("what for?"), but Mike wasn't most people. Being that he recorded/documented pretty much everything he's ever done, his estate has to be sitting on alot of material from that time.

Exactly! I'd love to see more rehearsal footage, footage of them in the movie theater, more footage of the opening scene...

...and you know Prince went to the opening night of the the theatrical release....

ViintageJunkiie said:

scorp84 said:

Making of Thriller DVD/Blu-Ray + MORE Making of Thriller + EVEN MORE Making of Thriller (full rehearsal footage, make-up tests, casting, etc.) =

I know most people weren't really big on preserving piles of deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage back in 1983 ("what for?"), but Mike wasn't most people. Being that he recorded/documented pretty much everything he's ever done, his estate has to be sitting on alot of material from that time.

Exactly! I'd love to see more rehearsal footage, footage of them in the movie theater, more footage of the opening scene...

Plus there's footage collecting dusts on people's shelves. Some fan who used to be on MJJC got their hands on the opening night of the Bad Tour's European leg in Rome and the one of the 1988 shows in Tokyo

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHPiERpJVAM[[/youtube]

Remember when "Dangerous: the short films" came out on VHS in 1993? I had to beg my parents to get it for me as it wasn't near my birthday or christmas LOL. I was only about 7 years old. I taped most of the videos that were on the VHS anyway, but it was still a great compilation of that era and it really closed a chapter on MJ's career before the whole Jordy Chandler thing (though I seem to remember the VHS came out around the allegation). He was still cool to us kids back when the VHS came out LOL.

I love how they talk about the "Panther" sequence for "Black or white" like it was some sort of earth shattering event. I do remember the "scandel", but I love the way they put it together. Reminds me abit of Prince "Diamonds and Pearls" VHS compilation intro aswell.

It was also cool you got a few of the Pepsi ads, as the ones around the "Dangerous" era were genuinely great, particually the heart wrenching "I'll be there", that has even more poigancy now then it did back then.

Great VHS.

[Edited 9/9/10 16:25pm]