Neverland Valley Ranch: a thread 🧵
PART 2: What to Find
(Link to Part 1: The History will be at the bottom of the thread incase you missed it)
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I’m seeing a lot of people talk about Debbie on the tl, mainly about her trying to take his kids away so here’s a quick thread about the situation:
Michael and Debbie: What Went Wrong? - a thread 🧵
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Michael Jackson: All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track: A Thread 🧵
Feel free to request a song, wether its solo, Steeltown, Jackson 5, The Jacksons, popular, a deep cut, or unreleased
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A Hollow Victory - The Ups and Downs of the Victory Tour: A Thread
This is probably my longest thread so if you get to a point that doesn’t seem like an end, click on the last post in the thread, and it probably continues in the replies <3
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In the early 90s Michael Jackson was rushed to hospital after complaining about chest pains. During his stay a man called Jackie Lee Adams threatened he was going to murder Michael
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6/ So in addition to his 3 existing romantic relationships, Jermaine was also hanging out with Stevie Wonder's sister and the model Iman 😭 Jermaine was a complete testosterone bomb in the 80s!
Wait. I didn’t know (or at least I don’t think I did) that Michael Peters who helped choreograph Beat It and Thriller died in 1994
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Do you guys actually think Michael could top Off The Wall with his new album? So far I’m not loving his latest single The Girl Is Mine
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Just like so many other videos like this, this just proves that Michael’s work is timeless and loved by all generations and will continue to be loved by all future generations
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Fun fact, in a scene that was never filmed I think of budget reasons , after a camera flash those mannequins in the store window were supposed to come alive and dance with Michael
On the 25th of July, 1995, just six weeks after the HIStory album hit shelves, the One Night Only TV special, which was set to air on HBO on the 10th of December, was announced.
The director Michael chose for the project was Jeff Margolis, who had known Michael since he was a kid, and who also produced the Sammy Davis jr. 60th anniversary show in 1990, which Michael performed “You Were There” at.
The new and re-imagined choreography for Beat It was inspired by kung-fu movies. Michael, already being a big Bruce Lee fan beforehand, ordered the dancers some kung-fu tapes to study.
The decision was made that the show would happen in a theatre - the Beacon Theatre in New York to be exact - instead of huge stadiums that had become the norm for a Michael Jackson concert.
It’s sad to think this kid went on to sing Leave Me Alone, Why You Wanna Trip On Me, Scream, They Don’t Care About Us, Tabloid Junkie, Morphine, Privacy, the list goes on and on
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According to Michael’s manager at the time, Jim Morey, it was Michael’s idea and he chose who the guest stars were, and who the director was. Michael had full creative control over aspect of the show.
Jeff would also go on to produce Happy Birthday Elizabeth: A Celebration Of Life in 1997 which Michael also performed at, only this time it was “Elizabeth, I Love You.”
Some choreographers chosen were Jamie King, who would go on to do the Michael Jackson Cirque De Soleil shows, and Barry Lather, who was a background dancer in Captain Eo.
Did you know that in 2007/08 (around there) Michael heard his music being played and was pleased yet surprised that people still listened to him?
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Bruce Swedien on how he, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and Rod Temperton were flashed by a lady in the studio while recording the Thriller album 😭😭😭
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Barry and the other dancers rehearsed for twelve days before it was shown to Michael. He loved it and decided to learn it. As a matter of fact, Michael loved it so much that he repurposed it for Ghosts in 1996.
Naomi Campbell was said to have had a cameo during the performance also, where she was going to go on stage, and in a “The Way You Make Me Feel” type thing, have a walk pass.
And also for everyone’s hard work to have an actual pay off. But until then, the very limited and very short rehearsal clips on YouTube are all that we have for the show that never was.
The end.
For this show, Michael wanted to do something different (as per usual). He wanted the show to be more intimate and wanted to seem touchable to his fans.
Ever since I first heard of this cancelled show I always wished I could see what it would have been like but after doing some research on it I’m truly mad that we’ll never get a chance to see it because it sounded amazing!
New thread coming soon 👀
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Michael’s choreography partner, Travis Payne, said that for Dangerous they were inspired by the 1971, Stanley Kubrick film, “A Clockwork Orange.” He said it was going to be “very stripped back.”
I pray that the One Night Only tapes are relocated again someday and are finally shown so we can get a better idea of what the show could have been, and so we could get a better view of the vision that Michael, the choreographers, and everyone else involved had for the show.
Jeff hired half a dozen choreographers, saying: “we wanted each number to have a different feel. We didn’t want every number to look the same. Each choreographer had two or three numbers to design.”
@KellyBills14
“I love to tour”
“Imma kill you Mac! Mac I’m going to annihilate you”
“IM A NICE PERSON! I JUST TOOK A SHOWER!AND I WASHED MY HAUR THOROUGHLY! AAAHH!! (Yeah!)
“No you tell her what to say!”
😭😭😭😭
Dance rehearsals took place at the Sony Studio in NYC. With each choreographer doing one or two songs each, they all worked behind closed doors, not showing or revealing anything to anyone. Everything was kept very secretive and very hush-hush.
It is 1967. The Jackson 5 & Johnny (Johnny Jackson - no relation) have been performing at talent shows and night clubs for about four years now and have began to make a name for themselves in the Chicago-Gary area.
@scrmjsired
Idk how to explain it but I read somewhere that it could be no one specifically and Michael said it as a way to get people interested and curious as to how he’s talking about so they end up doing what the song is about: believing everything you hear. Does that make sense?
Dangerous was to begin with the dancers acting as crazed lunatics. Michael Bush had gone and bought what the iconic outfits from the movie required: bowler hats, jockstraps, and one eyelash.
Fans began to speculate on Michael’s follow up to Invincible in 2003. There were rumours that the album would be titled Resurrection but it was never confirmed and is likely to be false although there still some fans who believe it.
Everyone was in sync. The dancers spoke to the hair and makeup people, who then relayed everything back to Michael Bush. Brad Buxer was also coordinating the music with Michael, and Michael with the dancers.
Michael was working tirelessly to learn all of the new moves. He had five or six rehearsals a day, and the song Michael was trying his best to learn was the new choreography for Thriller.
Other songs that were supposed to have been performed during One Night Only were: The Way You Make Me Feel, Bad, Jam, Earth Song, You Are Not Alone, Black or White, and Smile.
A full orchestra wrapped around the stage, which included two stories worth of musicians. Michael’s usual traveling band, Ricky Lawson on drums, David Williams and Jennifer Batten on guitar, with Siedah Garret on vocals, were in the two side boxes.
One Night Only was to be something that Michael had never done before, and something that fans had never seen before. It would have been nothing like Michael’s stadium shows that fans had grown used to for the past decade.
Michael loved the choreography to Dangerous already and had to be convinced to go along with the changes. Apparently he was told he had to change the choreography for Dangerous because he did it “all the time” and people were “sick of it.”
Michael’s friend and studio engineer, Brad Sunberg, said on the matter of Michael’s tendency to lose things, “Once you hand anything to Michael Jackson you may as well just chuck it off a pier because you’re never ever going to see it again.”
Twenty dancers were in trench coats, hats, and were armed with flashlight props. The new staging for Thriller was edgy and raw, with an industrial warehouse feel. It wasn’t to be a colourful performance, but instead bold with an intense rock-inspired lighting.
Brad did not work at the Sony Studio like everyone else was, he worked elsewhere. Brad was using a symphony orchestra and needed a bigger space to rehearse with them at.
Billie Jean would have been performed too but whether it’s already iconic choreography was going to be re-imagined has not been confirmed, although it is extremely likely.
Jeffré also stole lyric sheets which you will see later on ;)
Also found in Michael’s bedroom, amongst many other notes, where a list of songs Michael wanted to complete.
A poster for Thriller: The Movie: The Untold Story. I have no idea what this is tbh, by the subtitle “The Untold Story” maybe it was a documentary and maybe the poster was just a mock up to show while it was being pitched? Although it looks somewhat official
Michael had already been feeling ill for the past few days, but on the 6th, Michael collapsed during rehearsals, due to dehydration, exhaustion, and low blood levels, and had to be rushed to hospital.
After Invincible and the chaos that ensued afterwards Michael never stopped crashing music. To quote the man himself, from a 2006 interview for Access Hollywood, “I never stopped. I'm always writing a potpourri of music, you know, it's how it is.”
Michael continued to work with his long time collaborator Brad Buxer through the years. Brad called 2004 the best year for his and Michael’s creativeness and studio work.
Just as a quick reminder, during this time LaToya was in an physically, mentally, and abusive relationship with her manager Jack Gordon, who forced her with a threat of violence to do many things that she didn’t want to do like posing naked and tell lies about Michael.
Barry Lather was not only tasked with coming up with a new concept for Thriller, but Smooth Criminal too. Sadly though, it never caught on and never made to the rehearsal stage.
Michael was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital, and “near death” according to Dr. William Alleyne, who is responsible for saving Michael’s life.
“He didn’t even put his hands out to break his fall. It was scary. And he fell down hard. I’m surprised he didn’t break his nose or his jaw on the grate.”
To set the scene: it is 1982. E.T., released in June of that year, was now the highest grossing film of all time, prince William was born, arcades were all the craze, and the music industry was in a serious slump.
Where Michael could stand and perform a song or two, while also being close to his fans, giving them the chance to touch him. It was to have been warm and intimate.
The sheer difference in his reaction. You can tell that Colman is honoured to be playing Joseph and Is proud of the film, and of Jafaar, and all that. Then in the second picture his excitement is ruined by Jimmy’s awful joke
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