THE JACKSONS - Tracks Poll. Deadline Now End Of Friday 17th Feb!

^ brilliant though that is, Michael didn't sing it.

Honestly? I didn't know that--always thought it was him.

Kipp Lennon. Another cherished illusion shattered.

Yep, Michael did the speaking parts in that episode, but a soundalike was brought in for the singing:

According to Jean, Jackson would not commit to the episode until after a read-through of the script was done.[8] The read was held at Jackson's manager Sandy Gallin's house, and Dan Castellaneta (who provides the voice for Homer) was 30 minutes late. Jean recalls that "no one said a word, we just sat there waiting".[9] Following the read, Jackson stipulated his conditions: he would record his speaking parts but not receive credit, and his singing voice would be performed by a sound-alike.[8][10] Leon Kompowsky's singing parts were performed by Kipp Lennon,[6] because Jackson wanted to play a joke on his brothers and fool them into thinking the impersonator was him.[10] Lennon recorded his lines at the same time as Jackson, who found the impersonations humorous.[6] Jackson showed up for the recording session alone and did not use the special trailer that was set up for him.[6] According to Jean, Jackson did record versions of the singing parts, and while there have been rumors that those parts were the ones used in the final episode, The Simpsons music editor Chris Ledesma has stated the Lennon versions were used.[7]

("Jean" = Simpsons writer Al Jean)

MJ did write "happy b-day lisa" though, so it still qualifies for poll purposes...

Leon Kompowsky's singing parts were performed by Kipp Lennon,[6] because Jackson wanted to play a joke on his brothers and fool them into thinking the impersonator was him.[10]

I always thought the use of impersonator was because MJ's contract with Epic/Columbia barred him from recording a song to another company, whereas just doing a speaking role wouldn't have been regulated by the contract. The idea that it was done to fool his brothers sounds pretty weird.

The article for Do the Bartman has this bit:

The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was released in September 1990. The first single from it was the pop rap song "Do the Bartman", performed by Bart Simpson's voice actor Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20, 1990.[1] Rumors began spreading in the summer of 1990 that Michael Jackson would write a song for Bart on the album. This song was reported early on to be "Do the Bartman", but executive producer James L. Brooks issued a press release in September 1990 apologizing for the misunderstanding and stating that song was actually written by one of Jackson's friends, Bryan Loren.[2]

However, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed during an appearance at the 1998 World Animation Celebration convention in Pasadena, California that "Do the Bartman" was actually co-written and co-produced by Jackson,[1][3] but he could not receive credit for it because he was under contract to another record label.[4]

I'd assume those same contractual reasons would have stopped Jackson from recording "Happy Birthday, Lisa" and, having learned from the "Bartman" brouhaha, he decided to get an impersonator to sing the song.

would def buy an album of mj demos like beat it above

bump

I always thought the use of impersonator was because MJ's contract with Epic/Columbia barred him from recording a song to another company, whereas just doing a speaking role wouldn't have been regulated by the contract. The idea that it was done to fool his brothers sounds pretty weird.

On a DVD commentary (for another episode, not Stark Raving Dad), Al Jean says that indeed Jackson was not allowed to sing on the episode for contractual reasons.

People, you are not putting "Lisa, It's Your Birthday" on your ballot.

that sounds like a challenge

sooo nice...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qni_J9ryeDw

the still frame of that lyrics video being

i-yi i-yi i-yi i-yi
i-yi i-yi i-yi
i-yi yi yi

i-yi i-yi i-yi i-yi
i-yi i-yi i-yi
i-yi yi yi

is seriously cracking me up

Okay less than a week left to vote, not many ballots in so far - thought this one would inspire more chat!

I think "Miss You Much" is my favorite Janet single

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVF0zcqr9Dg

Miss You Much is aaaaaaace.

I actually really like Janet's first two albums - they certainly don't compare to anything from Control onwards, but still really fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaLvZyHDuYA

definitely going towards the top of my ballot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCEZEOYdfwo

state of shock owns btw

easily the best "rock song" michael jackson ever wrote/co-wrote

I voted

this will be in my top 5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTxvWW667Mg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxfVFAUShkw

Always been a fan of this one.

I just sent my ballot. I added this song since it's talks about how screwed up Janet's relationship with "Father." Nothing like daddy issues on top of a new jack swing beat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRBkf-TwMLU

is this eligible?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quBKXOkchX8

still only a small amount of ballots in - deadline is friday!

I want to do this but theres no way I can get in by friday. If I get backed into a corner tho I may just submit Velvet Rope front to back.

An 'I Voted' Bump.

Ooh, gonna have to submit for this one. If I'm being honest with myself it's going to be dominated by MJ/J5 stuff. There'll be a few Janet tracks, tho, and I gotta rep for "Anytime, Any Place" - the original version, not R. Kelly's remix.

I would think the people who love r&b/pop on this board would be all over this ballot considering that the Jacksons basically set up the template for every solo male/female artist and boy band out now.

Yeah, and it's pretty easy to vote too. I don't own any albums by any Jackson (except for one Janet remix album) but I have/have heard so many of the singles they've released that coming up with a top 20 was no problem (and I still had to leave out 20 other tunes I love).

Gonna give this one another week to give the slackers a bit more time to send in a ballot.

Thanks. Will try and sort my ballot out over the weekend. May even do some repping itt.

glad i rushed one through last night now.

At the moment it's not got as many ballots as the Manic Street Preachers one, which is pretty weird.

Poll fatigue?

Oops, had forgotten the deadline was today - will do my ballot now while I'm on lunch...

I mean I could take another week but I'll just end up umming ahd ahhing.

and

ballot sent!

Off The Wall, Rhythm Nation and Dangerous got the most love

will vote next week as I'll be on mid-term break, been too busy to get to it before now. thanks for the extension!

Things that will appear high on my ballot:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vm4Yo-7aMv4"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(amazing vocal on this)

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7xRcmIDj2cc"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
(beats central)

Gah, forgot it's BBcode. Will this work?

http://youtu.be/vm4Yo-7aMv4

http://youtu.be/7xRcmIDj2cc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&v=7xRcmIDj2cc

Forget it.

Can You Feel It = best song and best video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcmijb_the-jacksons-can-you-feel-it-video_music

oh man, was thinking on saturday how bummed i was that i never found the time to send in a ballot, happy to hear about the extension (maybe you should get the thread title/OP updated w/ new deadline so people know?)

I voted / Bump