Originally Posted by journeyscarab (Post 9178354)

ROFL

I used to wear Jovan Musk then discovered Chaz!

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9178574)

Neil Diamond was a legendary "Brill Building" songwriter and he most certainly earns writer royalties on everything he's written. Those guys basically put ASCAP on the map. The only reason his songs aren't getting more film and TV placements is because his publishing company is charging exorbitant sync fees, likely because he feels his music is too "important" to be exploited.

That said, he didn't seem to have a problem with that dopey movie "Saving Silverman" using his music, in which he played himself and had several song uses.

FYI, I LOVE Neil Diamond and my comments are not meant to be derogatory.

Originally Posted by Gadzooks (Post 9178670)

I always thought that bands became successful as long as they had a member who was willing to blow record executives. I assigned this duty to my bass player. I always figured he must be bad at it (sharp teeth, poor hand technique etc…), so I’ve always blamed him for our lack of success. Little did I know that there’s actually more to this whole music business thing.

Originally Posted by Gadzooks (Post 9178670)

I've always thought that bands became successful as long as they had a member who was willing to blow record executives. I assigned this duty to my bass player. I always figured he must have be bad at it (sharp teeth, poor hand technique, ugly face etc…), so I’ve always blamed him for our lack of success. Little did I know that there’s actually more to this whole music business thing.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9178120)

Okay, here goes:

1. Toto members were session players on every Thriller track, whether it was Lukather, Steve Pocaro, Jeff Pocao, David Paich, etc. and so on. Other great players included Dean Parks, Michael Boddicker and basically the "Who's who" of the LA Session scene.

2. As far as production is concerned, Thriller featured the greatest session players and arrangers of all time including Jerry Hey, Dean Parks, David Foster (who was later a brilliant producer), Humberto Gattica and the amazing Bruce Swedien, who recorded Michael's vocals with a $150 dollar microphone at the time ($349 now), the Shure SM7. Everyone who's ever watched a radio broadcast or been in a radio booth knows the SM7.

Michael was the magic.

3. Michael was not a musician. He couldn't play any instrument. Therefore, he couldn't compose music, hence he didn't actually write every song in which he was listed as writer.

Ghost writers wrote the record and those ghost writers were Toto. This is not uncommon. Ozzy Osbourne can't play an instrument and doesn't write lyrics, yet he's listed as a songwriter throughout his solo career. Bob Daisley wrote the lyrics early on and other writers have been brought in subsequently. I could go on and on and about this subject.

Frank Sinatra couldn't play an instrument and never composed music but in his vast arrogance, suggested that HE received publishing royalties, which are reserved for songwriters and composers only, because HE made the songs famous.

Unfortunately, managers and other artists picked up on this notion down the road and said "I own 50% of whatever you write and record for ME".

The bottom line is that Thriller was a culmination of the greatest musicians and Los Angeles session players the world had ever heard in one singular record. The producers were top notch, from Quincy to Swedien to Gattaca, acting as "engineers" on an amazing record.

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 9177439)

Posts like this are why Dane ****ing rules.

Originally Posted by frazod (Post 9177444)

LMAO I wish he had expanded on this. I'll bet those kids probably shit themselves.

Originally Posted by Gadzooks (Post 9177412)

Michael Jackson working with EVH is almost as unlikely as the Beastie Boys working with Kerry King or Reba McIntire working with Dimebag Darrell.
The Beastie Boys were a rap band in the 80's and even in their punk days were unlikely to come across Kerry King.

The fact that Thriller was written by Toto is really whacked out.

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud (Post 9178120)

Ghost writers wrote the record and those ghost writers were Toto.