Anka Given Credit for Jackson Song
Sign In to E-Mail
Print
Reprints
Share
Close
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy BEN SISARIO
Published: October 12, 2009
When Michael Jackson’s new single, “This Is It,” was released on Sunday night, many listeners were surprised by its resemblance to “I Never Heard,” a 1991 track by the R&B singer Safire, which gave songwriting credit to Mr. Jackson and Paul Anka.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
A Jackson Song Arrives, and the Discussion Begins (October 13, 2009)
Times Topics: Michael Jackson
Paul Anka Is Back, 63 and Swinging (June 8, 2005)
Post a Comment
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
But no one was more surprised than Mr. Anka, who said in an interview on early in the day on Monday that he had not been contacted about the use of the song and that he was not given proper writing credit for the single, which now credits only Mr. Jackson as a writer.
“They have a major, major problem on their hands,” he said. “They will be sued if they don’t correct it.”
For Mr. Anka, the song has a long and painful history. He said in an interview that he and Mr. Jackson wrote and recorded it in 1983 in Mr. Anka’s studio in Carmel, Calif., and that it was intended as a duet for Mr. Anka’s album “Walk a Fine Line.” But shortly after it was recorded, Mr. Jackson took the tapes, Mr. Anka said. He threatened to sue to get them back, he said, and now has the original multitrack tapes in his possession, along with documentation that the copyright for the song was held by both.
It did not take long for the Jackson estate to move to rectify the situation. By late afternoon, Mr. Anka said, John McClain, a record executive and producer whom Mr. Jackson named in his will as an executor, called to acknowledge his co-authorship and promise “all due credit and royalties.” The estate also released a statement that said in part, “The song was co-written by the legendary Paul Anka."
Mr. Anka also said that his lawyers were already negotiating with the estate for compensation.
“This Is It” was based on a tape that Mr. Jackson left behind, containing only his piano and vocal. Mr. McClain built a full arrangement around it, including backup vocals by Mr. Jackson’s brothers. Aside from a few major differences in the lyrics, the song is almost identical to “I Never Heard.”
Rob Stringer, the chairman of the Columbia/Epic Label Group, said in an interview on Sunday that he did not know when Mr. Jackson’s original tape had been recorded and that he had not known about its similarity to the Safire track until Mr. Jackson’s fans discussed it online over the weekend.
Mr. Anka said that Mr. McClain told him: “We took Sony 50 songs, and this was the best of all of them. My thought was that this one sounded different. Now I know why.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/arts/music/13anka.html?_r=2&hp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_It_(Michael_Jackson_song)
"This Is It" is a song from Michael Jackson's sixth posthumous compilation album, This Is It, which accompanies the Sony Pictures motion picture release Michael Jackson's This Is It, and according to Epic the song is "available exclusively on the forthcoming album".[2]
Sony misleadingly referred to the song as a "new single" during its promotion, but it later emerged that the song would only be released to the radios, and not be available to buy or download as a single release.[3]
Paul Anka, who co-wrote the song, stated that it was recorded in 1983 for a duet intended between him and Jackson on his album Walk a Fine Line under the original title of "I Never Heard".[4][5] The song was later included in Sa-Fire's album I Wasn't Born Yesterday. The demo of the song was recorded in Anka's studio in Carmel, CA and the tape was sent to a studio in Hollywood for finishing touches. However, Anka claims Jackson "stole the tapes" from the studio.[6][7] Only Jackson is credited writing the song in the booklet of the "This Is It" Album.
Jackson's copy of the original recording of "This Is It" was apparently found in a box of tapes with only Jackson's voice and a piano accompaniment. Strings were then added to the bare-bones recording, along with backing vocals from Jackson's brothers, including Alvin Chea of Take 6, and finger-click percussion.[5] The Extended Orchestra version in the album also has the orchestra playing in the beginning before the conductor taps his baton. Pop singer, Eric Aguirre has stated that he worked with Jackson on this song in 1991, during the Dangerous album.
The song premiered worldwide on October 12, 2009, at midnight on MichaelJackson.com
Sign In to E-Mail
Reprints
Share
Close
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalinkBy BEN SISARIO
Published: October 12, 2009
When Michael Jackson’s new single, “This Is It,” was released on Sunday night, many listeners were surprised by its resemblance to “I Never Heard,” a 1991 track by the R&B singer Safire, which gave songwriting credit to Mr. Jackson and Paul Anka.
Skip to next paragraph
Related
A Jackson Song Arrives, and the Discussion Begins (October 13, 2009)
Times Topics: Michael Jackson
Paul Anka Is Back, 63 and Swinging (June 8, 2005)
Post a Comment
Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.
More Arts News
But no one was more surprised than Mr. Anka, who said in an interview on early in the day on Monday that he had not been contacted about the use of the song and that he was not given proper writing credit for the single, which now credits only Mr. Jackson as a writer.
“They have a major, major problem on their hands,” he said. “They will be sued if they don’t correct it.”
For Mr. Anka, the song has a long and painful history. He said in an interview that he and Mr. Jackson wrote and recorded it in 1983 in Mr. Anka’s studio in Carmel, Calif., and that it was intended as a duet for Mr. Anka’s album “Walk a Fine Line.” But shortly after it was recorded, Mr. Jackson took the tapes, Mr. Anka said. He threatened to sue to get them back, he said, and now has the original multitrack tapes in his possession, along with documentation that the copyright for the song was held by both.
It did not take long for the Jackson estate to move to rectify the situation. By late afternoon, Mr. Anka said, John McClain, a record executive and producer whom Mr. Jackson named in his will as an executor, called to acknowledge his co-authorship and promise “all due credit and royalties.” The estate also released a statement that said in part, “The song was co-written by the legendary Paul Anka."
Mr. Anka also said that his lawyers were already negotiating with the estate for compensation.
“This Is It” was based on a tape that Mr. Jackson left behind, containing only his piano and vocal. Mr. McClain built a full arrangement around it, including backup vocals by Mr. Jackson’s brothers. Aside from a few major differences in the lyrics, the song is almost identical to “I Never Heard.”
Rob Stringer, the chairman of the Columbia/Epic Label Group, said in an interview on Sunday that he did not know when Mr. Jackson’s original tape had been recorded and that he had not known about its similarity to the Safire track until Mr. Jackson’s fans discussed it online over the weekend.
Mr. Anka said that Mr. McClain told him: “We took Sony 50 songs, and this was the best of all of them. My thought was that this one sounded different. Now I know why.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/arts/music/13anka.html?_r=2&hp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_It_(Michael_Jackson_song)
"This Is It" is a song from Michael Jackson's sixth posthumous compilation album, This Is It, which accompanies the Sony Pictures motion picture release Michael Jackson's This Is It, and according to Epic the song is "available exclusively on the forthcoming album".[2]
Sony misleadingly referred to the song as a "new single" during its promotion, but it later emerged that the song would only be released to the radios, and not be available to buy or download as a single release.[3]
Paul Anka, who co-wrote the song, stated that it was recorded in 1983 for a duet intended between him and Jackson on his album Walk a Fine Line under the original title of "I Never Heard".[4][5] The song was later included in Sa-Fire's album I Wasn't Born Yesterday. The demo of the song was recorded in Anka's studio in Carmel, CA and the tape was sent to a studio in Hollywood for finishing touches. However, Anka claims Jackson "stole the tapes" from the studio.[6][7] Only Jackson is credited writing the song in the booklet of the "This Is It" Album.
Jackson's copy of the original recording of "This Is It" was apparently found in a box of tapes with only Jackson's voice and a piano accompaniment. Strings were then added to the bare-bones recording, along with backing vocals from Jackson's brothers, including Alvin Chea of Take 6, and finger-click percussion.[5] The Extended Orchestra version in the album also has the orchestra playing in the beginning before the conductor taps his baton. Pop singer, Eric Aguirre has stated that he worked with Jackson on this song in 1991, during the Dangerous album.
The song premiered worldwide on October 12, 2009, at midnight on MichaelJackson.com
