Back in the early '90s when Michael Jackson was arguably the most famous person on the face of the planet, he started working with Nintendo's rival Sega on a series of video game projects. Sega was quick to exploit Jackson's natural love of video games with Moonwalker being perhaps the most high-profile work - arcade and home adaptations of the Hollywood movie gained plenty of attention.
It has always been rumoured that Sega got Jackson involved with the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, too. He was to compose the majority of the soundtrack and give the game a massive boost of publicity, but before development on the title wrapped Jackson was hit with child molestation allegations which would, according to some sources, lead to his removal from the project.
It has previously been pointed out by fans that some of the game's music is very similar to Jackson's; for example, Jam on the album Dangerous sounds a lot like Sonic 3's Carnival Night Zone, while Stranger in Moscow is almost identical to the Sonic 3 end credit music.
Sega has to this day denied that Jackson had involvement with the game whatsoever.
However, new evidence has come to light that the reason Jackson's name isn't on the credits for Sonic 3 is because he was apparently less than impressed with the quality of his tunes once they'd been adapted for the Mega Drive's sound hardware.
The Huffington Post has spoken to Brad Buxer, Doug Grigsby and Cirocco Jones, three individuals involved with Sonic 3's music, and they confirm that they worked with Jackson on contributions for the Sonic 3 soundtrack.
Here's what Buxer had to say:
I was working with Michael on the Dangerous album and he told me he was going to be doing the Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack for Sonic 3. He asked me if I would help him with it.
Former Sega staffer Roger Hector confirms this, and says that Sega gave Jackson a demo of the game, and that music was indeed written for it:
It was a big secret. He took it from there and started making music.
Buxer says that Jackson worked with his team for around four weeks in 1993 at Record One studio in California, and created around 41 tracks, or "cues" as they're more commonly referred to in the video game world. Jones remembers Jackson calling him on the phone - often late at night - to run over new ideas and sing melodies that would eventually find their way into the game.
Sound engineer Matt Forger says that during recording, Jackson would kick back and play Sega games in his own relaxation room:
None of us involved in this were really gamers. Michael was probably the one who did play video games to the greatest extent. So, for the rest of us, we knew Sonic the Hedgehog, that was a pretty well-known thing in terms of popular culture, and video games in general, but Michael really is the core.
Forger adds that the process of making the music "wasn't as we would normally construct songs for an album or another project of Michael's":
We were recording lots of beatboxing. Lots of Michael's mouth percussion. ... He'd be laughing, joking, and that kind of infectious attitude would ... make the work not seem like work. Michael understood that this was for a game, he was in a really up mood whenever we'd be working.
When the news broke that Jackson was being accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy, work continued as normal - in fact, it actually sped up slightly according to Buxer:
Nobody ever told us to hold up progress or anything like that. In fact, there was a lot of pressure from Michael to get this done.
In late summer of 1993, Jackson's team submitted their contribution to Sonic 3's soundtrack. Hector was incredibly pleased with the results:
I was really impressed with how much of a signature Michael Jackson sound there was in this, and yet, it was all new. It clearly had a Michael Jackson sound to it, so that anyone who listened to it would recognize that, gee, that was done by Michael Jackson.
Despite this, Jackson's name would not find its way onto the end credits. Buxer claims that "Michael wanted his name taken off the credits if they couldn't get it to sound better," as the artist wasn't happy with the way the tunes sounded after being compressed and run through Sega's 16-bit console.
Buxer, Grigsby and Jones maintain that all Jackson wanted was for his name to be removed - he didn't ask for the songs to be replaced. Hector, on the other hand, recalls that the entire soundtrack had to be re-done by Howard Drossin. However, Drossin has since admitted that the tunes which sound like Jackson's were not composed by him - pretty solid evidence that Jackson's contributions did make it into the game.
Buxer says that the fans which have spent so long looking for similarities between Sonic 3's music and Jackson's own are bang on the money:
These cues are all over the Internet. People have accurately matched the songs to the cues.
That's another video game myth put to bed, then.
[source mcvuk.com]
Comments 58
huh...neat.
Well I like MJ and his games are great as well. I used to walk a long way to find a chipshop with his arcade game in in.
No matter how weird or crazy he was in his personal life, Michael Jackson's talents were unremarkable. I still get excited when I hear Billie Jean or Beat It. Working on the music in a video game (Sonic 3 nonetheless) just adds to the legend.
@callmeking17 Do you mean unremarkable?
I think he was awesome and his talents are yet to be matched since his tragic passing away.
Michael Jackson was the greatest performer ever and this news adds to his already legendary status. I'm a big fan of his music and dancing.
huh that's interesting to know.
while im not fan of the guy's music, it's pretty cool that he did sonic 3's music.
@PAppleyard Lol I meant remarkable. Sometimes when you use swype on Android you don't even realize what it puts.
@Aozz
Yeah that is pretty cool. There's not really many bigger names that Sega could have gotten to do a soundtrack for one of their games at the time. Shows you where Sega stood at that time.
Now I hate the game.
Due to I hate all music.
I thought this was confirmed by Sega shortly after Michael Jackson's passing...
Michael Jackson was a true artist.
Explains some of the reason why I love that soundtrack so much. MJJ was truly the King. He left way too soon, as all greats tend to do.
Hydrocity is my favorite track. Definitely MJ in there.
Omg I find this here about 2 seconds after I stop reading a "white actor cast as MJ in movie" article.
@Seacliff
Nah, Buxer kinda danced around the fact.
This solidifies it.
All but guaranteed up till now, but the official confirmation is still exciting. Great stuff.
Well you all know I'm an MJ fan... I remember MJ buying a Dreamcast when he was in the UK, he had his own USA one but obviously couldn't play it while in the UK. I also remember a Sega rep commenting that he tried one of their new arcade games and said one word, 'cool'. I LOVED the MoonWalker game but I've never seen or played the apparently vastly superior arcade version. Rest In Peace King
Yeah, I thought this was already a fact, but it has never been said in this much detail before.
All I can say is legendary. He was and is the most recognizable person in the world. And he left a huge legacy. Man, could he beatbox!
Well, what do ya know.
"You've been hit by--been hit by--an Ice Cap-uh Zone!"
70s to mid 80s MJ were the best. Off the Wall, AMAZING record.
That may explain why there are a few replaced tracks between Sonic 3 and S3&K. I always liked Sonic 3's original Act 1 boss theme, as unique and out-of-place-sounding as it was.
@DreamOn Same here. Very catchy tune.
The Ice Cap Zone theme is based on song called Hard Time by The Jetzons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OWC5Hosv8
I remember reading up on this topic a few years ago. I came across a site that dug pretty deep into the matter and I was convinced Jackson did provide music that made it into the game. Good to see even more information come out on it. And I agree with Mr. Hector that the game does have a signature Jackson sound to it. That really jumped out at me the last time I played Sonic 3.
I thought some of those tunes sounded really out of place in a Sonic game... Especially the Casino Zone and Act boss music. I think the S&K tracks are way better, honestly. I can see why he backed out at the end, his contributions didn't turn out anywhere near as well as they would have sounded in the studio.
For the fans of Michael Jackson, I created a music level on Super Mario Maker in his honor.
Here's the code:
EE16-0000-019F-44D8
Edit: just found out that the SMM servers are down. So much for surfing this wave...rats, foiled again.
This is cool to have confirmation. I never doubted the fact he worked on the game. But did anyone really have doubts when the end credits theme is literally just 'Stranger in Moscow' but faster?
@DreamOn Hydrocity is not confirmed to be a Michael Jackson song. It is widely believed that the cues replaced in Sonic 3 & Knuckles and in Sonic & Knuckles Collection are the ones made by Buxer and Jackson. So:
Knuckles Theme in Sonic 3
Mid-boss Theme in Sonic 3
Carnival Night Zone
Ice Cap Zone (that is actually an instrumental version of Hard Times of the Jetzons, as AmyGrrl noted)
Launch Base Zone
Ending Credits in Sonic 3
Competition Menu
Indeed, these cues are different from all the others. I remember that I was quite amused by Carnival Night Zone's BGM!
Sonic 3 music was really different and I really enjoyed it. I always heard of rumors that MJ wrote some of the music. This was a nice article here.
@DreamOn Act 1 or 2, for me it's 2. Makes my soul quiver
@shredmeister I look forward to trying it out, nice one! 👍
@shredmeister : You're forcing me to pick up Super Mario Maker now. Haha, great!
Funny thing is, my final exam in (high school) English that I'm doing tomorrow is a presentation on whatever you want it to be. For whatever reason, I chose this as my presentation topic, and I kinda put a "he might have, he might not have" spin on it. Now that this information has come to light, I kinda feel bad that I'm going to be presenting what is now old information; but it's too late now to change it.
It was already confirmed, but this is interesting new stuff. I wonder if we'll ever find a prototype with the rest of his music.
@MJKOP
@Cyberbotv2
Thank you for the interest. Here's my bookmark page. It's the first level you'll see. At least you can bookmark it until the server goes back online.
https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/profile/Shredmeister
E.T. landfill confirmed, Duke Nukem Forever was released, we now have proof Michael Jackson was involved with Sonic 3, what's the next big gaming myth to become truth, Half Life 3?
@ReshiramZekrom good luck with your presentation 👍
@shredmeister done! I also have an MJ level, if anyone is interested, https://supermariomakerbookmark.nintendo.net/courses/7B59-0000-0051-739D
Poor MJ He was just a child at heart because of his childhood and people misunderstood that. No wonder he wanted to be sedated 24/7...knowing what depression feels like, sleeping is the best thing there is when you are feeling so down you might end your life.
Anyway, glad to hear he did contribute to the soundtrack.
I heard this before, MJ didn't like the SEGA-sound quality.
I was never a big fan of MJ, but even I have to admit he did a great job on Sonic 3 (and Knuckles, lest not forget. Sonic 3 was so big that they cut it in half, the second part is called Sonic and Knucles. That soundtrack was even better!)!
Don't forget Janet Jackson and her sampling of the bridge zone in Sonic on the Master System
https://youtu.be/VlMxnhJ3uvk
@andrew20 can't tell if you're joking or not, 🤔
@AmyGrrl Thanks for the heads up. Looks like Buxer was part of the Jetzons in 1982, so he must have thought this was a good opportunity to insert his unreleased track into the game. "Hard Times" probably would've been long forgotten by now if it weren't for this game's preservation of it, as good as it may be.
@Mister_Wu Brad Buxer also credited Jackson with "levels 2 & 3" of this game, so assuming those refer to Hydrocity and Marble Garden, MJ wrote those also. They both have a Pop/House sound, characteristic of much of his music, admittedly: http://www.musicpowers.com/id31.html
@carlos82 Janet Jackson's "Together Again" was released in 1997, so unless she recorded it pre-1991 and lent the unreleased take to Koshiro to put into Sonic 1, the similarities between it and Bridge Zone are at most merely coincidental.
I would have loved for Michael and Nintendo to collaborate together. Most of us knew this information before now but it's nice to get some more confirmation. Michael was, is and forever will be the King Of Pop.
Can I just say how pleased I am with the general tone of all the comments on here? Also the article itself, no cheeky or uncalled for mocking of Jackson. I'm a hardcore, diehard MJ fan and I feared this would descend in to a let's make fun of MJ kind of thing, and it's been the opposite & it's really, genuinely made me happy, so thanks all!
News? All of this (and more) was already known.
@VanillaLake It's been known / rumoured since '93, the focus here is that the guys have been interviewed and put "the myth" to rest.
i thought this was kinda well known already, but i guess not? also you can speed up/slow down many songs, and some share beats when you do this tbh.
@Damo Fair enough. I didn't know a few things commented on the thread, such as:
@AmyGrrl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2OWC5Hosv8
@Carlos82 https://youtu.be/VlMxnhJ3uvk
Janet was copying Sonic theme here, because Sonic The Hedgehog (Master System) was released in 1991 and "Together Again" was released in 1997:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Together_Again_(Janet_Jackson_song)
And that song was not composed by Michael Jackson anyway.
@Gauchorino if you read my comment correctly I never suggested that it happened this way round
@VanillaLake that's basically what I said, I'm not sure how 2 people have misunderstood what I wrote as it seems quite clear
@callmeking17 unremarkabke means not so good, you're looking for remarkable. Not trying to troll, just letting you know for future use
edit: D'oh! should've read all of the comments first
@carlos82 Syntactical misunderstanding on my part. Sorry for that. I liked your info about the possible connection, by the way.
@MJKOP He deserves it. Despite any of the mistakes he's alleged to have made, his talent and style were beyond measure.
@Gauchorino no worries, I'm not sure how much truth there is in the rumours of the sampling but they are spookily similar to one another
This is very cool news!
"Da duh duh, duh duh, come on!"
I thought this was already a fact rather than rumor, but it's really cool to hear about it.
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