Two New Links Between Michael Jackson and Sonic the Hedgehog - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 09 December 2009 / 6,767 Views
I used to think there was Sonic news and Michael Jackson news, without any overlap, but it seems things aren't so black or white.
It has been rumored for years that Michael Jackson secretly composed some or all of the soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3, but this was never confirmed by anybody from either the MJ or Sega camps. Until now. Brad Buxer has finally spilled the beans in the most recent issue of Black or White magazine.
Brad Buxer was a frequent collaborator with Michael Jackson. He was a keyboardist for the Dangerous World Tour of 1992-1993, and was the musical director and keyboardist for the HIStory World Tour of 1996-1997. He also recorded on some of Jackson's albums, playing keyboards and percussion on "Will You Be There" and many other songs.
He is also credited as a composer for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Brad Buxer was the main clue for all the years of rumors that Jackson worked on the soundtrack in secret, and he has finally come clean. Being in a French magazine, the interview is in French, but the relevant bean-spilling portion of the interview has been translated by a member of the VGMdb web site:
[quote]B&W: Can you clarify the rumor that Michael had in 1993 composed the music for Sonic 3 video game, for which you have been credited?
Buxer: I've never played the game so I do not know what tracks on which Michael and I have worked the developers have kept, but we did compose music for the game. Michael called me at the time for help on this project, and that's what I did.
And if he is not credited for composing the music, it's because he was not happy with the result sound coming out of the console. At the time, game consoles did not allow an optimal sound reproduction, and Michael found it frustrating. He did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music...
B&W: One of the surprising things in this soundtrack is that you can hear the chords from Stranger in Moscow, which is supposed to have been composed later...
Buxer: Yes, Michael and I had composed those chords for the game, and it has been used as base for Stranger in Moscow. [...][/quote]
The chords in question are the end credits. You can rush to your Genesis and beat Sonic 3 to hear the similarities with "Stranger in Moscow." There are still many other rumors about which songs from the game Jackson may have worked on, but this is the only one to be confirmed by Buxer.
Source: VGMdb
Wow, that's a pretty big revelation. I figure it would probably be another decade before another Sonic/Jackson story comes along.
It took less than a week.
This past Friday Gamasutra posted an interview with Naoto Oshima, the man responsible for the character design of Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a great read that covers many things, including Nights, Sonic CD, the current "Hollywood-ization" of the game industry, and Oshima's recent work at Artoon and Cavia, but Michael Jackson pops up in the most unexpected part of the interview.
Oshima explains that while the game Nights was marketed towards Japanese and European audiences, Sonic was marketed directly at America, which leads to this exchange:
[quote]It's a cliched question, but was that why Sonic's main colors are red, white and blue?
Naoto Oshima: (laughs) Well, he's blue because that's Sega's more-or-less official company color. His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red -- that Santa Claus-type color. I also thought that red went well for a character who can run really fast, when his legs are spinning.[/quote]
Now it all makes sense. I just wonder if Michael knew this before he made music for Sonic 3.
Source: Gamasutra
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@oldschoolfool
I do.
Another reason for me to be proud to be a member of the Sonic Support Squad.
Cool. I already knew about the conspiricy theories revolving around Michael Jackson and Sonic, but it's cool that it's finally proven (more or less).
You know I'm bad, I'm bad - you know it! You know I'm bad I'm bad - come on. And the whole world has to answer right now Just to tell you once again who's bad!
(c)
Risen Terran, it's always possible that people are fibbing. But you are aware that MJ had a long relationship with SEGA, right?
who really cares!!!!!!!
Soooo... This news comes out AFTER there is no way to disprove it... Seriously guys --
People do alot of attention. This means nothing. The guy worked with jackson so he felt his influence. Thats all. Jackson would have been happy to get a bit of money and some cult fame from Sonic 3. He didn't work on this plain and simple.
Here is the equivilent of this:
I worked with Richard Nixon on his Presidential Tapes. You can hear that distinguished Buzz in the background and thats because I insistend we use normal tapes to show he was salt of the earth rather than the Expensive version not sold in retail. The retail version is also easier to delete. When Nixon insisted on keeping his records intact I left the whitehouse (Well actually I worked through an advisor to avoid suspicion) staff in anger.
you guys can belive what you want but pleae take this with a grain of salt --
Now the link between the Janet Jackson track and Sonic is complete:
Sonic the Hedgehog/Janet Jackson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlMxnhJ3uvk
"sonic's personality was based on Bill Clinton."
Yep, I heard that on, iirc, GameTap's overview/documentary of Sonic.
And on Wiki, Robotnik was apparently designed after Theodor Roosevelt.
already know this, sonic's personality was based on Bill Clinton.lol
ps its true, check wiki
Bizzarre thread title, who could have thought about such a thing? :-D
Who cares, both of 'em are dead.
No but seriously, this is pretty cool, who'd have thunk it.
very cool revelations
