On Monday 31st May 2010, @darrenhayes said:
http://twitter.com/darrenhayes
For Michael Jackson fans - This is an untold story of my almost encounter with the King and how M.J inspired me.
Fans of my music will be familiar with my song 'Insatiable'. It was co-written and produced with Walter Afanasieff. What many people don't know is that I wrote my song as a reaction to and after having been inspired by a song that Walter and Alan Thicke wrote for Michael back in '99 called 'Fall Again'.
Here is Michael's demo version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz7u8ZJsxiI
The story goes like this.
When I was recording the Savage Garden album 'Affirmation' with Walter in 1999 at his studio in San Francisco , he played me a demo of the song 'Fall Again' which at that time had Robin Thicke's vocals on it. Walter and Robin had intended to submit the song to M.J for his 'Invincible' album project.
I was completely in awe and all I could hear was Michael.
At the time, Walter told me he wasn't sure if Michael would be interested but as a fan I had a feeling that when M.J heard it he'd respond like I had. It reminded me of the lushness of classic Michael songs like 'Human Nature'.
I knew M.J would kill it.
Sure enough, the song got to Michael and he loved it and agreed to cut a demo of it.
Slight hitch? The only time M.J had available was when Walter was booked in with me to finish the vocals for the Savage Garden album 'Affirmation'.
Walter decided he could record both sessions and so we flew to New York and
I recorded in the mornings with Walter at Sony Studios and he then left in the afternoon to record Michael Jackson at The Hit Factory in the afternoon literally across
the street.
The version in this post is the one and only time Michael ever sang the song. One take. He hadn't even had a chance to learn the song properly (and what an amazing job he did!).
The day he recorded Michael Walter came back to my session at Sony Studios about 2 hours later beaming. He spoke in glowing terms about Michael, about his voice, about his politeness and talent. And what touched me the most was he told me that Michael's children (Prince and Paris) were at the session and M.J had set up a t.v monitor in his recording booth so he could see the children playing with the Nanny in another room while he was singing. The session was cut short because the children were poorly and Michael wanted to be a good Dad and tend to them. He apparently apologised and left the session after only one take.
I never heard Michael's version until it was released many years later (even though Walter knew I was a massive fan he respected M.J's privacy and never played it to me). But I had remembered the feeling and the magic of the song from the first time I heard Robin Thicke's vocal and so when it came time for me to record my first solo album, I asked Walter to try and write a song with the same energy with me. That's how we wrote 'Insatiable'.
It's amazing to hear Michael's demo version of 'Fall Again' so many years later and be in awe of his artistry. Michael is the reason I became a performer (having seen his 'Bad' tour in 1987 and knowing in an instant that performing was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life). Listening to his records taught me how to sing. I'm proud that years later in my own career there are pieces of him in my work. And although he is not with us anymore, I like to think that little spark he ignited in me as an artist is part of his legacy.
Sorry if this was long and sappy - but I know there are M.J fans out there who would appreciate this story. I'd always wanted to tell it. And today I did.
As a funny epilogue to this story - here's the bit where I almost met Michael.
At the time of the recording, Tommy Motolla was president of Sony Music. He came in to the studio the same day Walter was recording M.J and he said to me 'Darren, there's someone very special that I'd like to bring in to the studio to introduce you to. Is it o.k if I bring another artist in here to say hello?" he said.
Of course I thought he meant Michael.
Of course he meant Michael right? Michael was across the street working with the same producer I was with! Bring it on!
Tommy left the room and said he'd be right back.
So I sat there in the studio with the engineer, absolutely about to pee my pants.
Tommy knocks on the door.
My heart stops.
And then it sinks.
In walks Tommy with a very tall later 40's white male with blond hair.
Ie NOT MICHAEL JACKSON.
'Darren this is Darryl' Tommy says.
"Hi' I say with mock enthusiasm.
Tommy proceeds to play this man 'Two Beds and a Coffee' machine, the song that we'd been working on that day.
Darryl sits back in his chair and with the most sincere tone tells me that I'm an incredible song writer and that he loves my voice.
'Thanks!' I say, still devastated this man is not Michael Jackson.
When Tommy and Darryl leave, the engineer turns to me and says
'Do you know who that was?'.
'Nope' I say.
'That was Darryl Hall, of Hall and Oates'.
Now let the record show, I was and remain a MASSIVE fan of Hall and Oates.
And I felt incredibly rude for being oblivious to this fact. In my defence Darryl had a beard at the time and my memory of him was clean shaven and much younger of course.
So I died a little twice that day.
But there you have it.
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