Holy crap, haven't seen you around in quite some time. Glad to have you back, even if for a brief post. Again, thanks a lot for pulling the thread which we've unraveled further.
It's probably more about what really went down behind the scenes that led to his departure, rather than why he left (because people can easily speculate the answer to that on their own). So far, every person involved in this game has always either remained mum on the topic, expressed ignorance or had a variably different account of what happened, so unfortunately we may never get a direct answer on this topic ever unless someone of high authority to the game is ballsy enough to spills the beans on the whole thing. That, and more importantly, what tracks he actually did that remains in the game. While I definitely agree that tact is a crucial skill to have in communication for information, I didn't sense any of this kind of "invasiveness" on GT's part. Well, the current record label that now owns The Jetzons back-catalog doesn't seem to care. Fervor Records has officially spoken up about their spike of activity on the Hard Times video on their YouTube account and the song's connection to Ice Cap Zone, which they seem to embrace proudly in their little "news post" in fact: http://www.fervor-records.com/no-news/fervor-records-at-center-of-sonic-the-hedgehog-michael-jackson-musical-mystery/
Well, I would hope they'd try to capitalize off it. It's rare to get such a publicity boom from being tied to one of gaming's largest... I wouldn't say urban legends since it's all but directly confirmed, but I can't think of a better term.
I have a small request for anyone who is good at dealing with MIDI files. If nobody is up for that I'll do that myself but since I'm not a fan of MIDI files I'd probably take much longer than someone more skilled than me. Anyway. Can anyone download a good Ice Cap MIDI from vgmusic.com, and alter its verses' order to make it just like Hard Times? I will later add karaoke lyrics to it, so I can sing it at a local karaoke bar eventually.
Why not use the S&K Collection PC MIDI? Good morning, it's 04:00. I used Valley Bell's smps2mid to generate MIDIs of ICZ, acts 1 & 2. The instruments need selection but it's mostly/all there. If that won't work, then as you mention vgmusic.com, I would recommend SwordBolt's rendition. (And all the other MIDIs he has made. He's great.) To assist with the verses, I use Sekaiju btw, it's quite nice. You may want to give it a spin. If all fails, and if no one else volunteers outright, take your pick of preferred MIDI and I could give it a shot.
Well, thanks, I was aware of smps2mid (I used it to batch convert all the songs some time ago) and I saw your previous post with the song structure when you first posted it, which is actually what gave me idea in the first place. As I said, I *am* up to do this by myself, it's just that I'm not good when it comes to deal with MIDI files, so I hoped to get some help by someone who likes MIDI Sequencers more than I do, because this is probably a trivial task if you know how to handle it (I know I would do it in ~10 minutes at most if it was about XM files instead). Anyway, I appreciate that at least you tried to help, you just didn't know I already had a smps2mid conversion and that I already saw your other post
Sorry for the late response, but yes this is the video I was thinking about. It confirms that it was written in 93 during the Dangerous Tour in Moscow.
If you go click on the original video link on Gametrailers, the video has been updated with new information. It now includes the stuff you guys found involving Hard Times and Bobby Brooks' involvement.
OH SHIT. OH SHIT. OH SHIT. Its about 3 minutes longer. Here's the link for convenience: Now watching... Once again, nothing new. But at least its great to see the interest is alive and may open further investigations on the subject. Congrats, Dissident. You're interviews with Brooks were mentioned by Pop Fiction.
Actually a little surprised the MTV blog didn't go apeshit about it since this was something that flew under everyone's radars for so many years. Oh, right, MTV doesn't care about music anymore. :specialed: NEXT TIME, ON MY PREGNANT TEENAGE DAUGHTER...
Call me a cynic if you will, but I don't see how a guy who (despite having quite a history in the video game music scene) didn't have involvement in the franchise until Sonic and the Black Knight would know this as a fact. It's more than likely he's just spouting speculation, with a good portion of which being derived from us here at Sonic Retro.
He said up front that it's all second hand information. He did probably have at least some industry contacts at SEGA, so it really isn't that far off that he would know about this.
Tommy is a trustworthy guy. He has never bullshitted or done anything that would draw cause for concern or speculation. I can say that this is very trustworthy information and we have now heard from multiple sources the same story about him not being happy with the audio. Yes he did do the Moonwalker Genesis, MS, Arcade, and Amiga games, but all those songs had already been released for 2 years before the game came out. With Sonic 3 these were his brand new compositions being premiered on a video game sound chip and he was not happy with the result. Knowing his perfectionist nature I can easily see this being a deal breaker for him.
To be honest I can believe that, but also Sega being reluctant to let him go before the child abuse stuff came out; and at that point I'd imagine they were more than happy to let him walk and re-do some things. Highly suspect that both issues combined are the real story, not either in isolation.
MJ dropped a lot of projects after the allegations, all by his own will. This is what happened with the Adam's Family film score, LA Gear promotion, Signature Series CD, Dangerous Single/Video, etc. Despite common rumor about this stuff being dropped by the other party due to the allegations, MJ was the one who terminated work on all of these. Those groups were not shaken by the allegations. The stress of the allegations combined with his already busy life is what caused this. This was also when he started abusing pain killers.
Yes, indeed. A mix of the two would be the accepted theory, and it makes perfect sense on a business standpoint: Michael was unpleased with the Yamaha YM2612 sound quality and abandoned the project, SEGA spread the information internally that it was them who dismissed Michael in order to look good and that they held the last decision. I've seen as many as this situation happening inside companies. The people who worked directly with him know better, though, so they knew the real reason. At the same time SEGA presumably wanted to preserve their name and to legitimately not be associated with him after the court accusations broke out publicly. It was pretty much a win-win situation.
Another hybrid could be that he disliked the sound chip, but had every intention to go through with it regardless. But when it became obvious the allegations were coming to court, he began severing ties with promotional deals, for obvious reasons. Officially, he ended the deal due to not liking the soundchip; in reality, both parties knew the actual story, and which one they chose to cite in later interviews came down to whether they were going by the official story or the actual one. Obviously the higher-ups in Sega and those in MJ's employ would go with the PR story, but those lower down the chain of command at Sega would obviously know exactly what was going on and say as much. And of course, all of this came to light years later, because Sega never officially announced his involvement anyway, so they didn't need to bother with it.
