Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Michael Jackson: So it was true.

[dma]

In the latest issue of Black & White magazine (french publication about Michael Jackson), composer Brad Buxer confirmed that M.J. and him actually worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 soundtrack.

B&W: Can you clarify the rumor that Michael had in 1993 composed the music for Sonic 3 video game, for which you havel 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. [...]

[Kewing]

I can't believe the mystery has finally been revealed officially. It always struck me as odd that part of the Sonic 3 soundtrack was clearly different in style to the music of Sonic & Knuckles, and even other songs in the same game (also the difference in music staff was kinda shocking, with Sonic 3 having a wide team of people with completely unknown aliases).
After the rumors of M.J.'s implication in the project started to arise years ago, coupled with the fact that the Carnival Night, Icecap and Launch Base Zones got their music replaced in the Sonic & Knuckles collection for the PC, you could see some very suspicious level candidates there...

It's kinda weird he would stop working on the music for the game because of limited hardware; Moonwalker for both AC and MD were already around for some time. One theory people usually comment on, is that when he was working on the game, the child abuse scandal broke out and SEGA quickly set him off the project fearing a negative impact on the game because of bad press.
That we'll never know, but it's very nice to finally have some confirmation on this longtime "myth" of the Sonic community.

Thanks lots for sharing, dma.

[KeyLogic]

Yeah, that's awesome news, I never would have guessed it. I haven't heard the soundtrack in a long while, perhaps it's time to revisit the original game and hear the music again. Not sure if M.J. was involved in the final boss song but it's one of my favorites form the game.

[captain_obvious]

Wow this is exciting!
It's a shame Brad hasn't played the game.
I'd love it if we could send him links to the soundtrack to have him give a yes or no as to if it was an MJ track. I'm sure he would recall which songs were as he heard them.
He is more than likely a busy man though..

[Qjimbo]

dma, I have just registered because I want to personally thank you here for bringing this to light. I have altered my youtube video to include all this information at the start.

I think I'm really going to have to rework that video at some point, I can't just keep tacking annotations on forever!

[Kewing]

Originally Posted by Qjimbo

dma, I have just registered because I want to personally thank you here for bringing this to light. I have altered my youtube video to include all this information at the start.

I think I'm really going to have to rework that video at some point, I can't just keep tacking annotations on forever!

Ah, I remember that video. Quite informative, and nicely put, Qjimbo, I must thank you for that.

BTW, this thread sure has driven in quite a massive amount of visits with all the linking back, hasn't it?

[KeyLogic]

Originally Posted by Kewing Darksun

BTW, this thread sure has driven in quite a massive amount of visits with all the linking back, hasn't it?

Yeah, you're right. It has only been a few days since this was posted and it has already received over 29,000 views! Well with someone as high profile as Michael Jackson being involved in video game music, surely this would be of interest to a lot of people, especially hardcore M.J. fans.

It doesn't hurt either that this particular subject may have bought some new people to this site.

[dma]

Originally Posted by Qjimbo

dma, I have just registered because I want to personally thank you here for bringing this to light. I have altered my youtube video to include all this information at the start.

I think I'm really going to have to rework that video at some point, I can't just keep tacking annotations on forever!

My pleasure, but i just translated the interview text.
Great research job you did on that video!