The truth behind "This is it"

http://mjstar.com/?p=180

Sorry if it was posted before.



The Truth Behind The Song “This Is It” Revealed




When Michael Jackson’s new single, “This Is It,” was released on
Sunday night, many listeners were surprised by its resemblance to “I
Never Heard,” a 1991 track by the R&B singer Safire, which gave
songwriting credit to Mr. Jackson and Paul Anka.
But no one was more surprised than Mr.
Anka, who said in an interview on early in the day on Monday that he
had not been contacted about the use of the song and that he was not
given proper writing credit for the single, which now credits only Mr.
Jackson as a writer.
“They have a major, major problem on their hands,” he said. “They will be sued if they don’t correct it.”
For Mr. Anka, the song has a long and painful history. He said in an
interview that he and Mr. Jackson wrote and recorded it in 1983 in Mr.
Anka’s studio in Carmel, Calif., and that it was intended as a duet for
Mr. Anka’s album “Walk a Fine Line.” But shortly after it was recorded,
Mr. Jackson took the tapes, Mr. Anka said. He threatened to sue to get
them back, he said, and now has the original multitrack tapes in his
possession, along with documentation that the copyright for the song
was held by both.
It did not take long for the Jackson estate to move to rectify the
situation. By late afternoon, Mr. Anka said, John McClain, a record
executive and producer whom Mr. Jackson named in his will as an
executor, called to acknowledge his co-authorship and promise “all due
credit and royalties.” The estate also released a statement that said
in part, “The song was co-written by the legendary Paul Anka.”
Mr. Anka also said that his lawyers were already negotiating with the estate for compensation.
“This Is It” was based on a tape that Mr. Jackson left behind,
containing only his piano and vocal. Mr. McClain built a full
arrangement around it, including backup vocals by Mr. Jackson’s
brothers. Aside from a few major differences in the lyrics, the song is
almost identical to “I Never Heard.”
Rob Stringer, the chairman of the Columbia/Epic Label Group, said in
an interview on Sunday that he did not know when Mr. Jackson’s original
tape had been recorded and that he had not known about its similarity
to the Safire track until Mr. Jackson’s fans discussed it online over
the weekend.
Mr. Anka said that Mr. McClain told him: “We took Sony 50 songs, and
this was the best of all of them. My thought was that this one sounded
different. Now I know why.”

Thanks for posting that. I was just reading something similar... http://www.mjjcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=78284
I think the comments are interesting too. There's got to be way more to this song being released. Either Sony's stupid or someone's playing them.

I think it's just another publicity stunt. They intent to pay PA his part anyay. and with all the controversy behind this song more people buying/interested in this is it, more money, more publicity for them, for the movie and whatever future projects they have. The attention stays on them!

I think it's just another publicity stunt. They intent to pay PA his part anyay. and with all the controversy behind this song more people buying/interested in this is it, more money, more publicity for them, for the movie and whatever future projects they have. The attention stays on them!

Sorry for the re-post. MJKit is causing problems for me every time I post

@Truth_or_Dare- I agree! Marketing strategy/publicity stunt..