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Michael Jackson: recording Dangerous with Teddy Riley

Producer reveals King Of Pop's studio secrets

Future Music, Fri 3 Jul 2009, 12:24 pm UTC

Michael Jackson Dangerous

Released in 1991, Dangerous was the follow-up to 1987's Bad.

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Heal The World

"This has strong global issues – it was a big song. I didn't produce it though, all I did to that song was complement it. Heal The World had a lot more instrumentation on it before I got to it. I thought it needed different things that would really appeal. I did quite a lot of the percussion on there. I did that on there to bring something extra to the mix."

Black Or White

"Again I didn't produce this. But again, I added the percussion to the track. I used wood percussion – cow bells, shakers and things like that. Producer Bill Bottrell had an EIII drum machine playing loops. I sat with the track for a while then I said, 'OK, this is a good track. But what it needs is instrumentation'. It had the guitars and Slash from Guns N' Roses on there but I felt if it was going to play live and acoustical, then we'd need to add some acoustical percussion. It was the case that I'd find the tracks very studio sounding and I wanted to add the live funk to them."

Who Is It

"This reminds me so much of Dirty Diana. I think he recaptured that sound on this song. You know, I think he went back to his roots of recording with this song to record an incredible track. I thought it would take someone like Quincy Jones [who produced Dirty Diana] to really put an incredible track like that together. I thought it would take someone like Quincy to get that sound, but Michael came up with it.

"Quincy Jones was like a quality controller for Michael. If Michael had the chance he'd keep working on songs forever." Teddy Riley, speaking in 2008

"It was really difficult for me having to follow in Quincy Jones' footsteps. He left big footsteps! He did hear this album and he really gave me a great compliment on my production. He heard it before it was released and he said this was a masterpiece, and that it's ready to come out.

"Michael was taking so long and he brought Quincy in to hear it – he was like a quality controller for Michael. If Michael had the chance he'd keep working on songs forever."

Give In To Me

"Bill Bottrell put in some great production on this track. Because he had his hand in there it ended up sounding perfect. He had the magic touch and had everything levelled up nicely. He's been doing it for so long. He's the best with microphones, and knowing where to sit the instruments on the track. He's really good.

"I also like Bruce Swedien who mixed some tracks on this album. I'd never worked with Brucey before that. But I always ask for him as an engineer after working with him on this."


Michael jackson dangerous tour

Paris 1992 - the King Of Pop stands defiant. Image: © David Lefranc/Kipa/Corbis

Will You Be There

"This is Michael again. Bringing a vocal choir in on the track was a stroke of genius. It's something I'd consider doing since hearing him do it. It's a long song as well, a lot of this album really clocks in. This nearly hits eight minutes, I think – it's not a punchy radio edit! Yes, it's long but it came across really well for the album. A lot of the songs on the album are long. That's what makes the album I think."

Keep The Faith

"I really admire the work that went into this track. Anything Michael does, I can admire. It doesn't really remind you of any of his other songs; this one's a bit different to his usual tracks but it stands out. Michael's always innovative. With this track, I just think he went another way due to the structure of the track and the instruments used. Well, that and him working with Glen Ballard with the writing on it – they kind of went head-on with that track."

Gone Too Soon

"Another innovative track. I think he was trying to reinvent himself and become more credible; more commercial and he achieves that here. It reminds me of a more worldly version of She's Out Of My Life. With this album he's hinting at his past songs as well as trying to reinvent himself."

Dangerous

"Dangerous was about a woman who was just so beyond, you know, beyond the best girl he's ever been with. That was the name of the album, so we thought about doing a song called Dangerous, and Michael came up with the hook. So I said, 'Let me get into the music'. I went to my lab and put the track together.

"The track evolved: Michael came in with the hook, I did the music and then we finalised the song. We used a drum machine, the Akai MPC-60, and a lot of the sounds from that and samples I had on my sample CDs. There's no science to it, I just feel my way through the production. I always feel my way – I never do anything the same."

NEXT: Teddy Riley on working with Michael Jackson

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