Home Media Michael Jackson: “Secret” Work Tapes Will Prove It’s His Voice on Tracks...

As Michael Jackson‘s new single, “Hold My Hand,” goes “live” tonight (www.michaeljackson.com) , I can tell you a bit more about his new album.

There had been some concern that no outtakes existed of the tracks Jackson recorded with Eddie Cascio. Michael’s nephews have gone into overdrive trying to discredit the tracks. They’ve claimed it’s not their uncle’s voice on the recordings.

But now sources tell me that there were “work tapes” made during the Cascio sessions. These aren’t outtakes of the songs, but tapes running in the studio while Michael discussed what was going on with Eddie Cascio and other members of the Cascio family. Jackson’s own kids even make cameo appearances on the tapes. At some point, the work tapes will be released, although it’s unclear by whom. The main thing is, there’s plenty of evidence of Michael Jackson working with Eddie Cascio.

Still, it’s nice to know that the tapes prove once and for all what was going on in the Cascios’ home studio in the summer of 2007. It’s truly, without a doubt, Michael Jackson on the recordings.

There are three Cascio tracks on the new album. “Breaking News,” of course, has already been heard. Last Friday, “Keep Your Head Up” was leaked to the internet. Some people heard it, but Sony’s legal team moved quickly to have it removed. It’s a great record. The third Cascio track, “Monster,” with 50 Cent, remains a mystery, although I’ve heard good things about it.

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Author
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
39 replies to this post
  1. hey,evry 1 chill.ok..luk..evry 1 thnks something different about the album.we all know that michael was a master of descises.guess wut.the voice on his song ”200o watts” doesnt sound like him but we know its him.people thnk its this guy name jason malachi.its sounds like jason.no doubt jason sounds lyke michael.u have 2 study michaels voice.as a matter of fact.the reporter on ”breaking news”is michael.michael is using a ”PVCpipe” 2 do that.they spectate that sony is doing shady things.but the more u question,wat gudis it gonna get ya.ur not gonna get any answers that much faster.how do u benifit from it.just be happy with the album.michael dead so ur not gonna see any tours besides the cirque desole tour.the album is as close to michael as u get.xxx with l.o.v.e xxx

  2. All 3 songs from Cascio dont sound like MJ. its a mystery. but other 7 not from Cascio sound like him haha… there is an answer. these 3 songs are not his!

  3. I’ve listened to the acapella of “Breaking News” and it’s Michael Jackson’s voice. It’s really not perfect and not meant to be released as a final song, but it is HIS voice.

  4. Roger, when you listen “Hold my Hand” Versus “Breaking News” you can already tell the difference…on the vocal part.
    If Sony would have come clean from the very beginning, this wouldn’t have been such an issue, I gather this whole thing was a huge PUBLICITY STUNT and at the same time they gamble to see if the “impresonator-James Porte” could pass the test,which he didn’t at all. They are other “impresonators” around the world as well, but no one can sound 100% like Michael and since he had such a long and big catalogue is not that hard to “catch” the difference if you really “listen”. Also, Sony and the Estate had A LOT OF DOUBTS about the CASCIO tracks, they are A LOT OF RED FLAGS. WHY WILL YOU NEED TO CALL “EVERYONE” TO MAKE SURE IT IS MIKE. GO THRU A LOT OF “TESTS” AND “SOUNDS WAVES” AND ALL THAT BS…THAT SOUNDS TO ME, LIKE THEY HAD ALOT, ALOT OF DOUBT..IT WASN’T CLEAR FROM THE GET GO. FORGET ABOUT THE JACKSON FAMILY FOR A SECOND AND CONCENTRATE IN THE FACT THEY HAD TO CALL SO MANY PEOPLE TO ENSURE IS MICHAEL VOICE…THAT SOUNDS LIKE A HUGE GAMBLE TO TAKE… IMAGINE FOR A SECOND ROGER THAT MICHAEL WAS YOUR UNCLE AND YOU HAD TO CALL THE ENTIRE FAMILY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE VOICE MAIL THAT WAS LEFT ON YOUR PHONE, WAS YOUR UNCLE..THAT SOUNDS VERY STRANGE…DOESN’T IT? The Cascio Tracks shouldn’t have been included…my guess Sony will credit all the vocalists and engineers on those tracks to avoid future lawsuits and will disclose all that information with a pre-tense that the reasons it was included was to give a insight of the demo Michael was working on and to keep the legacy alive.

  5. I totally agree with Michael Anoh. What is going on with this family at present is a crying shame! Are they that jealeous and greedy. I have felt they were all along, even when Michael was alive. And, yes I also agree with you, and it has been said by many other fans, that this is why Michael stayed away from his family as much as he did. I know he loved his mother very much, but does she, deep down, love him. I have always felt that a rift occurred when Michael decided to go on his own. But, we all know that Michael would not have been as great if he were part of a group with his brothers. Groups tend to not be as famous. Michael was his own person and that is what we loved about him. If the brothers wanted to go into show biz on their own, they could have and possibly made it big, who knows, but while in the group, they depended on Michael for success. There will never be another Michael. My heart goes out to him.

  6. I’ve listened to Hold my hand, and since Akon added his own vocals to it and put on “finishing touches”, it’s obviously not quite the same version as the one MJ played to his nephew. I have a hard time telling the voices apart, and I’m a MJ fan. Like in Breaking news, the music, chorus and voices are not separated like I believe MJ would like it.

  7. Roger Friedman, you are so in Sony’s pockets. How much do they pay you? Year after year you tried to bring MJ down. Now he’s a hero to you. If it’s not money, it’s the information you get. You are being fed and you parade around town with the info you get.

  8. Roger, are you so stoopid? NO ONE is disputing that Michael did record at the Cascio family home. NO ONE. Not a single person is saying “Impossible, Michael would NEVER have recorded at the Cascio home”.

    What we’re saying is “The songs presented from the alleged Cascio recording sessions, are not recordings of Michael Jackson”

    Do you see the difference?

    We ALL know he stayed with them there.

    Providing tapes of Michael chatting about random stuff is not going to go a long way to proving whether it is Michael on them songs. Nor will a photo of Michael and Eddie in the house. The only evidence would be the original recordings, the ones they claim they destroyed, the ones Michael would have NEVER approved of being destroyed.

    What you have to ask yourself here, is even if it was a family he trusted, would he have changed his 40 year old work ethic just for that one session?

    Would Michael have done a half assed take that needed extra stuff adding and claim to be so happy with it that he wanted the remaining tapes, the ones he would put in his vault, destroyed?

    Michael had a work ethic, and he deviated from it for the Cascio session only? But no Will.I.Am’s or Akon’s?

    How utterly strange.

    NOT.

  9. So let me see if I understand what you’re saying
    Let me quote you

    “It’s truly, without a doubt, Michael Jackson on the recordings.”

    “These aren’t outtakes of the songs, but tapes running in the studio while Michael discussed what was going on with Eddie Cascio and other members of the Cascio family.”

    & “Keep Your Head Up” is a great record?

    Bruh, you need a new job, son
    This investigative reporting thing is clearly not for you
    & you may wanna get your ears checked too while you’re at it
    Just sayin’With L.O.V.E.

  10. What does this prove Roger? That Michael was in the studio with them. This doesnt prove he sung 100 percent of Breaking News or Keep your head up or Monster. And don’t use that ” souces tell me” crap. Be a man. You already bragged that you were close to the Cascios in previous articles. Or did Frank D. tip you off. No bias there. Lol. Maybe the Cascios are shopping the secret work tapes around and trying to sell them for millions like they did the music. Or maybe the footage needs to be edited and manipulated like Breaking News was. Sources tell me that you are a joke.

  11. Like Tara says, no one is denying that Michael J visited the Cascios and worked with them (or jammed with them). The children were there.

    The nephews (Tito’s sons), whom MJ did socialize with and also record with (you can watch MJ and 3T on youtube) claim that out of 10 songs on the album, 7 are for real. One of the nephews tweets that “Hold my hand” was the last song MJ played to him, and that he was proud of it.

  12. …but WHY not outtakes from songs? Why not real WORKING material???? Why not OTHER TAKES taken during the recordings???:):):) Aren’t this tapes of TALKING about MJ’s relationship with Cascios prove only that Cascios recorded MJ TALKING but NOT SINGING???
    It sounds NOTHING LIKE MICHAEL JACKSON I’ve been listening to for the last 24 years!

  13. Brooke,

    Friedman always stood up for Michael?! Yeah, right. You are ridiculous. Where have you been?? You must be one of those new fans.

    Friedman was an @$$ to Michael for many, many years. He needs to dig a hole and jump in it.

    Also, if the tapes mentioned are as they are described, they don’t prove a thing.

  14. Sometimes I think no proof will ever be good enough for some people to believe that it is MJ on these tracks. Next, Roger will publish photos of MJ in the studio with the Cascios. Response? “Look, just because Michael’s standing in front of a microphone singing doesn’t mean that’s his voice!” Then, Roger will publish a video of MJ with Cascios saying things like, “I think I should repeat the chorus once more before the bridge…” Response? “Just because Michael’s discussing his vocals with the producer doesn’t mean that’s his voice!” Give it a rest, already!

  15. No one is saying Michael didnt work with Cascios. I do hear Michael’s voice on Breaking News. About 10 percent of it. The question is, who is that dude singing on the remaining 90 percent? They have “work tapes”? That’s great but still no outtakes??

    No outtakes means no proof. Period.

  16. Michael is just an amazing person. How his own relatives could try and sabotage the truth and his work is a crying shame – it only gives us more insight as why he stayed away from them. His fans still grieve for him and they abuse his name and work? Was the man not abused enough for over 4 decades worth? Shame on you Jackson’s for letting jealousy and greed get the better of you. Joe trains you all well. You have to respect Michael even more that he did not tell the world what they were like. He was outnumbered. Sick and tired of the Jackson’s talking to the media about a man they obviously didn’t know – apparently they couldn’t even tell his voice! But they have proven to us their true character. Give credit to those he could take refuge with…and worked sincerely with him. Breaking News is a true work of art, even more so given the ironic circumstances of his family feeding the media utter lies and people reading it so they end up not believing their own ears?

  17. a snippet of Monster also leaked.

    they may have a video of MJ with them in studios but that doesnt mean its him singing on the track. I would say the small part he was singing was so far from a full song they had to add 90% of another singer and overly process voices. Thats why its sound sooooo bad. Give us the untouched demos !!!

  18. I’m 100% certain that it’s MJ on the new tracks. Yes, it’s a slightly different style to many of his other songs, but it’s characteristically MJ and not the first time MJ tried a different style (2,000 Watts is regularly cited as a good example).

    Many people who doubt the authenticity do so because the idea was planted in their head by nay-sayers. Ultimately, however, it does not matter, as this is either a publicity stunt or will work just like one, hopefully fuelling sales of the new album to bring MJ back on top.

    I look forward to hearing the rest of the songs.

  19. So with Breaking News, we have the “evil media” song. With Hold My Hand we have the anthem song. Now all we need is any combination of the following: a spooky song, a song about or featung children/childhood or a negative paranoid song about women and we’ll have a typical MJ album.

    I am still holding out hope that this will be something different from what he’s been doing since Bad but that hope is fading fast with each song Sony releases on the Internet.

  20. It’s truly, without a doubt, not Michael Jackson on those recordings. The recordings themselves are the evidence – use your ears Roger.

  21. “Monster” is not a mystery…it’s been leaked as well. I’m positive all those Cascio tracks are fake. If you think that’s Michael’s voice you need a hearing aid.

  22. Thanks, Rogers for standing up for Michael in a manner no one did. You always did. Thanks for these comforting news you give us continuously. Well, the ‘nephews’ don’t know their ‘uncle’. Michael never wanted to associate himself with them anyway. The entire family is a shame. How Michael survived 50 years among all these messes is a miracle.

    I love you, Rogers. Keep it up!!!

  23. How many times, Mr. Roger Friedman?

    MJ TALKING about a song, doesn’t mean he was SINGING in that Breaking News stream we all heard last week.

    PROOF of MJ singing and recording what we all heard in that stream, would be VIDEO proof of the King of Pop recording it, as we heard it.

    Work tapes? Maybe he did discuss the songs. Doesn’t mean he sang them.
    Nice try :)

  24. “These aren’t outtakes of the songs, but tapes running in the studio while Michael discussed what was going on with Eddie Cascio and other members of the Cascio family”……And how does this prove it’s Michael SINGING? Roger, it’s obvious who you side with.

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