Michael Jackson's executors say it's him singing on new song Breaking News, and they really, really, really want to you believe them. A lawyer for the estate has issued a four-page essay in support of Breaking News and the rest of the controversial "Cascio tracks" on Jackson's upcoming posthumous album. This is the voice of the King of Pop, they promise, vouched for by Jackson's former producers, engineers, and two "of the best-known forensic musicologists in the nation".
Nobody disputes that Jackson died with lots of songs in the vault. For years, there has been talk of a comeback album produced by R Kelly, Will.I.Am, RedOne and Ne-Yo, and representatives for the estate have said there are more than 100 tracks awaiting release. But scrutiny has fallen on a particular subset of these, recorded in 2007 with Eddie Cascio and James Porte. Cascio, 28, is the son of Jackson's long-time friends Dominick and Connie Cascio, whom he has known since the 1980s. For one summer, Jackson and his family lived with the Cascios in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, where he reportedly recorded a dozen songs.
Five of these are slated for Michael, the upcoming album of unreleased material. But Jackson's mother, Katherine, and his children, Paris and Prince, are said to be among those who feel the tracks obtained by Sony Records are fake. "[Katherine] says the Cascios have added some things and given the Sony corporation false tracks," a source told CTV.
With about a month to go before the album is released, Jackson's estate has pushed back hard, publishing an open letter from attorney Howard Weitzman. According to Weitzman, the estate organised a "listening party" with six producers and engineers who had worked with Jackson, including Thriller's Bruce Swedien and Dangerous's Teddy Riley. They listened to a capella versions of all of the Cascio tracks under consideration, and "all confirmed" the lead vocal was "definitely Michael". Jackson's long-time vocal director, Dorian Holley, agreed, as did two forensic musicologists who used "objective scientific tests" to determine the songs were his. Apparently even Michael's former piano player, Greg Phillinganes, got a call.
Although Weitzman admits the back-up vocals are "a combination of Michael and [singer] James Porte", "the overwhelming objective evidence resulting from the exhaustive investigations [above] ... [proves] the lead vocal on all of those tracks [was] sung by Michael Jackson".
This may not reassure Jackson's family, but Weitzman hopes it will be enough for the singer's fans. "We take all fan comments very seriously," he wrote, "[and] Michael's fans are extraordinary in their quest for accuracy and their passions to raise their voices in a search for truth! We join with them in our care and concern." Such attention to detail is well and good; we just wish Breaking News didn't suck.
