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Michael Jackson’s Musical Involvement In Sonic 3 Confirmed?
There is a long-standing rumor that Michael Jackson helped compose Sonic the Hedgehog 3’s awesome soundtrack. Many bleeps and bloops of the classic platformer emulate catchy melodies from the King of Pop’s later work, creating a coincidence that seemed too uncanny to dismiss. A recent interview allegedly reveals that the deceased musician did in fact work on the soundtrack for the blue blur’s third title.
In a forum post on VGMdb.net, one dedicated user translated an interview between French-based Michael Jackson fan-magazine Black & White and composer Brad Buxer. When asked to clarify the rumors about Jackson composing tunes for the 1993 Genesis titles, Buxer explains that he helped Jackson work on the music but didn’t receive credit for the music.
“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,” said Buxer.
“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,” Buxer continues. “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... “
The interview also mentions similarities between the game's end credits music and MJ’s “Stranger in Moscow.”
If what the French say turns out to be true, I’m definitely glad that this little tidbit didn’t follow Jackson to his final resting place. Being a die hard fan of all the Genesis Sonic music, it’s an interesting revelation that I am, in turn, a Michael Jackson fan by association. Whoops, too late I guess.
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