Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
Forum Name: Chat Board
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5741
Printed Date: 10 May 2025 at 11:40pm
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Topic: Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
Posted By: abagon
Subject: Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean"
Date Posted: 09 June 2010 at 12:40pm
|
There is a male voice "oh no" at 2:24 in the right channel on "Billie Jean" of the U.S. commercial 45. Although my vinyl LP "Thriller" is a Japanese pressing. This voice on the vinyl LP is very low. It's extreme. I couldn't hear it clearly.
Is the U.S. "Thriller" vinyl LP the same as the Japan LP? Thanks. --abagon |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 09 June 2010 at 2:25pm
| On the US pressing of the CD, the "oh no" is loud and clear. I'm not sure about the vinyl LP. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 6:33pm
| Bumping this back up, because we never got a clear answer for abagon. He emailed me dubs of the US 45 and Japanese LP. The "oh no" at 2:24 is definitely missing from the Japan LP. You can hear it bleeding through just barely, but it was deliberately removed from the mix. Is the US pressing like this? |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 7:38pm
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i don't have the "thriller" cd to help out on this one..... ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 8:26pm
| I have the CD; it's the vinyl LP in question. |
Posted By: Steve Sharp
Date Posted: 27 September 2010 at 11:18pm
| If no one else can help, give me some time to dig out my US vinyl album, and I'll have a listen. |
Posted By: mainrhythm
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 12:45am
|
On both copies of my Thriller USA vinyl, you can hear it loud and clear.
|
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 8:34am
| Mainrhythm, thanks for digging out your vinyl to check. It appears the Japanese pressing, for whatever reason, has a unique version. |
Posted By: abagon
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 9:51am
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mainrhythm, Thank you very much for checking the vinyl LP.
aaronk, Thank you very much for being interested in the missing "oh no" version. For all the message board members, Please listen to the missing "oh no" version on the You Tube. Click the following links, please. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtbbBoOFQhI - 1/at 2:25 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciSdW77HLK0 - 2/at 2:26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErmlokKBkek - 3/at 2:22 --abagon |
Posted By: mainrhythm
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 10:31am
|
All of my versions on CD have the loud & clear "Oh No" except for one on a Mobile Beat compilation produced by TM Century.
However, my TM Century GoldDisc is still the "Oh No" version. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 1:41pm
| This is really interesting! It was mentioned in another thread that both Off the Wall and Bad had more than one pressing on vinyl with some of the mixes swapped. Perhaps some vinyl US pressings of Thriller are missing the "oh no." Are there any other differences that you noticed, abagon? |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 28 September 2010 at 2:34pm
|
Quincy Jones has gone on record (no pun) saying that every
single tiny, incidental vocal and sound was intentional, no matter how minuscule. he calls it 'ear candy". ------------- |
Posted By: abagon
Date Posted: 29 September 2010 at 9:29am
I compared the commercial 45 with the Japan@LP "Thriller" again. But there is not another difference. Concerning "the mixes swapped." When I have a free time. I intend to compare the Japan vinyl with the Michael's CDs in the other top 40 hits from the LP "Thriller." --abagon |
aaronk wrote:Posted By: Nick2341
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 8:13am
|
The first Japanese pressing of the CD (35.8P-11) matches the Japanese vinyl and doesn't have the "oh no" ad lib. The Dangerous
Tour souvenir CD from Japan also has this version. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 12:28pm
| Really? Hmm... |
Posted By: Nick2341
Date Posted: 19 October 2010 at 12:44pm
|
If anyone would like a CD rip, let me know.
Other differences I've noticed: The drums seem to have less reverb on them, and If you listen to the choruses and towards the end, the synth strings in the background are also lower in this version. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 21 October 2010 at 2:11am
| Hmm... According to Wikipedia, the "Thriller" album was released 11/30/82. Also according to Wikipedia, "Billie Jean" the single was released 1/2/83. How much ya wanna bet me the version with the barely audible "oh no" (which Nick kindly sent me) is the original, first-pressing album version? |
Posted By: Nick2341
Date Posted: 21 October 2010 at 6:53am
| I'm with you on that one. |
Posted By: waldo
Date Posted: 22 October 2010 at 5:06pm
wow! thanks for noticing this little anomaly guys. i love discovering stuff like this. and for once i don't need to collect another CD to get this oddity as i have that original Japan pressing. i wonder why it's different on the Japan LP. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 16 May 2012 at 11:14am
|
Okay, can everybody please check their U.S. 45s of "Billie Jean"? Someone has contacted me with info that at least some foreign 45s (including the Canadian issue) use the original album version with the (almost) non-existent "oh no" at 2:24. These are on YouTube, so I heard them myself.
So now I'm wondering if any of the US pressings used the "no oh-no" version. Please post your findings here. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 06 July 2012 at 9:35pm
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I no longer have my copy from when I was a kid, but hopefully someone can help answer Brian's question. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: mjb50
Date Posted: 08 June 2024 at 4:54am
|
I have an early pressing of the Thriller LP. It has the very quiet "oh no" at 2:24.
Back cover: no asterisks or Co-Produced by Michael Jackson credit Side 1 matrix: P o PAL 38112-1E 5 B Side 2 matrix: P o PBL 38112-1G 1 C The database makes no mention of the different mixes. Perhaps it should clarify that the quiet "oh no" is the original LP version, and the loud "oh no" is the 45 & 2nd LP version... assuming that's what we have concluded. |
Posted By: Brian W.
Date Posted: 08 June 2024 at 11:38am
|
Wow, that's an old post! I think what I asked was if any
45s used that version because I read "somewhere" that some copies did. But, yeah, the quiet "oh no" is definitely the original LP version and was used on the original CD run as well, pressed in Japan. When America got CD pressing capability, the first U.S. pressing swapped out "Billie Jean" for the "loud oh no" version. And, as with the extended mix of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy," the extended mix of "Billie Jean" was planned as the original album version, according to Quincy Jones's autobiography. |