Unreleased Michael Jackson song Don't Be Messin' Round

Unreleased Michael Jackson song Don't Be Messin' Round emerges

Source: MW

10:39 | Friday June 8, 2012

A previously unheard Michael Jackson demo, Don't Be Messin' Round, has been released by Sony Music to tease the upcoming 25th anniversary edition of the Bad album.

The track is an offcut from that LP, and you can listen to it above.

It was originally written in 1983, but did not make the Thriller album. The 1987 remix heard here was then overlooked for follow-up Bad.

Jackson biographer Richard Lecocq writes on the MJ Data Bank site: “‘Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round’ is a track that had been in the pipelines many times. It was first considered for the Thriller album, then Bad, and then for further projects. But the version to be released is the actual mix crafted in 1987. Sound engineer Matt Forger mixed the song for the Bad 25 project and made it clear that the song will be presented ‘as is’: ‘I mixed the ‘Don’t Be Messin’ ‘Round’ track from tapes of that era. No new parts were allowed, not even parts that were recorded after ’87 but still done under Michael’s supervision.’

“Composed and produced by Michael Jackson, ‘Don’t Be Messin’ Round’ is part of the demos Jackson spent enough time on to draft several strong melodic and rhythmic ideas. The chords and the rhythm of the track are quite reminiscent of the sunny and cool mid-tempo version of ‘P.Y.T’. (the original demo that surfaced in 2004 on the The Ultimate Collection box set).”

The 25th anniversary edition of Bad is due for release in September.