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Michael Jackson: For The Record
2nd Edition - Revised & Expanded

ISBN: 978 07552 0478 6
Published by Authors Online Ltd (2009)
Soft Cover ~ 515 pages
RRP: £16.95 / $24.95

The aim of the 1st edition this book was to document the many songs Michael has been involved with
over the years -as singer, as writer, as producer, or simply as the inspiration or subject. The songs were
listed numerically and alphabetically, and each listing includes the artist, release date and
connection to Michael, together with other interesting information.

In the 2nd edition, as well as revising and up-dating 'The Songs' section, we have added sections detailing:

REVIEWS

'For the Record is clearly a labour of love and a very much needed one. It focuses squarely on Michael Jackson's beyond impressive body of work
and is the perfect companion for his discography to have on one's shelf. This expanded and revised edition adds the albums,
the films and the books to the most comprehensive record of Jackson material ever published. It's a must have, for fans and music lovers in general.
Heck, the Jackson Estate executors should get a copy too, or better yet hire the authors as consultants.'   Alex/amazon.co.uk

'Since June 25th 2009, there have been a steady stream of books hastily written to exploit the money making opportunities that existed after
Michael Jackson passed away. All of them looked to be the definitive life story of Michael Jackson with plenty of falsehoods
thrown in for good, sensationalist measure. But 'Michael Jackson: For The Record' by Chris Cadman and Craig Halstead was not one of them.
For them, it was the musical legacy of Michael Joseph Jackson that was of primary interest - not whatever his private life may or may not have been like.

We come to the cover of 'For The Record' with Michael's passing fresh in our minds. A nice, simplistic affair, the image chosen of Michael Jackson
at his zenith on stage performing 'Billie Jean' perfectly captures all the varied emotions many continue to feel towards this unique King Of Pop.
Allowing us to be reflective of the artist's body of work as well as his achievements, the cover feels entirely appropriate in the wake of Michael's passing.

As often as MJ fans have read and heard all the tributes paid to the artistry of Michael Jackson, it is still good to read them again before we move
onto reading about his life's work - music. It serves its purpose of reminding us all of the gift that was Michael Jackson's musical brilliance,
what we gained and what we lost. Of all the chapters, it is The Songs the majority of fans will be interested in given that much
of the information in the other chapters have been freely available on-line. That's not to say that there is no viable use for the chapters
because 'For The Record' is basically a handy reference book. And a very good one it is!

There's lots of song titles to look out for and some sources are given, e.g. 'The Children's Hour' is said to have been written by
MJ himself in his 1993 Mexico Deposition. However, I wonder if he was referring to a poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Michael had given Adrian Grant a Neverland goodie bag which contained this poem inside. It was printed in the Off The Wall magazine
on one occasion in the early '90s. Also included is information on songs other artists had written and were lucky enough to have Michael
record it for one reason or another such as Dave Mason's 'Save Me' which seems poignant now with it's "Save my soul/Save me/Save my soul" lyrics.
Dave's account of how Michael came to record the track is here along with other artists' stories such as how MJ came to record
Joe "King" Carusco's "Don't Let A Woman Make A Fool Out Of You".

The Albums covers all the major albums releases from the pre-Motown compilations through to the latest releases with Thriller 25
and the various King Of Pop albums. Some cancelled album releases are featured here such as Decade 1980-1990, Humanity
and a 1991 Christmas Album said to have been possibly worked on by Michael Jackson himself.

The Films is a useful guide for fans who want to know which films MJ appeared in such as Men In Black Two or Miss Castaway,
but there's also some information on MJ's own films including Ghosts and the obligatory rockumentary, Moonwalker.
This Is It is also included, but as the book was published before the theatrical release worldwide there are no sales figures or
records set available here. Perhaps they will be for a future release?

Likewise, The Home Videos covers the main officially released music videos from Michael Jackson, including a bootleg 'Jackson 5 In Concert'
which has the cover of the Jackson's Triumph album even though the concert took place in Mexico in 1975! A video I have and it's an
interesting one to watch simply because the theatrical performer Jackson eventually became was still light years away.

No Michael Jackson reference book would be complete without an overview of the tours he was involved in whether with the Jackson5, Jacksons or solo.
Cadman and Halstead have done their best to cover as much ground as they could to create a book for Michael Jackson fans which
aims to honour the incredible musical legacy Michael left behind. While there are still some typing errors and mistakes,
the only real downside is that the images inside are not in full colour. However, the authors anticipated this would not be popular,
so they tried to explain why: "Everyone, ourselves included, would love to replace the black/white illustrations...with full colour,
ut current print-on-demand technology simply doesn't make this possible, at least at an affordable price."
Still, it's refreshing to know there are authors out there who are not trying to unfairly exploit the fans.

To maintain affordability for many, the book is now a soft back and is larger than the previous version of 'For The Record'.
The previous book's A-Z song listing is intact, but this is no bad thing. It would be nice to have the songs grouped under each MJ era
they are believed to have been written in, but this would involve guesswork on a string of unreleased songs.
It doesn't detract from enjoyment of the 'For The Record'. Most importantly, the authors know that the book is not the final, definitive book
containing every single morsel of information on every song Jackson has ever written, sung on or collaborated in his life.
This would be an impossible task at present for anyone... except for the Michael Jackson Estate.

One book MJ fans should have in their Christmas Stocking this year - you won't be disappointed!' Gary Cocker/Maximum Jackson

'This is a must for any real Michael Jackson fan as it has everything you could want to know on the king of pop.
It documents his many songs and some facts about each one, as well as the unreleased songs. Also features
a complete chronological listing of his albums (solo and group), videos and books. You can look up anything,
song or album, he has released and find out its chart placing and sales records. I have been a fan since the
Thriller album and thought I knew everything about him but having read this I have found out some many interesting facts.
You just won't want to put down this book once you get reading it. Trust me MJ fans this is it!!
A fantastic book.'  Moonwalker 'Mack' (Ireland)/amazon.co.uk

Copyright © 2008-09 Craig Halstead & Chris Cadman