Early Demo Versions Of Famous Tracks
1. Michael Jackson’s (Thriller)
Thriller was released in 1982 as Michael Jacksons 6th studio album
July 30, 1981 Qunicy Jones was working on a album called Midnight man .
Starlight” is the original song created by song writer Rod Temperton, Quincy Jones gave him the assignment, Rod Temperton went back to his hotel room, wrote down two or three hundred titles, and came up with the title ‘Starlight.’” It didn’t last long. The next morning, Temperton had an epiphany:
I woke up, and I just said this word… Something in my head just said, this is the title. You could visualize it on the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as “Thriller.”
Genre Style
The song was alternative a mix of Disco, Jazz and Funk with Horror sound effects such as thunder, footsteps and wind. It ends with a spoken-word sequence performed by horror actor Vincent Price.
2. Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit)
American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band’s second album, Nevermind (1991), released on DGC Records. The song is based on the concept of a school concert which ends in anarchy and riot with punk and metal hybrid style of music.
The Seattle-based rock band’s sound wasn’t quite as polished. The rehearsal demo of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” from 1991 features very different lyrics and structure than the iconic single that kicked off the unexpected success of the song that propelled Nevermind to the top of several albums charts when grunge finally entered the mainstream.
Genre Style
Punk/Metal/Hybrid
3. Beatles (Strawberry Fields Forever)
Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on 13 February 1967 Lennon based the song on his childhood memories of playing in the garden of Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children’s home in Liverpool. The song begins with a flute-like introduction played on Mellotron and involves a build in progression, the vocals enter with the chorus instead of a verse delivering early experimental contemporary pop.
The demo version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” features John Lennon trying to figure out the song’s structure with his bandmates. The Beatles reportedly spent 45 hours over the course of a month tweaking and refining the song during November 1966.
In 1967 it’s was released as a double A-side single with “Penny Lane”. It represented a departure from the group’s previous singles and a novel listening experience for the contemporary pop audience.
Genre Style
Early experimental pop
4. Queen (Under Pressure)
Originally released as a single in October 1981, written by Queen and David Bowie.
Before it was titled “Under Pressure,” Queen worked around with an unfinished song called “Feel Like” for a long time before David Bowie sat in with the British rock band for a recording session in Queen’s studio in Montreux, Switzerland. The demo version is very rough and is missing Freddie Mercury and Bowie’s playful duet and bassist John Deacon’s iconic bassline, a bass line that was later accredited to David Bowie in a post interview with John Deacon.
Genre Style
Rock/Pop
*Removed from Youtube unfortunately*
5. Blonde (Heart Of A Glass of)
written by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein In January 1979 It reached number one in the charts in several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. At the time, Blondie was one of the bands at the forefront of new wave music and were accused of “selling out” for releasing a disco song. The song begins with a disco theme progressing into choppy, reggae-influenced guitars with a hypnotic beat that builds.
In 1974, Blondie wrote “Once I Had a Love” as a funkier disco song that the New York City-based band simply referred to it as “The Disco Song.” When Blondie met producer Mike Chapman in 1978, guitarist Chris Stein and keyboardist Jimmy Destri added an upbeat drum machine to the song to make it more danceable and disco.
Genre Style
Disco/Funk
