MJ's "Beat It" - The Untold Story by Tom Bähler

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"It's my pleasure to re-unite with my old friend Tom Bähler who generously tells us all the details of his experiences with Michael and Quincy during the making of 'Beat It'. This untold story is a result of Tom contacting me after seeing one of our videos about how to make the gong sound on 'Beat It'.

He felt it was time to fill-in some blanks in the timeline about how and when things happened and to also share some of his most intimate, inspiring moments about the creation of the song. In this segment we'll tap into a little bit of history about the Synclavier and how this game changing synthesizer got into the hands of Michael. Then you'll find out how the infamous gong sound was discovered, that it was slightly altered and who actually played it on the record. Tom is a gifted storyteller who colorfully weaves relevant and fun anecdotal sidebars in the process of describing the historical facts. He tops off this segment with the back story about Michael's incredibly drawn out search to find the perfect sound to play on the 4th beat of each bar in "Beat It". Michael had the sound in his head but needed to discover what instrument could make it. The first thing I saw when I (Anthony) arrived to play on the album was Michael hitting drum cases with 2 x 4's, but I never knew about the events leading up to that day. Now we all will. I hope you enjoy this special interview and rare opportunity to hear these personal stories directly from Tom Bähler, a living legend. And stay tuned to Anthony Marinelli Music for the other segments with Tom about Working with Michael, Working with Quincy, Arranging for "We Are the World" and writing what some consider to be their favorite song by Michael, 'We are the World'.

0:00 Introduction to Tom Bahler
1:33 Discovering the Synclavier
3:16 The Gong Story, Michael & Bruce
9:48 Copyright
12:35 Michael's Search for the 4th Beat of "Beat It"
19:40 Michael & Quincy Speaking in Colors
20:18 Conclusion"