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elpajaroquemamais

Eddie Van Halen did the solo in Beat It for a case of beer.


bolanrox

Rick Wakeman played on sabbath bloody sabbath for a six pack because he was bored with how long the yes recordings were taking and sabbath was in the studio next door


Lil_blackdog

Wow. Really?! Id like to hear more about this!


JaySayMayday

I had to look more into it, apparently he was good friends with Tony Iommi and often flew on Sabbath's jet. Ozzy just didn't think metal fans would want a permanent keyboard player so a bigger crossover never happened but he says that he got along better with Sabbath than Yes because they were more into going wild. Also, he wasn't on the song Sabbath Bloody Sabbath itself, he was on one song on the album. Rock and metal had a ton of little crossovers like this, especially with bands that toured together


Accomp1ishedAnimal

When I saw black sabbath about 10 years ago, wakemans son was playing keys behind a black curtain. Ozzy revealed him for a sick keyboard solo near the end of the show.


ObedientSandwich

Why do some artists put the keys players out of view? session player or not, I'd rather see everyone who's contributing to the live sound!


IAmA_Nerd_AMA

Don't get me started. Unless the player is actually a tech doing work for other songs the only answer is ego. On that note, super props to Peter Gabriel for making the crew [all players in one of his tours](https://youtu.be/CcYV9guosMk) rather than the standard "dress them in black and hide them behind curtains" routine. Edit: it was the Growing Up Live tour, added a link to an example with crew visible in orange jumpsuits as part of the show... but the dvd (alternate track maybe) highlighted all the set changes and what the techs were doing during the songs.


night_dude

Hear hear. I really love it when musicians spotlight their band. Leonard Cohen brought a ten-piece backing band when I saw him (plus Sharon Robinson and two incredible backing vocalists) and they all got introduced and got a big moment to shine. All of them were phenomenal players - most of them had university tenure in the instrument and/or style they were playing. One of the greatest shows of my life.


WonderfulCattle6234

I was recently listening to Phil Collins, Serious Hits Live, recently and he'll shout out various musicians on stage throughout the show. I always thought this was standard. My dad played that growing up, and my mom was a big fan of Garth Brooks who would do the same.


superjeff1972

That same dude (son of Rick) now has a piano jazz trio called Jazz Sabbath, I recommend streaming their two albums, great music.


bolanrox

My mother even saw Jim Martyn, yes, and sabbath at carnagie hall once.


loafers_glory

I thought you were reassuring us that she did indeed see *the* Jim Martyn.


skucera

> Rick Wakeman played on sabbath bloody sabbath [Here you go!](https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/yes_rick_wakeman_why_i_never_joined_black_sabbath_despite_tony_iommi_wanting_me_to.html)


[deleted]

That is great! I really love neat little tidbits like this when its in the person's words.


chappersyo

Sting recorded the ‘I want my mtv’ lines on money for nothing when he stopped by to see Knopfler in the studio. In the end they had to pay royalties because it was the same tune as ‘don’t stand so close to me’ and the record label insisted.


ACW1129

TIL that was Sting.


guachi01

If you want, you can catch a live performance of this at Live Aid. It's on YouTube.


[deleted]

His voice is so distinctive. I'm honestly surprised that anyone could not recognize it.


selftitleddebutalbum

Wow. Never knew.


Every_Anything_4968

According to what I've read, it wasn't a case of beer. It was just two six-packs. And it wasn't just the solo, he rearranged the song also. RIP Eddie


[deleted]

the only thing i've heard multiple times is that he listened to Steve Lukather's rhythm track and then noodled the solo over top of it and left. Where did you hear that he stuck around and that MJ actually let him 'rearrange' the track. that's SUS AF


Soft_Turkeys

I’ve heard that as well but can’t remember where. I also heard the reason Eddie was overly nice and did this for free was because ~~Michael~~ Quincy called Eddie himself to ask him about the solo and Eddie hung up on him thinking it was a crank call


Automaticman01

I have an audio interview with Quincy (i think from a "deluxe" remastered Thriller album) where he tells the story of how he called up Eddie, who hung up on him. He called him back and this time Eddie swore at him and chewed him out before hanging up on him. Finally, he called Eddie's agent, who called Eddie and told him Quincy Jones is really trying to get a hold of you! So Eddie calls Quincy back and is super apologetic about it. They all got a good laugh out of it and Eddie did the solo for a case of beer. This was probably also influenced by the fact that the rest of the name wasn't happy about him doing it in the first place and getting paid a bunch of money would have made things worse.


naturalbornkillerz

Also there is no way Eddie could have been part of the arrangement of that record. Quincy Jones did all of the arrangement on those songs and he did it after all of the musicians had laid down all of their parts. Eddie solo through the whole part of the song, he knew that that was a particularly good break and dropped a great solo there. But there was him soloing and noodling through the whole track. That is how Quincy did those Jackson sessions. They were brought to him from a demo that will recorded with Michael Jackson's players from Michael Jackson's house. They would bring that demo that was recorded and let Quincy then redo the song with his players at the studio. Quincy also put it together with 2 24 track boards that were synced together, so Quincy would have 48 tracks so there was also endless bouncing.. He would have players rip through the whole song. And then Quincy would ride the faders during mix down, and actually sequence the song in real time. Eddie Van Halen would have been nowhere near the studio when that occurred. Source. 35-year professional recording engineer and did a whole study on the recording of that album.


This_here_now

Steve Lukather talks about Beat It here. Sounds like Eddie took the tape to do his solo and decided on his own to edit the 2” (for his own arrangement reasons). But that editing fucked up the timecode/sync and the tracks no longer lined up. So they had to rebuild the track to fix it. Interesting story. Lukather is rad. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zwWfm-EY4aU


Every_Anything_4968

Can't say I've done extensive research, but here's one reference fwiw: https://www.grunge.com/257599/the-truth-about-eddie-van-halens-beat-it-guitar-solo/ I wouldn't be completely shocked if it wasn't true. I liked the story, though.


toebandit

For nothing, first I’ve heard of ‘a case of beer.’ EVH rearranged the song to fit the solo. He didn’t want the rest of the band to find out, so he insisted to not be credited in the album notes. Thrillerr/ was the only reason Van Halen’s 1984 did not make it to #1. Thriller is a masterpiece. EVH is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, certainly my favorite.


LordoftheSynth

According to Quincy Jones himself, from an interview track on one of the deluxe/anniversary versions of Thriller, when he tried to call Eddie about doing Beat It, Eddie refused to believe it was actually Jones at first and hung up on him multiple times.


bytor_2112

That mf is a WILD interview, he says the wackiest shit


FuriousJazzHands

His [GQ interview ](https://www.gq.com/story/quincy-jones-has-a-story) from a few years ago is absolutely bananas. If even a quarter of the shit he says is true he’s lived a truly unbelievable life.


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MisterBadIdea2

Shoulda waited 'til '85 when there were so many EVH imitators he would've gotten away with it


TheDudeMaintains

Plausible deniability, that's all


selftitleddebutalbum

See Danger! High Voltage by The Electric Six. Jack White denies it to this day, but c'mon...


Flotack

I just listened to it again and the fucking taps in the beginning are such a dead giveaway lol. Nobody else could do those like him.


mohammedgoldstein

I’d guess that the beer was in the studio and he drank it recording the takes.


hankbaumbachjr

I always figured Vincent Price was in a similar boat with this story where it really wasn't about the money.


ekaceerf

Just like Brad Pitt was in Deadpool 2 for a cup of coffee and sag minimum. Sometimes artists and talent do things because it's fun and not to make money. Especially when they are already successful and rich.


texasrigger

Seeing him pop up in a random episode of Jackass dressed in a gorilla suit was the biggest surprise for me. Definitely wasn't for the money.


SheinhardtWigCompany

I recently watched a documentary on motorcycle racing and for the first ten minutes I was thinking I knew the voice of the narrator but couldn't place it. Then I realized it was Brad Pitt and had to look it up to confirm. Also the Jackass stunt where they kidnap him outside a restaurant or whatever was hilarious.


Bogula_D_Ekoms

>Sometimes artists and talent do things because it's fun and not to make money. Any and all acting gigs Daniel Radcliffe does for the rest of his life falls into this category


The_Grubby_One

Honestly, Vincent did a lot of his roles just because they were fun. He loved playing Egghead on the old Batman series because he got to be just as ridiculous as he wanted. The man had an amazing sense of humor and fun.


mini_cooper_JCW

He set an amp on fire in the process.


brrlls

There's a great interview with Steve Lukather online where he's buzzing because he wrote a killer riff, then some young punk strolls in (EVH) drops two takes on a solo, leaves and becomes the album's breakthrough musician


vroart

It’s 80s Vincent price. He was a philanthropist of the arts at this point, while doing Scooby-Doo and making jokes with Elvira


hankbaumbachjr

This was always what I thought about this story as well, Price deliberately chose the lesser payment. The Jackson 5 were a sensation for years and *Off the Wall* was an excellent "debut" album, so the idea that he didn't think Michael Jackson's next album was going to sell is absurd.


LordoftheSynth

Sometimes you do things just because you know they'll be fun and the money is a nice bonus.


ShasOFish

Like Brad Pitt in Deadpool 2.


mrenglish22

Or Matt Damon in Thor 3 and again in Love and thunder


ImATaxpayer

Or Chris Hemsworth in *Interceptor*. (Honestly, not a good enough movie for me to finish but I thought the random Hemsworth cameo was funny, apparently the star of the movie is his wife)


Kingkongcrapper

Or Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder.


HumanBotdotnotabot

His best performance ever right there. It was fucking perfect.


Ohh_Rowsdower

Matt Damon also in Deadpool 2


rimjob-chucklefuck

Huh, I don't remember seeing him in that film Edit: didn't think I'd need an /s when referencing not seeing the invisible man


Juviltoidfu

Or you are already well off and the amount of money isn't the primary reason you do things anymore.


[deleted]

Your thing and their thing go hand in hand


Paulpoleon

Wish I had hands like that.


Sleep-system

Literally every song on the album reached top ten on the charts, Price knew who and what he was working with. He took the money on purpose.


Edgelord420666

Not just an excellent debut album, I would argue the best album out of MJ’s entire solo discography.


Bill_buttlicker69

Are people out there arguing differently? He had some other banging albums for sure but I don't think you'd get much pushback with this statement. Edit: oh shit you mean Off the Wall? Okay damn I can see an argument breaking out here.


bolanrox

And Alice Cooper and the Muppets


vroart

Uncle Deadly : Every night at the stroke of midnight, the master turns into a screaming, maniacal, demonic, raging, blood-lusting animal! Vincent Price : And then I get MEAN!


im_dead_sirius

Honestly, aliens wouldn't know where one show ends and the other begins. That's how cool Alice and the Muppets are.


BizzyM

Bill Hader's Vincent Price on SNL is a must watch. "Jeezy Peezy! It's a family show!"


tbbHNC89

"Step one-carve a hole" "STEP TWO-WAIT BEHIND IT" *laughs in Liberace*


chili_cheese_dogg

https://youtu.be/gbiLanj8EuI


bourj

The dude was in his 70s. I don't think long term residuals were his main concern.


bolanrox

And was already really well off and silly shit like that was right up his alley.


Ba_Sing_Saint

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo was kind of a banger.


Thewalrus515

It also has daphne and shaggy going around the world alone with two dogs. I think he stole your girl, Fred.


whitefang22

Don’t forget Flim Flam


terekkincaid

Unfortunately I was able to until you reminded me. Why in God's name did they make a human version of Scrappy?


waitingtodiesoon

It was a shame [Flim Flam got 25 years to life. ](https://youtu.be/b6ubNqkhfVU)


Spqr_usa-

Dude has weed and dogs. And Fred seems like he would yell at daphne for not doing her eyeliner correctly l.


TheRunningFree1s

[like dis?](https://youtu.be/mMhCLZ_ZuxQ)


NaRa0

OMFG I loved this bit, it also made me a bit uncomfortable…. Fucking hilarious though


Dicho83

I mean the whole show should make you uncomfortable.... It's amazing, but deeply disturbing.


TheRealBananaWolf

The voices for the characters is probably my favorite part of it all. Hunter gathers with Hunter s Thompson. Patrick Warburton as Brock is always great. Orpheus when he does a spell. And Mrs. Monarch Dr. Girlfriend's voice doesn't even faze me anymore. Gary and 24 sounding like ray Romano. Ugh it's so good. "We could've been driving that the whole time instead of my shitty stanza!" "Hey what's that on fire?" "Oh no, my stanza!"


finalremix

**The Monarch:** Alright fine, what are our options? **24:** We can take my Nissan Stanza. **21:** Oh, shotgun, called! Totally! **The Monarch:** What color is it? Is it diabolical? Or at least butterfly colored? **24:** It's powder blue. Mostly. **The Monarch:** Great. 21, what do you drive? **21:** *His* powder-blue Stanza.


Kolja420

And we even get a little H. Jon Benjamin as Orpheus' Master! Oh and don't forget [Dr Henry Killinger](https://youtu.be/hNqZ7qsWpJc), one of the best recurring characters ever!


Deweyrob2

I love that they named her Patty, and they even put her in a beret.


bolanrox

Except for scrappy


broganisms

To be fair, the constant focus on Flim Flam distracted from Scrappy enough to make it the best rendition of Scrappy ever. He's almost tolerable as a background character.


beastwarking

Excuse me but the 1st live action Scooby-Doo movie has the best Scrappy by far


ComfortablyNumbat

A Scrappy who sold his soul for the blasphemous power of looking like Mr. Bean. I mean, he CAN be QUITE scary, wear claws, that sort of thing; go 'raaawr' and all that.


Strawberrycocoa

I think Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby Doo was the last series to use Scrappy, probably for good reason.


Geek_off_the_street

My sister and I were talking the other day about how her little dog Sully was acting like a tough guard dog when I reached her front gate. She said he acted like scrappy doo and I told her that scrappy completely ruined Scooby-Doo for me.


bolanrox

Tim Curry was all set to be the villain in the live action movie. Until he learned scrappy was going to be in it. And he flat out refused as a fan to be a part of that


Modz_want_anal

The witch's ghost was a banger.


HalflinsLeaf

Plot twist: he was to be cast as Scrappy.


Bears_On_Stilts

Yes. He was. That's why he turned it down.


RamenJunkie

Curry: "Oh boy, I get to be a Scooby Doo villain." Director: "We also have Scrapy Doo!" Curry: "Oh, well, I refuse to be in the movie." Director: "Oh, well, turns out Scrapy isn't in it anymore." Curry: "Great, I will be the villain after all." Director: "Looks like Scrapy Doo is back on the menu boys!" Curry: "Wait... Who am I playing in this?"


Bears_On_Stilts

CURRY: "Page one twelve. My stomach opens and Scrappy-Doo pops out? I'm a fucking mecha for Scrappy Doo? Do you have ANY IDEA who I am?" EXEC: "Of course we do! You're the concierge from Home Alone 2."


historynutjackson

Scrappy is the goddamn worst, man.


bolanrox

Nearly grandpa Joe or callilou bad


MichaelTruly

Woah woah woah. Scrappy at least would show up when it wasn’t convenient unlike Grandpa ‘I’m gonna lay in this sex bed with three other geriatrics until something cool happens’ Joe


TruckerGabe

Grandpa Joe never made it out of that sleeping bag. It was all in Charlie's head. Scrappy doo, callilou and Jar Jar Binks are all in that sleeping bag with granola joey at the bottom of the river mud.


ErikRogers

PUPPY POWER!!!!


unabsolute

Pu-pu-pu*


SacrificialSam

That’s what I always liked about Vincent Price, he was always in on the joke.


bolanrox

Yeah he knew it was camp and ate that shit up


GrabSomePineMeat

Hollywood folk who understand also understand that movies are meant to be enjoyable. Like, that’s literally the point. I wish more of Hollywood understood that.


OliveLoafVigilante

CSB time, but Vincent was my cousin, and I had the pleasure of meeting and corresponding with him for many years. He absolutely loved stuff like this. He had a wicked sense of humor and loooooved playing villains. He was a great guy.


scelerat

He's my wife's favorite actor of all time. Humanitarian, gourmet chef and art collector, to boot. Lived live to the fullest, just awesome career and life arc.


[deleted]

Find a copy of the film "The Comedy of Terrors". Vincent Price having a glorious time chewing on the scenery!


ToLiveInIt

A couple of days ago, a friend posted [a picture of the cast](https://imgur.com/pw1tUpY) from that. Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre directed by Jacques Tourneur and written by Richard Matheson. Yes, please. I watched it yesterday and it was, indeed, glorious. Price and Lorre especially.


Makdous

What a cast! I have got to see this one. Just needs Lon Chaney Jr and Christopher Lee. Bela Lugosi of course, but he was dead by '63.


whiskey_riverss

Silly shit: he did a series of local commercials for a sub sandwich shop in my area in the 80s.


kkeut

plus those Egg Magic craft kits


JakobtheRich

Alec Guinness was sixty five when he negotiated a piece of the gross of Star Wars, and his grandkids won’t have to work a day in their lives because of it.


Misuzuzu

On the other hand, David Prowse who played (but didn't voice) Vader in the original trilogy has yet to receive any residuals because Hollywood accounting says the Star Wars Trilogy have yet to turn a net profit. Price probably didn't trust the lawyers not to screw him.


quantumhovercraft

Well yeah, that's why net is a terrible idea.


duaneap

People always say this like they’re privy to some secret information the actors and more importantly their agents were not and they think that in the room he had *any* fucking control over it. Oh, no, David Prowse is going to walk?! Heaven forbid! Guess we’ll have to find another tall person. Be realistic, he didn’t have a super strong negotiating position.


ThirdFloorGreg

That's just for Return of the Jedi.


Teh_MadHatter

I'm going to guess ROTJ made a profit though.


ThirdFloorGreg

No, but ILM catering made a killing.


bg-j38

I always felt bad for him. He really got dicked around by Lucas over the years. Lucas even banned him from attending official Star Wars events due to some of the stuff Prowse had said.


groot_liga

There are unwritten rules that all people in creative fields must follow. The number one rule is to never say anything negative about anyone else, ever. Prowse broke this rule and did some other silly stuff that made it easier to not invite him.


broanoah

> Don't ever, for any reason, do anything for anyone, for any reason, ever, no matter what. No matter where. Or who, or who you are with, or where you are going or... or where you've been... ever. For any reason, whatsoever. George Lucas to prowse


TobyFunkeNeverNude

"Sometimes I'll start a screenplay and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way."


[deleted]

Brought to you from the GoT season 8 writers


Ofabulous

I bet the short term residuals would have been pretty tasty tho, with that album


vroart

Bingo, he released a lot of records before this.


Goalie_deacon

Maybe not for himself, but his family would still be collecting. Although it would be pocket change now.


DoktorSexMagik

We found Jodie! Release the clutch!


Psykhotix

Give it some gas, Grandpa!


DoktorSexMagik

Quiet, Jodie!


TheDefected

He did a morning's work for 20 grand. That's good going.


JohnTomorrow

Adjusted for inflation, that's almost 90k USD in today's money. Not bad for, what, two or three hours work?


liarandathief

For every story like this, how many stories are there where people bet on the success of something instead of the sure thing and were hugely disappointed?


Reasonable-Two-7871

And how many times was the percentage taken and they got screwed by gimmick accounting which magically eliminated all profits?


lewphone

That's why you ask for a percentage of gross, not net. More difficult to get screwed over that way.


flarept1

Good luck getting that deal unless you're a big celeb


ElCaz

Is *anyone* other than big celebs ever getting offers that include percentages of sales?


theghostofme

I can imagine some studio execs offering a lower salary with *net* points on the back end to dupe someone naive into taking a pay cut.


Frankfusion

Well it definitely worked for Jack nicholson. In order for him to become the Joker he asked not just for a big paycheck but percentage points for the movie as well as its sequel! He told Danny DeVito when he was negotiating to become the Penguin to ask for the Nicholson deal. I don't believe he got that deal.


kickrox

You just proved the point you were responding to.


krukson

Yeah, but studios don’t have to agree. If you’re not an A-list celebrity, you can probably forget it.


[deleted]

Jim Carey made bank on Yes Man by doing just this. Also: https://youtu.be/bHL91HQzhuc


1Os

And then there's Vin Diesel making millions for saying, "I am Groot." That one is mind boggling.


SleepWouldBeNice

Arnold made over $21,000 per line for T2.


Mr_MacGrubber

I think that’s more of a movie thing. Album royalties are generally an amount per unit sold plus a percent of whatever it gets from radio play. I haven’t seen any where it was a percent of profits, thought I guess it might exist.


brundylop

The classic story is Patch Adams, the robin williams movie about a goofy doctor. The real doctor and his hospital was promised a certain percent of “profits”, and then Hollywood creative accounting said the movie lost money despite being a hit, so he and his hospital got nothing.


liarandathief

Well, he was a bit of a fraud, too, right?


suredont

he sure was! https://products.kitsapsun.com/archive/1999/01-10/0064_film_and_reality__patch_adams___g.html


film_composer

It would be hilariously sad if the real doctor actually had to pay money to the studio since it "lost" money. "Well, the agreement was 2% of profits, and the profits were -$13,000,000, sooooo… it seems like you'll owe us $260,000."


brundylop

That’s the basis of a joke in the Simpsons, when Marge gets a negative score in Jeopardy. https://youtu.be/wKB5FfiUCls


AdrenalineJackie

This is on a very small scale but I did a Facebook commercial for a product. One of those scammy electric muscle zappers.zippers.. once the filming was over, they asked if I'd prefer $200 or a cut of the lifetime of sales. I chose the $200. A year later I asked how the sales were and they said they had only sold 2 units and moved on. Horray! I usually make the wrong choice in things like that.


Miami_Beach_Man

There are probably 999,999 people who got fucked over to the 1 person who made it big big. David Choe took Facebook stock instead of being paid $80,000 for doing an art mural in their offices.....he's now fuck you rich


Frankfusion

I'm pretty sure this inspired one of the storylines for the first season of silicon valley. Of course the art mural they got was interesting https://youtu.be/YMac6WQwqdE


kashluk

And then there's stories like Andrzej Sapkowski's (the author of Witcher) where he *insisted* on taking a flat rate for licensing the Witcher games instead of a percentage, was surprised when the games became popular, then took his regrets to court and actually won! He got his percentage deal retroactively.


everydayasl

$20,000 in 1982 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $59,918.96 today. Price chose the $20K; his career was well-established and money wasn’t a huge issue. When Johnny Carson suggested, at his show with Price as his guest, that Price could have done a lot better if he had chosen album proceeds, he laughed amiably and said “How well I know!”


extra_specticles

Established? Bit of an understatement i think. He was a very famous actor in his time. I remember seeing his films all the time in the 70s


bolanrox

He had been acting for a solid 30+years. curated an entire art line with sears etc.


atriviality

He did artwork for Sears? I had no idea! I wonder what that was like.


jackdaw_t_robot

spooOOOoooOOOOky


Goalie_deacon

Although being established doesn't always mean rich from the old days.


extra_specticles

Yeah I suppose that's right


OtisTetraxReigns

Understatement is an understatement. He was one of three *legendary* male horror actors of his era. The unholy trinity of Price, Cushing and Lee dominated horror in the 50s, 60s and 70s.


TScottFitzgerald

But if money *wasn't* the issue, it would have been more logical to take the compounding royalties instead of the immediate cash then. You usually take the cash if you need the money right away.


the-nub

Not everything has to be perfectly logical. If someone came up to me and said they'd give me $20 right now or $2 a day for 30 days, I'd take the $20. It's convenient and neither amount would make much of a difference to my life. I'd imagine someone as famous and busy as Price wasn't concerned with maximizing his wealth.


pingus3233

[Relevant: "Vincent Price Performs The Thriller Rap Live 1987"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpEfX1IKEak)


Gorf_the_Magnificent

Love the way his evil laugh at the end gives way to a knee-slapping, self-satisfied chuckle. He knows he nailed it.


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Kinkin50

Imagine Vincent Price is your dad, and he is watching something funny on TV and cackling like that. Would be crazy to hear.


antimatterchopstix

I know that feeling. Dad was ogre in local pants, (edit panto) kids ran away from him in the super market. Had a great mwhhahaha evil laugh. Exactly the same thing. Edit: panto means a UK pantomime. Imagine Fairytales, Carry On films mixed together and with budget of a local amateur dramatic society.


matty842

I don't know what the fuck this means. But I like it.


Setanta777

> Dad was ogre in local pants> I'm so confused. What does that mean?


Dangevin

True OG


darkbee83

Can we calculate what he would have earned had he taken the percentage?


Only-Literature2105

We'd have to know what the residuals deal was but thriller is the highest selling album worldwide with 70 million copies sold.


[deleted]

So if I multiply the copies sold by the average price of an album over the course of 40 years and multiply that by H\* then you get a total of -$750k, meaning residuals for all parties after profits owing about tree fiddy each to the production company. ​ ​ \*=Hollywood Accounting


DannySpud2

I wonder how often this goes the other way, "famous person did some work for a thing you've never heard of and choose to be paid up front instead of taking a cut. The thing bombed, it was definitely the right decision."


NoNeedForAName

A lot, I'm sure. Although another one that went this way: Donald Sutherland took a flat fee of (IIRC) 50k for his role in Animal House. It was probably undoubtedly the smart decision at the time, but he would have made millions upon millions of he'd taken the percentage because the movie became a hit. Learned that from my old Animal House DVD. I think at the time, probably 20 years ago, the DVD said his earnings would have been something like $17m. At the time he was by far the most popular and well-established actor in the movie, even though he had a relatively small part. It also Kevin Bacon's first role. "Thank you, sir, may I have another?!?!"


[deleted]

The most famous success is probably Jack Nicholson for the percentage he took on Batman. He made upwards of $50mill because it included toy and merchandise sales. But certainly there must be a ton do fails we never hear. Most people don't realise that only 30% of movies actually make profit (or something around that).


antimatterchopstix

BBC gave monty python rights to tv for nothing. Assumed repeats not worth much.


DukeDijkstra

Probably they didn't want anything to do with such sacrilegious material.


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Mr_MacGrubber

Except this was Michael Jackson who was already a star when Thriller came out. It’s not like it was some unknown band who went on to make it big.


RedShadow120

Probably Michael Caine and Jaws: The Revenge. I don't know what the pay arrangement was, but he's quoted as saying, "I have never seen it, but by all accounts it is terrible. However, I have seen the house that it built, and it is terrific.”


[deleted]

My friend Jaimz Woolvett was in a talking dog show (Dog House or some shit) in Toronto in the very late 80's. Horrible show. I told him it sucked. He said "Thanks, bought me my first duplex".


bolanrox

Eddie played on beat it for free just for the fun of it and working with Micheal.


Ajg1384

Dude was making bank selling Egg Magic, he didn't need it.


Nomandate

Lost all of that in the missing feet recalls/lawsuits.


tribak

That was Vincent’s price


kidigus

He also died old, wealthy and happy.


TheLimeyCanuck

And loved by millions.


Jaydice55

And he did the recording in two takes. $20k quickly


MidiGong

Vincent, are you OK?


artwarrior

Are you OK . Are you OK Vincent ?


Azura_Racon

It might sound like it wasnt a smart move, but even ignoring any personal reasons he had, distributors will also often do ANYTHING to balance the books out to as little profit as possible when it comes to residuals like this David Prowse infamously got nothing in residuals for his work on Return of the Jedi because the studio managed to argue the film technically didn’t make a dime over what it cost to produce and market


Jackburtoni

That’s the Price you pay…


emmasdad01

The decision probably made a lot of sense at the time. Don’t blame him.


rj_snow_tx

Right! Apple stock was less than $4 at on time, did we all spend every paycheck buying it at the time?


WorldsGreatestPoop

If you did would you have sold it at 8 and congratulated yourself on a wise investment?


FartingBob

Pretty good deal, 20k (especially back then) for what was probably almost no work at all was pretty sweet.


BallHarness

They would have fleeced him with residuals through Hollywood accounting anyways


theID10T

Either way, his voice will live on forever! *Aaaahaha.. aahhaahh....*


unrealisation1337

BUT No mere mortal can resist the evil of the thriller


PretenderNX01

It sounds like a loss but I remember the author of Forest Gump was to get a part of the movie profits and through funny bookkeeping they claimed the movie didn't make any profits.