Michael Jackson Joins America!

Hey - with all those cryogenics, it could happen! Plus, the band lost their third member a long time ago, so....

By Blurt Staff

Wow, what a difference a year makes - and a death. Seems like only yesterday classic rock artists were siccing their lawyers on contemporary artists who they felt were ripping them off (see: Joe Satriani, Coldplay). And there's no question that the unreleased Michael Jackson song that recently turned up on the web, titled "A Place With No Name," is directly derived from soft-rock band America's 1971 hit "Horse With No Name." You can hear it, below.

Since it's not an official release (yet) we have no way of knowing whether or not any licensing fees have been paid to the song's original composers yet. However, rather than start jockeying for some scratch and getting the legal department in a dither, the other day the band's Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley released the following, rather magnanimous, statement:

"We're honored that Michael Jackson chose to record it and we're impressed with the quality of the track.  We're also hoping it will be released soon so that music listeners around the world can hear the whole song and once again experience the incomparable brilliance of Michael Jackson."

"Place With No Name" features a prominent sample of "Horse With No Name" and contains different lyrics that are in the spirit of the original.  "Michael Jackson really did it justice and we truly hope his fans--and our fans--get to hear it in its entirety.  It's really poignant," added Bunnell and Beckley.

Where da MO-nay, homes?