Cappuccino Soul

Cappuccino Soul

Friday, June 26, 2009

Michael Jackson and Floetry: Butterflies

Michael Jackson's passing has inspired me, along with millions of others I'm sure, to do a mental tally of my favorites by the gloved one.

My top two are: "Butterflies" and "Remember the Time."

Then I remembered that Jackson didn't actually write "Butterflies" -- Marsha Ambrosius, one half of the former group Floetry, wrote the song.

Here's the story of how Jackson discovered the song and made it his own, according to Songfacts.com:

Marsha Ambrosius of the English Neo-Soul duo Floetry wrote this ballad when she was still at school. She and her Floetry colleague Natalie Stewart ... met Jackson through John McClain, DreamWorks's senior urban executive, who also manages Jackson. MJ heard this song and decided he wanted to record it.

Jackson invited the two Floetry girls to the studio and asked for their input on the recording of the song. Natalie Stewart of Floetry told Yahoo: "It was incredible because he asked, he continually, asked, 'Marsh, what's the next harmony? Girls, does this sound right? What do you think? Is this what you were looking for? He was so open."

Marsha Ambrosius told Yahoo that it took a few minutes for her to calm down. She recalled: "To begin with, I was kinda shook. Because you don't realize how you're going to feel until you're put in that kind of situation. I had the tears in my eyes and got kinda nervous. But as I got into it, I realized it was work, it was a job. I had to vocally conduct a legend."

Ambrosius told VH1 that Stewart had a dream that the two girls were in a limo with Michael. She continued, "He was singing a song and it was like, 'Oh, I like that song.' A year later, we're in the studio cutting 'Butterflies' with Michael Jackson."

A year after this appeared on Invincible, Floetry's original version was included as a bonus track on the English version of their debut album Floetic.

Michael Jackson has said that this is his favorite song on the album.

Ambrosius has gone solo and is currently signed to Dr. Dre's record label, Aftermath Entertainment.

Here's Ambrosius singing this gorgeous song:

16 comments:

Cappuccino Soul said...

Gigi says her favorite Michael Jackson song is "ABC."

Joe said...

Thank you for this thoughtful essay. I can recall hearing "Remember the Time," but I don't think I heard "Butterflies" before you called it to my attention. Great song.

Cappuccino Soul said...

BenAlias,
Isn't it a gorgeous number? Both the MJ version and Marsha's version are beautiful. She wrote a very lovely piece.
Thanks for commenting.
Alicia

The Ghetto Intellectual™ said...

nice post sista. and thoughts on Ambrosius's new gig? kzs

Cappuccino Soul said...

Kwame,
Thanks. I love this song.
I wish Ambrosius all the luck and success in the world. She's got a lovely voice. It is sad when these groups break up, but what can you do? Maybe she'll use Natalie on her next recording in some kind of way.
Peace,
Alicia

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Cappuccino Soul said...

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Cappuccino Soul said...

Very nice. Continue to enjoy.

Cappuccino Soul said...

Thanks! Come back again soon.
alicia

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Cappuccino Soul said...

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