CHICAGO -- A suburban songwriter says he wrote the tune that became a Michael Jackson-Paul McCartney hit and he wants the credit for it, it was reported.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in its Sunday editions that Fred Sanford claimed to have written a song called 'Please Love Me Now' that he turned over to a promoter for CBS records in 1982.
Months later, he said, Jackson and McCartney had a hit with 'The Girl is Mine,' which Sanford claims is really his song. He is suing CBS for $5 million in damages for plagiarism and copyright infringement. The Sun-Times said there are reports Jackson and Mathis will testify in federal court.
Sanford said he played his song for a musician friend who offered to arrange and produce it. Sanford received a copyright on the work and in March 1982 turned a tape of 'Please Love Me Now' over to CBS record promoter B.J. Kelch, who suggested the song might be appropriate for Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams.
Sanford and his attorney say they agreed to let another CBS promoter, Granville White, send the tape to Los Angeles.
In December 1982, Sanford's wife, Kathy, also a singer, heard Jackson singing 'The Girl Is Mine' on the TV show American Bandstand. She told her husband it sounded like his song.
But CBS attorneys say producer Quincy Jones first gave Jackson the idea for the duet with McCartney about two men fighting for a girl. Court documents indicate Jackson woke up one morning soon afterward with the melody and words in his head. By the time he flew to London in November 1981 to work on the song with McCartney, it was finished.
The pair recorded 'The Girl Is Mine' in California in April 1982. It was released as a single the following October and was included on Jackson's 'Thriller' album in December 1982.
CBS contends in court records 'The Girl Is Mine' sold more than 1.3 million singles and earned more than $1.6 million. 'Thriller' is the largest selling album in the history of recorded music, with more than 20 million copies sold and more than $100 million earned for Epic-CBS.
CBS says White, who has retired from CBS, never sent Sanford's tape to Mathis or anyone else and, while the chord patterns in the two songs may be similar, the same patterns can be found in other songs, including the theme from 'Maverick.'
CBS says 'there is not a shred of evidence that CBS had any contribution' to Jackson's work.
Sanford told the Sun-Times he thinks Jackson is a great entertainer and his 4 -year-old daughter loves to sing and dance to the 'Thriller' album.
'I have no animosity toward Michael Jackson,' he said. 'But the issue is I am a writer and (a) musician who is not being given credit for my work.'
Jackson is being sued by a California artist who claims Jackson violated his copyrights by using two drawings on the inner sleeve of 'Thriller' without his permission. The Jackson family is being sued for $50 million by a California studio claiming the rock group reneged on promises to pay them and give them credit for designing futuristic guitars and light-up boots.
