Bold characters from the 80’s *

*Characters still on the air in bold.

Eric Forrester Sr : First appearance on March 23, 1987

Portrayed by John McCook (1987-present)

Stephanie Douglas : First appearance on March 23, 1987

Last appearance on December 10, 2012 (death on screen)

Portrayed by Susan Flannery (1987-2012)

Ridge Forrester : Son of Eric and Stephanie. First appearance on March 23, 1987 

Portrayed by  Ronn Moss (1987–2012)
Lane Davies (1992)
Thorsten Kaye (2013-present)

Thorne Forrester : Son of Eric and Stephanie. First appearance on March 23 1987

Portrayed by Clayton Norcross (1987-1989)
Jeff Trachta (1989-1996)
Winsor Harmon (1996-2014, 2015, 2016, 2022, 2023)
Ingo Rademacher (2017-2019)

Kristen Forrester : Daughter of Eric and Stephanie. First appearance on March 31, 1987

Last appearance on February 16, 2017 (she lives in Florida with Tony)

Portrayed by Teri Ann Linn (1987-90, 1992-94)
Tracy Melchior (2001-03, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017)

Elizabeth “Beth” Henderson : First appearance on March 25, 1987

Last appearance on April 16, 2010 (death on screen)

Portrayed by Judith Baldwin (1987)
Nancy Burnett (1987-1989, 1990, 1994, 1996-1998, 2000-2001)
Marla Adams (1990)
Robin Riker (2008-2010)

Brooke Logan : daughter of Stephen & Beth Logan

First appearance March 23, 1987 

Portrayed by Katherine Kelly Lang (1987-)

Katherine “Katie” Elizabeth Logan : daughter of Stephen & Beth Logan

First appearance March 23, 1987

Portrayed by Nancy Sloan (1987–2004)
Heather Tom (2007-)

Donna Logan : daughter of Stephen & Beth Logan

First appearance March 25, 1987

Portrayed by  Carrie Mitchum (1987–2001)
Mary Sheldon (2001)
Jennifer Gareis (2006-)

Stephen “Storm” Logan Jr : son of Stephen & Beth Logan

First appearance on March 23, 1987

Last appearance on : September 26, 2012 (death on screen)

Portrayed by Ethan Wayne (1987-88, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003)
Brian Patrick Clarke (1990-1991)
William deVry (2006-2008, 2012)

William “Bill” Spencer Sr : First appearance on March 23, 1987

Last appearance on : October 20, 2009 (death on screen)

Portrayed by Jim Storm (1987-94, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2009)

Caroline Spencer : daughter of Bill Spencer Sr

First appearance on March 23, 1987

Last appearance on : June 1990 (death on screen)

Portrayed by Joanna Johnson (1987-1990)

Margo Maclaine : First appearance March 23, 1987
Last appearance November 1, 2002

Portrayed by Lauren Koslow (1987–92, 2002)

Rocco Carner : First appearance 1987
Last appearance March 12, 2009 (left town)

Portrayed by Bryan Genesse (1987-1989, 2009)

Margo Maclaine Lynley : First appearance in March 1987
Last appearance in November 2002

Portrayed by Lauren Koslow (1987-1992, 2002)

Helen Logan : First appearance April 14, 1987
Last appearance January 17, 2001

Portrayed by Lesley Woods (1987–89, 2001)

Clarke Garrison : First appearance on September 30, 1987
Last appearance August 20, 2009 (left town)

Portrayed by Daniel McVicar (1987-1992, 1996-2009)

Deveney Dixon : First appearance January 14, 1988
Last appearance November 28, 1989

Portrayed by Judith Borne (1988-1989)

Stephen Logan : First appearance on March 13, 1988

Last appearance on : November 2022

Portrayed by Robert Pine (1988–2001)
Patrick Duffy (2006–2011, 2022)

Mark Maclaine : First appearance on December 9,1988 (born onscreen)

Last appearance : July 27, 2005 (left town)

Portrayed by Zachariah Koslow-Schillace (1988-1992)
Michael Dietz (2002-2005)

Sally Spectra : First appearance January 11, 1989
Last appearance February 1, 2017 (left town and died offscreen eventually)

Portrayed by Darlene Conley (1989-2006)
Uncredited actress (2012)
Ruth Williamson (2017)

Darla Einstein : First appearance January 18, 1989
Last appearance July 23, 2015 (death onscreen)

Portrayed by Schae Harrison (1989–2006, 2007, 2014, 2015)

Saul Feinberg : First appearance : 1989

Last appearance : 1996 (death)

Portrayed by Michael Fox (1989-1996)

Macy Alexander : First appearance April 27, 1989
Last appearance October 22, 2003 (death onscreen)

Portrayed by Bobbie Eakes (1989-2000, 2001, 2002-2003)

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1994-1996)

RECORDING DATE

Recorded from February 1994 to March 1995.

For its inclusion in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, despite being billed as the theme from the film, “Childhood” played a pivotal role in the scene where Elvis ran away after Jesse and the Greenwoods each denied his help which in-turn caused Annie to accidentally break her and Elvis’ promise they made the previous day. An instrumental version of the song is also played when Elvis is all alone later that night.

In the HIStory album booklet there is a drawing of MJ as a child. He is huddled in a corner of the room and looks scared; The electric cord of his microphone has snapped. On one corner wall are the lyrics to “Childhood”, the other wall shows MJ’s signature.

STUDIO(S)

Hit Factory in New York City

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

Michael Jackson & David Foster

RELEASE DATE :

May 31, 1995 (Scream/Childhood single)

June 20, 1995 (History).

LABEL

Sony Music

LENGTH

4:27

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

Childhood (recording session) : Recorded in 1994. Leaked on January 28, 2023. Remains unreleased.

MUSICIANS

Produced by Michael Jackson and David Foster
Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
Arranged by Michael Jackson, David Foster, and Bruce Swedien
Orchestration by Jeremy Lubbock
Michael Jackson – lead vocals and percussion
New York City’s Children’s Choir – Tracy Spindler, Natalia Harris, Jonathon Ungar, Brandi Stewart, Reeve Carney, Caryn Jones, and Brian Jones
New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
David Foster – percussion, keyboards, and synthesizers
Brad Buxer – keyboards and synthesizers
Michael Boddicker and Brad Buxer – synthesizer programming [27]

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

5

SHORT FILM

Music video directed by : Nicolas Brandt

Date of shooting : Early June, 1995

Date of premiere : July, 1995

Official release : On DVD in 1997 (History on Film Vol 2) and in 2010 (Vision) and on Michael’ You Tube official page.

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts (On December 4, 1995 : Michael rehearsed the song for canceled HBO concert at the Beacon Theatre with French artist Mime Marceau).

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

1989-1993 : Dangerous era

RECORDING DATE

Recorded in 1988 for the Dangerous sessions. This was the first song recorded for the album A fully complete version is known to exist. Re-recorded in 1990 and 1999. Song is owned by a discord collector named “Zach”. The actual tape the song was recorded on was apparently “found somewhere it shouldn’t have been”. Also known as “The Child” and “Children”.

STUDIO(S)

???

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

Unknown

RELEASE DATE :

Unreleased

LABEL

Unreleased

LENGTH

???

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

???

MUSICIANS

???

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Remains unreleased

SHORT FILM

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

RECORDING DATE

The track was written, produced by Steve Porcaro and recorded in December 1983 during the Victory recording sessions, it was intended for the former but didn’t make the cut. Based on one of the grooves Steve Porcaro submitted to Michael. Vocally complete song about three girls who went out and mysteriously disappeared throughout the night, with a hook of “never to be found again.

The song was re-recorded again in the spring of 1986 during the Bad sessions with new, live drums being added. It had a chance to make it on the album, but it didn’t make the cut again.

Porcaro was approached by the estate in 2014 about using it on Xscape, but declined to give permission on the basis that the song didn’t need any “contemporizing”, and that he disapproves of the estate’s “straight to remix” approach to Michael’s unreleased material. 

Porcaro on Toto’s site years ago : “Years ago, Michael and I wrote a song called Chicago 1945 – I did the music and Michael the lyrics, he recorded the song twice, but never put it on an album… the instruments were played in a constant rhythm in the 16th note, which was called ‘yada’. When I explained this to Michael, he liked it so much he gave me that nickname!”.

STUDIO(S)

Los Angeles (California)

SONGWRITER(S)

Steve Porcaro

PRODUCER(S)

Steve Porcaro

RELEASE DATE :

Five days before Thriller 40 was released, on November 13, 2022, a low quality recording from Steve Pocaro’s seminars was leaked online. Two months later, on January 27, 2023, the same version was leaked in HQ after Brad Sundberg’s laptop was stolen. The leaked song is vocally complete. The song remains unreleased.

LABEL

Unreleased

LENGTH

5:12

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

It’s rumored that the song was reworked for HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and later for Invincible, but this isn’t confirmed.

MUSICIANS

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Not released as a single in the US

SHORT FILM (filmed by MJ during his lifetime)

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on a TV show

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

1985-1989 : Bad era

RECORDING DATE

The song was first written in 1987 during the Bad sessions with Greg Phillinganes and recorded on March 13th til March 17th of the same year. The song ultimately didn’t make the cut. The song was finally released in 2004 as part of The Ultimate Collection. The song is rumored to have been reworked in the 2000’s with the rapper, Fats as a feature. However, this has never been officially confirmed and is only a speculation.

STUDIO(S)

Los Angeles, California

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson
Greg Phillinganes

PRODUCER(S)

Michael Jackson

RELEASE DATE :

September 14, 2004 (The Ultimate Collection)

LABEL

Sony

LENGTH

5:09

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No other version known to exist

MUSICIANS

???

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Never released as a single in the US.

SHORT FILM

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

RECORDING DATE

Changes (demo 1) : Written by Michael Jackson. Recorded in 1985 during the Hayvenhurst sessions with John Barnes, Bill Bottrell & Matt Forger. Described as “an upbeat piano-driven demo with rolling drum programming” and “incredibly catchy”. Features a “really rough” scratch vocal with MJ mumbling and humming a melody over the music. Remains unreleased. 

Changes (Demo 2) : Revisited in 1994-1995 during the HIStory sessions, with a gospel performance from the Andraé Crouch choir and a few ad-lib solos added. Damien Shields : “”John Barnes recalls the song originating from the Hayvenhurst sessions. When I asked him about it, he sang the hook to me, to confirm we were talking about the same song. It was brought back during the HIStory sessions, but never finished. Changes feels like church. Piano + gospel choir with a totally mumbled, low-effort scratch vocal. 0% chance of completing it. The only sensical lyrics are “can’t cope with changes. What are you trying to do to me?” The rest is mumbles. But it’s great as a demo. The choir on it is phenomenal. There are two epic vocal solos on the demo from members of the choir”.

Damien Shields on X (January 11, 2026) : “So according to John Barnes, the concept for Changes was done as a demo at Hayvenhurst, and then moved on from. Michael supposedly wanted to revisit it during the HIStory sessions, and it seems Brad Buxer has redone the track, plus recorded the choir at a major studio and added it.”

A short snippet leaked in August 2023. Another short snippet leaked online in August 2025. The full demo leaked on January 07, 2026 but remains unreleased.

 

STUDIO(S)

Hayvenhurst home studio in Encino, California

Hit Factory in New York City

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

???

RELEASE DATE :

Unreleased

LABEL

Unreleased

LENGTH

???

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No other version known to exist

MUSICIANS

???

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Never released as a single in the US.

SHORT FILM

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5

RECORDING DATE

“Chained” is a 1968 single released by soul singer Marvin Gaye. The song peaked at number 32 on the Billboard Top 100 on November 1, 1968

Cover recorded in August 1969 with the Jackson 5.

STUDIO(S)

Motown Studios in California

SONGWRITER(S)

Frank Wilson

PRODUCER(S)

Bobby Taylor

RELEASE DATE :

December 12, 1969 (Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5).

LABEL

Motown

LENGTH

2:54

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No other version known to exist

MUSICIANS

???

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Never released as a single

SHORT FILM

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on TV

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON CONCERTS

Never performed on concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

1983-1984 : Victory era

RECORDING DATE

The song was written and produced by MJ in the spring 1984 for his sister Rebbie Jackson’s debut album . He and The Weather Girls also sang backing vocals on the song. It’s one of the first collaborations between MJ & John Barnes.

STUDIO(S)

Yamaha International Recording (Glendale, California)
Widetrack Recording Studio (Los Angeles, California)

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

Michael Jackson

RELEASE DATE :

September 10, 1984 (Centipede single)

October 10, 1984 (Centipede album)

LABEL

Columbia

LENGTH

4:13 (single version)
4:25 (album version)

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No other version known to exist

MUSICIANS

Lead vocals: Rebbie Jackson
Background vocals: Michael Jackson, The Weather Girls (Izora Rhodes, Martha Wash)
Arranger: Michael Jackson
John Barnes: Synthesizers and Drum Programming
David Williams: Guitar
Jerry Hey: Flugelhorn

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

24

SHORT FILM (filmed by MJ during his lifetime)

MJ does not appear in the music video filmed by Rebbie Jackson.

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

MJ never performed this song on a TV show

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

MJ never performed this song in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

1983-1984 : Victory era

RECORDING DATE

Recorded from November 1983 to May 1984.

Marlon Jackson (who wrote and produced the track) sang the song’s main verses while the rest of the group (excluding Jermaine Jackson) sang the chorus. Jermaine Jackson did not participate in the recording in any capacity.

STUDIO(S)

Los Angeles (California)

SONGWRITER(S)

Marlon Jackson

PRODUCER(S)

Marlon Jackson

RELEASE DATE :

July 2, 1984 (Victory)

October 1984 (Body)

LABEL

CBS Epic Records

LENGTH

5:36

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No other version known to exist

MUSICIANS

Marlon Jackson – lead and background vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, Linn programming, arranging
Jackie, Michael, Randy and Tito Jackson – background vocals
John Barnes – arranging, Fairlight computerized keyboard, additional synthesizers
David Ervin – additional synthesizers
David Williams – guitar
Greg Wright – guitar solo
Jonathan Moffett – Simmons drums
Bill Bottrell – engineer, mixing
Paul Erickson, Mitch Gibson, Bino Espinoza – assistant engineers
Nelson Hayes – project coordinator

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

47

SHORT FILM (filmed by MJ during his lifetime)

Neither Michael Jackson nor Jermaine appear in the music video. The video does feature the rest of The Jacksons: Marlon, Tito, Jackie and Randy.

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on a TV show

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts

Sources : My personal research, Wikipedia, Michael Jackson: For The Record by Chris Cadman & Craig Halstead, Twitter account of Damien Shields and the amazing archives of the MJCast.

ERA

Thriller (1981-1983)

RECORDING DATE

Recorded in 1982 during the “Thriller” album sessions. The song almost made the final cut, until deciding it should be replaced by Human Nature. Rod Temperton during an interview on Thriller: Special Edition: “One of them was Carousel, which is a great song, that slow-ish song from Michael Sembello, which was beautiful. But lyrically, and at that point in time, it didn’t seem, that that was were the album was heading to […]”

STUDIO(S)

Westlake (Los Angeles, California)

SONGWRITER(S)

Michael Sembello and Don Freeman

PRODUCER(S)

Quincy Jones & Michael Jackson

RELEASE DATE :

The song leaked in the 2000’s. A short edit of the song was finally released on October 16, 2001 on “Thriller: Special Edition” and later rereleased on Thriller 25. The longer version was released on August 22, 2008 (Italian & French versions of King Of Pop).

LABEL

Sony Music

LENGTH

3:39

ALTERNATE VERSIONS RECORDED BY MJ (covers and remixes by other artists are not included)

No alternate version known to exist

MUSICIANS

???

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD :

Not released as a single

SHORT FILM (filmed by MJ during his lifetime)

No short film

LIVE PERFORMANCES ON TV SHOWS

Never performed on a TV show

LIVE PERFORMANCES IN CONCERTS

Never performed in concerts