Oprah Winfrey has devoted much of her final season to the legacy of the late Michael Jackson. And Monday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show", she did it again when a New Jersey family came out of the woodwork and confessed to being Michael Jackson's secret "second family".

Dominic and Connie Cascio befriended Jackson 25 years ago when Dominic was a manager at the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City. Jackson began visiting the family at their suburban New Jersey home and continued to hang out with the family as they raised their children- Eddie, Frank and Marie Nicole.

If you think this story is strange, it gets stranger. The Cascio's say Michael would just show up at their house unannounced, sometimes knocking on their door in the middle of the night. Indeed there was video footage and photos of Jackson and a young Cascio family horsing around in their pajamas.

Connie Cascio told Oprah that she cooked all of Michaels' favorite foods like homemade pizza, turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing and the family even created a movie theater-style "candy counter" for when Jackson came to visit. Connie also said Michael- who was known to have problems sleeping- had no problems sleeping at her house. The family created a "cave" for him in their basement. And Jackson even took out the family's trash.

As the Cascio children got older, Jackson mentored and then wrote and recorded music with Eddie in the family's basement recording studio. Some of the never before heard tracks will be released on the upcoming Jackson album, "Michael". Eddie Cascio assured fans that Michael would be excited that the music was being released because he did it for his fans.

The Cascio's said Jackson would sometimes leave his children with them- and they were even with him for the birth of his children. And before you go thinking mama Katherine Jackson would be mortified to hear that her son had a secret second mom, think again; the Jackson family knew all about his relationship with the Cascio's.

It was just most of his fans that didn't.

Michael (* * * out of four), which hits stores Tuesday, is the first album released under a seven-year, $250 million deal between the Jackson estate and Sony Music to put out a wealth of unreleased material. Estate co-executor John McCain and a host of collaborators and producers, including Akon, Lenny Kravitz, 50 Cent and Teddy Riley, completed 10 songs left unfinished by Jackson for this compilation, with mixed results.

Since some of the songs date back as far as the early 1980s while others are of very recent vintage, Michael is not an album with a cohesive theme or consistent sound. That's not to say it's lacking in potential hits. But it's hard to imagine that this is what a perfectionist like Jackson would have made, even though the producers were purportedly following his road map in adding all the finishing touches. Family members and will.i.am, who, like Akon, collaborated with Jackson on 2008's Thriller 25, have been critical of the release of any music not bearing Jackson's final stamp.

But controversy aside, it is a credible musical effort that can't simply be dismissed. For the most part, the songs don't have the pieced-together feel of many posthumous projects, and Jackson's vocals (Hold My Hand with Akon being the notable exception) are always front and center.

The best songs hark back to previous Jackson hits. There are club burners and tender ballads that showcase his elastic voice, replete with his signature hiccups and howls. The thumping Hollywood Tonight pulsates with Billy Jean-esque energy, while the aggressive Monster seems destined to leave blood on the dance floor. The first deals with the cost of chasing celebrity, while the second bemoans the price of being one. Less successful is Breaking News, on which he gripes once again that the entertainment media won't leave him alone. The most sonically forward song is the propulsive, synth-drenched Behind the Mask. It would fit snugly on anybody's current playlist.

Still, while this may be a loving look back, it doesn't offer a lot of insight into where Jackson may have been headed with the new album he'd been working on since 2007. Part of Jackson's magic was that he always kept you wondering what he'd do next to amaze you. With this album, and presumably any future ones, the best you can hope for is to be pleasantly reminded of his gifts. The material here is solid, but if this is the best they've got, you have to wonder about what's left to come.

• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Background

Co-writer Claude Kelly told HitQuarters that “Hold My Hand” was originally written with Whitney Houston in mind.^[5] Akon and Kelly had been in the studio working on songs for Houston’s I Look to You album and while on his own Kelly completed the song from a track Akon had left. After hearing the song later, Akon said that he loved it and wanted to keep it for himself, so he wanted to record his own version of it. Shortly afterwards Akon went to Las Vegas to work on what would have been Michael Jackson’s next album. While there Jackson heard the song and loved it, and decided he wanted to contribute to it. When Kelly was asked what he thought it was about the song that struck a chord with both Akon and Jackson, he said that it was the song’s theme of friendship and togetherness.^[5] “Hold My Hand” was recorded by Jackson and Akon in 2008.^[1] Akon finished the rest of his vocals for the song in 2010, a few days before the release.^[1] A handwritten note from Jackson belonging to his Estate indicated his desire that “Hold My Hand” be the first single on his next project.^[1] However, in its unfinished state, the song leaked out in 2008.^[1] This would be the last new song leaked during Jackson’s lifetime. Due to the leak, the song was subsequently pulled from Akon’s track listing for his 2008 album, Freedom.^[6][7]

Akon commented, “The world was not ready to hear ‘Hold My Hand’ when it leaked a couple years ago. We were devastated about it. But its time has definitely come; now in its final state, it has become an incredible, beautiful, anthemic song. I’m so proud to have had the chance to work with Michael, one of my all time idols.”^[1] Before the official release of the song, Akon stated on Twitter that the final version would have more of Jackson’s vocals. The song was released globally on Monday, November 15, 2010, at 12:01am EST. It was available to stream from Jackson’s official website.^[1] Jackson’s nephew, Taj Jackson, posted a message saying that his uncle was proud of the song. “I’ll never forget that smile he had on his face as the song played through the speakers [in his room] at the Palms Hotel in Vegas.”^[8] The song is the second collaboration between the two artists and the second consecutive duet single release for Jackson, following “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008″. That song proved a commercial success and charted within the top 20 in several countries.^[9]

Music video

On Monday, November 22, 2010, the filming for the official video began in Tustin, California, a main filming location being the airship hangars at Marine Corps Air Station Tustin. There was a casting call posted up on Jackson’s official website, saying that they were “looking for his fans of all ages who want to be a part of this iconic event.”^[10] On December 4, 2010, a 30-second teaser of the video was released on Michael Jackson’s official YouTube channel and the official website. It featured clips from Jackson’s Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour DVD and clips of fans dancing.^[11] The video debuted at midnight December 9, 2010 on worldwide websites, including MichaelJackson.com.^[12] The video showed Jackson in concert (from Dangerous World Tour in Bucharest and HIStory World Tour in Munich), Akon singing and children dancing in the dress of Jackson, as well as sentimental scenes of children, families, and elderly people holding hands and a woman weeping.^[12]

Critical reception

The song received mostly positive reviews, (although this was not reflected in sales), in contrast to the negative reviews of the previous promotinal single “Breaking News. Sales of the single were poor, as were sales of the album which as of April 2011 has still failed to sell more than 1.5 Million globally and has still sold less than 500,000 in the USA, despite an initial shipment of over 1 million for which it was awarded a platinum certificate.”^[13] Ashante Infantry, entertainment reporter for the Toronto Star, called it a “catchy, well-meaning addition to Jackson’s catalog.” She also wrote, “Buoyed by strings and a backing chorus, the singer applies his angelic tenor to soaring phrasing that models the uplifting purport of the tune’s love and unity lyrics in the spirit of 1995’s “You Are Not Alone”, Jackson’s last No. 1 hit.”^[14] Huffington Post commentator Joe Vogel praised it as “a simple, but powerful song that embodies so much of what fans loved about Michael Jackson… making the personal something more profound and universal”, and Vogel stated as well that “With its catchy chorus and majestic crescendo it has all the makings of a big hit.” Vogel also noted the first line of the song, “This life don’t last forever,” was a “poignant reminder of the transience of life.”^[15] MTV’s Gil Kaufman stated that “the uplifting ‘Hold My Hand’ is one of Jackson’s classic love ballads, a heart-stirring call to unity,” and that it ended with “a majestic feel.”^[16] Newsday music critic Glenn Gamboa said that the tune “finds Jackson in fine voice.” He also remarked, “Now this is more like it.”^[17] Gerrick D. Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times music blog wrote that the “mid-tempo uplifting track is classic M.J.”^[18]

Negative reviews however came from Yahoo! Music, where commentator Chris Willman argued that the single stole elements from the Hootie & the Blowfish song of the same name,^[19] and Minneapolis City Pages where commentator Ray Cummings said “there’s no way to reasonably avoid being disappointed and dispirited by its thinness.”^[20] Boston Herald critic Jed Gottlieb described the song as “an average, Auto-Tuned Akon croon” without “the snap, crackle and pop of a finished King of Pop product.” Gottlieb also wrote, “Jackson is grumbling from his grave.”^[21] Jason Lipshutz from Billboard said, it “isn’t a classic Jackson single,” but Michael Jackson’s “diehards should delight in hearing a stylish pop production that doesn’t dwell on the singer’s troubled life.”^[22]

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number fifty-three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart the week of November 27, 2010.^[23][24] It also became Michael Jackson’s forty-eighth hit on Billboard Hot 100, and debuted at number eighty-four.^[25] It debuted on Adult R&B at number sixteen as the chart’s highest start in 2010 the same week.^[26] The song is Jackson’s first top forty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 since 2002′s “Butterflies”. However, it failed to climb any higher than No 39. The song debuted at number twenty-four 24 on Billboard Jazz Songs Chart on the week of January 15, 2011, and became Jackson’s first single on this chart.^[27] According to SoundScan, the song has sold 304,000 copies by the middle of January, 2011.^[28]

References

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

History of the Jackson 5:

The Jackson 5 (also spelled The Jackson Five or The Jackson 5ive, and later known as The Jacksons) were an American popular music family group from Gary, Indiana. Founding group members Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael formed the group after performing in an early incarnation called The Jackson Brothers, which originally consisted of a trio of the three older brothers. Active from 1964 to 1989, the Jacksons played from a repertoire of R&B, soul, pop and later disco. During their six and a half-year Motown tenure, The Jackson 5 were one of the biggest pop-music phenomena of the 1970s^[1], and the band served as the launching pad for the solo careers of their lead singers Jermaine and Michael, the latter brother later transforming his early Motown solo fame into greater success as an adult artist.

The Jackson 5 were the first act in recording history to have their first four major label singles (“I Want You Back”, “ABC”, “The Love You Save”, and “I’ll Be There”) reach the top of the American charts.^[2] Several later singles, among them “Mama’s Pearl”, “Never Can Say Goodbye” and “Dancing Machine”, were Top 5 pop hits and number-one hits on the R&B singles chart. Most of the early hits were written and produced by a specialized songwriting team known as “The Corporation”; later Jackson 5 hits were crafted chiefly by Hal Davis, while early Jacksons hits were compiled by the team of Gamble and Huff before The Jacksons began writing and producing themselves in the late 1970s.

Significantly, they were the first black teen idols to appeal equally to white audiences thanks partially to the successful promotional relations skills of Motown Records CEO Berry Gordy. With their departure from Motown to CBS in 1976, The Jacksons were forced to change their name and Jermaine was replaced with younger brother Randy as Jermaine chose to stay at Motown. After two years under the Philadelphia International Records label, they signed with Epic Records and asserted control of their songwriting, production, and image, and their success continued into the 1980s with hits such as “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”, “Lovely One”, and “State of Shock”. Their 1989 album 2300 Jackson Street was recorded without Michael and Marlon. Michael and Marlon did appear, however, on the title track. The disappointing sales of the album led to the group being dropped by their record label at the end of the year. The group has never formally broken up, but has been dormant since then, although all five brothers performed together at two Michael Jackson tribute concerts in September 2001.

Career

Early years

Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, the Jackson brothers were guided early in their careers by their father Joseph Jackson, a steel mill crane operator and former musician, and their mother Katherine Jackson, who watched over the boys during the early years. Tito recalled playing around with his father’s guitar while he was away working on Gary’s steel mills. One night, Joe discovered Tito playing his guitar after he broke a string. Initially upset with his sons playing behind his back, he saw their potential and in 1964, Jackie, Tito and Jermaine formed The Jackson Brothers, including hometown friends Reynaud Jones and Milford Hite on guitar and drums respectively. By the end of the following year, the group’s younger brothers Marlon and Michael joined the instrumental band playing tambourine and congas.

Showing extraordinary talent at a tender age, young Michael began demonstrating his dance moves and singing ability around mid-1966. Before his eighth birthday, Michael was allowed to perform his song-and-dance routine at a talent contest held at Jackie’s Roosevelt High School in Gary, helping his brothers win the competition. It was at that point that Tito’s junior high school orchestra teacher Shirley Cartman began mentoring the group and suggested a name change referring to the boys as The Jackson 5. She also suggested replacing Jones and Hite with talented musicians Johnny Jackson (no relation) on drums and Ronnie Rancifer on keyboards. Tito moved up to lead guitar while Jermaine played bass guitar after several years as a rhythm guitarist.

After the contest win, the group began playing professional gigs in Indiana, Chicago and across the U.S. Many of these performances were in a string of black clubs and venues collectively known as the “chitlin’ circuit”. The group also found themselves performing at strip joints to earn money. Cartman got the Jackson 5 a record deal with Gordon Keith’s local Steeltown label, and the group began making their first recordings in October 1967. Their first single, “Big Boy”, was released in January 1968 and became a regional hit. This was followed by a second single, “We Don’t Have to Be Over 21 (To Fall in Love)”.^[3] A third, “Let Me Carry Your School Books”, features Michael Jackson singing with backing provided by The Ripples and Waves.^[4]

The Jackson 5 had a number of admirers in their early days, including Sam & Dave, who helped the group secure a spot in the famous Amateur Night competition at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The group won the August 13, 1967, competition during the Amateur Night showdown at the Apollo, impressing Motown Records artist Gladys Knight. Knight recommended the group to Motown chief Berry Gordy, but Gordy, who already had teenager Stevie Wonder on his roster, was hesitant to take on another child act because of the child labor laws and other problems involved.

The Jackson 5′s sound was influenced by many of the biggest stars of the 1960s, including the self-contained funk bands Sly & the Family Stone and The Isley Brothers, Motown group The Temptations, soul legend Marvin Gaye, rock ‘n’ roll kid group The Teenagers and soul shouters like Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Joe Tex and James Brown.^[5] At the time of their early success, R&B stars, especially coming from Motown Records, were among the most popular musicians; Motown had launched the careers of dozens of the decade’s biggest stars, most notably The Supremes, The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops and the Temptations.

Joining Motown

By 1968, the Jackson 5 were a headlining act for the All Star Floor Show at Chicago’s The Guys’ and Gals’ Cocktail Lounge and Restaurant. From August 12–27, 1968, the Jackson 5 opened for Motown acts Gladys Knight & The Pips and Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers at Chicago’s Regal Theater. The brothers caught Knight’s attention, whereby she tried to get Motown brass to come to Chicago to see the boys. Taylor was also very impressed with the boys, and he decided to make the commitment to bring them to Detroit and Motown. Joseph and The Jackson Five stayed on the floor of Bobby Taylor’s Detroit apartment the night of July 22, while Taylor and Motown executive Suzanne de Passe arranged for the Jackson 5 to audition for the label.

On July 23, the Jackson 5 had their Motown audition, for which they performed James Brown’s then current hit “I Got the Feelin’”. Berry Gordy was not in attendance, but the audition was videotaped and sent to him in Los Angeles. Gordy’s initial reluctance to sign the group disappeared when he finally saw the boys perform. Gordy decided to sign the Jackson 5 to Motown, and hosted a party at his Detroit mansion on November 25, 1968 to introduce them to the Motown staff and stars.

Motown began negotiations to buy out the Jackson 5′s Steeltown contract, completing the deal in March 1969. By the summer, Bobby Taylor began producing the group’s first recordings at Motown’s Hitsville U.S.A. recording studio in Detroit. The early Taylor-produced Jackson 5 records were all covers of both contemporary hits and Motown-standards, including Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand!” and their famous rendition of The Miracles’ “Who’s Lovin’ You”, written by Smokey Robinson.

Gordy moved the Jackson 5 and Joseph to California, and he and Suzanne de Passe began the process of grooming them as the label’s next big act, while the rest of the family remained in Gary. While looking for a house in California, Joseph, Jermaine, Tito, and Jackie lived with Berry Gordy, Marlon and Michael lived with Diana Ross in her California home.

Motown’s marketing team prepared press kits and other promotional material to begin The Jackson 5′s entrance into the mainstream music industry. Motown publicity significantly altered the group’s history, publicizing the ages of most of its band mates as younger than they were — Michael’s age changed from eleven to eight to make him appear cuter — and identifying unrelated band musicians Johnny Jackson and Ronnie Rancifer as cousins of the Jacksons. In a major marketing coup, Gordy and Motown decided to attach the group to an established star to increase public curiosity. Thus, it was decided that Motown star Diana Ross would “discover” the group as was explained in all early press kits.^[6] According to their official Motown biography, referenced in several early interviews and liner notes, Diana Ross (and, in some versions of the story, Berry Gordy alongside her) was introduced to the Jackson 5 by Gary, Indiana’s mayor, Richard G. Hatcher, at a benefit concert that the Jackson 5 were described as having played for the mayor in 1969. Impressed, Ross (and Gordy) had the act signed.

Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5

The Jackson 5 practiced and rehearsed continuously during the late summer and early fall of 1969. Diana Ross formally introduced The Jackson 5 to the public on August 11, 1969, at a Beverly Hills, California club called “The Daisy.” Towards the end of August, The Jackson 5 made their first television appearance, singing The Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing” at the Miss Black America Pageant in Madison Square Garden, New York City.

The Jackson 5′s first single, “I Want You Back”, was written and produced by four Motown songwriters and producers — Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Deke Richards, and Freddie Perren — who were collectively billed as “The Corporation”. “I Want You Back” was released as a single for The Jackson 5, as Motown decided to officially bill the group, on October 7. The group performed “I Want You Back”, Sly & the Family Stone’s “Sing a Simple Song”, The Delfonics’ “Can You Remember”, and James Brown’s “There Was a Time” as part of their appearance on The Hollywood Palace as special guests of Diana Ross & the Supremes. “I Want You Back” was the only single from The Jackson 5′s first album, Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5, which was released in December 1969. The song reached number one in January, 1970.

Popularization and franchise expansion

Most of the early Jackson 5 singles were written and produced by The Corporation, who crafted for The Jackson 5 a sound that mixed the traditional “Motown Sound” with teenage-honed lyrics that they termed “bubblegum soul”. The Jackson 5 became an instant sensation, with “I Want You Back” and its 1970 follow-ups “ABC”, “The Love You Save,” and “I’ll Be There” all going to #1 on both the Billboard Pop Singles chart and the Billboard Soul Singles (R&B) chart. Other early Top 5 hits included “Mama’s Pearl” and “Never Can Say Goodbye.”

Now successful, Joseph was finally able to arrange to move Katherine and the rest of the family out to California in 1970. First moving into a two-story residence at 1616 Queens Road in Los Angeles, the Jackson family moved to a gated mansion they called “Hayvenhurst”, which was purchased by Joseph in March 1971.

“Jacksonmania” swept the nation, and within a year of their debut The Jackson 5 were among the biggest names in popular music. The group essentially replaced The Supremes as Motown’s main marketing focus, and, capitalizing upon the youth-oriented appeal of the Jackson brothers, Motown licensed dozens of Jackson 5-related juvenile products, including the now famous J5 Heart logo which appears on Johnny Jacksons drum kit and many of The Jackson 5′s album covers, stickers, sewable patches, posters, and coloring books. A new teen magazine aimed at African-American youth, Right On!, began publication in 1971, and focused heavily on The Jackson 5; at least one Jackson adorned the cover of every issue published between January 1972 and April 1974. Animation producers Rankin/Bass produced The Jackson 5ive, a Saturday morning cartoon that debuted on September 11, 1971 and ran for two seasons on ABC. The Jackson 5 starred in two of their own television specials, Goin’ Back to Indiana (aired September 16, 1971) and The Jackson 5 Show (aired November 5, 1972).

In 1971, Motown began a spin-off solo career for Michael, whose first single, “Got to Be There,” was a Top 5 hit. Michael also sang the title track for the 1972 motion picture Ben. His other successful solo singles included “Rockin’ Robin” and “I Wanna Be Where You Are” (both 1972). Jermaine started a solo career of his own in 1972, and had a Top Ten hit with his Shep and the Limelites cover “Daddy’s Home”. Jackie also recorded a solo album, but his releases failed to chart. Despite fan rumors that all three Jacksons might leave the group as they released solo work, the solo careers of Michael, Jermaine, and Jackie co-existed alongside that of the group as a whole, allowing Motown to expand the success and sales of Jackson 5-related releases.

Decline

After 1972, The Jackson 5′s releases were less successful, but they still did very well. Later top-20 hits, mostly written and produced by Hal Davis, included “Lookin’ Through the Windows” (1972) and the disco-styled “Dancing Machine” (1974), which popularized the “Robot” dance routine. Jackson 5 albums declined somewhat in critical acclaim and financial success during the latter part of their Motown tenure, although LPs such as Lookin’ Through the Windows (1972) and G.I.T.: Get It Together (1973) frequently included successful album tracks, including their version of “Hum Along and Dance”, a popular number in their live act.

Critics, The Jackson 5, and Joseph Jackson agreed that the main reason for the group’s declining success was Motown’s refusal to update their image. Although they played their own instruments on stage and had begun writing and producing songs in their own home recording studio, The Jacksons later said that Motown wouldn’t allow them to record their own compositions nor play instruments in their studio recordings. The group’s studio recordings were first handled by Motown’s famed in-house studio band The Funk Brothers during their brief recording tenure at Hitsville and later instrumentation was played by many of the members of The Wrecking Crew, which formed Motown’s Hitsville West studio band. Feeling that The Jackson 5 could be more of a success without Motown, which was by this time declining in success and popularity, Joseph began shopping for a new record deal for his sons.

The move to CBS Records

In 1975, Joseph negotiated a new recording contract with CBS Records, who offered a royalty rate of 20% per record, compared to Motown’s standard 2.8%; and would allow the Jackson brothers to write and produce their own records and play their own instruments. After unsuccessfully attempting to talk the group into staying on the label, Motown sued for breach of contract. Although Motown eventually let the group go, The Jackson 5 were forced to change their name to The Jacksons, because Motown retained the “Jackson 5″ trademark during the settlement of the lawsuit. The Jacksons also replaced Jermaine with the youngest Jackson brother, fourteen year old Randy, since Jermaine chose to stay with Motown and his father-in-law Berry Gordy (In 1973, Jermaine married Gordy’s daughter Hazel). Randy had been an unofficial member of The Jackson 5 since 1972, playing congas onstage as part of their live act.

After losing The Jacksons, Motown would not have another success of their caliber for the duration of Berry Gordy’s ownership of the label. Gordy often said of The Jackson 5 that they were, coming after the label’s most famous acts, “the last big stars to come rolling off the [Motown] assembly line.”^[7]

In summer 1976, CBS television signed the Jackson family (including Michael, Marlon, Tito, Jackie, Randy, Rebbie, LaToya, and Janet) to appear in their own variety show, The Jacksons, to compete with ABC’s Donny & Marie. The Jacksons debuted on June 16, 1976, and ran on CBS until its cancellation the following March. The show was the first variety show hosted by an African American family.

First as part of CBS’s Philadelphia International Records division, and later moving over to Epic Records, The Jacksons continued releasing popular singles such as “Enjoy Yourself” (1976), produced by Philadelphia International’s Kenneth Gamble & Leon Huff. After two LPs produced by Gamble and Huff, The Jacksons wanted artistic control, and produced their next LP, 1978′s Destiny, on their own. The album included The Jacksons’ biggest post-Motown single, “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)”, which charted at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number three on the Billboard R&B Singles chart. “Shake Your Body”, written by Michael and Randy, sold over two million copies, attaining double-platinum status. Destiny also went platinum, and peaked at number 11 on the Billboard 200 album chart and number three on the R&B album charts. In 1979, The Jacksons received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1978, Michael starred alongside Diana Ross in the Motown/Universal Pictures motion picture The Wiz, an adaptation of the Broadway musical based upon L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Quincy Jones was the producer of the film’s songs, and he and Michael began work on Michael’s first Epic solo album, Off the Wall, the next year. Off the Wall, released in 1979, sold 20 million copies worldwide and featured four Top 10 hit singles and two number-one singles, causing some speculation about whether Michael would leave The Jacksons though Michael told several reporters at the time that such speculation was untrue.

1980-present

In 1980 the group released the Triumph album, which featured the hits “This Place Hotel” and “Can You Feel It”, as well as the dance club hit “Walk Right Now”. The following year’s The Jacksons Live! used recordings from the group’s Triumph Tour, which in 1988 was described by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the best 25 tours from 1967 to 1987. The group’s success was outperformed, however, by Michael’s 1982 LP Thriller. Thriller went on to become the most successful album ever in the United States, and to date stands as the world’s best-selling album of all time.

The Motown 25 television special, broadcast on NBC on May 16, 1983, featured a reunion performance between Jermaine and the other brothers. Outside of one 1979 appearance on the TV show Midnight Special this was the original Jackson 5′s first performance in nearly seven years. The Motown 25 Jackson 5 reunion was overshadowed, however, by Michael’s landmark performance of “Billie Jean” on the same program, which introduced his trademark “moonwalk” dance.

The Jacksons released the album Victory in 1984, featuring the hit single “State of Shock” with guest star Mick Jagger, and supported the album with the Victory World Tour. The Victory album and tour marked the official return of Jermaine to the group’s lineup, making them a sextet.

Shortly after the Victory Tour, Michael left The Jacksons, as his solo career had led to the success of Thriller and its singles. His name recognition as a solo act had also grown, despite touring as part of a group. Marlon followed Michael out of the group a year later during a group meeting. The other brothers eventually drifted apart to take on solo projects (although most of them appeared with Michael on the U.S. For Africa single “We Are the World” in 1985). The Jacksons reunited for one last album, 2300 Jackson Street in 1989. While every Jackson sibling except for LaToya appeared on the title track, a #9 R&B hit single, most of the album featured Jermaine, Jackie, Tito, and Randy as the line up. Michael Jackson’s fame as a solo act as well as the growing fame of the group’s youngest sister, Janet Jackson, had overshadowed the group entirely. A CD compilation of hits from the CBS/Epic years, The Essential Jacksons, was released in 2004, as was a separate compilation assembled by Universal/Hip-O, The Jacksons Story.

Legacy

Tito Jackson, like his father before him, organized his three sons into a musical group called 3T, who had a #2 UK hit, titled “Why”, as well as a big US hit with “Anything”, both in 1996 (“Why” featured a guest appearance from Michael Jackson). Soon afterwards, Tito began a low-key career as a blues musician. Randy Jackson was involved for some time with a group known as Randy and the Gypsies, who enjoyed minor success. In 2004, Randy was also the webmaster for Michael’s last official website, MJJ Source, which was closed in 2005. Jackie Jackson’s son, Siggy, is a successful rapper and DJ under the stage name DealZ.

Marlon would eventually pursue a career as a real estate agent.

The Jackson 5 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. In addition, two of their songs (“ABC” and “I Want You Back”) are among The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. In 1999, “I Want You Back” was also inducted in Grammy Hall of Fame.^[8]

In 1992, Suzanne de Passe and Jermaine Jackson worked with Motown to produce The Jacksons: An American Dream, a five-hour television miniseries broadcast based on the history of The Jacksons in two parts on ABC. The first installment of the miniseries covered the decades from Katherine and Joseph Jackson’s first meeting in the late-1940s up until the first Jackson 5 releases on Motown in 1969, while the second part covered the years from 1970 to 1984, and the effects of The Jackson 5′s phenomenal success on the family. The miniseries was the highest rated show of the week, won an Emmy Award and was nominated for three more, and won two Young Artist Awards.

In 2009, following the death of brother Michael, the remaining performing Jacksons re-united in a studio to record background vocals for a previously unreleased song, “This Is It” (the theme for the movie of the same name), which originally had been a demo. The single was released in October of that same year.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 Jackson 5 1st TV Appearance & History
• 1969 – I Want You Back
• 1970 – ABC
• 1970 – The Love You Save
• 1971 – Never Can Say Goodbye
• 1971 – Rockin’ Robin
• 1972 – Got to Be There
• 1972 – Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing
• 1972 – Soultrain Medley
• 1973 – Dancing Machine
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – With A Child’s Heart
• 1978 – Blame It On the Boogie

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Following performances by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Mary Wells, the Jacksons took to the stage for the first Jackson brothers performance in eight years. The Jacksons sang a medley of their old hits, finishing with "I'll Be There" and left Michael alone on stage. After addressing the audience, Jackson went into his routine. Wearing black pants, leather penny loafers and a single white rhinestone glove, Jackson snapped a fedora to his head and struck a pose—his right hand on his hat and his left leg bent. Throwing the hat aside, Jackson lip synced to "Billie Jean".^[25] Then, during a musical interlude, the singer executed a move which many claim to have sealed his status as a pop icon.^[26][27] Gliding backwards, Jackson performed the moonwalk, before spinning on his heels and landing en pointe.^[25] It was the first time Jackson had performed the moonwalk in public, having practiced it in his kitchen prior to the show.^[28]

The program was watched by 50 million people and earned Jackson an Emmy nomination.^[29][30] With the performance Jackson reached a new audience and increased the sales of Thriller, which eventually became the biggest selling album in the world.^[28] The day after the show aired, Jackson was called by his childhood idol Fred Astaire who commended the singer. Another childhood idol, Sammy Davis Jr., later received Jackson's black sequined jacket, having admired it during the performance.^[28]

Jackson stated that he was disappointed in his performance; he'd wanted to remain on his toes longer than he had.^[25] Jackson subsequently said that "Billie Jean" was one of his favorite songs to perform live, but only when he didn't have to do it that way. "The audience wants a certain thing – I have to do the moonwalk in that spot", he later said. "I'd like to do a different version."^[17]

In a Top 100 list, compiled by VH1 and Entertainment Weekly in 2000, Jackson's performance was ranked as the sixth greatest rock 'n' roll TV moment.^[31] Five years later, Entertainment Weekly named Jackson's Motown 25 performance as one the most important pop culture moments in history. "It was a moment that crossed over in a way that no live musical performance ever had. There was a messianic quality to it", Entertainment Weekly editor Steve Daly commented.^[32]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "How Billie Jean changed the world". The Guardian. (July 12, 2007). http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/jul/12/popandrock. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Campbell, p. 58
3. ^ ^{a b c} Jackson, pp. 192–194
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Wadhams, pp. 418–422
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Taraborrelli, pp. 223–224
6. ^ Murphy, Sport (January 27, 2008). "Man in the moonwalk". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/01272008/entertainment/music/man_in_the_moonwalk_427676.htm?page=0. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: Number 1". Blender. (October, 2005).
8. ^ ^{a b c d} Halstead, pp. 36–37
9. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 222
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Halstead, pp. 37–38
11. ^ ^{a b} George, p. 39
12. ^ ^{a b} "Austrian Singles Chart Archives". austriancharts.at. http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Michael+Jackson&titel=Billie+Jean&cat=s. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
13. ^ "Rolling Stone's Thriller review". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/michaeljackson/albums/album/303823/review/6067536/thriller. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
14. ^ "Thriller – The Diamond". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/diamond/michael-jackson-thriller.htm. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
15. ^ "Allmusic's Thriller 25 review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fwxzejldke~T1. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
16. ^ George, p. 23
17. ^ ^{a b c} Halstead, pp. 38–40
18. ^ George, pp. 39–43
19. ^ "RIAA database". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved on February 24, 2009.
20. ^ Grein, Paul (March 18, 2009). "Week Ending March 15, 2009: The Idol With The Most". Yahoo! Music. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/29509/week-ending-march-15-2009-the-idol-with-the-most/. Retrieved on March 26, 2009.
21. ^ Weitner, Sean. "Michael Jackson: A Life in Film". Flak magazine. http://www.flakmag.com/music/mj/videos.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
22. ^ Cocks, Jay (December 26, 1983). "Sing a Song of Seeing". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926425-3,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
23. ^ Smith, David (January 30, 2005). "Cash tops Thriller with best video ever". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jan/30/arts.artsnews. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
24. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Halstead, pp. 39–41
25. ^ ^{a b c d} Taraborrelli, pp. 234–240
26. ^ Leopold, Todd (June 6, 2005). "Michael Jackson: A life in the spotlight". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/30/jackson.life/. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
27. ^ Cannon, Bob. "A Giant Step for Jackson". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,301524,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
28. ^ ^{a b c} Campbell, pp. 65–68
29. ^ "A Glance at the Career of Michael Jackson". Fox News Channel. (June 14, 2005). http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159509,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
30. ^ Harris, Chris (January 14, 2008). "Michael Jackson, Akon Are 'Startin' Somethin' On Thriller 25 Track". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1579562/20080114/jackson_michael.jhtml?loc=interstitialskip. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
31. ^ "Top Rock TV Moment A Really Big Show". CBS News. (July 24, 2000). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/07/24/entertainment/main217999.shtml. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
32. ^ "The 25 Most Important Pop Culture Moments". CNN. (September 1, 2005). http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/09/01/cnn25.top25.entertainment/index.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
33. ^ ^{a b} Taraborrelli, pp. 279–289
34. ^ Halstead, p. 205
35. ^ "Ailing". Time. (February 6, 1984). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,954175,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
36. ^ "Singer Has Operation To Repair Burn Scar". The New York Times. (April 19, 1984). http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9802E1DC1538F93AA25757C0A962948260&n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FJ%2FJackson%2C%20Michael. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
37. ^ Zoglin, Richard (February 13, 1984). "Too Much Risk on the Set?". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,926474-1,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
38. ^ "The 26th Annual Grammy Awards". Time. (March 19, 1984). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921610,00.html. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
39. ^ Lamb, Bill. "About.com's Thriller 25 review". New York City: About.com (The New York Times Company). http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/mjacksonthril25.htm. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
40. ^ "Billie Jean voted top dance song". BBC. (July 15, 2008). http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolpda/ifs_news/hi/newsid_7507000/7507218.stm. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
41. ^ "Yesterday is top pop song". BBC. (November 17, 2000). http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/entertainment/1027940.stm. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
42. ^ ^{a b} Thriller 25: The Book, p. 26
43. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/11028260/the_rs_500_greatest_songs_of_all_time
44. ^ http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-gj/

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Thriller was less a conventional music video and more a full-fledged short subject or mini-film: a horror film spoof featuring choreographed zombies performing with Jackson. The music was re-edited to match the video, with the verses being sung one after the other followed by the ending rap from Vincent Price, then the main dance sequence (filmed on the 3600 block of Union Pacific Avenue in East Los Angeles) to an instrumental loop, and finally the memorable finish: the choruses in a "big dance number" climactic scene. During the video, Jackson transforms into both a zombie and a werecat (although makeup artist Rick Baker referred to it as a "cat monster" in the "Making of Thriller" documentary); familiar territory for Landis, who had directed An American Werewolf in London two years earlier. The theater scene was filmed at the landmark Palace Theatre in Hollywood.

Co-starring with Jackson was former Playboy centerfold Ola Ray. The video was choreographed by Michael Peters (who had worked with the singer on his prior hit "Beat It"), with Michael Jackson. The video also contains incidental music by film music composer Elmer Bernstein, who had previously also worked with Landis on An American Werewolf in London. The video (like the song) contains a spoken word performance by horror film veteran Vincent Price. Rick Baker assisted in prosthetics and makeup for the production.

To qualify for an Academy Award, Thriller debuted at a special theatrical screening, along with the 1940 animated motion picture Fantasia.

Released in tandem with the video was an hour-long documentary providing candid glimpses behind the scenes of the production. Called Making Michael Jackson's Thriller, it, too, was shown heavily on MTV for a time and was the top-selling home-video release of all time at one point, with over 900,000 copies sold.

Thriller, The Album

Thriller is the world's all-time best selling album. The album was released on November 30, 1982 by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including funk, disco, soul, soft rock, R&B and pop. However, Thriller's lyrics deal with generally darker themes, including paranoia and the supernatural.

With a production budget of US$750,000, recording sessions took place between April and November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California. Assisted by producer Quincy Jones, Jackson wrote four of Thriller's nine tracks. Following the release of the album's first single "The Girl Is Mine", some observers assumed Thriller would only be a minor hit record. With the release of the second single "Billie Jean", the album topped the charts in many countries. At its peak, the album was selling a million copies a week worldwide. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time. Sales are estimated to be between 47–109 million copies sold worldwide. Seven of the album's nine songs were released as singles, and all reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards at the 1984 Grammys, including awards in three different genres—pop, R&B and rock.

Thriller cemented Jackson's status as one of the predominant pop stars of the late 20th century, and enabled him to break down racial barriers via his appearances on MTV and meetings with President Ronald Reagan at the White House. The album was one of the first to use music videos as successful promotional tools—the videos for "Thriller", "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" all received regular rotation on MTV. In 2001, a special edition issue of the album was released, which contains additional audio interviews, a demo recording and the song "Someone In the Dark", which was a Grammy-winning track from the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook.^[9] In 2008, the album was reissued again as Thriller 25, containing re-mixes that feature contemporary artists, a previously unreleased song and a DVD.

Thriller ranked number 20 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2003, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number three in their Definitive 200 Albums of All Time. Thriller was preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry, as it was deemed "culturally significant."

Background

Jackson's previous album Off the Wall (1979) was a critical success and received generally favorable reviews.^[10][11] It was also a commercial success, eventually selling over 20 million copies worldwide.^[12] The years between Off the Wall and Thriller were a transitional period for the singer, a time of increasing independence and struggles with his family. When Jackson turned 21 in August 1979, he fired his father Joseph Jackson as his manager and replaced him with John Branca.^[13] Jackson confided in Branca that he wanted to be "the biggest star in show business" and "the wealthiest". The singer was upset about what he perceived to be the under-performance of Off the Wall, stating, "It was totally unfair that it didn't get Record of the Year and it can never happen again."^[14] He also felt undervalued by the music industry; in 1980 when Jackson asked the publicist of Rolling Stone if they would be interested in doing a cover story on him, the publicist declined, to which Jackson responded, "I've been told over and over that black people on the cover of magazines doesn't sell copies … Just wait. Someday those magazines are going to be begging me for an interview. Maybe I'll give them one. And maybe I won't."^[14]

In 1973, Jackson's father began a secret affair with a woman 20 years younger than him; the couple had a child in secret. In 1980, Joseph Jackson told his family of the affair and child. Jackson, already angry with his father over his childhood abuse, felt so betrayed that he fell out with Joseph Jackson for many years.^[15] The period saw the singer become deeply unhappy; Jackson explained, "Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends … I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home."^[16]

Recording

Jackson reunited with Off the Wall producer Quincy Jones to record his sixth studio album. The pair worked together on 300 songs, nine of which were eventually included.^[17] Thriller was recorded between April and November of 1982, with a production budget of $750,000. Several members of the band Toto were also involved in the album's recording and production.^[17] Jackson wrote four songs for the record: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney), "Beat It" and "Billie Jean".^[18] Unlike many artists, Jackson did not write these songs on paper. Instead, he would dictate into a sound recorder; when recording he would sing from memory.^[19][20]

The relationship between Jackson and Jones became strained during the album's recording. Jackson spent much of his time rehearsing dance steps alone.^[20] When the album's nine songs were completed, both Jones and Jackson were unhappy with the result and remixed every song, spending a week on each.^[20] Jones believed that "Billie Jean" was not strong enough to be included on the record, but Jackson disagreed and kept it. Jones told Jackson that Thriller would be unlikely to sell successfully like Off the Wall had, because the market had since weakened. In response, Jackson threatened to cancel the album's release.^[17]

In one interview, Jackson said that he was inspired to create an album where "every song was a killer" and focused the basis of Thriller as to ask, "Why can't every one be like a hit song?".^[21] Jones and songwriter Rod Temperton gave detailed accounts of what occurred for the 2001 reissue of the album. Jones discussed "Billie Jean" and why it was so personal to Jackson, who struggled to deal with a number of obsessed fans. Jones wanted the long introduction on the song to be shortened; however, Jackson insisted it remain because it made him want to dance.^[18] Jones and Jackson were determined to make a rock song that would appeal to all tastes and spent weeks^{[citation needed]} looking for a suitable guitarist for the song "Beat It", a song Jackson wrote and played drums on^{[citation needed]}. Eventually, they found Eddie Van Halen of the rock band Van Halen.^[18][20]

When Rod Temperton wrote the song "Thriller", he originally wanted to call it "Starlight" or "Midnight Man" but settled on "Thriller" because he felt the name had merchandising potential.^[20] Always wanting a notable person to recite the closing lyrics, Temperton brought in actor Vincent Price, who completed his part in just two takes. Temperton wrote the spoken portion in a taxi on the way to the recording studio. Jones and Temperton said that some recordings were left off the final cut because they did not have the "edginess" of other album tracks.^[18]

Music

According to Steve Huey of Allmusic, Thriller refined the strengths of Jackson's previous album Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more aggressive, while the pop tunes and ballads were softer and more soulful.^[23] Notable tracks include the ballads "The Lady in My Life", "Human Nature", and "The Girl Is Mine"; the funk pieces "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"; and the disco set "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".^{[1][5][6][23]} "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was written a few years prior to 1982 and has a similar sound to the material on Off The Wall. The song is accompanied by a bass and percussion background and the song's centerpiece, a climaxing Swahili chant, gave the song an international flavor.^[24] "The Girl Is Mine" tells of two friends' fight over a woman, arguing over who loves her more and concludes with a spoken rap.^[20][24]

Despite the light pop flavour of these two records, Thriller, more so than Off the Wall, displayed foreshadowings of the contradictory thematic elements that would come to characterize Jackson's later work.^[25] With Thriller, Jackson would begin his association with the subliminal theme of paranoia and darker imagery.^[5] This is evident on the songs "Billie Jean", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Thriller".^[1] In "Billie Jean", Jackson sings about an obsessive fan who alleges he has fathered a child of hers; in "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" he argues against gossips and the media.^[5][23] In the former song, Jones had Jackson sing vocal overdubs through a six-foot-long cardboard tube, and brought in jazz saxophonist Tom Scott to play a rare instrument, the lyricon, a wind-controlled analog synthesizer. Bassist Louis Johnson ran through his part on a Yamaha bass guitar. The song opens with a long bass-and-drums introduction.^[26] In the song "Thriller", sound effects such as creaking door, thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling dogs can be heard.^[20]

The anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became a homage to West Side Story, and was Jackson's first successful rock cross-over piece.^[23][27] Jackson later said of "Beat It", "the point is no one has to be the tough guy, you can walk away from a fight and still be a man. You don't have to die to prove you're a man".^[24] "Human Nature" is moody and introspective, as conveyed in lyrics such as, "Looking out, across the morning, the City's heart begins to beat, reaching out, I touch her shoulder, I'm dreaming of the street".^[24]

By the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; Allmusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist".^[10] Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder. Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbered tenor is extraordinarily beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly".^[11] With the release of Thriller, Jackson could sing low—down to a basso low C—but he preferred to sing higher because pop tenors have more range to create style.^[28] Rolling Stone were of the opinion that Jackson was now singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".^[5] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", credited to James Ingram and Quincy Jones, and "Lady in My Life" by Rod Temperton, both gave the album a stronger R&B direction; the latter song was described as "the closest Jackson has come to crooning a sexy, soulful ballad after his Motown years" by Taraborrelli.^[24] The singer had already adopted a "vocal hiccup" which he continued to implement in Thriller.^[29]

Release and reception

Thriller was released on November 30, 1982, and sold one million copies worldwide per week at its peak.^[28] Seven singles were released from the album, including "The Girl Is Mine"—which was seen as a poor choice for the lead release and led some to believe that the album would be a disappointment, and to suggestions that Jackson was bowing to a white audience.^[24] "The Girl Is Mine" was followed by the hit single "Billie Jean", which made Thriller a chart-topper.^[30][31] Success continued with the single "Beat It", which featured guitarists Eddie Van Halen and Steve Lukather.^[32] The title track "Thriller" was released as a single and also became a hit internationally.^[24]

Thriller was mostly well received by critics. A four-star Rolling Stone review by Christopher Connelly described it as "a zesty LP" with a "harrowing, dark message". Despite the positive response, the title track came under strong criticism. Rolling Stone expressed a negative sentiment, criticising its "degenerat[ion] into silly camp". The magazine expressed confusion at the use of Vincent Price over Count Floyd for the track's concluding rap.^[5] The New York Times gave a positive review of the album, and dedicated a large amount of its coverage to the song "Human Nature". They described it as the most "striking" song on the record, and wrote, "this is a haunting, brooding ballad by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis with an irresistible chorus and it should be an enormous hit". Concluding their review The New York Times added; "there are other hits here, too, lots of them. Best of all, with a pervasive confidence infusing the album as a whole, Thriller suggests that Mr. Jackson's evolution as an artist is far from finished".^[8]

Robert Christgau published a positive (A−) graded overview of the album a few days before its release. He acknowledged that there were "fillers" on the record but still labeled it "almost classic". He expressed the opinion that "Beat It" was the album's best track, calling it "the triumph and the thriller", but criticized "The Girl Is Mine" as "Michael's worst idea since 'Ben'". He was of the opinion that the collaboration did not work well, but still praised it for "getting interracial love on the radio".^[2] A year after the album's release, Time summed up the three main singles from the album, saying, "The pulse of America and much of the rest of the world moves irregularly, beating in time to the tough strut of "Billie Jean", the asphalt aria of "Beat It", the supremely cool chills of "Thriller".^[28] Conversely, in a Melody Maker review, Paolo Hewitt stated "[t]his is not a good LP"; in his opinion there were only "two songs worthy of mention". "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was praised as an "exciting", "uptempo electro-funk song", as was "Billie Jean". Hewitt's stance was that as a whole, the album could only be described as "bland", particularly the closing tracks. He summed up: "Jackson seems to have lost his talent for turning gross into gold".^[3]

The album won Jackson a record-breaking seven Grammy Awards in 1984, including Album of the Year. The eighth Grammy went to Bruce Swedien.^[33][34] That same year, Jackson won eight American Music Awards, the Special Award of Merit and three MTV Video Music Awards.^[35] Thriller was recognized as the world's best-selling album on February 7, 1984, when it was inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records.^[36] It is one of only three albums to remain in the top ten of the Billboard 200 for a full year, and spent 37 weeks at number one out of the 80 consecutive weeks it was in the top ten. The album was also the first of three to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top ten singles, and was the only album to be the best-seller of two years (1983–1984) in the US. On March 6, 2009, Thriller was certified 28x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least 28 million copies in the US; additionally, its sales of more than 20 million have earned Double Diamond Award status.^[37][38] The album topped the charts in many countries, sold 3.7 million copies in the UK,^[38][39] and went 14x Platinum in Australia.^[40] Still popular today, Thriller sells an estimated 130,000 copies in the US per year; it reached number two in the US Catalog charts in February 2003 and number 39 in the UK in March 2007.^[35] The album is cited as having sold between 47 and 109 million copies worldwide; the Guinness Book of World Records lists Thriller as having sold 65 million copies as of 2007.^{[41][42][43][44][45]}

Influence and legacy

Music industry

Blender described Jackson as the "late twentieth century pre-eminent pop icon", while The New York Times gave the opinion that he was a "musical phenomenon", and that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else".^[26][46] Jackson changed the way the industry functioned: both as an artistic persona, and as a financial, profitable entity. His attorney John Branca observed that Jackson achieved the highest royalty rate in the music industry to that point: approximately $2 for each album sold. As a result, Jackson earned record-breaking profits from compact disc sales, and from the sale of copies of the documentary, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, produced by Jackson and John Landis. Funded by MTV, the film sold over 350,000 copies in its first few months. In a market then driven by singles, Thriller raised the significance of albums, yet its multiple hit singles changed perceived notions as to the number of successful singles that could be taken from an individual album.^[47] The era saw the arrival of novelties like the Michael Jackson doll, that appeared in stores in May 1984 at a price of $12.^[28] Thriller retains a position in American culture; biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli explains, "At some point, Thriller stopped selling like a leisure item—like a magazine, a toy, tickets to a hit movie—and started selling like a household staple".^[48]

At the time of the album's release, a press statement from Gil Friesen, the then President of A&M Records, read that, "The whole industry has a stake in this success".^[28] Time magazine speculated that "the fallout from Thriller has given the [music] business its best years since the heady days of 1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion".^[28] Time summed up Thriller's impact as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry bordering on "the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop". The publication described Jackson's influence at that point as, "Star of records, radio, rock video. A one-man rescue team for the music business. A songwriter who sets the beat for a decade. A dancer with the fanciest feet on the street. A singer who cuts across all boundaries of taste and style and color too".^[28]

Music videos and racial equality

Before the success of Thriller, many felt Jackson had struggled to get MTV airing because he was black.^[26] In an effort to attain air time for Jackson, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff pressured MTV and declared, "I'm not going to give you any more videos and I'm going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don't want to play music by a black guy".^[26] His position persuaded MTV to begin airing "Billie Jean" and later "Beat It", which led to a long partnership and later helped other black music artists to gain mainstream recognition.^[49] The popularity of his videos, such as "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", helped to place the young channel "on the map", and MTV's focus shifted in favor of pop and R&B.^[49][50]

Jackson transformed the medium of music video into an art form and promotional tool through the use of complex story lines, dance routines, special effects and cameo appearances by well known personalities.^[23] When the 14-minute-long Thriller video aired, MTV ran it twice an hour to meet demand.^[51] The short film marked an increase in scale for music videos and has been named the best music video ever.^[47] The popularity of the video sent the album back to number one in the album chart, but Jackson's label did not support the release of the third music video from the album. They were already pleased with its success, so Jackson convinced MTV to fund the project.^[20][51] Author, music critic and journalist Nelson George wrote in 2004, "It's difficult to hear the songs from Thriller and disengage them from the videos. For most of us the images define the songs. In fact it could be argued that Michael is the first artist of the MTV age to have an entire album so intimately connected in the public imagination with its imagery".^[22] Short films like Thriller largely remained unique to Jackson, while the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated.^[18] The choreography in Thriller has become a part of global pop culture, replicated everywhere from Bollywood to prisons in the Philippines.^[52][53]

For a black artist in the 1980s to that point, Jackson's success was unprecedented. According to The Washington Post, Thriller paved the way for other African-American artists such as Prince.^[54] "The Girl Is Mine" was credited for getting interracial love on the radio.^[55] Time noted, "Jackson is the biggest thing since The Beatles. He is the hottest single phenomenon since Elvis Presley. He just may be the most popular black singer ever".^[28]

Contemporary appeal

Today, the album is still viewed in a positive light by critics some two decades later. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic gave the album the maximum five stars, and wrote that the record had something to interest everyone. He believed it showcased harder funk and hard rock while remaining "undeniably fun". He went on to compliment "Billie Jean" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and said, "The record's two best songs: 'Billie Jean, …and the delirious 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'', the freshest funk on the album [but] the most claustrophobic, scariest track Jackson ever recorded." Erlewine gave the opinion that it was an improvement on the artist's previous album, although Allmusic was critical of the title track, describing it as "ridiculous" and as having the effect of "arriving in the middle of the record and sucking out its momentum".^[1] Slant Magazine gave the album five stars and, like the Allmusic review and the original Rolling Stone review, paid compliment to the lyrics of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".^[6]

The author Nelson George wrote that Jackson "has educated R. Kelly, Usher, Justin Timberlake and countless others with Thriller as a textbook".^[56] As a sign of the album's longevity, in 2003 Thriller was ranked at number 20 on the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers at number three of the Definitive 200 Albums of All Time.^[57][58] In 2008, 25 years after its release, the record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and, a few weeks later, was among 25 recordings preserved by the Library of Congress to the National Recording Registry as "culturally significant".^[59][60] In 2009, music critics for MTV Base and VH1 both listed Thriller as the best album released since 1981.^[61] Thriller, along with other critic favorites were then polled by the public. 40,000 people found Thriller to be the Best Album of all time by MTV Generation, gaining a third of all votes.^[61][62]

Reissues

Thriller was reissued in 2001 in an expanded set titled Thriller: Special Edition. The original tracks were re-mastered, and the album included a new booklet and bonus material, including the songs "Someone In the Dark", "Carousel", and Jackson's original "Billie Jean" demo, as well as audio interviews with Jones and Temperton discussing the recording of the album.^[18][63]

In February 2008, Sony BMG's catalog division Legacy Recordings in collaboration with Epic Records released Thriller 25; Jackson served as executive producer.^[38] Thriller 25 appeared on CD and vinyl with seven bonus tracks, a new song called "For All Time", Vincent Price's voice-over, and five re-mixes featuring American artists Fergie, will.i.am, Kanye West, and Akon.^[38][64][65] It also included a DVD featuring three music videos, the Motown 25 "Billie Jean" performance, and a booklet with a message from Jackson.^[38] The ballad "For All Time" supposedly dates from 1982, but is often credited as being from Dangerous sessions.^[66] Two singles were released from the reissue: "The Girl Is Mine 2008" and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' 2008".

Thriller 25 was a commercial success and did particularly well as a reissue. It peaked at number one in eight countries and Europe. It peaked at number two in the US, number three in the UK and reached the top 10 in over 30 national charts. It was certified Gold in 11 countries including the UK, received a 2x Gold certification in France and received platinum certification in Poland.^[67][68][69] In the United States, Thriller 25 was the second best-selling album of its release week, selling one hundred and sixty six thousand copies, just fourteen thousand short of reaching the number one position. It was ineligible for the Billboard 200 chart as a re-release but entered the Pop Catalog Charts at number one (where it stayed for ten non-consecutive weeks),^[70] with the best sales on that chart since December, 1996.^[71][72][73] With the arrival of Halloween that November, Thriller 25 spent an eleventh non-consecutive week atop the US catalog chart. This brought US sales of the album to 688,000 copies, making it the best selling catalog album of 2008 and as of June 2009 has sold over 774,000 copies.^[74][75] This was Jackson's best launch since Invincible in 2001, selling three million copies worldwide in 12 weeks.^[76]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Following the successful chart performances of Thriller and "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean" was released on January 2, 1983, as the album's second single. "Billie Jean" was a worldwide commercial and critical success; it became one of the best-selling singles of 1983, and topped both the US and UK charts simultaneously. Considered one of the most revolutionary songs in history,^[1] "Billie Jean" was certified platinum in 1989.

Honored numerous times—including two Grammy Awards, one American Music Award and an induction into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame—the song and corresponding music video propelled Thriller into the best-selling album of all time. The song was promoted with a short film that broke down MTV's racial barrier as the first video by a black artist to be aired by the channel,^[2] and an Emmy-nominated performance on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, in which Jackson premiered "the moonwalk." The song was also promoted through Jackson's Pepsi commercials; during the filming of one commercial, Jackson's scalp was severely burned. Covered and sampled by modern artists, "Billie Jean" sealed Jackson's status as an international pop icon.^[1]

Background

According to Jackson's biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, "Billie Jean" was derived from a real life experience the singer faced in 1981. The Magic & The Madness documents how a young woman wrote a letter to Jackson, informing the singer that he was the father of one of her twins.^[3][4] Jackson, who regularly received letters of this kind, had never met the woman in question and ignored it. The woman sent more letters to Jackson, claiming that she loved him and wanted to be with him. She wrote of how happy they would be, bringing up the child together. She pondered how Jackson could ignore his own flesh and blood. Due to the stress of receiving the letters, the singer suffered from nightmares.^[3]

Following the letters, Jackson received a parcel containing a photograph of the fan, as well as a letter and a gun. Jackson was horrified—the letter asked that the pop star kill himself on a certain day and at a specific time. The fan would do the same once she had killed their baby. She wrote that if they could not be together in this life, then they would be in the next. To his mother's dismay, Jackson had the photograph framed and hung above the dining room table of their family home. Afterward, the Jacksons discovered that the female fan had been sent to a psychiatric hospital.^[3]

However, Jackson himself stated in Moon Walk (autobiography), that the song was based on the groupies he and his brothers encountered whilst part of The Jackson 5. "There never was a real Billie Jean. The girl in the song is a composite of people my brothers have been plagued with over the years. I could never understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone's child when it wasn't true."^[5][6]

Recording

With this female fan in mind, Jackson wrote "Billie Jean", and later stated that when writing the song, he knew it would be a hit. "A musician knows hit material. Everything has to feel in place. It fulfills you and it makes you feel good. That’s how I felt about 'Billie Jean'. I knew it was going to be big when I was writing it." The singer explained that he was so absorbed by the song that, in one instance, he did not notice that his car had caught fire as he drove down a freeway with a friend until a passing motorcyclist informed him. Jackson noted, "The kid probably saved our lives."^[5][7]

The pop star faced numerous disagreements with the song's producer. Quincy Jones did not want "Billie Jean" to appear on Thriller; he felt that the song was too weak to be part of the collection.^[3] The producer disliked the demo and did not care for the song's bass line.^[8] Jones wanted to cut Jackson's 29 second introduction, which Jackson insisted be kept. "I said, 'Michael we’ve got to cut that intro'", Jones later recalled. "He said, 'But that’s the jelly!'…'That’s what makes me want to dance'. And when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That’s what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."^[7] Jones also wanted to change the track's title to "Not My Lover", believing that people would think the song referred to the tennis player Billie Jean King. Jackson refused to change the title and asked Jones to give him co-producing credits for the track; he felt that the demo tape sounded exactly like the finished product. In addition, Jackson wanted extra royalties. Jones granted neither and the two fell out for several days.^[3][8]

Having sorted their differences, Jones had Jackson sing his vocal overdubs through a six-foot-long cardboard tube.^[7] Jackson's entire lead vocal was performed in one take; he had received vocal training every morning throughout the production.^[6] Jazz saxophonist Tom Scott played the lyricon, a rare wind-controlled synthesizer. Bass guitarist Louis Johnson was then brought in. Johnson played his part on every guitar he owned, Jackson finally settling for a Yamaha bass.^[7] Greg Phillinganes was also drafted in; he played the keyboard. He later said of the song, "'Billie Jean' is hot on every level. It’s hot rhythmically. It’s hot sonically, because the instrumentation is so minimal, you can really hear everything. It’s hot melodically. It’s hot lyrically. It’s hot vocally. It affects you physically, emotionally, even spiritually."^[7]

The song was mixed by Bruce Swedien ninety-one times—unusual for Swedien, who usually mixed a song once.^[8] Jones had told Swedien to create a drum sound that no one had ever heard before. The audio engineer was also told to add a different element, "sonic personality". "What I ended up doing was building a drum platform and designing some special little things, like a bass drum cover and a flat piece of wood that goes between the snare and the hi-hat", Swedien later wrote. "The bottom line is that there aren't many pieces of music where you can hear the first three or four notes of the drums, and immediately tell what the piece of music is." He concluded, "But I think that is the case with 'Billie Jean'—and that I attribute to sonic personality."^[7][8]

Composition

"Billie Jean" is considered a dance-pop R&B song. It opens with a drum beat: kick, snare and hi-hat, containing hardly any reverberation. The pattern continues unchanged throughout the entire song. After four bars, a repetitive bass line enters. It never rests for more than an eighth note and centers on a seventh. Each time it passes through the tonic the note is doubled by a distorted synth bass, played in unison with a shaker. This accompaniment is followed by a repetitive four-note synth, played staccato with a deep reverb. The defining chord progression is then established. Jackson's quiet vocals enter, accompanied by a finger-snap, which comes and goes during the verses, as the rhythm and chord progression repeats.^[6]

According to Inside the Hits, the lyrics refer to the commotion created by Billie Jean on a dance floor. She entices the crowd with a seductive come-on before luring Jackson to her bedroom, through the fragrance of her perfume. Jackson's vocal range spanned from a high baritone to a falsetto and he usually wrote melodies to show this range. However, in the verses of "Billie Jean", the singer's vocals range from a tenor to a low falsetto. A four note falsetto is showcased in the chorus and, during the last line, Jackson peaks at a full octave.^[6]

Following the two sharp repeats of "do think twice", at the end of the third verse, a cello-like synth cuts the chords of the fourth verse. Upon hearing that the baby's eyes resembles Jackson's, a voice laments, "oh no". This is met with Jackson's signature falsetto "hee hee".^[6] The bridge debuts the strings, holding a pedal tone tonic with the exception of two lines and a chord leading into the chorus. Violins are then played, followed by a four-note minor guitar solo. During the solo, vocal shouts, screams and laughs are added. Throughout this, the chord progression remains unaltered and is laced with Jackson's vocal hiccups. All the musical and vocal elements are brought together in the final chorus. In the fade, Jackson repeats the denial of fathering Billie Jean's child.^[6]

Release and reception

On December 1, 1982, Thriller was released to critical and commercial success.^[9] A month later, on January 2, 1983, "Billie Jean" was released as the album's second single, following Jackson's successful duet with Paul McCartney on "The Girl is Mine".^[10][11] The song topped Billboard's Hot 100 chart, where it remained for seven weeks. Topping the R&B chart within three weeks, "Billie Jean" was Jackson's fastest rising number one single since "ABC", "The Love You Save" and "I'll Be There" in 1970. Remaining at number one for nine weeks, the single was eventually toppled by The Gap Band's "Outstanding".^[10] The song peaked at number nine on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.^[11] Reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, "Billie Jean" and Thriller topped both the singles and album charts in the same week. This occurred on both sides of the Atlantic simultaneously; a feat very few acts have ever achieved. The song was the third best selling single of 1983 in the US, and ninth in the UK.^[10] The song also reached number one in Spain and Switzerland, the top ten in Austria, Italy, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, and number 45 in France.^[12]

In a Rolling Stone review, Christopher Connelly describes "Billie Jean" as a "lean, insistent funk number whose message couldn't be more blunt: 'She says I am the one/But the kid is not my son'". He adds that the track is a "sad, almost mournful song, but a thumping resolve underlies his [Jackson's] feelings".^[13] Blender states that the song is "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio". Adding that it was "frighteningly stark, with a pulsing, cat-on-the-prowl bass figure, whip-crack downbeat and eerie multi-tracked vocals ricocheting in the vast spaces between keyboards and strings". Overall, the magazine described the track as "a five-minute-long nervous breakdown, set to a beat".^[7] Stylus Magazine said of the song, "It’s one of the best representations of film noir in pop music, ending with no resolution except a single mother and selfish, careless scumball."^[14] In a review of Thriller 25, Allmusic observes that "Billie Jean" is "startling" in its "futuristic funk".^[15] The track also won praise from Jackson biographers. Nelson George stated that Jerry Hey's string arrangement added danger to "Billie Jean", with J. Randy Taraborrelli adding that it was "dark and sparse" by Quincy Jones' production standards.^[3][16]

"Billie Jean" has been recognized with numerous awards. At the 1984 Grammy Awards the song earned Jackson two of a record eight awards; Best R&B Song and Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. Winning the Billboard Music Award for favourite dance/disco 12" LP, their 1980's poll named "Billie Jean" as the "Black Single of the Decade". The American Music Awards recognized the track as the Favourite Pop/Rock Single. Cash Box honoured the song with the awards for Top Pop Single and Top Black Single. The track was recognized with the Top International Single award by the Canadian Black Music Awards, and rewarded with the Black Gold Award for Single of the Year. "Billie Jean" has also been awarded for its sales, winning the National Association of Recording Merchandisers Gift of Music award for best selling single in 1984. By 1989, the standard format single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least one million units.^[17][18] The digital sales of "Billie Jean" were certified gold in 2005, for shipments of at least 500,000 units.^[19] The total number of digital downloads in the US, as of March 2009, stands at 864,000.^[20]

Promotion

Music video

The short film for Jackson's "Billie Jean" is considered the video that brought MTV, a relatively unknown music channel, into mainstream attention. It was the first video by a black artist to be aired by the channel, as they felt black music wasn't "rock" enough.^[2] Directed by Steve Barron, the video shows a paparazzo following Jackson. The paparazzo never catches the singer, and when photographed Jackson fails to materialize on the developed picture. Dancing his way to Billie Jean's hotel room, Jackson walks along a sidewalk, each tile lighting up at his touch.^[2][21] Performing a quick spin, Jackson jumps and lands, freeze framed, on his toes. Upon arriving at the hotel, Jackson climbs the staircase to Billie Jean's room. Each step lights up as he touches it and a burnt out "Hotel" sign illuminates as he passes. Arriving at the scene, the paparazzo watches as Jackson disappears under the covers of Billie Jean's bed. Trailed by the police, the paparazzo is then arrested for spying on the couple.^[2] Jackson sported a new look for the video; Jheri curled hair and a surgically sculpted nose. Jackson's look, a black leather suit with a pink shirt and bow tie, was copied by children around the US. Imitation became so severe that despite pupil protests Bound Brook High School banned students from wearing a single white glove like Jackson had on Motown 25.^[2]

Walter Yetnikoff, the president of Jackson's record label, CBS, approached MTV to play the "Billie Jean" video. Yetnikoff became enraged when MTV refused to play the video, and threatened to go public with MTV's stance on black musicians. "I said to MTV, ‘I’m pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I’m not going to give you any more videos. And I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy.’"^[7] MTV relented and played the "Billie Jean" video in heavy rotation.^[7] With the airing of the video, Thriller went on to sell an additional 10 million copies.^[22] The short film earned Jackson the Billboard Video Award for Best Overall Video and he was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame in 1992.^[17] In a 2005 poll, the music video was ranked as the fifth greatest music video ever. The poll was of 31 pop stars, video directors, agents and journalists, including Natasha Bedingfield, Björk, Fatboy Slim, Avril Lavigne and Amy Winehouse. Thriller ranked at number two, behind Johnny Cash's "Hurt".^[23] The video was also ranked as the 35th greatest music video in a list compiled by MTV and TV Guide at the millennium.^[24]

Motown 25

On March 25, 1983, Jackson performed "Billie Jean" to critical and popular acclaim. Staged at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a celebration of Motown Records' twenty-fifth anniversary. Organised by Suzanne De Passe, the event was to feature all the previous Motown acts. The Motown stars were to reunite for one evening, paying tribute to Berry Gordy and acknowledging his effect on their lives. Jackson initially refused the invitation, stating that he did not want to perform live, or perform with his brothers again. Jackson reconsidered after a personal visit from Gordy, whom the singer had a great respect for. Jackson would perform on the condition that he have a solo spot. Gordy agreed and it was decided that the singer would perform "Billie Jean".^[25]

Following performances by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Mary Wells, the Jacksons took to the stage for the first Jackson brothers performance in eight years. The Jacksons sang a medley of their old hits, finishing with "I'll Be There" and left Michael alone on stage. After addressing the audience, Jackson went into his routine. Wearing black pants, leather penny loafers and a single white rhinestone glove, Jackson snapped a fedora to his head and struck a pose—his right hand on his hat and his left leg bent. Throwing the hat aside, Jackson lip synced to "Billie Jean".^[25] Then, during a musical interlude, the singer executed a move which many claim to have sealed his status as a pop icon.^[26][27] Gliding backwards, Jackson performed the moonwalk, before spinning on his heels and landing en pointe.^[25] It was the first time Jackson had performed the moonwalk in public, having practiced it in his kitchen prior to the show.^[28]

The program was watched by 50 million people and earned Jackson an Emmy nomination.^[29][30] With the performance Jackson reached a new audience and increased the sales of Thriller, which eventually became the biggest selling album in the world.^[28] The day after the show aired, Jackson was called by his childhood idol Fred Astaire who commended the singer. Another childhood idol, Sammy Davis Jr., later received Jackson's black sequined jacket, having admired it during the performance.^[28]

Jackson stated that he was disappointed in his performance; he'd wanted to remain on his toes longer than he had.^[25] Jackson subsequently said that "Billie Jean" was one of his favourite songs to perform live, but only when he didn't have to do it that way. "The audience wants a certain thing – I have to do the moonwalk in that spot", he later said. "I'd like to do a different version."^[17]

In a Top 100 list, compiled by VH1 and Entertainment Weekly in 2000, Jackson's performance was ranked as the sixth greatest rock 'n' roll TV moment.^[31] Five years later, Entertainment Weekly named Jackson's Motown 25 performance as one the most important pop culture moments in history. "It was a moment that crossed over in a way that no live musical performance ever had. There was a messianic quality to it", Entertainment Weekly editor Steve Daly commented.^[32]

Pepsi commercials

In 1984, Pepsi sponsored The Jacksons' Victory Tour. In return, Michael and his brothers were to star in two commercials for the company.^[33] Jackson had reworked "Billie Jean" for the commercial and entitled it "Pepsi Generation". The song was used as the official jingle for the commercials and released as a 7" promo single. The launch of "The Choice of a New Generation" campaign in February 1984 was attended by 1,600 people who were issued with a programme and a 7" single.^[34] During the filming of the second commercial a firework exploded and Jackson's hair caught fire, leaving the singer needing reconstructive surgery.^[35][36][37] The commercials were premiered at the Grammy Awards, with Jackson wearing a hairpiece to cover his burns as he collected a record eight awards.^[33][38]

Billie Jean 2008

Jackson's original version of "Billie Jean" was remixed by hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West for Thriller 25, a 25th anniversary reissue of Jackson's Thriller. Entitled "Billie Jean 2008", the remix garnered a mixed reception, most critics feeling that it was impossible to improve upon the original. Bill Lamb, of About.com, described the remix as "lifeless", adding that it sounded like West had "entered the studio fully intimidated by the genius of the original".^[39] Pitchfork Media's Tom Ewing explained that a guest verse "might have added dynamics to the mix's clumsy claustrophobia".^[40] Mike Joseph, reviewing Thriller 25 for PopMatters, described the track listing of the reissue as "pleasant" – West's "lazy" remix the only exception. He adds, "You’ve been given the opportunity to remix the most iconic single from one of the most iconic albums of all time, and all you can do is stick a drum machine on top of the song’s original arrangement?".^[41] Rob Sheffield, of Rolling Stone, disliked the removal of the original bass line, comparing it to "putting Bobby Orr on the ice without a hockey stick".^[42] IGN's Todd Gilchrist praised West's reworking, stating that it was a "pretty great track". He added, "it almost overplays the track's originally understated drama, his additions enhance the song and demonstrate that in a contemporary context."^[43]

Legacy

Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" is considered one of the most revolutionary songs in the history of pop music.^[1] Accompanying a single with a high-production music video was groundbreaking. Referenced by performers such as Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Usher, "Billie Jean" aided Thriller in becoming the biggest selling album of all time.^[1][54] The Guardian reflected that "more thought went into the production of this single than would go into the entire recording careers of Axl Rose, Coldplay, Shania Twain or Gwen Stefani".^[1] The performances of the song overshadowed the track; many preferred watching Jackson perform the song rather than simply listening to it. The song and accompanying performances would solidify Jackson's status as a pop icon.^[1]

Frequently listed in greatest song polling lists, "Billie Jean" was named the greatest dance record of all time by BBC Radio 2 listeners. Revealing the winner, presenter Zoe Ball said, "I'm delighted that Billie Jean has been voted the greatest dance record ever made. This is Jackson at his best. This track is way up there for me – Jacko's rendition of it at the Motown 25th anniversary show has got to be one of the great live performances of all time. The bass line is awesome, the production is killer. It's just perfect."^[55] In a list compiled by Rolling Stone and MTV in 2000, the song was listed as the sixth greatest pop song since 1963. "I Want You Back" and "Beat It" were placed at numbers nine and 22 respectively. The Beatles' "Yesterday", which Jackson owns the rights to, was placed at number one.^[56]

In a 2005 poll conducted by Sony Ericsson, "Billie Jean" was ranked as the world's third favorite song. Over 700,000 people in 60 different countries cast their votes. Voters from the UK placed "Billie Jean" at number one, ahead of "Thriller", with a further five of the top ten being solo recordings by Jackson. The song was also placed at number seven in MTV Europe's All-Time Top Ten R&B Songs. In a survey of over 600,000 people, Channel 4 and HMV revealed "Billie Jean" as the 16th best song in the Music of the Millenium poll.^[24]

In an interview, R&B artist Pharrell Williams stated that "Billie Jean" was one of his favorite songs. "It is hard to say if there is a greater song than "Billie Jean". I think there will never be a song like this one again, with this bass line, with this kind of effect, this eternalness, this perfection."^[57] The song has featured in the film Charlie's Angels and the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. When re-released, as part of the Visionary campaign in 2006, "Billie Jean" charted at number 11 in the UK. Remaining in the top 200 for over 40 weeks, it was the most successful reissue by some distance.^[24] To this day, "Billie Jean" is still in heavy rotation; it is played on over 90% of the world's radios and receives more than 250,000 spins per week in clubs around the world.^[57]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Following the successful chart performances of Thriller, "The Girl Is Mine" and "Billie Jean", "Beat It" was released on February 14, 1983, as the album's third single. The song was a worldwide commercial and critical success, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time. Both "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" occupied Top 5 positions at the same time, a feat matched by very few artists. One of the most lauded songs in history, "Beat It" was certified platinum in 1989.

Honored numerous times—including two Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards and an induction into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame—"Beat It" and the song's music video propelled Thriller into becoming the best-selling album of all time. The song was promoted with a short film that featured Jackson bringing two real life gangs together through the power of dance. Covered and sampled by modern artists, including Fergie and Fall Out Boy, the song was included in the National Highway Safety Commission's anti-drunk driving campaign. "Beat It" became a signature song of Jackson; the singer performed it on all of his world tours.

Production and music

"Beat It" was written by Michael Jackson for his Thriller album. Co-producer Quincy Jones had wanted an ambitious black rock 'n' roll song. Rock 'n' roll, however, was a genre that Jackson had never previously shown an interest in.^[2][3] Jackson later said of "Beat It", "I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were to buy a rock song… That is how I approached it and I wanted the kids to really enjoy it—the school kids as well as the college kids."^[4] Upon hearing the first recorded vocals, Jones stated that it was exactly what he was looking for.^[2] Rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, lead guitarist of hard rock band Van Halen, was then drafted in to add a guitar solo.^[5][3] Upon being telephoned by Jones, requesting that the guitarist participate on the track, Van Halen thought he was receiving a prank call. Having established that the call was genuine, Van Halen recorded his guitar solo free of any charge. "I did it as a favor", the musician later said. "I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing – I don't do something unless I want to do it."^[6] Van Halen recorded his contribution following Jones and Jackson arriving at the guitarist's house with a "skeleton version" of the song. Fellow guitarist Steve Lukather, from the band Toto, recalled, "Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo—but Quincy thought it was too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and that is what was released."^[6] The song was among the last four completed for Thriller; the others were "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" and "The Lady in My Life".^[6]

On the record, as Van Halen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Van Halen's recording studio. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar.^[7] The lyrics of "Beat It" are about defeat and courage, and have been described as a "sad commentary on human nature".^[8] The line "don't be a macho man" is said to express Jackson's dislike of violence, whilst also referencing the childhood abuse he faced at the hands of his father Joseph.^[9]

Release and reception

"Beat It" was released on February 14, 1983, following the successful chart performances of "The Girl Is Mine" and "Billie Jean". Frank Dileo, the vice president of Epic Records, convinced Jackson to release "Beat It" whilst "Billie Jean" was heading towards number one. Dileo, who would later become the singer's manager, predicted that both singles would remain in the Top 10 at the same time.^[6] "Billie Jean" remained atop the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks, before being toppled by "Come On Eileen". The Dexys Midnight Runners' song stayed at number one for a single week, before Jackson reclaimed the position with "Beat It".^[11][6] "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" occupied Top 5 positions at the same time, a feat matched by very few artists. The single remained at the top of the Hot 100 for a total of three weeks.^[6] The song also charted at number one on the US R&B singles chart and number 14 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart in the US.^[12] "Beat It" also claimed the top spot in Spain and New Zealand, reached number three in the UK, the Top 20 in Austria, Norway, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, numbers 31 in Denmark and number 47 in France.^[12][13]

In a Rolling Stone review, Christopher Connelly describes "Beat It" as the best song on Thriller, adding that it "ain't-no-disco AOR track". He notes of the "nifty dance song", "Jackson's voice soars all over the melody, Eddie Van Halen checks in with a blistering guitar solo, you could build a convention center on the backbeat".^[14] Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine states that the song is both "tough" and "scared".^[15] Robert Christgau claimed that the song, in which Eddie Van Halen "wends his night in the service of antimacho", is the "triumph and the thriller". Slant Magazine observed that the song was an "uncharacteristic dalliance with the rock idiom".^[16] Stylus expressed amazement that Van Halen performed a rock guitar solo on a R&B record.^[17] The track also won praise from Jackson biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, who stated that the song was "rambunctious".^[3]

"Beat It" has been recognized with several awards. At the 1984 Grammy Awards the song earned Jackson two of a record eight awards; Record of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance. The track won the Billboard Music Award for favorite dance/disco 12" LP in 1983.^[18][12] The single was certified gold, a few months after its release, for shipments of at least one million units. In 1989, the standard format single was re-certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, based on the revised sales level of one million units for platinum singles.^[19] The total number of digital sales in the US, as of March 2009, stands at 668,000.^[20]

Music video

The short film for "Beat It", directed by Bob Giraldi and choreographed by Michael Peters, helped establish Jackson as an international pop icon.^[21][22] The film was Jackson's first treatment of black youth and the streets. Both "Beat It" and Thriller are notable for their "mass choreography" of synchronized dancers, a Jackson trademark.^[23] The video included about 80 genuine gang members—to add authenticity to the production—including 18 professional dancers.^[24] Inspired by the Broadway musical West Side Story, the video cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it.^[18][24] The video's featured choreography opened up many job opportunities for dancers in the US.^[25]

The music video opens with the news of a fight circulating a diner. This scene repeats itself at a pool hall, where gang members arrive via foot, forklift, and out of sewers. The camera cuts to a scene of Jackson lying on a bed, contemplating the senseless violence. The singer leaves the room upon hearing the commotion caused by the rival gangs. Donning a red leather jacket, Jackson dances his way through the diner and pool hall, towards the fight. Arriving at the scene, the singer breaks up the fight and launches into a dance routine. The video ends with the gang members joining him in the dance, agreeing that violence is not the solution to their problems.^[22]

The video received recognition through numerous awards. The American Music Awards named the short film their Favorite Pop/Rock Video and their Favorite Soul Video. The Black Gold Awards honored Jackson with the Best Video Performance award. The Billboard Video Awards recognized the video with 7 awards; Best Overall Video Clip, Best Performance by a Male Artist, Best Use of Video to Enhance a Song, Best Use of Video to Enhance an Artist's Image, Best Choreography, Best Overall Video and Best Dance/Disco 12". The short film was ranked by Rolling Stone as the number one video, in both their critic's and reader's poll. The video was later inducted into the Music Video Producer's Hall of Fame.^[18]

Live performances

On July 4, 1984, Jackson performed "Beat It" live with his brothers during The Jacksons' Victory Tour. The brothers were joined on stage by Eddie Van Halen, who played the guitar in his solo spot.^[18] The song became a signature song of Jackson; the singer performed it on all of his world tours; Bad, Dangerous and HIStory.^[18][26] The October 1, 1992 Dangerous Tour performance of "Beat It" was included on the DVD of the singer's Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection box set. The DVD was later repackaged as Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour.^[18][26] Jackson also performed the song on the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special, a concert celebrating the musician's thirtieth year as a solo performer. The performance featured Slash as the song's guest guitarist.^[26]

Legacy

Michael Jackson's "Beat It" has been cited as one of the most successful, recognized, awarded and celebrated songs in the history of pop music; both the song and video had a large impact on pop culture.^[2] The song is said to be a "pioneer" in black rock music, and is considered one of the cornerstones of the Thriller album.^[2] Eddie Van Halen has been praised for adding "the greatest guitar solo", aiding "Beat It" into becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time.^[2]

Shortly after its release, "Beat It" was included in the National Highway Safety Commission's anti-drunk driving campaign, "Drinking and Driving Can Kill a Friendship". The song was also included on the accompanying album. Jackson collected an award from President Ronald Reagan at the White House, in recognition for his support of the campaign.^[18] Reagan stated that Jackson was "proof of what a person can accomplish through a lifestyle free of alcohol or drug abuse. People young and old respect that. And if Americans follow his example, then we can face up to the problem of drinking and driving, and we can, in Michael's words, beat it."^[71]

Frequently listed in greatest song polling lists, "Beat It" was ranked as the world's fourth favorite song in a 2005 poll conducted by Sony Ericsson.^[26] Over 700,000 people in 60 different countries cast their votes.^[26] Voters from the UK placed "Billie Jean" at number one, ahead of "Thriller", with a further five of the top ten being solo recordings by Jackson.^[26] The song was featured in the films Back to the Future II, Zoolander and Undercover Brother.^[26] When re-released, as part of the Visionary campaign in 2006, "Beat It" charted at number 15 in the UK.^[26]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (usually shortened to HIStory) is a double album by Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995, and is Jackson's ninth album. The first disc, named "HIStory Begins" consists of a selection of Jackson's greatest hits from the singer's past fifteen years, while the second, named "HIStory Continues" features new songs, with the exception of "Come Together", which was recorded in 1987.

HIStory on Film, Volume II gathers 14 of his music videos and live TV performances, including his appearance at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards and his rendition of "Billie Jean" from the Motown 25th Anniversary special. Some videos, such as "Liberian Girl" and "Earth Song" were shown infrequently in the U.S., while classics such as John Landis' "Thriller" mini-film showcase the detailed choreography, sets, and costumes that became staples of nearly all of Jackson's videos. History on Film, Vol. 2 also includes Mark Romanek's stylish, interstellar clip for Michael and Janet Jackson's duet "Scream" and videos for singles such as "Smooth Criminal," the Free Willy theme "Childhood," "Stranger in Moscow", and "You Are Not Alone."

HIStory has been cited as the best-selling multiple disc album ever released, with worldwide sales of 20 million (40 million in terms of units). It is the top grossing album of Jackson's career behind Thriller. The album won one Grammy for Best Music Video — Short Form for "Scream." It is Jackson's first album to have contained profanity.

The first disc of greatest hits was reissued in 2001 as a single disc under the name Greatest Hits: HIStory, Vol. 1.

The first single released from the album was the double A-side "Scream/Childhood". "Scream" was a duet, performed with his youngest sister Janet Jackson. The single had the highest debut on the Billboard Hot 100 at number five, and received a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals".^[100] "You Are Not Alone" was the second single released from HIStory; it holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[67] It was seen as a major artistic and commercial success, receiving a Grammy nomination for "Best Pop Vocal Performance".^[100] In late 1995, Jackson was rushed to a hospital after collapsing during rehearsals for a televised performance; the incident was caused by a stress related panic attack.^[101] "Earth Song" was the third single released from HIStory, and topped the UK singles chart for six weeks over Christmas 1995; it sold a million copies, making it Jackson's most successful single in the UK.^[100]

In early 1996, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a press release charging Jackson with antisemitism regarding lyrics in the song "They Don't Care About Us", the fourth single from HIStory.^[102] The song had originally been recorded with lyrics that included the phrase "Jew me, sue me", and "Kick me, kike me". The ADL complained and Jackson responded by saying he would re-record the lyrics before the album went into production. However the ADL's press release charged that Jackson had performed the song live and included the lyrics in question during the live performance.^[102] The dispute over the lyrics upset long-time Jackson friend Steven Spielberg, who considered the song anti-semitic.^[103]

The HIStory World Tour began on September 7, 1996, and finished on October 15, 1997. Jackson performed 82 concerts in 58 cities to over 4.5 million fans. The show, which visited 5 continents and 35 countries, became Jackson's most successful in terms of audience figures.^[60] During the Australian leg of the HIStory World Tour, Jackson married dermatologist nurse Deborah Jeanne Rowe, who bore him two children, a son, Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr. (also known as "Prince"), and a daughter, Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson.^[96][104] The pair first met in the mid-1980s, when Jackson was diagnosed with vitiligo. She spent many years treating his illness as well as providing emotional support. They built a strong friendship, then became romantically involved.^[105] Originally there were no plans to marry, but following Rowe's first pregnancy, Jackson's mother intervened and persuaded them to do so.^[106] Jackson later claimed that he was in such a rush to leave the hospital with daughter Paris in 1998 that he cut the cord and left with the baby covered in blood, taking the placenta with him in his haste.^[107] After the couple divorced in 1999, with Rowe giving full custody rights of the children to Jackson, they remained friends.^[108]

In 1997, Jackson released Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix, which contained remixes of hit singles from HIStory and five new songs. Worldwide sales stand at 6 million copies as of 2007, making it the best selling remix albums ever released. It reached number one in the UK, as did the title track.^[109][110] In the US, the album was certified platinum, but only reached number 24.^[25][100] Forbes placed his annual income at $35 million in 1996 and $20 million in 1997.^[66]

Throughout June 1999, Jackson was involved in a number of charitable events. He joined Luciano Pavarotti for a benefit concert in Modena, Italy. The show was in support of the non-profit organization Warchild, and raised a million dollars for the refugees of Kosovo, as well as additional funds for the children of Guatemala.^[111] Later that month, Jackson organized a set of "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concerts in Germany and Korea. Other artists involved included Slash, The Scorpions, Boyz II Men, Luther Vandross, Mariah Carey, A. R. Rahman, Prabhu Deva Sundaram, Shobana Chandrakumar, Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti. The proceeds went to the "Nelson Mandela Children's Fund", the Red Cross and UNESCO.^[112]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

"Earth Song" was accompanied by a lavish music video shot on four geographical regions. It centered around the destruction and rebirth of Earth and went on to receive a Grammy nomination in 1997. The song was a top five hit in most European countries. In the UK, it remains Jackson's best-selling single. "Earth Song" was not released as a single in the United States.

Jackson performed the song at the 1996 BRIT Awards, but was interrupted when Jarvis Cocker stormed the stage, offended with the imagery presented. Jackson went on to receive recognition from various animal and environmental organizations.

Background

Jackson already had a long-standing history of writing charitable or socially conscious material. As an adult Jackson used his fame and wealth to promote various causes. In 1985, he co-wrote the charity single "We Are the World" with Lionel Richie, which was released worldwide to aid the poor in Africa and the US. The single became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with nearly 20 million copies sold and millions of dollars donated to famine relief. It was also the first time Jackson was seen as a humanitarian.^[1] All of the profits from his single "Man in the Mirror" went to charity.^[2][3] Jackson founded the Heal the World Foundation in 1992, inspired by his charity single of the same name.^[4][5]

Following the illness and death of Ryan White, Jackson helped draw public attention to HIV/AIDS, something that was still controversial at the time. He publicly pleaded with the Clinton Administration at Bill Clinton's Inaugural Gala to give more money to HIV/AIDS charities and research. He would go on to write the song "Gone Too Soon" for White and other victims of the illness.^[6][7]

Production and music

"Earth Song" was written and composed by Jackson; production of the song was a collaborative effort between Jackson, David Foster and Bill Bottrell.^[8] Andrae Crouch's Choir and Jackson engage in a back and forth chant as the song reaches it's climatic finale.^[9] Jackson's intent was to create a song that was lyrically deep yet melodically simple, so the whole world, particularly non-English-speaking fans, could sing along. He conceptualized a song that had an emotional message.^[10] "Earth Song" is a ballad that incorporates elements of blues, gospel and opera. In the socially conscious track, Jackson issues a plea to God about problems ranging from war to endangered animals.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Reception

Critical

The Philadelphia Inquirer described the track as "a healing, rhythmic ballad that evokes religious imagery".^[14] A review in The Sacramento Bee was favorable, describing Jackson's vocal performance as "cool".^[17] Michael Mehle of Rocky Mountain News described the finale as "anthemic" and a "powerful gospel opus".^[13] A Ledger-Enquirer review observed of "Earth Song", "[it] enjoys the same kind of subtlety, building to a dramatic call-and-response finish with the Andrae Crouch Choir".^[9] Contra Costa Times's review called it "a bit sappy and overblown" but also acknowledged that it was "epic" and destined to be a "massive smash hit".^[18]

James Hunter of Rolling Stone stated, "The slow blues-operatic 'Earth Song' for all its noble sentiments, sounds primarily like a showpiece".^[12] Deepika Reddy of The Daily Collegian expressed the opinion that someone other than Jackson pushed to have "Earth Song" in the final album selection for commercial appeal.^[15] A San Jose Mercury News review called it "flat" and "whiny", believing Jackson had already experimented with these concepts earlier in his career.^[16]

Commercial

"Earth Song" remains Jackson's best selling single in the UK, where it sold more than one million copies. It debuted at number one, where it remained for six weeks throughout December 1995—beating the U2/Brian Eno project Passengers in competition to win the Christmas number one spot—and into the new year.^[19][20] During its stay at number one, "Earth Song" kept the first single released by The Beatles in 25 years, "Free as a Bird", off the number one position. In early December, bookmakers correctly predicted that Jackson would keep The Beatles off the top position and go on to attain the Christmas number-one single.^[21][22]

The song also took the number one position in Spain and Switzerland, peaking within the top five in almost every European state.^[23] The song was only released to radio in the U.S., appearing on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart.^[24]

In 2006, "Earth Song" reached number 55 on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart, following the Visionary: The Video Singles campaign, whereby 20 of Jackson's hit singles from the 1980s–1990s were reissued in several European countries.^[25]

Environmental recognition

Jackson received the Genesis Award: 1995 Doris Day Music Award, given each year for animal sensitivity.^[19] In 2008, a writer for the Nigeria Exchange noted, "'Earth Song' drew the world's attention to the degradation and bastardization of the earth as a fall out of various human activities".^[26]

Music video

The music video for "Earth Song," directed by fine art photographer Nick Brandt, was expensive and well-received; it gained a Le Film Fantastique: Best Video Award in 1996 and a Grammy nomination for Best Music Video, Short Form in 1997. The production had an environmental theme, showing images of animal cruelty, deforestation, pollution and war. Jackson and the world's people unite in a spiritual chant—"Earth Song"—which summons a force that heals the world. Using special effects, time is reversed so that life returns, war ends and the forests regrow. The video closes with a request for donations to Jackson's Heal the World Foundation.^[19][27] The clip was shown infrequently in the United States.^[28]

The video was filmed in four geographic regions. The first location was the Amazon Rainforest, where a large part was destroyed a week after the video's completion. Natives of the region appeared in the video and were not actors. The second scene was a war zone in Croatia, with residents of the area. The third location was Tanzania, which incorporated scenes of illegal poaching and hunting into the video. No animals were harmed in the making of the "Earth Song", as the footage came from documentary archives. However, a poacher killed an elephant within a mile of the shot. The final location was in Warwick, New York, where a safe forest fire was simulated in a corn field.^[27]

Brit Awards Performance

In 1996, Jackson performed “Earth Song” at the BRIT Awards, he was also there to collect a special “Artist of a Generation” award. Jackson sang while dangling off the edge of a high rise crane lift. Below, a chorus of people joined the performance and many of them began to physically embrace Jackson upon his descent. In response to the performance, an intoxicated Jarvis Cocker jumped onto the stage, without permission, and began to swear at Jackson with the use of fingers. Jarvis had to be physically removed from the stage by security guards and in the process three children were injured. Jarvis explained that he found the performance offensive, that Jackson portrayed himself as Christ-like and could do as he pleased because of his immense wealth and power.

Commentator John Street, in his published piece Politics and Popular Culture, stated “But to read popular culture as a straight forward text is to take a very narrow view of its meaning, and hence of its political message. As we have noted, the text’s meaning will depend on how it is heard and read. Michael Jackson may have intended his ‘Earth Song’ to be an exercise in compassion; others–like Jarvis Cocker–saw it quite differently. One reason these alternative readings emerge is because of the way the performance of popular culture engages more than a literal text, it employs gestures and symbols, tones of voice, looks and glances, all of which might tell a different story”.

Brit Awards Performance 1996

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Watch the Making of They Don't Care About Us

Featuring Spike Lee, the Director

"They Don't Care About Us" is the fourth single from Michael Jackson's album HIStory. The song remains one of the most controversial pieces Jackson ever composed. In the US, media scrutiny surrounding alleged antisemitic lyrics were the catalyst for Jackson issuing multiple apologies and re-recording the album–altering the lyrics for that particular track. The singer countered allegations of antisemitism, arguing that reviews had misinterpreted the context of the song, either unintentionally or deliberately. Musically, it is an aggressive hip-hop production about social ills.

The song was accompanied by two music videos directed by Spike Lee. The first was shot in Brazil, in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The second video was shot in a prison and contained video footage of multiple references to human rights abuses.

Commercially, the song became a top ten hit in all European countries. In the US, radio stations were reluctant to play the controversial composition; it, however, managed to peak at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Dispute regarding lyrics and context

The possibility that the lyrics to "They Don't Care About Us" preached antisemitism was first raised publicly by The New York Times on June 15, just days before the album's release. The publication highlighted the lyrics, "Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me" and labeled them "slurs".^[1] Jackson responded directly to the publication, stating:

The idea that these lyrics could be deemed objectionable is extremely hurtful to me, and misleading. The song in fact is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking. It is about the injustices to young people and how the system can wrongfully accuse them. I am angry and outraged that I could be so misinterpreted.^[1]

When questioned further about the lyrics on the ABC News program Prime Time Live, Jackson denied that "They Don't Care About Us" was anti-Semitic, stating, "It's not anti-Semitic because I'm not a racist person … I could never be a racist. I love all races."^[1] The singer also noted that some of his closest employees and friends were Jewish. That same day, Jackson received support from his manager and record label, who described the lyrics as "brilliant", that they were about opposition to prejudice and taken out of context.^[1]

The following day, two leading members of the Jewish community stated that Jackson's attempt to make a song critical of discrimination had backfired. They expressed the opinion that the lyrics used were unsuitable for a teenage audience that might not understand the song's context, adding that the song was too ambiguous for some listeners to understand. They accepted that Jackson meant well and suggested that the entertainer write an explanation in the album booklet.^[2] Jackson's close Jewish friend Steven Spielberg also voiced his disapproval.^[3]

On June 17, Jackson issued another public apology to anyone offended by his choice of words. He promised that future copies of the album would include an apology, by this point however, two million copies of the record had already been shipped. The singer concluded, "I just want you all to know how strongly I am committed to tolerance, peace and love, and I apologize to anyone who might have been hurt".^[4] The next day, in his review of HIStory, Jon Pareles of The New York Times alleged, "In … 'They Don't Care About Us', he gives the lie to his entire catalogue of brotherhood anthems with a burst of anti-Semitism: 'Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don't you black or white me'".^[5]

On June 21, Patrick Macdonald of The Seattle Times criticized Jackson, stating, "He may have lived a sheltered life, but there really is no excuse for using terms like 'Jew me' and 'kike' in a pop song, unless you make it clear you are denouncing such terms, and do so in an artful way".^[6] Two days later, Jackson decided, despite the cost incurred, he would return to the studio and alter the offending wording on future copies of the album; "Jew me" and "Kike me" would be substituted with "do me" and "strike me". He reiterated his acceptance that the song was offensive to some.^[7][8]

Spike Lee, who would direct the music videos for "They Don't Care About Us", noted a double standard in the music industry. He explained that the use of the word nigger, in music, does not cause controversy. Additionally, Jackson did use the word nigger on another song on the HIStory album, but it did not attract media attention.^[9]

The song, however, is attempting to address social issues, whether focused on Jews, African-Americans, Criminals etc.

Music and other commentary

The hip-hop song begins with a child chanting, "Enough is enough of this garbage!" and a female helps sing the chorus—"All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us".^[2][10][11] Parts of the song are performed in the key F major. Instruments used include a piano and guitar.^[12]

Jon Pareles believed Jackson was calling himself "a victim of police brutality" and a "victim of hate". He continued, "A listener might wonder just who 'Us' is supposed to be … To make the songs lodge in the ear, Jackson uses elementary singsong melodies — a 'nyah, nyah' two-note motif in 'They Don't Care About Us' … and he comes up with all kinds of surprises in the arrangements".^[5]

James Hunter of Rolling Stone magazine noted that musically, Jackson was no longer trying to hide any eccentricities he had, he expressed the opinion that in "They Don't Care About Us", the pop musician sounded more embattled than ever.^[13] Jim Farber of New York Daily News said that Jackson "snarled" while singing, that the song "clicked" and has an "original clattering rhythm".^[14]

The review of HIStory in The Washington Times noted of "They Don't Care About Us": "[it] follows fast, inviting more pathos – and more controversy. With haunting clapping and a police scanner in the background",^[15] The Sacramento Bee describe it as a "looped reggae-lite dance beat".^[16]

Chart performance

In the UK, it peaked at number four and stayed on the chart for three months.^[17] The song found particular success in Europe, peaking within the top ten in all states. European highlights came in Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Sweden, in these countries the song became a top five hit and stayed in their respective charts for a minimum of 21 weeks.^[18] The lyrical controversy surrounding "They Don't Care About Us" brought commercial disappointment in the US; radio stations were reluctant to play the song. It peaked at number 30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, falling short of the record breaking success of the two previous singles "Scream/Childhood" and "You Are Not Alone".^[19]

Music videos

Producing the first video proved to be a difficult task for Jackson. State authorities unsuccessfully tried to ban the singer filming in Rio de Janeiro. Officials feared images of poverty might affect tourism and accused Jackson of exploiting the poor. Ronaldo Cezar Coelho, the state secretary for Industry, Commerce and Tourism demanded editing rights over the finished product, stating, "I don't see why we should have to facilitate films that will contribute nothing to all our efforts to rehabilitate Rio's image". Some were concerned that scenes of poverty and human rights abuses would affect their chances of hosting the Olympics in 2004. Others supported Jackson's wish to highlight the problems of the region, arguing that the government were embarrassed by their own failings. A judge banned all filming but this ruling was overturned by an injunction. Although officials were angry, the residents were not. Thousands pushed through security and one fan managed to hug the singer, both of them falling to the floor in the confusion. The woman was escorted away and Jackson continued to sing and dance for the director (the incident can be seen in the finished video). 1,500 policemen and 50 residents acting as security guards effectively sealed off the Dona Marta shantytown. It was alleged that Jackson's production team had negotiated with drug dealers in order to gain permission to film in one of the city's shantytowns.^[20][21]

The music video was directed by Spike Lee, asked why he choice Lee to direct the video, Jackson responded, "'They Don't Care About Us' has an edge, and Spike Lee had approached me. It's a public awareness song and that's what he is all about. It's a protest kind of song … and I think he was perfect for it".^[22] Jackson also collaborated with 200 members of the cultural group Olodum, "who swayed to the heavy beat of Salvador's 'samba-reggae' music".^[23][20] The media interest surrounding the music video exposed Olodum to 140 countries around the world. It brought them worldwide fame and increased their credibility in Brazil.^[24]

Speaking of the music video, in The New Brazilian Cinema, Lúcia Nagib observed:

When Michael Jackson decided to shoot his new music video in a favela of Rio de Janeiro … he used the favela people as extras in a visual super-spectacle … All the while there is a vaguely political appeal in there … The interesting aspect of Michael Jackson's strategy is the efficiency with which it gives visibility to poverty and social problems in countries like Brazil without resorting to traditional political discourse. The problematic aspect is that it does not entail a real intervention in that poverty.^[25]

For the first time in his career, Jackson made a second music video for a single. This second version was filmed in a prison with cell mates; In the video Jackson is seen handcuffed. It also contains real footage of police attacking African Americans, the Ku Klux Klan, war, genocide, starving children, assassination, execution, and other infamous human rights abuses by the State, such as Tank Man.^[26]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

Bad is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records. The record was released nearly five years after his last studio album. Twenty years after its release, the album has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, and shipped 8 million units in the United States. Bad is the first, and currently only, album ever to feature five Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles.^[3]

This album also saw Jackson have even more freedom over his album than he did with the two previous albums, Off the Wall and the world’s best selling album of all time, Thriller, as he wrote and composed nine of the album’s eleven tracks, and co-wrote and produced another, “Man in the Mirror”. This album also saw the squeaky clean pop idol turn “Bad” as he went through a surprising new image change.

The album continued its success in the late ’80s and won 2 Grammys, one for Best Music Video – Short Form for Leave Me Alone and one for Best Engineered Album – Non Classical won by Bruce Swedien & Humberto Gatica.^[4]. Bad was also ranked number 43 in the 100 Greatest Albums of All Time of the MTV Generation in 2009 listed by VH1^[5]. It was ranked number 202 on the Rolling Stone magazine 500 Greatest Albums of All Time^[6].

Music video

The full music video for “Bad” is an 18-minute short film written by novelist and screenwriter Richard Price and based on the case of Edmund Perry. The video was directed by Martin Scorsese and Michael Jackson stars in it. Jackson portrays a boy named Daryl who has just completed a successful term at an expensive private school. He returns to the city by subway, arriving in a derelict neighborhood.

Daryl arrives to find his house empty (his mother is played by Roberta Flack, albeit in voiceover), but is greeted by his old friends, led by Mini Max (an emerging Wesley Snipes) and spends an evening with them. At first relations are friendly, if slightly awkward, but the situation deteriorates once the rest of the gang realize how much Daryl has changed, and in particular how uncomfortable he has become with their tendencies towards petty crime. In an attempt to show his friends he is still “bad”, Daryl takes the gang to a subway station (The Hoyt Schermerhorn Station in Brooklyn) where he attempts to mug an elderly man but bottles out at the last minute. Mini Max berates Daryl and tells him that he’s no longer bad.

After more abuse from Mini Max, the video jumps from black and white to color and Daryl, now dressed head to foot in leather and joined by a crowd of dancing punks, sings “Bad” (it is at this point that the edited video generally begins when played on television). His insistence that Max is headed for a fall are nearly Daryl’s undoing, but eventually his friend accepts that “that’s the way it goes down”, and, after a final handshake, heads off leaving Daryl. The scene shifts back to black and white as Daryl, alone and back in his tracksuit, watching them leave.

The full 18-minute-long version of the video for “Bad” first appeared on the DVD version of Video Greatest Hits – HIStory in 2001.

History

Recording

Jackson began recording demos for the anticipated follow-up to Thriller a few months after the 1984 Victory Tour with The Jacksons. Recording took place between November 1986 and July 9, 1987^[7] (except for “Another Part of Me” which was recorded for Captain EO in 1986). Jackson wrote a reported sixty songs for the new album and recorded thirty, wanting to use them all on a three-disc set. Longtime producer Quincy Jones cut these down to a ten-track single LP. The CD release also contained a bonus 11th track, “Leave Me Alone”.

Jackson wrote nine of the eleven tracks himself. Terry Britten (writer of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It”) and Graham Lyle wrote “Just Good Friends”. Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard wrote “Man in the Mirror”. Stevie Wonder sings co-lead vocal on “Just Good Friends”, and Steve Stevens contributes the guitar solo for “Dirty Diana”.

However, while recording the tracks for Bad, there was some debate between Jackson and Jones on which songs would be put on the album. For example, they both had a hard time deciding on either “Streetwalker” or “Another Part of Me” (which was recorded for Captain EO in 1986) to be put on the album. Jackson wanted “Streetwalker”, wheras Jones wanted “Another Part of Me”. Ultimately, it was decided by Jackson’s manager Frank Dileo. According to Quincy Jones from “Bad: Special Edition”, there was a meeting among the three. In the meeting, Jackson played “Streetwalker” first, and Dileo was not impressed. But Dileo started to dance when “Another Part of Me” came on. This is what eventually put “Another Part of Me” onto the album.

“Bad” was originally intended as a duet between Jackson and Prince. A rivalry had developed between the two over the years, and Jackson’s plan was to leak stories to the media about rising tensions between himself and Prince, culminating in the release of the song. Prince turned down the project, explaining to Jones that the song “would be a hit without (him) on it”.

“I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” was supposed to feature a famous female singer. Reportedly Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston all turned down the offer, before Jones chose R&B singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett.

Reception

By the time Jackson released this album, sales of its predecessor, Thriller, had already reached forty million, raising expectations for Bad. Bad became the first of Jackson’s albums to debut at number-one on the Billboard 200 where it remained for the next six consecutive weeks. The RIAA certified Bad for having sold eight million copies in the U.S. alone.^[8] In the U.K, the album sold 500,000 copies in just five days and is currently certified 13x platinum, for sales of 3.9 million making it Jackson’s biggest-selling album in the UK. Globally, it’s Jackson’s overall third best-selling recording, behind Thriller and Dangerous, with 30 million copies sold.^[9]

Jackson set another record with this album, becoming the first, and currently only, artist to have five songs to hit number-one from one album.^[10] In July 2006, it was announced by the The Official UK Charts Company that Bad was the ninth biggest selling album in British history.^[11] It turned out to be the last collaborative effort by Jackson and Jones, as Jackson moved on to write and produce more of his own records, particularly with Teddy Riley, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and Rodney Jerkins.

Rolling Stone stated that “even without a milestone recording like “Billie Jean”, Bad is still a better record than Thriller.”^[12] The magazine further went on to say that the “filler” content in Bad – including songs such as “Speed Demon”, “Dirty Diana” and “Liberian Girl” – is written by Jackson himself, making Bad “richer, sexier and better than Thriller’s forgettables.”^[12]

Despite the records success, in a poll of 23,000 US citizens, released by Rolling Stone, Jackson won “worst album” for Bad and “worst single” for “Bad”. TIME gave the opinion that the singer was suffering a backlash in certain parts of the US. The publication suggested that the singer’s media image was triggering the poll, not the music.^[13]

In 2001, a special edition was released with three new songs and a new booklet containing lyrics and never-before-seen photos.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 202 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.^[14]

Marketing

During the Bad period was one of the first times Jackson used marketing to his advantage, more so than he had with Thriller. A year before Bad, Jackson used several tactics to get the media interested in his short film, Captain EO, during the recording of Bad. Jackson played a space captain in the mini-film, which was produced by George Lucas. By the time Jackson released Bad, he produced a commemorative special on his life, “The Magic Returns”, which aired on CBS. At the end of the documentary, the channel debuted Jackson’s “Bad” short film, which featured then up-and-coming actor Wesley Snipes. Jackson’s marketing strategy, mastered by Frank DiLeo among others, also included Jackson producing another mini-movie around the time of the Bad World Tour. That film, Moonwalker, included performances of songs from “Bad” including “Speed Demon”, “Leave Me Alone” and “Smooth Criminal”, the latter two released as sole videos at the end of the film. Jackson also used the opportunity to write about his life up until that point releasing 1988′s Moonwalk. Jackson’s tour for Bad did well, grossing $125 million by the end of its tenure. Though Jackson furthered his stance as a global pop superstar, in America, he failed to match to the sales of Thriller, the greatest selling album of all time, having some in the media calling it a “disappointment” compared to Thriller.^{[citation needed]}

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

This video remix stars Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, and Leslie Caron dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”. The dance sequences were taken from the 1953 film The Band Wagon and the 1955 film Daddy Long Legs.

“Smooth Criminal” was the centerpiece in Jackson’s short film Moonwalker. It is the seventh single from Michael Jackson’s Bad album (1987). The song contains a fast-paced beat intertwined with Jackson’s lyrics about a woman named Annie, who has been attacked in her apartment by Mr. Big/Frankie Lideo. It was released as a single on October 24, 1988 and peaked at 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[1] It was re-released on April 10, 2006 as a part of the Visionary: The Video Singles box-set. The re-released Visionary single charted at #19 in the UK. In 2003, the song appeared on the Number Ones greatest hits album. In the film, Jackson plays with his young friends outdoors when they come upon a cave, which leads to a kind of dream world in which “Mr. Big” Frankie Lideo has been selling drugs to youths in order to get everyone hooked. In the dream world, Jackson must save a kidnapped girl named Annie from Mr. Big’s soldier-like henchmen, which he does through the power of a “wishing star”. In the process, he transforms into a super-fast car, a robotic man and even a spaceship before saving her life. “Smooth Criminal” was presented in a ten-minute long clip in which Jackson dances through a 1930s-style nightclub (known in the film as “Club 30s”). The version of the song used in the clip is different from the album version: the background beats are different, there are several new lyrics (see below), and the song is much longer overall. The version of the video that is usually aired on network television is 4 minutes long and is merely a sped up version of the clip from the film. The ten minute long “Smooth Criminal” clip is reminiscent of the musical number known as “The Girl Hunt Ballet” which is featured as the final number in the 1952 musical film The Band Wagon starring Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse. “The Girl Hunt Ballet” is a spoof of Mickey Spillane’s hard-boiled detective novels.^[2]

Tense and agitated, Jackson turns his voice into a machine gun, reducing the verses to a hail of tiny sounds. He pulls off a mean feat in this one, seeming to sympathize with both the aggressor and the aggressee, his hoarse, whispered “Annie, are you OK?”[9]

Smooth Criminal was a song that almost didn’t make it into the Bad album. With the final decision to include the song, Jackson originally decided to make the music video a western-styled short film. However, he later decided to change the style into a 1930s nightclub style.^[3]

An early version of the song was written by Jackson and John Barnes in 1985 and the original demo was recorded in 1986. The original title was “Al Capone” which is probably about the Italian-American gangster. But this version didn’t make the album and was re-worked and re-written as “Smooth Criminal”.

Both the style of the clip and the clothes and mannerisms Jackson portrayed were reused in the arcade, the Sega Master System, the Sega Mega Drive and the Sega Game Gear adaptations of Moonwalker. The song itself serves as the soundtrack for the first stage, in Club 30s, the nightclub from the movie, in all versions of the game.

The song was performed live during the second leg of Jackson’s 1987–88 Bad World Tour. The performance featured a dance routine modelled after the scene from Moonwalker. By the time the 1992 Dangerous World Tour came around, this performance became a regular on Jackson tours. This time Jackson had devised a way to perform the patented anti-gravity lean, which was featured in the Moonwalker video, on stage. Much like the robot move from “Dancing Machine” to the Moonwalk from “Billie Jean”, this showcased Jackson’s talent for creating unique moves to enhance stage performances. This performance can be seen on the Bucharest Dangerous Tour performance which is included as a DVD in The Ultimate Collection boxed set.

Part of the song is also briefly used in the middle of the live version of the song Dangerous since the performance at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards.

Music video

Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar choreographed the “Smooth Criminal” video. It was directed by special effects coordinator Colin Chilvers. Currently there are four different versions of the video for “Smooth Criminal”:

• The Original Moonwalker Version – This is the version included in the Moonwalker film – while technically the whole short film is 39 minutes, the actual “Smooth Criminal” song chapter on the DVD is 9 minutes 21 seconds. It is generally the most complete version of the video and includes the unedited middle section of interpretive dance with the dancers but does not include the last six seconds where a flapper fans herself after the door is shut behind Michael.
• The “Moonwalker Version” – This version is included on History on Film, Volume II and is an edited song section of the “Smooth Criminal” segment from the film Moonwalker. It is essentially the same, however it has some minor changes including: different opening music and no dialogue, the middle section with the dancers chanting has been truncated (some of the chanting has been shortened) and ends at the point in the original where Michael exits the club with an added shot of the lead flapper fanning herself. This version is approximately the same length as the original Moonwalker segment, despite having over a minute cut out from the middle section. Being a PAL to NTSC transfer (the Moonwalker DVD has only been released in PAL regions), this version suffers from blurred colors and other artifacts, and the speed of audio has been altered to accommodate for the edited section.
• The Sped Up/Moonwalker Credits Version – This is commonly shown on music video stations, appears during the end credits for Moonwalker and was included on the “Visionary” single. It is essentially the “Smooth Criminal” video sped up, with an added blur effect, and some alternate angles. This version is also the version being sold in the iTunes Music Store
• The Album Version – Also shown on some music video stations – it is the regular version of the video edited to be in sync with the original album version of the song. It excludes the added lyric, the middle section along with various other moments. However, commonly the Sped Up/Moonwalker Credits version is used rather than this version.

The video won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards.

Anti-gravity lean

The effect in the video when Jackson and the dancers lean forward a seemingly impossible distance was achieved using special harnesses with wires and magnets. It was desired to replicate this effect for Jackson’s stage show, but it would have been more obvious and cumbersome to use wire harnesses in a live performance. Jackson and his team devised an alternative way to achieve the effect on stage. The props needed for their technique were patented in the United States by Jackson in 1993,^[6] and consist of pegs that rise from the stage at the appropriate moment, and special shoes with ankle supports and cutouts in the heels which can slide over the pegs and be thereby attached to the stage temporarily. These allow the performers to lean without needing to keep their centers of gravity directly over their feet.

The maneuver was copied by the dance group “Diversity” in their first semi-final performance in the (2009) third series of Britain’s Got Talent^[7].

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• BLACK OR WHITE
• DIRTY DIANA

“Black or White” was the first single taken from Michael Jackson’s Dangerous album, released in November 1991. “Black or White” is a mix of hard rock, dance and hip hop.

Written, composed, and arranged by Jackson with the rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell, it is a song that promotes racial unity. The song’s main riff, a Rolling-Stones fashioned lick, is performed by Bill Bottrell. Former guitarist of Guns N’ Roses, Slash, played in the song’s scripted intro vignette.

The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, as well as in 18 other countries.

Black or White – History

To prepare the audience for the special occasion of the televised premiere of the “Black or White” video, Epic Records released the song (without the accompanying images) to radio stations just two days in advance.^[3] In a period of twenty-four hours, “Black or White”, described by the record company as “a rock ‘n’ roll dance song about racial harmony”, had been added to the playlists of 96 percent of 237 of the United States of America’s top forty radio stations the first day of release.^[3][4]

“Black or White” was the first single taken from Dangerous. Produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell, it began to be promoted on radio stations the first week of November 1991 in New York and Los Angeles.^[5][4] “Black or White” was officially released one week later.^[4] It was written and composed by Jackson with rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell, the song’s introduction and main riff were played by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and Bill Bottrell.^[5]

“Black or White” is also described as a mix of hard rock, dance and rap, but it basically is a hard rock song like “Beat It”.^{[1][6][7][8][9]} These songs are also compared by Rolling Stone’s Allan Light in his Dangerous review; in his review, Light says, “Neither this slow-burn solo nor the Stones-derived riff on ‘Black or White’ offers the catharsis of Eddie Van Halen’s blazing break on ‘Beat It’”.^[10]

The extended version of the video was aired simultaneously on Fox, MTV and BET on November 14, 1991.^[11]

Reception

“Black or White” stormed into Billboard’s Hot 100 at number thirty five.^[12] A week later it shot up to number three and on its third week, December 7 1991, it ascended to number one, making it the fastest chart topper since the Beatles’ “Get Back” also won the Hot 100 in just three weeks in 1969.^[12][13] It achieved the year at number one, and remained at the top of the singles chart into 1992, for a total of seven weeks, making Michael Jackson the first artist to get number one popular hits in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.^[13]

The single also made a record-breaking debut in the UK, where it became the first single by an American to go into the singles chart at number one since 1960, when “It’s Now Or Never” by Elvis Presley did in the same manner.^[12] Around the world, “Black or White” hit number one in the US, UK, Mexico, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Euro Chart Hot 100, number two in Germany and number three in the Netherlands.^[13][12] The single was certified platinum in the US, selling over one million copies.^[13]

Black or White Music Video

Synopsis

The music video for “Black or White” was first broadcast on MTV, BET, VH1, and FOX (giving them their highest Nielsen Ratings ever)^[11] on November 14, 1991.^[14] Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Tess Harper, and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as a new technology in music videos, pioneered by Godley & Creme’s “Cry” video in 1985. The video was directed by John Landis, who also directed Thriller.

The first few minutes of the video featured an extended version of the song’s intro, in which a young kid (Macaulay Culkin) is playing loud music in his bedroom at night, and is yelled at by his enraged father (George Wendt of Cheers fame), who demands he stops playing the music and go to bed. The kid decides to reject his father’s request to go to sleep by setting up large speaker cabinets behind his father’s reclining chair, donning one leather glove and sunglasses, and playing an extremely loud power chord on an electric guitar. The sound then shatters the house’s windows and sends his father (seated in his chair) halfway around the world, where the actual song begins. The kid’s mother (Tess Harper) declares that his father will be “very upset” upon his return. The song from the CD does not use Culkin’s or Wendt’s voice; the CD version voice-over features Andres McKenzie, a 12-year-old Los Angeles native who was also a child actor. The father winds up in Africa, and Jackson begins to sing “Black or White”, surrounded by various cultures scene-by-scene.

A young Tyra Banks, just beginning her career as a supermodel, is seen dancing to the song in the ending of the video, as well as actress Peggy Lipton.

Controversy

Controversy was generated concerning the last four minutes of the original music video. Jackson walks out of the studio as a black panther and then morphs into himself.^[14] Then he walks outside to perform some of his most physically complicated dance techniques, in a similar way to “Billie Jean”. This part contained sexually suggestive scenes when Jackson starts to grab his crotch^[11], and then zips his pants up. In the original version, Jackson is seen smashing windows^[11], destroying a car and causing an inn (called the “Royal Arms”) to explode. Jackson later apologized saying that the violent and suggestive behaviour was an interpretation of the animal instinct of a black panther, and MTV and other music video networks removed the last four minutes from subsequent broadcasts,^[14] excluding when the video aired on MTV again the day after the death of Jackson. To make the vandalism more palatable to viewers, racist graffiti was digitally added to the windows that Jackson smashes (reading “KKK Rules”, “Nigger Go Home”, “Hitler Lives” and “No More Wetbacks”).

To date, the uncut version has generally been seen in the United States on MTV2 only between the hours of 01:00 and 04:00, as part of their special uncensored airing of the “Most Controversial Music Videos” of all time. The extended version is also available on Jackson’s DVDs. The original version (without graffiti) is available only on the VHS cassette HIStory – The Video Greatest Hits and online at MTVMusic.com. The DVD with the same name contains only the “graffiti version”. The video was parodied by the sketch comedy TV show In Living Color, and by the band Genesis in their video for “I Can’t Dance” in which Phil Collins imitates Michael’s ‘panther’ fit in front of a stark white background. It was still shown in its entirety for some years in Europe. Indeed, it is still occasionally shown on VH1 in the UK, though most airings omit the last portion of the video, which also included a brief cameo by Bart and Homer Simpson before the “prejudice is ignorance” image. The version available in the iTunes Music Store contains neither the panther scene nor the Simpsons cameo, and is cut after the morphing sequence.

Starting in 1992, Nocturne Video Productions began playing the “Panther Segment” of the video as an interlude during Michael’s Dangerous and HIStory World tours. The clip is 20 seconds shorter than the original with all the violence and the sexually suggestive scenes removed. However, the part where he re-zipped his pants was kept in.

The full video, still shown regularly today, featured a montage of sequences in which Jackson is choreographed engaging in dances among people of different cultures of the world (African, South-East Asian (most likely Thailand), Native American, Indian, Russian). Jackson walks through visual collages of fire (defiantly declaring “I ain’t scared of no sheets; I ain’t scared of nobody”), referring to KKK torch ceremonies before a mock rap scene shared with Culkin and other children. The group collectively states, “I’m not gonna spend my life being a color.” At the end of the song, different people dance as they morph into one another (shown as “talking heads”), which is reminiscent of the earlier music video for the Godley & Creme song “Cry”. This technique, known as morphing, had been previously used only in films such as Willow and Terminator 2. The morphing visual effects were created by Pacific Data Images.

The short, censored version continues to air periodically to this day.

The video was voted #1 on Australian VH1′s “90′s Cameo Appearances” top 10.

The extended version, including the final four-minute dance sequence and Simpsons cameo, was aired by MTV in the wake of Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• DIRTY DIANA

Song information

Jackson hired Billy Idol’s former guitarist Steve Stevens to back him on the track. On an interview from the special edition of Bad, Quincy Jones later confirmed that it was about groupies.

Music video

The  video was shot in early 1988 in front of a live audience. The video starts with a low guitar note. Then it shows Michael performing in front of an audience. In between shots of him performing there are shots of a woman (Sheryl Crow) ^[1]walking down a dark alley. The crescendo reaches as Michael rips his shirt embracing the crowd. After the concert, he races down the stairs toward his limo. He opens the door, only to find Diana waiting for him and the video ends on the same note it started on.

Live performances

“Dirty Diana” was performed during later Bad World Tour concerts.

According to Michael Jackson in an interview, this song was scheduled for a live 1988 performance at Wembley Stadium during the Bad World Tour; however, Michael felt the song would be an insult to Princess Diana, who was in attendance, so he had it removed. Diana informed him the song was actually one of her personal favorites.The concerts in the United Kingdom, particularly at the original Wembley Stadium in London were the most anticipated and eagerly awaited by fans of the whole tour. Tickets for the initial 5 July dates went on sale in January, with ticket demand exceeding 1.5 million, enough to sell-out the 72,000 capacity venue 20 times. Two days later on July 16, Princess Diana and Prince Charles were in attendance. Jackson met them both prior to the concert in which he donated $450,000 to the Prince’s Trust and the Great Ormond Street Hospital. Jackson also presented a special tour jacket and display of Jackson’s solo albums Bad, Thriller and Off the Wall to the royal children.

References

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Gone Too Soon and Heal the World

“Gone Too Soon” is a song by Michael Jackson. It is the ninth single taken from the 1993 album, Dangerous. The song is dedicated to Ryan White, a young victim of AIDS whom Jackson befriended prior to his death. Michael performed this song at the ball for former President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration on January 20, 1993, where he highlighted the importance of supporting research for a cure to this disease.

The track was included on the compilation album, Diana Princess of Wales Tribute, released by Sony in December 1997, shortly after the death of Princess Diana. The song was further covered by Babyface, as a duet with Stevie Wonder, during his MTV Unplugged session.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

It was re-released as a single on February 27, 2006, as part of the Visionary: The Video Singles box set.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Despite the success of the single, this song never appeared on any of Jackson’s world tours.

Music video

The music video for “Leave Me Alone”, directed by Jim Blashfield, won the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the Grammy Awards of 1990. The video was also featured in Moonwalker. In essence, the video is an amusement park consisting of stylistically crude images based around Jackson’s successful career since 1982′s Thriller. There is an emphasis on the tabloid view of Jackson’s personal life and public image, referring to the nickname “Wacko Jacko” given to him by the press, and the various headlines associated with him in the 1980s. Lampooning rumours that he tried to purchase the “Elephant Man’s” bones, Jackson dances with stop motion “Elephant Man” bones in the video. This particular segment (without the image of the bones) was used for the single’s cover art, and boneless video segment featured in Moonwalker trailer. In the video, there are images of shrines to Elizabeth Taylor, a close friend of Jackson. At the end of the video, it is revealed that a gigantic Jackson himself is the amusement park. He breaks free, tearing the park to pieces.

References

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Music video

The music video for “Jam” takes place within an indoor basketball court, where Jackson teaches basketball legend Michael Jordan how to dance, and in return, Jordan teaches Jackson how to play basketball. Special effects^{[citation needed]} have Jackson throwing a basketball from a window and scoring in the hoop at the opposite end, as well as Jackson scoring by tossing the ball behind him and kicking the ball into the hoop with his heel. The extended versions of the video include Jackson teaching Jordan how to do the physically complicated moonwalk dance technique.^[3] The rap duo Kris Kross makes a cameo appearance, as does Heavy D (who performs a rap during the bridge).

The video is available on the Dangerous – The Short Films DVD.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Song information

The song was one of the bigger hits from Dangerous, staying in the top 40 for over six weeks in the UK. The single achieved even greater success in the U.S., where it sold over 500,000 copies and stayed in the top 10 for six weeks, peaking at number 7 and later being certified Gold.^[2] In Europe, the single reached number one in the MTV Eurochart, though it missed the top 10 in many of the other European charts, including Germany and France. The single has sold 1,050,000 copies worldwide.^[3]

References

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Ghosts”

Michael Jackson plays the role of the second main character, the Town Mayor, a white aging, overweight man. The make up effects are amazing its not easy to tell this isn’t a real human actor let alone guess this role is being played by Michael Jackson. The Mayor leads some of the towns folk up to the castle along with some of the kids on a mission to run the Maestro out of town. They believe he is not just entertaining the children but scaring them. They, or at least the Town Mayor perceive the Maestro as a “Freak” and “Weirdo”. The children say the Maestro is harmless and want him to be left alone.

When the Mayor backed up by the towns people finds the Maestro and tells him “Are you going to leave, or am I going to have to make you?” The Maestro is unfazed by this and questions “You’re trying to scare me, aren’t you?…I guess I have no choice, I have to try and scare you.” This is when the movies special effects really begin. As you can see from the movie screenshots Michael totally distorts his face and eventually pulls his whole face off just leaving his skull.

The Maestro then reveals he is not alone in the castle and many of his ghostly friends start appearing from balls of light thrown by the Maestro. Michael performs a dance to the song “2 Bad”. This is also followed by some more routines, one with Michael’s skeleton dancing and even moonwalking. The Maestro also enters into the body of the Mayor and makes the Mayor dance to the music. The Mayor ends up disappearing through a window and the towns people appear to accept the Maestro.

Overall the movie really does make the most of some of the latest special effects of the time. The dance routines, although somewhat reminiscent of Thriller, with Michael leading ghosts from past era instead of zombies are amazing and the music is Michael Jackson at his best, maybe not as regards hit records, but ideal for the movie. This is a must see movie for any fan of Michael Jackson.

The movie was released at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 and released on VHS video in 1997. Songs featured in the film were “2 Bad” which was from Michael Jackson’s HIStory album and Ghosts and Is It Scary which were both taken from Blood On The Dance Floor, which was a History in the Mix album with some new tracks.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Man in the Mirror” was a number-one hit for singer Michael Jackson when released as a single in the spring of 1988. The song is about accepting social and political responsibility. It is one of Jackson’s most critically acclaimed songs and it was nominated for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

His live version of “Man in the Mirror” is an act of living passion.

The song garnered massive airplay and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It was only a moderate hit in the UK at the time of its release, peaking at #21 and becoming the only single from Bad not to reach the UK Top 20 on first release. However, on June 28, 2009, following the news of Jackson’s death, the song charted at number 11 in the official UK Singles Chart, and also made number eleven on the official UK Download Chart^[1].

Song information

The song was composed by Siedah Garrett (who can be heard singing in the background with Jackson) and Glen Ballard. Jackson added background vocals from Garrett, the Winans and the Andrae Crouch Choir, which gave the song its distinctive sound.

Garrett had the idea for the song when she was driving to the recording session for I Just Can’t Stop Loving You. On her way, she saw a face in the mirror of her car, and this gave her the idea to write a song titled “Man In The Mirror” as an addition to Jackson’s upcoming album. ^[2]

Arranged with a gospel choir, a year after David Bowie used the same device for “Underground”, from the fantasy film Labyrinth, other popular artists at the time who had tracks featuring gospel choirs include Debbie Gibson, Guns N’ Roses and Madonna for her 1989 number one hit “Like a Prayer”. Siedah Garrett also sang on Jackson’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” ^[3] and was one of the backing vocalists for Madonna’s Re-Invention Tour of 2004 and performed a short solo during “Like a Prayer.”

Jackson performed a live, extended version of the song at the 1988 Grammy Awards. He also performed the song as the ending of the concert during the Bad World Tour’s second leg, and regularly during the Dangerous World Tour. In the latter, the song was accompanied by stuntman Kinnie Gibson dressed as Jackson flying out of the arena in a jetpack. On July 16, 1996, Jackson also performed “Man in the Mirror” at the Royal Concert Brunei for the last time prior to the United We Stand benefit concert.

The video for “Man in the Mirror” is a notable departure from Jackson’s other videos mainly because Jackson himself does not appear in the video. Instead, it featured footages of various news events such as the John F. Kennedy and the Robert Kennedy shootings, Live Aid, and notable people including Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbechev, and Adolf Hitler.

This song has been included in most of Jackson’s compilation albums, but was notably absent in the Visionary: The Video Singles box set.

The song was quoted by Jermaine Jackson during Celebrity Big Brother 2007, while confronting several white housemates who had been bullying an Indian housemate, the Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The song was played into the house the following morning as an alarm.

The song is sampled by Brooklyn MC Papoose during the summer of 2006 on his “Gonna Make a Change.” The song describes his rough upbringing and his struggles. Later the song was freestyled by rapper Rhymefest with Michael singing the chorus & singing part of his second verse.

Siedah Garett recorded a more stripped down acoustic version of the song for her 2004 album Siedah.

The song has been performed on The X Factor by contestant Diana Vickers and American Idol by winner, Kris Allen.

Chart performance

“Man In The Mirror” was the fourth consecutive number-one single for Jackson’s Bad in the United States. The single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #48 on February 6, 1988, and reached #1 by its eighth week on the chart, on March 26, 1988, where it remained for two weeks.

It originally charted at #21 in the United Kingdom on 1988. However, following Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, “Man in the Mirror” re-entered the UK Singles Chart at #11.

References

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The vast majority of critical reaction to “You Are Not Alone” was positive, although it did not attain unanimous praise. The song was the recipient of Grammy and American Music Award nominations. The corresponding music video, which featured Jackson and his wife was also notable for its scenes of semi nudity.

Commercially, the song was a significant success. It holds a Guinness World Record as the first song in the 37 year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to debut at number one; it was later certified platinum by the RIAA. The song peaked highly in all major markets. In 2007, a court ruled that Kelly had plagiarized another song while making “You Are Not Alone”. The verdict and consequences are only recognized in Belgium.

Background

In 1993, Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse. Although never charged with a crime, Jackson was subject to intense media scrutiny while the criminal investigation took place. The media coverage was subject to criticism that included using sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline,^[1] accepting stories of Jackson’s alleged criminal activity in return for money,^[2] accepting confidential, leaked material from the police investigation in return for money paid,^[3] deliberately using pictures of Jackson’s appearance at its worst, a lack of objectivity and using headlines that strongly implied Jackson’s guilt.^[4]

The entertainer began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him.^[5] A few months after the allegations became news, Jackson had lost approximately 10 pounds (4.5kg) in weight and had stopped eating.^[6] Jackson’s health had deteriorated to the extent that he canceled the remainder of his Dangerous World Tour and went into rehabilitation.^[7][8] Jackson booked the whole fourth floor of the clinic, and was put on Valium IV to wean him from painkillers.^[7][8][9] The singer’s spokesperson told reporters that Jackson was “barely able to function adequately on an intellectual level”.^[8] While in the clinic, Jackson took part in group and one-on-one therapy sessions.^[7][8]

In 1994, Jackson married singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley. They had first met in 1975 during one of Jackson’s family engagements at the MGM Grand, and were reconnected through a mutual friend in early 1993.^[4] They stayed in contact every day over the telephone. As child molestation accusations became public, Jackson became dependent on Lisa Marie for emotional support; she was concerned about his faltering health and addiction to drugs.^[5] Lisa Marie explained, “I believed he didn’t do anything wrong and that he was wrongly accused and yes I started falling for him. I wanted to save him. I felt that I could do it.”^[10] In a phone call he made to her, she described him as high, incoherent and delusional.^[5] Shortly afterward, she tried to persuade Jackson to settle the allegations out of court and go into rehabilitation to recover—he subsequently did both.^[5] Jackson proposed to Lisa Marie over the telephone towards the fall of 1993, saying, “If I asked you to marry me, would you do it?”.^[5] Presley and Jackson married in the Dominican Republic in secrecy, the parties denied that they had married for nearly two months.^[11] The marriage was, in her words, “a married couple’s life … that was sexually active”.^[12] At the time, the tabloid media speculated that the wedding was a ploy to prop up Jackson’s public image in light of prior sexual abuse allegations.^[11] Jackson and Presley divorced less than two years later, remaining friendly.^[13]

Production and music

“You Are Not Alone” is an R&B ballad about love and isolation.^[9][14] The song was written by R. Kelly and co-produced by Kelly and Jackson.^[9] Kelly wrote the song after the loss of close people in his life.^[15] Kelly was delighted to be able to work with his idol, explaining “I was psyched … I feel I could have done his whole album. Not being selfish. I was just that geeked about it. It was an experience out of this world … It’s amazing to know that five years ago I was writing songs in a basement in the ghetto and now I’m writing for Michael Jackson … I’d be a fool not to say it’s a dream come true.^[16] Jackson contacted Kelly to see if he had any material available. Kelly forwarded a tape recording of the song and Jackson then agreed to work with Kelly on the piece.^[16] On the tape sent to Jackson, Kelly sung “You Are Not Alone” mimicking Jackson’s vocal style, explaining, “I think I am him. I become him. I want him to feel that as well.” Jackson found the interpretation amusing.^[17] They spent a day together in the studio working on the track.^[16]

Jackson explained that he instantly liked the song, but listened to it twice before making his final decision. Although the song was written by Kelly, Jackson was adamant that the production should be a collaborative effort amongst the two musicians.^[15] The tape sent to him had no harmony or modulations, so Jackson added a choir in the final portion and added a sense of climax and structure to the final piece.^[18]

R. Kelly would help write and produce two more singles for Jackson: “Cry” (2001) and “One More Chance” (2003).

Critical reaction

James Hunter of Rolling Stone noted that, “the excellent current single ‘Scream’ or the first-rate R&B ballad ‘You Are Not Alone’ – manage to link the incidents of Jackson’s infamous recent past to universal concepts like injustice or isolation. When he bases his music in the bluntness of hip-hop, Jackson sketches funky scenarios denouncing greed, blanket unreliability and false accusation”.^[14] Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that it was the only conventional love song on the new material on HIStory. He compared it to Mariah Carey’s song “Hero” and said it “sounds like a surefire hit”.^[9]

In more recent years, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic expressed the opinion that “You Are Not Alone” was amongst some the best song’s Jackson ever released, calling the song seductive.^[19] The R&B critic and journalist Nelson George described the song as lovely and supple.^[20] Writer and journalist J. Randy Taraborrelli wrote of the song in 2004, “[it] remains among Michael’s best song’s … On listening to ‘You Are Not Alone’, one wonders how many times Michael tried to tell himself, during his most desperate and anguished times, that he did have support in his life, from a higher power, or even friends and family, whether he actually believed it or not”.^[21]

Fred Shuster of the Daily News of Los Angeles described it as the best song on the album.^[22] Conversely, while Steve Holsey of Michigan Chronicle gave the album a positive review, he described the song as the worst on the album, calling the Kelly penned lyrics “trite” and below the standard set by Jackson’s own lyrical skills.^[23] “You Are Not Alone” received an American Music Award nomination and a Grammy nomination both for “Best Pop Vocal Performance”.^[24]

Music video

The music video beings with a large number of paparazzi taking photographs of Jackson. The plot then centers around two locations: a temple where Jackson appears in an affectionate semi-naked scene with his then wife Lisa Marie Presley and a theater where Jackson performs the song to an empty hall. Jackson also appears alone in other locations such as deserts and mountain tops. It is the first high profile video where Jackson’s hair is cut relatively short. The slightly extended version that appeared on HIStory on Film, Volume II was notable for a scene where Jackson appeared as a guardian angel over his wife, special effects were used to give Jackson white feathery wings.

Jackson originally appeared in complete nudity, but just before the video aired a decision was made to use special effects to remove or cover these aspects.^[25]

Despite giving the song a positive review, Taraborrelli said of the video, “The only problem with ‘You Are Not Alone’ was the bizarre video for it, in which Michael and Lisa Marie frolic about semi-nude against an ethereal backdrop…The semi-nudity made no sense and was a bit disconcerting; one wished they would put their clothes back on”.^[21] Afterward Presley expressed regret about doing the video, saying she was “sucked up in the moment. It was kind of cool being in a Michael Jackson video. Come on!”.^[21]

Chart performance

Commercially, “You Are Not Alone”, remains one of Jackson’s best selling singles. It holds the Guinness World Record for the first song ever to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[26] First week sales were 120,000 copies, it was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of at least one million units within the US.^[27][28][29] It broke the record set by his previous single “Scream/Childhood”, which was the first song in the 37 year history of Billboard to debut at number five—where it peaked.^[28]

It peaked at number one in the UK after a debut at number three in the prior week.^[28][30] The song also reached number one in Wallonia, France, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland.^[31] With the exception of Italy, it became a top ten hit in every major market.^[28][31]

Plagiarism

In 2007, a Belgium court ruled that R. Kelly had plagiarized the 1993 song “If We Can Start All Over” when composing “You Are Not Alone”. The court transferred rights of Jackson’s hit to the twin composer brothers, Eddy and Danny Van Passel. The judgment is only recognized in Belgium and airplay of the hit has been banned in that nation.^[32][33][34]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

History

The song was inspired by the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which had been released a few months prior in November 1984.^[2] After that performance, which mostly included British musicians, Band Aid organizer Bob Geldof attempted to contact American musicians for an American Christmas charity single, but he had little luck in getting the musicians to reorganize their schedules for recording. Harry Belafonte, who had not been contacted by Geldof, contacted music manager Ken Kragen about putting together a concert to help raise money for African causes.

A temporary, but severe, drought in central Africa during 1984/1985, had decimated local food supplies, and famine relief was still needed for 6 countries, noted by the United Nations (UN): Ethiopia (commonly in news reports), Chad, Mali, Niger, Sudan and Mozambique.^[3] Kragen, the manager of Lionel Richie and Kenny Rogers, didn’t believe that a concert would make enough of a difference and suggested a charity single instead, including about a dozen artists. However, response from musicians was overwhelming, and Kragen turned down about 50 artists who wished to appear on the song.

Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song for the group, knowing there were people dying in Africa.^[3] Quincy Jones agreed to produce and sent a demo to all the participating artists, along with a note to “check their egos at the door”.^[2][4]

Vocal format

Jones worked out which singers would perform which lyrics, studying recordings of each of the selected singers to decide which would work well with each other.^[2] He paired Billy Joel with Tina Turner and Willie Nelson with Dionne Warwick. Michael Jackson was to be paired with Prince, but Prince was a no-show for the recording,^[2] so Jackson was paired with Diana Ross instead.

During the performance, the solo portions allowed the distinctive voices of the well-known lead singers to be heard individually, or in pairs, before the entire ensemble sang the third repetition of the chorus. Later into the song, the climax is intensified by a modulation from E to F.

The arrangement created a dramatic effect by having the entire group sing together, but only after many of the celebrity singers were each revealed in solo/duet parts, with two repetitions of the chorus as solos/duets. The bridge was also sung as solos and duets by Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis, Kim Carnes, and Cyndi Lauper, building the crescendo into the entire group singing “We are the world, we are the children….”

The audio effect of the various reveals, by their famous solo voices, was also repeated in the video version, with closeup views of each singing artist before the entire singing group was shown (the video is a composite of multiple filmings). That sequence of reveals was a result of the pairings made by Quincy Jones.

Recording session details

The January 1985 recording session was held during and after the American Music Awards at the A&M Studios in Hollywood, California.^[2] Michael Jackson skipped the American Music Awards ceremony, that night, to record the chorus of the song as a guide to the other artists. The artists who performed on “We Are the World” arrived in-studio from limousines (as most of them had participated in the awards show previously) – except Bruce Springsteen, who arrived driving a pickup truck. Prince’s agreement to attend had been tentative, and he did not appear.^[2]

Many of the male singers found in rehearsal that the key of the chorus was too high for them to reach, so Quincy Jones told them to refrain from singing until later in the session when the chorus was switched to a lower key.^[2] For purposes of the video recording, some of the singers proceeded to pretend to sing.^[2] Four of the men, Waylon Jennings, Kenny Rogers, Bruce Springsteen and Willie Nelson, stepped to the side during this time until the key could be recalibrated.^[2]

Bob Dylan was unaccustomed to delivering lines while surrounded by so many people in the studio.^[2] Stevie Wonder demonstrated the lines while mirroring Dylan’s voice at the piano, and when Dylan delivered his solo perfectly, the room burst into applause.^[2]

Cyndi Lauper‘s jewelry clicking required a retake of the bridge section and during a break in the session, Al Jarreau and Lionel Richie broke into an impromptu version of Harry Belafonte‘s 1950s hit “Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” in honor of Belafonte’s role in organizing the project^[2] which led to a suggestion, “This should be the B-Side.” Wonder added a chorus to “Day-O” about his and Ray Charles‘ blindness.^[2] Wonder came back after the session to “touch up” his vocals.

Disagreement about the lyrics

The lyric “there’s a choice we’re making / we’re saving our own lives” was originally written as “there’s a chance we’re taking / we’re taking our own lives” but was rewritten when it was feared the original phrasing’s first part might look like the artists are patting themselves on the back while the last part might suggest suicide.^[5] Also, the artists discussed whether they should sing “we are the ones who make a brighter day” instead of the original “better day”. They eventually ended up singing “brighter day,” although Bruce Springsteen sings “better day” towards the end, in his second solo part. VH-1′s Pop-Up Video stated that Waylon Jennings left the recording session due to a dispute over the lyrics. The dispute started when Stevie Wonder announced that he would like to substitute a line in Swahili. After a few rehearsals, a full-fledged creative conflict broke out. Geldof pointed out that Ethiopians do not speak Swahili. Michael Jackson then proposed to keep his original line “Sha-lim sha-lingay” but after a few rehearsals, it too ran into opposition, because it does not have a meaning. Eventually Al Jarreau cried, “We can make a meaning” and came up with “One World, our word” which was changed one last time in “One world, our children.”

USA for Africa

The group name “U.S.A. for Africa” ^[3] actually stands for “United Support of Artists for Africa” (not “United States of America”). All of the singers on the record are American, with the exception of Bob Geldof (who is Irish) and Dan Aykroyd (who is Canadian).

Contributions

Prince telephoned Quincy Jones in mid-session and offered to contribute a guitar part, but Jones said it did not fit into what they were doing, but did say he would accept a solo track for the album, which Prince did contribute. Patti LaBelle and Prince participated in the 1985 television broadcast performance of “We Are the World” from the Apollo Theatre, and many of the above names participated in the performance of “We Are the World” at the Live Aid concert in Philadelphia in July 1985. Luciano Pavarotti performed the song at one of his annual charity concerts in 1999 with the likes of Gloria Estefan and Mariah Carey. Billy Joel used the meeting with Ray Charles to get him to contribute a vocal on a song that Joel later recorded called “Baby Grand”.^{[citation needed]}

Selected vocalists

John Denver, who had been actively campaigning against world hunger in the 1980s, had offered to participate in the recording, but was turned down. According to Kragen, the reason John Denver was turned down was because several people felt his country image would hurt the pop/rock credibility of the song. ^[6] Linda Ronstadt, ill with the flu, missed the session, and Pat Benatar was not available due to her pregnancy, since there was concern about the bright lights and crowding in the studio. Madonna was asked to take part in the recording but turned down the request. All of Michael Jackson’s brothers except Jermaine were at the recording, as was his sister LaToya. Sister Janet Jackson, who would have her first hit album a year later, and oldest sister Rebbie were not in attendance.

Solos (in order of first appearance)

• Lionel Richie
• Stevie Wonder
• Paul Simon
• Kenny Rogers
• James Ingram
• Tina Turner
• Billy Joel
• Michael Jackson
• Diana Ross
• Dionne Warwick
• Willie Nelson
• Al Jarreau
• Bruce Springsteen
• Kenny Loggins
• Steve Perry
• Daryl Hall
• Huey Lewis
• Cyndi Lauper
• Kim Carnes
• Bob Dylan
• Ray Charles

Extras

• Dan Aykroyd
• Harry Belafonte
• Lindsey Buckingham
• The News
• Sheila E.
• Bob Geldof
• Jackie Jackson
• LaToya Jackson
• Marlon Jackson
• Randy Jackson
• Tito Jackson
• Waylon Jennings
• Bette Midler
• John Oates
• Jeffrey Osborne
• The Pointer Sisters
• Smokey Robinson

Chart performance

When released as a single, “We Are The World” rose the charts rapidly in the U.S., “one of the fastest-selling singles of the modern pop era,”^[2] reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 17, 1985 and remaining there for four weeks. It immediately sold out its initial shipment of 800,000 copies, and sales reached 1.5 million shortly afterwards.^[2] It also reached #1 in the UK, and made the top spot in almost every country throughout the world. In the UK, it was the 33rd best-selling single of 1985.

Documentary

Two documentaries were developed from 45 hours of film footage shot during the recording session. The first documentary premiered on HBO in May 1985, and the second was sold in stores beginning that summer.^[2]

Impact

Although the single wasn’t released until March 7, 1985 (5 weeks after the studio sessions), the anticipated impact of USA for Africa was already being mentioned, by the United Nations, on 1 June 1985, within 3 months of the album’s release.^[3]

Ultimately, the single sold 7.5 million copies in the US. It was released on an album, We Are the World, which sold over three million copies. In addition to “We Are the World,” the album included previously unreleased songs by Prince, Springsteen, Rogers, Turner and other artists. It also included another famine relief fundraising song, “Tears Are Not Enough”, which was performed by Canadian supergroup Northern Lights.

Including revenues from the single, the album, the video and related merchandise, “We Are the World” raised over $63 million for famine relief.^{[1] [7]}

The sales of the recordings raised many millions of dollars, and supplies^[3] were sent to Africa. The following year, the typical rains returned to central Africa, food crops recovered, and the famine crisis was abated. The song had inspired millions of people to help, and many lives were saved.

The song went on to win four 1985 Grammys for: Song of the Year, Record of the Year,^[1] and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.

Lionel Richie stated that 11 lawsuits were filed claiming others had written the song. ^{[8][dead link]}

On November 15, 2006, Michael Jackson performed the song in the World Music Awards.[2]

References

External links

• USA for Africa official web site
• Lyrics and extended trivia
• The song’s lyrics and the singers who sang each line
• ““We Are the World” song celebrates 20 years“. MSNBC. 2005-02-05. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6870678/. Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
• Gylne Tider – We Are the World 2006 music/promo video

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Heal the World” is a song from Michael Jackson’s hit album, Dangerous, released in 1991. The music video features children living in countries suffering from unrest. It is also one of only a handful of Michael Jackson’s videos not to feature the singer, the others being “Cry”, “HIStory” and “Man in the Mirror”. (The clips for “HIStory” and “Man in the Mirror” only feature Michael Jackson in archival footage). Jackson performed the song in the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show with a 35000 person flash card performance.

In a 2001 Internet chat with fans, Jackson said “Heal the World” is the song he is most proud to have created. He also created the Heal the World Foundation, a charitable organization which was designed to improve the lives of children. The organization was also meant to teach children how to help others. This concept of ‘betterment for all’ would become a centerpiece for the Dangerous World Tour. In the documentary Living with Michael Jackson, Jackson said he created the song in his “Giving Tree” at the Neverland Ranch.

Reception

The song reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart in December 1992, kept off the #1 position by Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”. It fared less well in the US, reaching a peak of #27 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his second consecutive single not to reach the Top 20.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Background

From a young age Jackson was physically and mentally abused by his father through incessant rehearsals, whippings and derogatory name calling. Jackson’s abuse as a child has affected him throughout his later life.^[45] In one altercation—later recalled by Marlon Jackson—Joseph held Michael Jackson upside down by one leg and “pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks”.^[26] Joseph would often trip up or push the male children into walls.^[26] One night, while Jackson was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window. Wearing a fright mask, he entered the room screaming and shouting. Joseph said he wanted to teach his children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For a number of years afterward, Jackson suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom.^[26]

Although it had been reported for a number of years that Jackson had an abusive childhood, he first spoke openly about it in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. He grimaced when speaking of the childhood abuse at the hands of his father; he believed he had missed out on much of his childhood years, admitting that he often cried from loneliness.^[33][46][47] In the same interview, speaking of his father, Jackson said, “There were times when he’d come to see me, I’d get sick…I’d start to regurgitate. I’m sorry…Please don’t be mad at me…But I do love him”.^[48] In Jackson’s other high profile interview Living with Michael Jackson (2003), the singer covered his face with his hand and began crying when talking about his childhood abuse.^[26] Jackson recalled that Joseph sat in a chair as the group rehearsed, saying, “He had this belt in his hand. If you didn’t do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you. It was bad. Real bad”.^[49]

When Jackson received his Living Legend award—presented to him by Janet Jackson—at the 1993 Grammys, he said, “I don’t read all the things written about me, I wasn’t aware the world thought I was so weird and bizarre. But when you grow up like I did in front of 100 million people since the age of five, you’re automatically different…My childhood was completely taken away from me. There was no Christmas, no birthdays. It was not a normal childhood, no normal pleasures of childhood. Those were exchanged for hard work, struggle and pain, and eventual material and professional success”.^[50]

Album booklet

In the HIStory album booklet there is a drawing of Jackson as a child. He is huddled in 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 Jackson’s signature.^[18][51]

Production, music and reception

“Childhood” is a biographical song, written, produced and sung solely by Michael Jackson.^[36][52] New York City’s children’s choir are credited for providing backing vocals on the track.^[53] It became the main theme song for the Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home soundtrack, which was released by Jackson on his record label MJJ.^[36][54] Jackson had previously provided the main theme song for the first Free Willy film, his hit single “Will You Be There”, originally from Dangerous.^[55] Aside from HIStory and the Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home soundtrack, “Childhood” appeared on compilations such as Movie Music: The Definitive Performances and Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack for a Century.^[54]

Jon Pareles described it as a “defense show…Over tinkling keyboards and strings that could be sweeping across a cinemascope panorama, he croons [the lyrics]“.^[18] He described it as “creepy” yet “lushest”.^[18] In the song, Jackson states, “No one understands me…They view it as such strange eccentricities, ’cause I keep kidding around”. He invokes “the painful youth I’ve had” and asks the public to, “Try hard to love me” and, with a breaking voice, asks, “Have you seen my childhood?”.^[18] James Hunter believed, “uncut Hollywood fluff like “Childhood”…has zero point of view on itself; its blend of rampaging ego and static orchestral pop is a Streisand-size mistake”.^[1] Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times described it as “dynamically enunciated reading and maudlin string arrangement directly invoke Streisand”.^[30]

Tim Molloy, of the Associated Press, called it a sweet sounding pleading song.^[56] Patrick Macdonald of The Seattle Times described “Childhood” as “a sad, self-pitying song, but quite moving and beautiful”.^[29] Taraborrelli observed that the song was not purely about his bad childhood years, but was also a plea for compassion and understanding.^[57]

“Childhood” music video

The video is set in a forest; Jackson, in scruffy clothes, sings “Childhood” while sitting on a tree stump. The camera moves up the trees into the night sky and flying airships travel overhead. On board the ships, children are seen playing a variety of games as they travel further away from Jackson, towards the moon. Other children appear in the forest undergrowth before floating up towards the airships, but Jackson remains seated on the tree stump. Jason James Richter plays a minor role in the video.

The video for “Childhood” is 4:27 minutes long and has little in common with the corresponding film.^[36][52] In the publication, Doug Pratt’s DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!, Pratt describes the video as “outstanding, a Chris Van Allsburg-style vision of children in flying airships, crusading through a forest at night”.^[52]

Commercial reception of “Scream/Childhood”

“Scream/Childhood” was a worldwide hit, in the U.S. it was the first song in the 37 year history of Billboard to debut at number five—where it peaked.^[2] By the end of August 1995 it was certified Gold and Platinum by the RIAA for shipments of a million copies in the U.S.^[3] It reached number one in Italy and New Zealand, number two in Australia and Norway and number three in the UK. It became a top five hit in every major music market.^[58][59] A remix of “Scream” was also issued in the UK which charted at number 43.^[2]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The song was originally set to be a part of the Dangerous World Tour and was rehearsed before the tour began but was taken out. Many rumors state that it might have been taken out for time purposes due to the already large song list for the tour.

Music video

As with some of his past songs, the music video for “Remember the Time” (directed byJohn Singleton) was an elaborate production and became one of his longest videos at over 9 minutes. Set in ancient Egypt, it featured groundbreaking visual effects and appearances by Eddie Murphy, Iman, Magic Johnson and Tom “Tiny” Lister, Jr. along with a distinct physically complicated dance routine that became the centre piece of many other videos from the Dangerous album and is one of only a few videos where he is seen embraced in a kiss.

References

1. ^ “Dangerous“. Sputnik. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=7504. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Overview

“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” was written by Jackson in 1978 and originally intended for release on his 1979 fifth studio album, Off the Wall. The song was not recorded, however, until the 1982 sessions for Thriller, the album on which it was eventually released.

At six minutes and three seconds, “Wanna Be Startin Somethin’” is also the longest song on Thriller.

“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” continued the trend of hit singles for Jackson, eventually peaking at number five on the Pop and on the R&B charts, and gaining time on radio playlists across the country. The song was often not played at full length, however, due to industry format standards.

The African Chant

The song ends with a chorus repeatedly singing “Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa”. According to writer Mark Anthony Neal, “the lyrics were taken directly from the music of Cameroonian saxophonist Manu Dibango[/wikipop] who broke into the American market in 1973 with his classic ‘Soul Makossa.’” Kelef Sanneh of The New Yorker magazine, explains that “Soul Makossa,” “was [a big] hit, in Africa, in Europe, and in America, where it came to be seen as one of the first disco records.” Also, Sanneh explains that, “[Dibango] named his song after the makossa, a Cameroonian dance, but he stretched the word out, [and] played with it [so that it sounded like]: ‘Ma-mako, ma-ma-ssa, mako-makossa.’”^[1] Although Jackson’s chant imitates Dibango’s chant, Jackson’s version is essentially a mispronunciation of the word Dibango is chanting.

Jackson’s version of the Dibango chant has since been sampled and incorporated into other songs, including an interpretation by Rihanna on her 2007 single, “Don’t Stop the Music”, and the hook was also been sampled in D12 and Obie Trice’s song “Doe Rae Me.” Charles Hamilton makes a reference to the chant in his song, “Brooklyn Girls”, as does Will Smith in his song, “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It”.

Performance and choreography

One of the songs released as a single without an accompanying video, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” nonetheless has attained a popularity rivaling its sister compositions on the album, and had become Jackson’s song of choice for opening live concerts, partly due to “startin’ something” such as the concert. Not being as strictly associated with a specific dance routine as those others has arguably allowed for more flexibility in performances and staging.

Two notable occurrences that happened during live performances were the physically complicated “stop/start” dance technique that brought Jackson and his dancers to a frozen stop several times, and the sing-along between performer and audience during the bridge.

“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” was also used on every set list of Jackson’s tours, from the Victory Tour in 1984, right the way through to the HIStory Tour in 1997.

Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008

In the United States, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ 2008″ was released as the first downloadable single (although “The Girl Is Mine 2008″ was the first release internationally) from Jackson’s latest album Thriller 25 on January 23.^[3][4] It is a re-worked, updated version featuring Akon on lead vocals with Michael Jackson on backing vocals. However, it was also played in full at least a week earlier on the Bristol and South Wales station Kiss 101 part of the Kiss Network, and it had leaked on the internet in late 2007 (a demo version without background vocals including Jackson’s part also exists).

In the U.S., the single premiered on the Providence, Rhode Island-based Top-40 station WPRO-FM.^[5] The single had its physical release in Germany on March 21, 2008 (2-track, 3-track CDs + 12″ Vinyl) and in France on March 25, 2008. In France, a special edition of the 2-track CD with a picture of Jackson and Akon on the cover was released on April 7, 2008.^[6]

The single received its official premier UK radio play on GCap Media’s Music Control radio show presented by Kevin Hughes across The One Network on January 24, 2008. The song was officially released in the UK on June 16, 2008 despite the fact that it has already entered the singles chart once already at number 69. The song was certified gold in Australia for sales of 35,000 copies.^[7] The song has a music video; it features clips of Michael Jackson’s older music videos and clips of Akon singing his parts. This was Michael Jackson’s final single before his death on June 25, 2009.

Sources

• Moonwalk — by Michael Jackson, edited by Jackie Onassis (Doubleday 1988, ISBN 0-385-24712-5)
• The Michael Jackson Story — by Nelson George (Dell 1983, ISBN 0-440-15592-4)
• Trapped: Michael Jackson and the Crossover Dream — by Dave Marsh (Bantam 1985, ISBN 0-553-34241-X)
• Thriller – Special Edition (Epic Records, 2001 — selected interviews)
• Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (Epic Records, 2004 — liner notes)
• Music Control Radio
• AllMusic.com
• MJJSource.com
• MichaelJackson.com

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

You Rock My World

Featuring Usher and Chris Tucker – 2001

“You Rock My World” is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was the debut single from his 2001 album Invincible. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s last top ten hit in the United States. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 44th Grammy Awards. The music video for the song is the last to feature any participation from Jackson; the follow-up single, “Butterflies”, had no video, and he does not appear in the video for “Cry”.

Song information

A comedic spoken intro was recorded by Chris Tucker and Jackson, which involves Tucker and Jackson discussing their attraction to a particular woman, and the two arguing about whether or not Jackson can “pick her up”. In the music video, a majority of Tucker’s dialogue is composed of references to Jackson’s past singles, e.g. when the two have reached the club in pursuit of Jackson’s love interest, Tucker is suddenly nonsupporting of Jackson’s goal and asks that they “beat it”, suggesting that the girl is “dangerous”. While Tucker and Jackson are eating at the beginning of the video, Tucker notes that the girl is a “pretty young thing” and states that “the girl is mine”, precipitating a competition between him and Michael to see who will get the girl.

Jackson and Rodney Jerkins played all the instruments in the song, which was recorded at Record One Studios in Los Angeles from July to September, 2000. The single marked Jackson’s 30th anniversary as a solo artist (his first solo single, “Got To Be There”, had been released in October of 1971).

Music video

The music video for “You Rock My World” was premiered in Europe, Asia, and South Africa on September 21, 2001. In wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., the premiere was delayed there until September 26.

Like many of Jackson’s music videos, this one takes the form of a short film, based on a story written by Michael Jackson and Paul Hunter. It follows a story in which Michael Jackson and Chris Tucker spot an attractive woman (played by actress-choreographer Kishaya Dudley) and follow her into a gangster-infested nightclub (called The Waterfront Hotel, in reference to the famous film starring Marlon Brando, who plays the club’s owner in this music video). Obviously, they are not wanted there, because it seems the woman already has a love interest (played by Michael Madsen). However, Jackson is determined to meet this woman.

Jackson serenades her with a song (“You Rock My World”), as well as performing his complicated dance moves. He is then challenged to a fight by one of the regulars at the club (played by Billy Drago). When asked by Drago to “show me what you got,” Jackson, backed by a line of dancers, pulls off a dance sequence choreographed by himself, Anthony “Tone” Talauega and Richmond Talauega. After the dance sequence Drago says to Jackson, “Is that all you got? You ain’t nothin’!” This provokes Jackson into punching Drago, the violence leading to the breakout of a fire in the building. When he evacuates the building and finally meets up with the attractive woman, the two share an intimate moment before driving away in Tucker’s car. The cast also includes one of Jackson’s confidants, Frank Tyson[/wikipop] (who appears in only one shot). The video won an NAACP Image Award for Best Music Video in 2001. There are short-film and single-length versions of the video. There is also a longer version of the video featuring more dialogue between Tucker and Jackson, along with various other changes available on the web. It is unclear whether this third version is an official product or a homemade edit using outtakes.

Charts

The song was Jackson’s last worldwide hit, peaking at #1 on the French Singles Chart and at #2 on the UK Singles Chart, the Canadian Singles Chart, the Dutch Singles Chart, the Danish Singles Chart, the Norwegian Singles Chart, and the Finnish Singles Chart. In both China and the United Kingdom, it was held from the top spot by Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You out of My Head”. The song also peaked at #4 on the Australian Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart, and at #10 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson’s highest charting single since his 1995 number-one “You Are Not Alone”.

The day following Jackson’s death in June 25, 2009, “You Rock My World” peaked at #15 on the iTunes Store in the United States.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Dangerous”

Project

There’s a lot to be said for professional craftsmanship at its peak, and Michael Jackson’s Dangerous has plenty of that. According to the sleeve notes on the later remastered edition of the album, recording sessions began in Los Angeles, California at Ocean Way/Record One Studio 2 on June 25, 1990. The sessions ended at Larrabee North and Ocean Way Studio on October 29, 1991, being the most extensive recording project of Jackson’s career at the time (over 16 months compared to the usual 6 spent for his previous three studio albums).

In March 1991, Jackson signed a 15 year, 6 album deal to Sony Music. The press reported that Sony actually handed over $1 billion to Jackson, but that was not the case. At the time, Sony estimated that if the albums Jackson released under the new contract sold at the same level they currently sold, it would generate over $1 billion in profits for them. Additionally, Jackson was awarded the highest royalty rate in the business. By the time the contract expired in March 2006, Michael would have been paid $45 million from Sony ($1 million a year, plus $5 million per album delivered). This does not include money he would have also earned from sales of albums, singles, videos etc. Under this contract, Jackson is estimated to have earned $175 million from album sales alone.

At this point, Dangerous was already in the making, under the producing talents of (Quincy Jones recommended) 22 year old New Jack Swing inventor Teddy Riley and Grammy-winner Bill Bottrell. The previous album, Bad, was Jackson’s last designed for the LP industry, conforming to the usual 10-song within 50-minute format, whereas Dangerous was a 77-minute, 14-track compilation, which almost dared the capacity of early Nineties compact discs. Consequently, the record was released as a double album in vinyl.

The album was initially released in a large box with a picture of Jackson’s eyes, which folded open to reveal the normal cover (painted by pop surrealist Mark Ryden), in pop-up card, with the CD and booklet in the bottom. Dangerous was greatly anticipated, as shown by an incident at the Los Angeles International Airport, where a group of armed robbers stole 30,000 copies before its official release.^[4]

Commercial reception

“Black or White” was produced and co-written by Bill Bottrell and was an instant success. It was, in fact, the biggest hit single since 1982′s “Billie Jean”. Other singles were successful too, and in all, nine singles were released. “Dangerous” itself, was planned for a single at the end of 1993 but canceled due to the child molestation allegations, and was the same number of singles as Bad. Despite this, “Dangerous” has been performed on stage in since the second leg of the Dangerous Tour towards Jackson’s last concert at the Apollo Theatre in 2002. All nine singles were released in the UK, seven reaching the Top 10 – an achievement Jackson had never made before. The major successes from the album were “Black or White”, “Remember the Time”, “In the Closet”, “Heal the World”, “Who Is It”, and “Will You Be There”. In the US, the singles did not perform as well as those from Thriller or Bad – Dangerous produced four Top 10 hits out of seven singles released there.

The album was supported by the Dangerous World Tour. Prior to the release of Jackson’s next studio album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future Book I, Dangerous had already sold over twenty-two million copies worldwide.^[6] In the space of 17 years, sources estimate the record has sold between 29 and 32 million copies worldwide making it a faster selling album than his previous record Bad.^[7][8]

Music videos

As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album’s music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. Several of the music videos taken from the Dangerous album had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. The video for “Jam”, directed by David Kellogg, showed Jackson and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing together, while “Remember the Time” was set in an Ancient Egyptian palace, and starred Eddie Murphy and Iman as the pharaoh and his queen. “In the Closet” featured Jackson and supermodel Naomi Campbell as lovers. The director of the video was photographer Herb Ritts, who also photographed Jackson in a series of promotional shots for the release of the Dangerous album. A “Dangerous” video was filmed in 1992 by avant-garde director David Lynch, and considered a rarity among collectors.^[9] The video clip for “Who Is It” is notable as it was directed by David Fincher who later went on direct a number of films including Se7en, Fight Club and Zodiac.

“Black or White” was originally over ten minutes long, premiering simultaneously on November 14, 1991 on MTV, VH1, BET, and FOX. The video featured one of the earliest examples of computer-generated morphing. The last four minutes of the video also induced much controversy, as it depicted Jackson smashing store windows and destroying a car with a crowbar. However, this destructive behaviour was intended to imply a message of anti-racism and racist graffiti was added in later versions to make the violence more understandable. The music video was also controversial because of Jackson’s sexually suggestive dance, which included the crotch grab as well as zipping up his pants. MTV and the other music video networks decided to excise the last four minutes of the “Black or White” video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been offended, and explaining that he tried to interpret the animal instinct of panthers into a dance. The video featured Macaulay Culkin and an appearance during the morphing scene by young Tyra Banks and was directed by John Landis, also the director of the “Thriller” short film.

Dangerous World Tour

The Dangerous World Tour was the second world concert tour by Michael Jackson as a solo artist, covering United States, Europe, South America and Asia from June 27, 1992 to December 23, 1993. The tour, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola, who also sponsored Jackson’s previous tour, included 69 concerts to 3.9 million fans. All profits made from the tour were donated to various charities including the Heal the World Foundation, Jackson’s main reason for the tour.

During the tour’s second leg in 1993, Jackson decided to end the tour due to, as he announced, illness which ultimately resulted in hospitalization. Jackson had become dependent on painkillers and suffered from dehydration, migraines, back aches, frequent ankle injuries and stress following the child molestation charges made against him.

Special editions

Alternative editions of the albums became very rare, products almost exclusive for record collectors. The most notable was an edition released in 1992 that folded out to become a diorama.

An international re-release of the album (entitled Dangerous – Special Edition) took place on October 16, 2001, just two weeks before the release of Jackson’s studio album Invincible. Simultaneously, Special Editions of Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad were also released. For the occasion, Dangerous was digitally remastered and included a slipcase and a brand new 24-page colorful booklet with revised artwork and previously-unseen photos. The new edition managed to reached #108 in the UK charts (the only one of those four re-releases that didn’t enter the Top 75 there). Because of the constraints of Dangerous’ running time, previously unreleased songs were not included, however many of them were eventually leaked onto the internet along with various demos of other tracks that appeared on the album. In 2004, some of these leaked tracks were officially released on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection (namely the “Dangerous” demo and “Monkey Business”).

References

Dangerous World Tour

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Dangerous World Tour
World tour by Michael Jackson
Supporting album	Dangerous
Start date	June 27, 1992
End date	December 23, 1993
Legs	3
Michael Jackson tour chronology
Bad World Tour (1987-89)	Dangerous World Tour (1992-93)	HIStory World Tour (1996-97)

The Dangerous World Tour was the second world concert tour by Michael Jackson as a solo artist, covering United States, Europe, South America and Asia from June 27, 1992 to December 23, 1993. The tour, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola, who also sponsored Jackson’s previous tour, included 69 concerts to 3.9 million fans. All profits made from the tour were donated to various charities including the Heal the World Foundation, Jackson’s main reason for the tour.

During the tour’s second leg in 1993, Jackson decided to end the tour due to, as he announced, illness which ultimately resulted in hospitalisation. Jackson had become dependant on painkillers and suffered from dehydration, migraines, back aches, frequent ankle injuries and stress following the child molestation charges made against him.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Music video

The music video for “Who Is It” was directed by David Fincher[/wikipop, an Academy Award-nominated American filmmaker and music video director known for his dark and stylish movies such as Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button].

The video is set in a neo-chrome Blade Runner-like landscape, where surfaces reflect light and denote luxury in all its splendor. We see Michael Jackson as a suffering recluse who has come to the conclusion that his girlfriend is cheating. He finds a platinum business card with the name ‘Alex’ seemingly confirming that she is cheating with the person whose name is on the card. As the video progresses, we learn that the girlfriend is working for a secret exclusive billionaire-boys-club escort agency. Her identity and visual appearance is changed regularly, usually between clients, and is confirmed by the platinum business cards she presents to each client as the night goes on. This reveals that the name ‘Alex’ on the card found by Jackson is one of her aliases and is not a secret lover. She senses that something is wrong, defies her watchers and runs back to Jackson’s home to find him. She finds Jackson’s assistant at the door, who refuses to let her in and reveals that Jackson has left and probably for good. The assistant then hands her a collection of her alias business cards revealing that her secret is out and that she has been exposed. Devastated, she is forced to return submissively back to her ruthless employees and continue on as a high class prostitute. The video ends with the ex-girlfriend being prepared for another client while Jackson attempts to sleep on a jet. Throughout the video, a strange ghostly face appears in Jackson’s surroundings — the appearances seem to coincide with Jackson’s despair.

In the United States, the music video was never aired on MTV or VH-1. Instead, the video was replaced with montage footage of various music videos by Jackson, as well as live performances during the Bad tour and Motown 25.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License;

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The Jackson 5 original was recorded for the Motown Records, and released as the first single from their Third Album in 1970. Produced by the songwriters, “I’ll Be There” was The Jackson 5′s fourth number 1 hit in a row, following “I Want You Back,” “ABC,” and “The Love You Save.” “I’ll Be There” is also notable as the most successful single released by Motown during its “Detroit era” (1959-1972). It is also the fifth in the group’s string of 5 consecutive number one pop hits, making them the first black male group to achieve this.

Release and reaction

In his Moon Walk autobiography, Michael Jackson noted that “I’ll Be There” was the song that solidified The Jackson 5′s careers and showed audiences that the group had potential beyond bubblegum pop. Allmusic.com commented that “rarely, if ever, had one so young sung with so much authority and grace, investing this achingly tender ballad with wisdom and understanding far beyond his years”.^[1]

The most successful single ever released by the Jackson 5, “I’ll Be There” sold 4.2 million copies in the United States, and 6.1 million copies worldwide. It replaced Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” as the most successful single released on Motown in the U.S., a record it held until the release of Lionel Richie’s duet with Diana Ross, “Endless Love” (1981). Outside the U.S., “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” remained Motown’s biggest selling record with worldwide sales of over 7 million copies.

The song held the number 1 position on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart for five weeks from October 17 to November 14, replacing “Cracklin’ Rosie” by Neil Diamond, and replaced by “I Think I Love You” by The Partridge Family. “I’ll Be There” was also a number 1 hit on the Billboard Black Singles Chart for six weeks, and a number 4 hit in the United Kingdom. The single’s B-side was “One More Chance.”

“I’ll Be There” was the Jackson 5′s final number 1 Hot 100 hit as a group. For the rest of their twenty-year-career as a major-label act, Jackson 5 singles would get no higher than number-two. Michael Jackson scored several number 1 hits as a solo artist, beginning with “Ben” in 1972. He performed “I’ll Be There” on all his world tours. In the live versions from his 1981 Triumph Tour to his 1987 solo Bad World Tour, Jackson would seemingly break down in tears, struggling with the words until feeling a jolt as he harmonized and shouted “can you feel it!” to the delight of the audience before dancing to the beat of “Rock With You,” in his later tours from Dangerous World Tour onwards, by the time he would almost cry and struggle with the words, instead, he reminisced on his childhood past, shouting out his brothers’ names and ending the song with a jump and a spin to end the song.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Scream” is cited primarily as an aggressive, retaliatory song directed at the tabloid media and their coverage of the child sexual abuse accusations made against Michael Jackson in 1993. “Scream” was co-written, composed and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis; Jackson played many of the instruments. It incorporates elements of pop, R&B, hip hop, funk and rock. The song was leaked to radio stations early, despite Epic Records’ attempt to keep it off air until the official release date. Generally well received amongst critics, it has been compared favorably to other accomplished pieces by Jackson. It went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award and an American Music Award. The corresponding music video remains one of Jackson’s most critically acclaimed pieces; it won numerous MTV Video Music Awards and a Grammy. At a cost of $ 7 million, it is listed in the Guinness World Records as the most expensive music video ever made.

Production and Music of “Scream”

Janet Jackson wanted to be involved with the project as a show of sibling support.^[22] It was the first time they had worked together since 1982, when Janet provided backing vocals on “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)”.^[23] Janet said that it was “very fun” working with her brother again and that seeing her brother’s work was “interesting”.^[23] “Scream” was written, composed and produced by the Jackson siblings, with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.^[24] It was the first time Michael Jackson had worked with Jam and Lewis, although Janet had worked with them successfully on numerous occasions.^[22] The album was created with the intention of following half R&B and half pop/rock themes, the same themes that brought Jackson success on his prior album, Dangerous.^[22] Jackson was credited for playing instruments such as keyboard, synthesizer, guitar, drums and percussion on the single and album.^[25]

In the song, Jackson tells the media to stop pressuring him and to stop misrepresenting the truth.^[18] Journalist and author, J. Randy Taraborrelli—who knows Jackson personally and has studied the singer’s life—expressed the opinion that “Scream” was not solely directed at the tabloid press. Taraborrelli noted several examples where the singer’s father, Joseph, physically abused his children and secretly fathered a child with another woman while still married to Katherine Jackson.^[26][27] Joseph also had sex with other women, which the Jackson children could hear from the next room.^[28] Jackson told Taraborrelli that he was revolted by the thought of his father with these women.^[28] Taraborrelli asserts that the lyrics “Oh, father, please, have mercy, cause I just can’t take it/Stop fucking with me!” are directed at his father, not the press.^[28]

Jon Pareles of The New York Times observed, “fear has turned to aggression. The music has polarized; it’s either clipped, choppy and electronic or glossy and sumptuous, only occasionally trying to combine the two. Most of the time, Jackson sounds as if he’s singing through clenched teeth, spitting out words in defiance of any and all persecutors”.^[18] He believed that “Scream” had a similar sound to the music of Janet’s acclaimed Rhythm Nation.^[18] It was Michael Jackson’s first song that contained profanity—with the word “fucking”—which was thought of as an unusual choice for Jackson, considering his appeal with the younger audience. Other songs on HIStory contained words such as kike, shit and nigger.^[18][29][30] “Scream” incorporates elements of pop, R&B, hip-hop, funk and rock.^[1][2]

Scream Music Video

Production

The 4:46 minute music video for “Scream” was choreographed by Jackson, directed by Mark Romanek, with the production being designed byTom Foden. Jackson did not create the “concept” for the video, which he had often done in the past, but left it to Romanek. Jackson later described the making of “Scream” as a collaborative effort. The song and its accompanying video are a response to the backlash Jackson received from the media in 1993.^[23][36][37]

Foden commented, “Mark had written the treatment and the general idea was that Michael and Janet were on this large spacecraft. And they, were alone…They were getting away from Earth, and the different sets were the different environments on the spacecraft where they could have a little bit of fun and where they could relax”.^[38] Production of the music video’s 13-piece set were restricted to a one-month period and is produced by Foden art directors Richard Berg, Jeff Hall, and Martin Mervel.^[38] Foden describes the assignment as a “military operation” explaining, “The idea was to give each of the art directors three sets: a complicated one, a not-so-complicated one, and one of the smaller, easier vignettes.”^[38] Typography in the video was designed by P. Scott Makela.^[39] Jackson was happy to work with his sister again, explaining that as they still had a passion for dancing it reminded him of “old times.”^[23]

In the video, Janet Jackson takes on a darker persona, previously unseen in her own music videos. Jim Farber of the New York Daily News described her as “Sporting a thick thatch of wig hair, and eyes darkened by coal-black makeup…sullen and arty…Janet, however, never looked tougher, or more in control.”^[40] The video has influences of Japanese sci-fi Anime, and the editing sometimes intensified the imagery in the dance routines.^[40]

Reception and Influence

The video premiered in the summer of 1995, on MTV and BET and the next evening on ABC-TV’s “Primetime Live” during Diane Sawyer’s interview with Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. The interview was broadcast to approximately 64 million viewers.^[2] The video is one of Jackson’s most critically acclaimed pieces, Heather Phares of Allmusic described the video as a “stylish, interstellar clip”.^[36] James Hunter of Rolling Stone called it a contemporary video, “in which Michael and his sister Janet jump around like ’90s fashion kids trapped in a spaceship stolen from a Barbarella film set”.^[1] Jim Farber called it a “supercool black-and-white clip”…”The clip’s great allure is that neither of the siblings looks quite real. While the visuals hold barely any connection to the lyric, and seem to have no clear point, the weird look captivates”. He was of the opinion that while Michael Jackson outshines his sister in the vocals, it is Janet Jackson who gives the better performance in the music video.^[40]

In 1995, Scream gained 11 MTV Video Music Award Nominations—more than any other music video—and won “Best Dance Video”, “Best Choreography”, and “Best Art Direction”.^[2][38] Reacting to this, Jackson stated that he was “very honored”, explaining that he had worked “very hard” and he was “very happy” with the reception up to that point.^[23] It was also given a Billboard Music Award for best Pop/Rock video.^[2] A year later, it won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form; shortly afterward Guinness World Records listed it as the most expensive music video ever made at a cost of $7 million.^[2][41] In 2001, VH1 placed “Scream” at number nine on their list of the 100 greatest music videos.^[42]

“Scream” was a creative influence on other music videos such as the 1999 release of the award winning “No Scrubs” by TLC.^[43] This influence was also present on the 2008 release of “Shawty Get Loose” by Lil Mama and Chris Brown. Reacting to the comparisons made between the videos, Mama explained, “I feel honored, because that was one of the initial goals, and I feel that it was executed well”. She adding that the emulation was intentional and that Brown was the only logical choice to step into Michael Jackson’s role.^[44]

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Michael Jackson performed during the halftime show of the 1993 Super Bowl. Unlike many previous years, he was the only performer in the entire halftime show. Jackson started the performance by simply standing frozen in one of his famous ‘Dangerous’ poses. Jackson’s set included songs “Jam”, “Billie Jean” and “Black or White”. The finale featured an audience card stunt, a video montage showing Jackson participating in various humanitarian efforts around the world, and a choir of 3,500 local Los Angeles area children joining Jackson as he sang his single “Heal the World”.

Part of the halftime show can be found on Michael Jackson’s Dangerous – The Short Films DVD. However, the DVD only features the “Heal The World” performance of the halftime show, and omits the show opening and a medley of “Jam”, “Billie Jean” and “Black Or White”.

Because of Jackson’s star power, the FOX network declined to broadcast counter-programming against the halftime show like they did during Super Bowl XXVI’s show in the previous year (FOX aired a special live edition of In Living Color on that occasion). FOX would never broadcast counter-programming again against the Super Bowl; on December 19, 1993, the network signed an agreement to broadcast NFL (replacing CBS as the NFC television broadcaster) starting in 1994.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The song can be heard in the background of Sega’s arcade and Mega Drive games Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (during the 4th and 3rd levels respectively), and was performed live during Jackson’s second leg of his Bad World Tour.

Music video

An official video was released in 1988, directed by Patrick Kelly, featuring Jackson performing the song live during his Bad World Tour with concert footage from Paris, Wembley and other European locations.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Song Details

The song was the second single from Invincible, but was released only in Europe, Australia and Canada. It peaked at #25 on the UK Singles Chart.

An anthemic, uplifting song, “Cry” featured a full choir, like other Jackson songs such as “Earth Song”, “Man in the Mirror” and “Heal the World”.^[3] Like these songs, there is a climactic key change in the final section of the song, lifting the main key up a half-step to increase intensity.

Though originally set for a U.S. release, and meant to be played on New York radio stations, in wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, “Cry” was replaced by “Butterflies” when the latter was released as a promo single.

Lyrics and Meaning

The song is written in the key of A Major until the climatic key change half way through the song. The song is a melodic, soft, R&B track which is uplifiting. After the middle breakdown of the song, a key change takes place and the sounds of a gospel choir kick in for the rest of the song.

The song ‘Cry’ talks about all the problems in the world like previous singles “Man In The Mirror” and “Heal The World.” It discusses the issues and subjects of war, loneliness, lying, changing the world, depression, suicide, miracles, and faith. It also suggests if everyone pulls together as one, then we can all make a change to the world.

Music Video

The music video for “Cry” features many people holding hands in different places. This could be to symbolize the lyric: If we all cry, at the same time tonight. The music video is directed by Nick Brandt who also shot the music videos “Childhood” and “Earth Song” for Michael.

Jackson does not appear in the music video. At the time, rumors persisted that this was because Jackson was unhappy with the budget allocated for promotions and music videos associated with his album Invincible. It was also rumored that he wanted to re-work the music video for the UK and U.S., but this was canceled due to his record label Sony canceling all promotions and music videos for Jackson.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

“Human Nature” was released on July 3, 1983, as the album’s fifth single. Although not released in the UK, the song achieved chart success in the US. Reaching number two on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart and number seven on the Hot 100, the song became Jackson’s fifth Top 10 hit from Thriller. In New Zealand the single reached number 11. The ballad garnered many positive reviews from music critics. “Human Nature” has been covered and sampled by numerous artists, including Miles Davis, SWV, Nas, Jason Nevins and Boyz II Men.

Background

“Human Nature” was written by Steve Porcaro of Toto and John Bettis for Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. Initially, Porcaro recorded a rough demo of the song on a cassette.^[1] Fellow Toto band member David Paich then gave the demo, along with two songs written by Paich, to producer Quincy Jones, hoping they would be included on Thriller.^[1] Jones didn’t like Paich’s songs, but enjoyed the rough demo of “Human Nature” at the end of the cassette.^[1] Jones explained, “All of a sudden, at the end, there was all this silence, there was: ‘why, why, dah dah da-dum dah dah, why, why’. Just a dummy lyric and a very skeletal thing—I get goosebumps talking about it. I said, ‘This is where we wanna go, because it’s got such a wonderful flavour’”.^[2] The producer asked if the song could be included on Jackson’s album, to which Porcaro and Bettis agreed.^[1] “Human Nature” was the last song selected for Thriller, ousting “Carousel” from the final track listing.^[1]

“Human Nature” was released on July 3, 1983, as the fifth single from Thriller.^[1] Although not released in the UK, the song achieved moderate chart success in the US.^[1] Reaching number two on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart and number seven on the Hot 100, the song became Jackson’s fifth Top 10 hit from Thriller.^[4][5] “Human Nature” charted at number 27 on the R&B singles chart.^[4] In the Netherlands the single reached number 11.^[6]

John Rockwell, of The New York Times, stated that “Human Nature” was a “haunting, brooding ballad” with an “irresistible” chorus.^[7] Allmusic noted that the “gentle and lovely” “Human Nature” coexisted comfortably with the “tough, scared” “Beat It”.^[8] They later added that the song was a “soft rocker”.^[9] Reflecting on Thriller, Slant expressed their fondness of the song, stating that it was “probably the best musical composition on the album and surely one of the only A/C ballads of its era worth remembering”.^[10] The magazine added that the track’s “buttery harmonies” were powerful.^[10] Stylus also praised the song, describing it as “the smoothest of ballads”.^[11] They further added that the music “does little to embody the song’s message” and that it couches Jackson’s “glazed voice” in “cloudy synths and drum pillows”.^[11]

About.com’s Bill Lamb looked back on the track 25 years after its release. He felt that the song “set down a blueprint for what would become known as adult R&B”.^[12] Kelefa Sanneh of Blender described the “soft-serve balladry” of the song as a “silk-sheets masterstroke”.^[13] In a 2008 IGN review, Todd Gilchrist explained that the elements of “Human Nature” worked better today than they did before. He added that it may be because modern R&B “sucks”.^[14] Tom Ewing, reviewer for Pitchfork Media, described the song as “meltingly tender”, with MTV adding that it was an “airy ballad”.^[15][16] Rolling Stone claimed that the “most beautifully fragile” “Human Nature” was so open and brave it made “She’s Out of My Life” seem phony.^[17] The Los Angeles Times concluded that it was Jackson’s delivery that made the “middling ballad” take off.^[18]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Halstead, p. 144
2. ^ Thriller 25: The Book, p. 13
3. ^ Powers, Ann (February 15, 2008). “Nine reasons why Jackson masterpiece remains a ‘Thriller’“. South Coast Today. http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080215/LIFE/802150316. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
4. ^ ^{a b c d} George, p. 39
5. ^ Borza, Michael J. (September 7, 1984). “Jacksons captivated JFK Stadium“. The Daily Collegian. http://digitalnewspapers.libraries.psu.edu/Default/Skins/BasicArch/Client.asp?Skin=BasicArch&&AppName=2&enter=true&BaseHref=DCG/1984/09/07&EntityId=Ar02400. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
6. ^ ^{a b} “Dutch Singles Chart Archives“. dutchcharts.nl. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Michael+Jackson&titel=Human+Nature&cat=s. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
7. ^ Rockwell, John (December 19, 1982). “Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’: Superb Job“. The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/19/arts/michael-jackson-s-thriller-superb-job.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
8. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. “Allmusic’s ‘Thriller’ Review“. Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fixq95ld6e. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
9. ^ “Allmusic’s Thriller 25 review“. Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:w9fwxzejldke~T1. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
10. ^ ^{a b} Henderson, Eric (2003). “Slant’s ‘Thriller’ review“. Slant Magazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=358. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
11. ^ ^{a b} “Thriller – The Diamond“. Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/diamond/michael-jackson-thriller.htm. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
12. ^ Lamb, Bill. “About.com’s Thriller 25 review“. About.com. http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/mjacksonthril25.htm. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
13. ^ Sanneh, Kelefa (April 11, 2008). “Thriller – 25th Anniversary Edition Blender review“. Blender. http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4996. Retrieved on March 10, 2009.
14. ^ Gilchrist, Todd. “IGN’s Thriller 25 review“. IGN. http://uk.music.ign.com/articles/850/850483p2.html. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
15. ^ Ewing, Tom (April 11, 2008). “Pitchfork Media’s Thriller 25 review“. Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/48645-thriller-25th-anniversary-edition. Retrieved on February 21, 2009.
16. ^ “Michael Jackson biography“. MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/jackson_michael/artist.jhtml. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
17. ^ Sheffield, Rob. “Rolling Stone’s Thriller 25 review“. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/18290476/review/18305830/thriller_25_deluxe_edition. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
18. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (February 12, 2008). “Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ turns 25“. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-etlede5572856feb12,1,7023998.story?page=2.
19. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
20. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits (Billboard Publications), page 269.
21. ^ “UK Singles Chart“. The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php. Retrieved on 6 July 2009.
22. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Halstead, p. 145
23. ^ Davis, Francis (July 4, 1985). “You’re Under Arrest review“. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/177991/review/6067406?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
24. ^ Hackett, Regina (September 5, 1987). “Miles Davis treats a forgiving crowd to his lean, hard-driving dance music“. Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/archives/1987/8701240051.asp. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
25. ^ “SWV biography“. MTV. http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/swv/artist.jhtml. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
26. ^ Farley, Christopher John (June 20, 1994). “Street stories“. Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980934,00.html. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
27. ^ Rivaldo, Joey. “Jason Nevins featuring Holly – I’m in Heaven“. About.com. http://dancemusic.about.com/cs/reviews/fr/JasNeviHollHeav.htm. Retrieved on June 7, 2009.
28. ^ Litman, Joseph (March 31, 2003). “Blackstreet – Blackstreet Level II“. Michigan Daily. http://www.michigandaily.com/node/41639. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
29. ^ Harris, Mike (February 11, 2005). “‘Throwback’ review“. PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/boyziimen-throwback/. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
30. ^ Spencer, Todd (August 23, 2004). “New CDs: R. Kelly, Earle“. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/boyziimen/articles/story/6438437/new_cds_r_kelly_earle. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
31. ^ Miller, Sara (August 11, 2009). “Migrant musician Mead hits the 40 Watt“. The Red and Black. http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2001/11/08/Variety/Migrant.Musician.Mead.Hits.The.40.Watt-2597485.shtml. Retrieved on April 11, 2009.
32. ^ Powers, Ann; Martens, Todd (July 7, 2009) “Michael Jackson memorial: John Mayer performs ‘Human Nature’”. LA Times (accessed 2009-07-08)
33. ^ “Death of A Legend”. Larry King Live. July 7, 2009. No. unknown, season unknown.
34. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Jackson, Michael. Thriller booklet. Sony BMG.

References

• George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet. Sony BMG.
• Halstead, Craig (2007). Michael Jackson: For the Record. Authors OnLine. ISBN 978-0-7552026-7-6.
• Thriller 25: The Book (2008). Thriller 25: The Book. ML Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9768891-9-9.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Michael wrote the song at the request of his mother, Katherine, who wanted a song with “a shuffling kind of rhythm.”

U.S. Chart performance

Debuting at #44 on November 21, 1987, “The Way You Make Me Feel” reached the top in its tenth week, January 23, 1988, for one week. It was the third consecutive #1 single from Jackson’s hit album Bad. The single spent 6 weeks in the top 10, 9 weeks in the top 20 and 13 weeks in the top 40.

Music video

The music video for “The Way You Make Me Feel”, directed by Joe Pytka, depicts Michael Jackson chasing a woman (Tatiana Thumbtzen) across the street. They return with friends across the street. She then begins to lead him on. Michael successfully woos her with his complicated dance techniques. The video ends with an embrace.

There are two versions of the video, the edited version, which runs for 6:43, and the original version, which runs for 8:56. On March 27, 2006 “The Way You Make Me Feel” was re-released as part of the Visionary – The Video Singles package; the original 8:56 version was included in the 2001 re-release on DVD of the Video Greatest Hits – HIStory. Jackson’s sister Latoya Jackson is also featured in the video.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

When the song was complete, with Jackson happy with the result, he decided to make the second disc of HIStory a full studio album instead of a greatest hits compilation with several new tracks. Upon release, “Stranger in Moscow” was praised by critics, today it remains one of his most critically acclaimed pieces. Commercially the single saw mixed results by Jackson’s standards, but the highly successful album had already been on the market nearly 18 months and numerous A-side, B-side and radio only singles had already been released to a positive commercial reception.

The song’s music video depicts the lives of six individuals, including Jackson, who are left isolated and disconnected from the world around them. The imagery in the video has been replicated in television adverts.

Context, production and music

In the book, The Many Faces of Michael Jackson, author Lee Pinkerton, like many other reviewers, noted that HIStory’s album tracks like “Stranger in Moscow”, were Jackson’s response to recent events in his personal life.^[1]

In 1993, the relationship between Jackson and the press soured entirely when he was accused of child sexual abuse. Although never charged with a crime, Jackson was subject to intense media scrutiny while the criminal investigation took place. Complaints about the coverage and media included using sensational headlines to draw in readers and viewers when the content itself did not support the headline,^[2] accepting stories of Jackson’s alleged criminal activity in return for money,^[3] accepting leaked material from the police investigation in return for money paid,^[4] deliberately using pictures of Jackson’s appearance at its worst,^[5] a lack of objectivity^[5] and using headlines that strongly implied Jackson’s guilt.^[5]

At the time, Jackson said of the media reaction, “I will say I am particularly upset by the handling of the matter by the incredible, terrible mass media. At every opportunity, the media has dissected and manipulated these allegations to reach their own conclusions”.^[6]

The entertainer began taking painkillers, Valium, Xanax and Ativan to deal with the stress of the allegations made against him.^[7] A few months after the allegations became news, Jackson had lost approximately 10 pounds (4.5kg) in weight and had stopped eating.^[8] Jackson’s health had deteriorated to the extent that he canceled the remainder of his Dangerous World Tour and went into rehabilitation.^[9][10] Jackson booked the whole fourth floor of the clinic, and was put on Valium IV to wean him from painkillers.^[9][10][11] The singer’s spokesperson told reporters that Jackson was “barely able to function adequately on an intellectual level”.^[10] While in the clinic, Jackson took part in group and one-on-one therapy sessions.^[9][10]

When Jackson left the US to go into rehabilitation, the media showed the singer little sympathy. The Daily Mirror held a “Spot the Jacko” contest, offering readers a trip to Disney World if they could correctly predict where the entertainer would appear next.^[9] A Daily Express headline read, “Drug Treatment Star Faces Life on the Run”, while a News of the World headline accused Jackson of being a fugitive. These tabloids also falsely alleged that Jackson had traveled to Europe to have cosmetic surgery that would make him unrecognizable on his return.^[9] Geraldo Rivera set up a mock trial, with a jury made up of audience members, even though Jackson had not been charged with a crime.^[12]

“Stranger in Moscow” is an R&B ballad,^[11][13] penned by Jackson in 1993, during his Dangerous World Tour in Moscow. A background guitar was played by Steve Lukather while Keyboards, Synthesizers and Bass are credited to David Paich and Steve Porcaro.^[14] Originally, HIStory was planned as a greatest hits release, with a few new tracks. However, Jackson and his collaborators were so pleased with the result of “Stranger in Moscow” that they decided to give HIStory a full studio album as the second disc.^[15] Jackson used elements of Russian imagery and symbolism to help promote the concept of fear and alienation in the track. It concludes with a narrative, spoken in Russian, by a KGB interrogator.^[16] The narrative, translated into English is, “Why have you come from the west? Confess! To steal the great achievements of the people, the accomplishments of the workers…”.^[17]

Music and critical reception

The song was well received amongst critics and music producers. James Hunter of Rolling Stone commented “[Jackson is] angry, miserable, tortured, inflammatory, furious about what he calls, in ‘Stranger in Moscow’, a ‘swift and sudden fall from grace’…HIStory feels like the work of someone with a bad case of Thriller nostalgia. Occasionally this backward focus works to Jackson’s advantage: On ‘Stranger in Moscow’ he remembers the synth-pop ’80s while constructing wracked claims of danger and loneliness that rival any Seattle rocker’s p??in [sic]“.^[18]

Jon Pareles of The New York Times stated, “The ballads are lavishly melodic. ‘Stranger in Moscow’, with odd lyrics like ‘Stalin’s tomb won’t let me be,’ has a gorgeous chorus for the repeated question “How does it feel?”.^[11] Fred Shuster of the Daily News of Los Angeles described it as, “a lush, gorgeous minor-key ballad with one of the album’s catchiest choruses”.^[19]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic noted of HIStory, “Jackson produces some well-crafted pop that ranks with his best material…’Stranger in Moscow’ is one of his most haunting ballads.^[20] Long time collaborator Bruce Swedien, has described “Stranger in Moscow” as one of the best songs Jackson had ever done.^[15] Patrick Macdonald of The Seattle Times described “Stranger in Moscow” as “a pretty ballad interspersed with sounds of rain.”^[21]

Further praise came in 2005 when it was felt that the song had successfully portrayed “eerie loneliness” and was characterized as beautiful by Josephine Zohny of PopMatters.^[22] Tom Molley of the Associated Press described it as “[a] ethereal and stirring description of a man wounded by a ‘swift and sudden fall from grace’ walking in the shadow of the Kremlin”.^[23]

Music video plot and influence

The song’s music video is focused around six unrelated people living in a cityscape while the rest of the world moves around them in slow motion. The first half of the video introduces these figures. They are a man looking down at the city from his bedroom window, a woman sitting alone in a coffee shop, a homeless man lying on the damp street, a lone figure feeding pigeons, a boy ostracized from a game of baseball and Jackson himself is the sixth figure, seen walking the city streets. Special effects are used to show birds and wasps flying, glass breaking and coffee spilling, all in slow motion.

In the second half of the scenario, heavy rain descends on the city and the citizens try to flee, all again seen in slow motion. From the safety of shelter, the six “strangers” watch everyone’s futile attempts to avoid the sudden change in weather. Eventually they decide to go outside, where they look up at the sky and allow the rain to soak them. The video concludes with a man speaking in Russian.

Jackson’s biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli, has stated that the video is based on Jackson’s real life. The singer used to walk alone at night looking for new friends, even at the peak of his musical popularity. The 1980s saw the singer become deeply unhappy; Jackson explained, “Even at home, I’m lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It’s so hard to make friends …I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home”.^[23][24]

The advertising campaign for ICC Champions Trophy 2004 featured a “new-look (leaner and sexier) Mandira in a series of smart outdoor ads and a classy TV spot”. The television commercial was inspired by “Stranger In Moscow” where “the maiden in black splash about in the rain, with kids playing cricket for company”.^[25]

Notes

1. ^ Pinkerton, Lee (1998). The Many Faces of Michael Jackson. Music Sales Distribution. p. 34. ISBN 0711967830.
2. ^ Campbell (1995), p. 42–45
3. ^ Campbell (1995), p. 77–80
4. ^ Campbell (1995), p. 47–50
5. ^ ^{a b c} Taraborrelli, p. 500–507
6. ^ “Michael Jackson speaks: ‘I am totally innocent of any wrongdoing.’“. Jet. 1994-01-10. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1355/is_n10_v85/ai_14947357?tag=artBody;col1. Retrieved on 2008-08-03.
7. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 518–520
8. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 514–516
9. ^ ^{a b c d e} Campbell (1995), p. 89–93
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Taraborrelli, p. 524–528
11. ^ ^{a b c} Pareles, Jon (1995-06-18). “Pop View; Michael Jackson Is Angry, Understand?“. The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE0DD123DF93BA25755C0A963958260&scp=4&sq=HIStory+album+michael+jackson+review&st=nyt. Retrieved on 2008-09-18.
12. ^ Campbell (1995), p. 104–106
13. ^ “Stranger in Moscow“. Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=17:1471108. Retrieved on 2008-11-06.
14. ^ ^{a b} George, p. 12
15. ^ ^{a b} “MJ visionary“. Sony BMG. http://www.mjvisionary.com/mjvisionary.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-05.
16. ^ Jackson, Michael. HIStory booklet. Sony BMG. p 42
17. ^ Jackson, Michael. Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix booklet. Sony BMG. p 9
18. ^ Hunter, James (1995-08-10). “Michael Jackson HIStory“. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/michaeljackson/albums/album/312830/review/5943497/history_past_present_and_future_book_1. Retrieved on 2008-07-23.
19. ^ Fred Shuster, Jackson attempts to rewrite ‘history’, Daily News of Los Angeles, 1995-06-18
20. ^ Erlewine, Stephen. “Michael Jackson HIStory Overview“. Allmusic. http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:rz60tr7qklkx. Retrieved on 2008-06-15.
21. ^ Macdonald, Patrick (1995-06-21). “`History’ Lesson: Jackson’s Living On Past Glories“. The Seattle Times. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950621&slug=2127467. Retrieved on 2008-11-07.
22. ^ Zohny, Josephine (2005-02-09). “In Defense Of Michael“. PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/050209-michaeljackson.shtml. Retrieved on 2008-11-05.
23. ^ ^{a b} Molloy, Tim (2005-05-22). “Michael Jackson seemingly gives his side of story – on decade-old album“. Associated Press. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050522-0913-ca-michaeljackson-history.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-05.
24. ^ Taraborrelli, p. 206
25. ^ “Extra oomph on field“. The Telegraph. 2004-09-03. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040903/asp/calcutta/story_3712873.asp. Retrieved on 2008-11-06.
26. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l} “M. Jackson – Stranger In Moscow (nummer)“. www.ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Michael+Jackson&titel=Stranger+In+Moscow&cat=s. Retrieved on 2008-09-14.
27. ^ George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet p, 48–50. Sony BMG.
28. ^ “Artist Chart History – Michael Jackson“. Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=4902&model.vnuAlbumId=497792. Retrieved on 2008-11-05.
29. ^ “UK Singles Chart“. The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php. Retrieved on 6 July 2009.

References

• Campbell, Lisa (1995). Michael Jackson: The King of Pops Darkest Hour. Branden. ISBN 0828320039.
• George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection. Sony BMG.
• Pinkerton, Lee (1998). The Many Faces of Michael Jackson. Music Sales Distribution. ISBN 0711967830.
• Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Terra Alta, WV: Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The single release is notable for its B-sides, which include the album versions of “Dirty Diana” and “Beat It”, two songs which also include guest appearances by rock guitarists (Steve Stevens and Eddie Van Halen, respectively).

Music video

The music video for “Give In to Me” features Michael Jackson performing the song on stage with former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Gilby Clarke and Guns N’ Roses touring keyboardist Teddy Andreadis at an indoor rock concert. According to Jackson it was shot in just about 2 hours in Germany. The pyrotechnics appearing on the video are computer generated and were added later on.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, the song was promoted with a music video directed by Bob Giraldi. The video, filmed in Santa Ynez Valley, California, featured cameo appearances by Linda McCartney, and La Toya Jackson. The short film centered around two con artists, “Mac and Jack”, and introduced dialogue and storylines to music videos. Upon its release, the video was considered too violent by the National Coalition on Television Violence. “Say Say Say” was covered by the Dutch music group Hi-Tack in early 2006. They took the song to number four on the UK singles chart.

Recording

Prior to the release of “Say Say Say”, McCartney had collaborated with Jackson on “The Girl Is Mine”, for Jackson’s Thriller album. In return, Jackson agreed to include “Say Say Say” on McCartney’s Pipes of Peace.^[1] The song was recorded at Abbey Road Studios from May to September 1981. During this time, McCartney was also recording Tug of War, his first solo album since splitting from Wings.^[2] Jackson stayed at the home of McCartney and his wife Linda during the recording sessions, becoming friendly with both. One evening whilst at the dining table, McCartney brought out a booklet displaying all the songs to which he owned the publishing rights. “This is the way to make big money”, the musician told Jackson. “Every time someone records one of these songs, I get paid. Every time someone plays these songs on the radio, or in live performances, I get paid”. McCartney’s words later influenced Jackson’s purchase of the Northern Songs song catalogue in 1985.^[3] The recording of “Say Say Say” was completed in February 1983. George Martin, who had worked with The Beatles, produced “Say Say Say”. He said of Jackson, “He actually does radiate an aura when he comes into the studio, there’s no question about it. He’s not a musician in the sense that Paul is…but he does know what he wants in music and he has very firm ideas”.^[2] Upon Jackson’s death in June 2009, McCartney commented on his time working with the singer. “I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.”^[4]

Release and reception

Following the release of Thriller and its accompanying singles, “Say Say Say” was released on October 9, 1983.^[5] Remaining atop the Billboard’s Hot 100 for six weeks, the single was Jackson’s seventh top ten hit in a year—breaking a record previously held by The Beatles and Elvis Presley.^[6] It was also Jackson’s third single to top the Hot 100; “Say Say Say”, “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” logged Jackson sixteen combined weeks at the top. Peaking at number two on the R&B chart, “Say Say Say” also reached number three on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.^[5][7] The song peaked low in the UK and was slowly dropping from the charts. An interview was then held with McCartney, who discussed the song’s music video. The interview helped propel the song to number two on the UK Singles Chart.^[8] Screenings of the video on Top of the Pops (who usually only screened videos within the Top 40), The Tube and Noel Edmonds’ The Late, Late Breakfast Show also aided the song’s UK chart performance. Reaching number one in Canada, Finland, Italy, Norway and Sweden, the single was also within the top ten of Austria and New Zealand.^[8][5][9]

“Say Say Say” received mixed reviews from music critics. The song was named as having the worst lyrics of 1983 by Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News.^[10] The Lexington Herald-Leader stated that aside from “Say Say Say” and “The Man”, “McCartney wastes the rest of the album [Pipes of Peace] on bathos and whimsy”.^[11] Los Angeles Times’ Paul Grein claimed that McCartney redeemed himself with the success of the “spunky” song “but plunged back into wimpdom with ‘No More Lonely Nights’”.^[12] Whitney Pastorek compared the song to McCartney’s duet with Stevie Wonder, “Ebony and Ivory”. She asserted that “Say Say Say” was a better song and had a better, “though slightly more nonsensical”, video. She added that the song had no “heavy-handed social content”.^[13] The Daily Collegian of Penn State described the track as a good song, despite the ad nauseam broadcasts of it.^[14] The Deseret News noted that the “pleading love song” had a “masterful, catchy hook”.^[15] In a Rolling Stone review, the track was described as an “amiable though vapid dance groove”. The reviewer, Parke Puterbaugh, added that it was “instantly hit-bound froth-funk that tends, after all, toward banality”.^[16] Salon.com later described the song as a “sappy duet”. They concluded that McCartney had become a “wimpy old fart”.^[17] The single was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of at least one million units.^[5] The song was also covered by the Dutch music group Hi-Tack in early 2006. Hi-Tack took the song, entitled “Say Say Say (Waiting For U), to number four on the UK singles chart.^[18]

Music video

Directed by Bob Giraldi, who also directed “Beat It”, the music video for “Say Say Say” featured cameo appearances by Linda McCartney, La Toya Jackson and Mr. T.^[18][19] It was filmed in Santa Ynez Valley, California, and McCartney had to fly out to Jackson; the latter’s schedule was busy.^[20] As “Mac and Jack”, the duo play a pair of conmen selling a “miracle potion”. The salesman (McCartney) offers Jackson the potion, claiming it’s “guaranteed to give you the strength of a raging bull”. Jackson drinks the potion and challenges a large man, also in on the scam, to arm wrestle. Upon Jackson winning, the crowd surges forward, hoping to buy the magical potion. With the money earned from the scam, Mac and Jack donate it all to an orphanage.^[20] In their hotel, Jackson enters the bathroom while McCartney is shaving. McCartney playfully dabs shaving foam on Jackson’s cheek, despite the fact that Jackson does not need a shave. McCartney and Jackson then star as vaudeville performers singing and dancing at a bar.^[21] On stage, the duo appear in clown makeup at one point and quickly go through a number of costume changes.^[22] Jackson’s love interest, with whom he flirts, was played by his sister La Toya.^[23] The video ends with Paul, Linda and Michael driving off into the sunset. La Toya, handed a bunch of flowers by McCartney, is left at the roadside.^[21] The video cost the singers $500,000 to make.^[8]

Giraldi said of the duo, “Michael didn’t outdance Paul, and Paul didn’t outsing Michael”. He added that making the video was hard work, “The egos could fill a room”.^[24] The video introduced both dialogue and storyline, an element extended upon in Thriller.^[25] Upon its release, the National Coalition of Television Violence classified the music video as too violent to be aired. They also classified Thriller and more than half of the 200 videos surveyed from MTV as being overtly violent.^[26] The Manchester Evening News later described the video as an “anarchic caper” that “plays out like an Emir Kusturica feature”.^[27] PopMatters stated that the music videos of “Say Say Say” and “Goodnight Tonight” turned “a pair of otherwise forgettable songs into something worth watching”.^[28] Steven Greenlee of The Boston Globe reflected that the video was both “horrifying and compelling”, while noting the ridiculousness of a potion aiding Jackson in beating somebody at arm wrestling. He added, “It’s even harder to believe that the two of them didn’t get the pulp beaten out of them in that bar for dressing like a pair of Chess King employees”.^[29] The video was later included on the McCartney DVD, The McCartney Years.^[30][31]

Notes

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Music video

Directed by Jim Yukich, the video for the song featured many of Jackson’s celebrity friends who wait on the set to film the music video for “Liberian Girl”, only to discover he was filming them all along. As named in the closing titles, featured in the video are:

• Paula Abdul
• Rosanna Arquette
• Dan Aykroyd
• Mayim Bialik
• Bubbles
• Jackie Collins
• David Copperfield
• Emily Dreyfuss
• Richard Dreyfuss
• Corey Feldman
• Lou Ferrigno
• Debbie Gibson
• Danny Glover
• Steve Guttenberg
• Jasmine Guy
• Whoopi Goldberg
• Sherman Hemsley
• Olivia Hussey
• Amy Irving
• Malcolm-Jamal Warner
• Beverly Johnson
• Quincy Jones
• Don King
• Virginia Madsen
• Olivia Newton-John
• Brigitte Nielsen
• Lou Diamond Phillips
• Ricky Schroder
• Steven Spielberg
• Suzanne Somers
• John Travolta
• Blair Underwood
• Carl Weathers
• Billy Dee Williams
• “Weird Al” Yankovic

.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Jackson’s first single to top the U.S. charts in seven years, and his first number one on the soul singles chart. The song was certified gold within a few months of release. The musical piece also won Jackson his first solo Grammy and American Music Awards. Garnering critical acclaim for its composition, the track is considered the first song to showcase Jackson’s talents, both as a singer and songwriter.

Background and production

In 1978, Jackson starred as the Scarecrow in The Wiz, an urbanized retelling of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. After the filming, the singer approached the film’s musical director, Quincy Jones, to ask if he knew of any producers to help with Jackson’s future solo endeavors. Jones suggested himself, and the two began work on Off the Wall. After listening to hundreds of demos, the two decided upon the ones to record. These included “Workin’ Day and Night”, “Get on the Floor” and “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”.

Jackson claimed that when the melody of “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” came to him, he couldn’t shake it off. He found himself humming and singing it while walking through the Jacksons’ Encino home. As Michael could not play, he had his brother Randy perform the melody on a piano in the family’s recording studio. When Jackson’s mother, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, heard the song, she was shocked by the lyrical content. Katherine pointed out that the title could be misconstrued as pertaining to sexual activity. Jackson reassured her that the song was not a reference to sex, but could mean whatever people wanted it to. Upon playing the recording to Quincy Jones, it was agreed that the song would be featured on Off the Wall.

Release and reception

“Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” was released on July 28, 1979, under Epic Records; Jackson’s first solo album away from Motown Records. Within three months of its release, the song was at the top of the charts and had been certified gold. Reaching number-one on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles charts in the U.S.; it was Jackson’s first solo number-one single since “Ben”, seven years prior. Reaching the top of the charts in Australia, New Zealand, Norway and South Africa, the song peaked at number 3 in the United Kingdom. The track won Jackson his first American Music Award, the song picking up the award for Favorite Soul/R&B Single. He also won his first solo Grammy Award, taking home the award for Best Male Vocal Performance in the genre of R&B. Following the single being certified gold ten years previously, the song was awarded platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1989. In 2006, “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” reached number 17 in the United Kingdom, following the Visionary campaign, whereby 20 of Jackson’s hit singles were reissued in several European countries.

“Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” introduced Jackson’s falsetto voice and vocal hiccups, which would become a hallmark of the singer. Stephen Holden, of Rolling Stone, described the song as “one of a handful of recent disco releases that works both as a dance track and as an aural extravaganza comparable to Earth, Wind and Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland”". William Ruhlmann, author of The All-Music Guide to Rock, praised “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” as an “irresistible dance track”.^[7] John Lewis, author of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, noted that the “jittery, frenetic opening track” is the centerpiece of Off the Wall. He concluded that “Jackson’s falsetto hollers and frisky yelps serve as an obbligato to the lead line, punctuating Ben Wright’s thrilling string arrangement and Jerry Hey’s tight horn charts”.^[7]

Jackson’s biographers also praised the song. J. Randy Taraborrelli described Jackson’s unveiling of a “sexy, playful falsetto” that “no one had ever heard from him before”. Nelson George stated that the argument for Jackson’s greatness began with the arrangements of “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”. He noted that the percussion and backing vocals were “artfully choreographed” to “create drama and ecstasy on the dance floor”. He concluded, “It’s one thing to make a dance record – it is another to instill that track with an epic, celebratory quality as Michael does here”.^[8]

In 2004, The One was released onto DVD by Jackson and CBS. It featured interviews of celebrities, and their views on Jackson and his music. Of “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough”, Beyoncé Knowles stated that she has the whole record, which she plays to this day. She said it was “a classic” and one that people will listen to forever. Carson Daly explained that the song is special to him because “it was the beginning of what has become the pop star, Michael Jackson”. Missy Elliott noted that it was “the ultimate dance/disco record”.

Music video

The music video for “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” was directed and produced by Nick Saxton and made its world premiere in October 1979. It was Jackson’s first solo music video. It featured a smiling Jackson floating over a background of disco lights and performing dance techniques while singing the song in a tuxedo. At one stage, Jackson is seen dancing in triplicate, which was considered innovative at the time.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

Collaboration with

Madonna

“In the Closet” was originally conceived as a duet between Jackson and Madonna. According to a 1992 interview with British journalist Jonathan Ross, Madonna said she worked on some lyrical ideas for the song but when she presented them to Michael, he decided they were too provocative and she decided not to continue with the project.^[5]

Song information

The song, written by Jackson and Teddy Riley, is about keeping a relationship secret between lovers. It was also Jackson’s effort to silence critics who questioned his sexuality. “In the closet” is an English idiom used when one is not open about an aspect of their life, particularly in regard to sexual orientation. Despite the song’s suggestive name its lyrics do not allude to hidden sexual orientation but rather a concealed relationship; “Don’t hide our love/ Woman to man.” The New York Times stated, “Only Jackson would use that title for a heterosexual love song…” Rolling Stone described the number as “titillatingly titled” but “determinedly heterosexual.”  The single’s music video, directed by Herb Ritts, features Jackson performing sensual and physically complicated dance techniques with supermodel Naomi Campbell. The song’s female vocal was originally labeled “Mystery Girl” but was later revealed to be Princess Stéphanie of Monaco. Campbell mimes the lyrics for the music video.

The song, with its heavy industrial-sounding percussion and uptempo arrangement, is typical of producer Teddy Riley’s new jack swing style. The unique, Eastern-influenced backing vocals, reaching crescendo at middle eight imbue the song with an erotic edge usually missing from Jackson’s music. His vocals are whispered and subdued for most of the song, embellished with gasps and shudders. It is generally considered one of his most provocative singles with lyrics that include “…And if it’s aching, you have to rub it.”

The song was not performed during Jackson’s Dangerous World Tour, but a short version, with the intro of “She Drives Me Wild,” was the third song of a medley including “Scream” and “They Don’t Care About Us” during the HIStory World Tour. Princess Stéphanie’s spoken lines were replaced with Jackson’s live speech for the sequence, during which his voice sounds much lower than it does in the track.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The first inauguration of Bill Clinton as the 42nd President of the United States took place on January 20, 1993. One of the most memoriable performances that took place that evening was the performance of Michael Jackson’s “Gone Too Soon” and “Heal the World”

• WHAT MORE CAN I GIVE?
• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• 2009 VMA Awards ft Janet Jackson
• 7-7-09 Memorial Highlights
• Dateline The Michael Jackson Tapes
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• This Is It Dancer Auditions
• Michael Jackson Interviews, Documentaries and Awards Performances
• Michael Jackson’s Last Interview with Will.i.am
• Michael as Father
• Private Home Movies 2003
• Earth Song – BRIT Awards 1996
• Michael Jackson Humanitarian

The single was never released due to a conflict between Jackson and Sony Music. Sony believed the release would create a marketing conflict with Invincible, his then-new album. However, even months after Invincible’s release, Sony still refused to release the single. This was one of several factors in Jackson’s labeling Sony chief Tommy Mottola a “racist” who he believed had sabotaged the marketing of his new material, and thus announcing his withdrawal from Epic Records. While the song never saw proper retail release, a pay download was eventually made available via whatmorecanigive.com, the (now defunct) official site.

Sony, however, claimed that it was Jackson’s own people that pulled the single from release because it was learned that the song’s executive producer, Marc Schaffel, was a former director of gay pornography, and, thus, they did not want him to be associated with Michael Jackson or a charity-benefit single.

On October 21, 2001, the song was performed at a 9/11 benefit concert called United We Stand: What More Can I Give?. This was Jackson’s last brand new song performed.

In October 2003, The making of the song was shown at the 2003 Radio City Music Awards, where Jackson was presented with a humanitarian award.

Artists involved

The following is a list of all the artists involved. The list includes which version of the song they appear on.^[1]

• 1993 Clinton Inauguration
• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• 2009 VMA Awards ft Janet Jackson
• 7-7-09 Memorial Highlights
• Dateline The Michael Jackson Tapes
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• This Is It Dancer Auditions
• Michael Jackson Interviews, Documentaries and Awards Performances
• Michael Jackson’s Last Interview with Will.i.am
• Michael as Father
• Private Home Movies 2003
• Earth Song – BRIT Awards 1996
• Michael Jackson Humanitarian

Commentators compared “Blood on the Dance Floor” to music from Dangerous. Others commented on the songs perceived aggressive tone and the vocal style, the broad genres heard and possible lyrical interpretations of the song. Reviews at the time of release were largely mixed, but contemporary reviews have been favorable.

The song was promoted with a music video that premiered on Top of the Pops. It centered around Susie seducing Jackson in a courtship dance, before opening a switchblade. “Blood on the Dance Floor” was the only track from the remix album performed on the HIStory World Tour. The lead single peaked at number one in several countries, including the UK.

Production and music

Teddy Riley came up with the song’s title while recording the piece for Jackson’s Dangerous album in 1991—it failed to make the final track listing. He was reportedly upset that Jackson didn’t call him to “vacuum clean this old master” upon realizing it would be included on Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix. Riley wanted to update the musical composition before it appeared on the remix album.

Instruments played in the song include a guitar and piano, the latter of which has an F2-Eb5 range in scientific pitch notation. Jackson’s vocals on the track are C4-C5 and aspects of the song are performed in the key A-flat major. Genres that have been attributed to the song are rock, pop, dance, funk and New Jack Swing. Jackson incorporates many of the vocal traits associated with his work, such as hiccups and gasps. Neil Strauss of The New York Times suggests that the predatory woman in the title track, “Susie”, is a metaphor for AIDS.

Commentary

The Dallas Morning News described “Blood on the Dance Floor” as an angry tale of a back-stabbing women and Michael Saunders of The Boston Globe described it as “a middling dance-funk cut”. Anthony Violenti of The Buffalo News said of the single, “[it is] laced with Teddy Riley’s new jack swing sound and a pounding techno beat”, whereas The Cincinnati Post characterized the song as a “lackluster first release … dated, played-out dance track”, but gave the album an overall favorable review. Jim Farber of New York Daily News, noted of the vocals and musical style, “[Jackson] coughs up a series of strangulated mutters and munchkin hiccups in lieu of a vocal, while its chilly, faux-industrial music proves as appealing as a migraine”.

William Ruhlman of Allmusic observed, “‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ is an uptempo Jackson song in the increasingly hysterical tradition of ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’ with Jackson huffing, puffing, and yelping through some nonsense about a stabbing … over a fairly generic electronic dance track”. He was not complementary of the B-sides that accompanied it. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, had a negative reaction to the record. He described “Blood on the Dance Floor” as a “bleak reworking of ‘Jam’ and ‘Scream’”.

Music commentator Nelson George, compared the song to material from Dangerous, notably the critically acclaimed tracks “Jam” and “Dangerous”. He described it as a “pile driving” song that “explodes from radio speakers”. A long time commentator on Jackson’s public life, J. Randy Taraborrelli, gave a retrospective analysis of the album in the biography, The Magic & the Madness. Taraborrelli thought that “Blood on the Dance Floor” was one of Jackson’s best songs, a song that US fans “don’t even know exists”. In 2005, J T Griffith, of Allmusic, believed that in hindsight, “Blood on the Dance Floor” was actually a good song. He explained, “[it is] a second-rate mixture of ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller’ but Jackson’s missteps are better than most pop music out there. This track showcases all the artist’s trademarks: the ooohing, the grunts, and funky basslines. It is hard to hear ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ and not want to moonwalk or dance like a ghoul”.

Promotion

“Blood on the Dance Floor” was the only track from Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix to appear on the set list of the HIStory World Tour.

The music video for “Blood on the Dance Floor” was directed by Jackson and Vincent Paterson. It premiered on Top of the Pops in the UK on March 28, 1997, several weeks ahead of its release as a single.^[1] The video opens with a thrown switchblade impaling a spray painted image. The impaled image is that of a blood dripping love heart with “SUSIE + ME” scrawled across it. Jackson and a group of dancers then enter a salsa dance hall and he begins to dance with a woman, “Susie”, while shaking a piece of percussion. The singer then appears seated while the woman dances seductively above him on a table top. Throughout the video, Jackson shows a sexual attraction towards the dancing woman—played by Sybil Azur. Jackson strokes her ankle, calf, knee and thigh, and at one stage looks up her dress. The woman is then seen opening a flick knife as the pair engage in a final courtship dance. The video closes in the same manner it began, with the switchblade impaling the spray painted image. The music video won the Brazilian TVZ Video Award: Best International Music Video of the Year.

Interviewed on her experience during the video, Azur noted, “I was called in by Vincent Paterson for ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’. It was to have a Latin feel, some sort of mambo. I arrived wearing a little salsa dress, fish nets, heels, and my hair was up in a kind of bun with a flower. I was ‘camera ready’. I showed up with the whole outfit. It’s not that producers can’t see what they like, or the potential in somebody, but what I do helps them to see their vision more”.

A “Refugee Camp Mix” of “Blood on the Dance Floor” appeared on Jackson’s video collection, HIStory on Film, Volume II. The original song would later appear on the Number Ones DVD, which contained previously unreleased scenes. Furthermore, Paterson recorded an unreleased, alternate version of the music video, shot with an 8 mm camera. Writer David Noh, described it as, “grainy, overexposed, and sexy as shit”. According to Paterson, “Michael loved it, but Sony hated it and refused to release it”.

The New York Times described the US promotional effort for the Blood on the Dance Floor:HIStory in the Mix campaign as “subdued”, creating “hardly a sound” and “perplexing to many people in the industry”. Jackson’s label Epic records, refuted allegations they were not promoting the album sufficiently, saying, “We are completely behind the album … Michael is certainly one of our superstars and is treated as such … We just went into this one with our global hats on”. The New York Times acknowledged that promotion was stronger internationally, where Jackson had more commercial force and popularity.

Chart performance

The song became a top ten hit in almost every European Union state. “Blood on the Dance Floor” peaked at number one in the UK, Spain and New Zealand, charting for 11 weeks in the latter two nations. In the UK it sold 85,000 copies in its first week, enough to take the number one spot from “I Believe I Can Fly” by friend and collaborator R. Kelly. The song was Jackson’s seventh UK chart topper as a solo artist, although it fell to number eight in its second week of release. The European country where “Blood on the Dance Floor” had the most longevity was Switzerland, where it spent 18 weeks in the chart. By contrast, the song appeared in the Italian chart for only one week.

The single peaked at number 42 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This relatively lower peak position has been attributed to the lack of US promotion and—according J. Randy Taraborrelli and Allmusic writer William Ruhlman—the ongoing US public interest in the singers private life over his music.

“Blood on the Dance Floor” was the 20th and last of Jackson’s reissued singles from the Visionary campaign. Issued in June 2006, it charted at number 19 in the UK.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE

The song became famous as the fourth single to be released by singer Michael Jackson from his successful Off the Wall album in 1980. It was the first time a solo artist had achieved four top ten hits from one album. Unlike the album’s previous singles (which were all dance-oriented funk/disco songs), the “She’s Out of My Life” song was an emotional ballad. Jackson’s vocals on the record were considered by critics to be some of his best.

A poignant moment in the song occurs near the end when Jackson begins to break down in tears as he sings the word “life”. Given the popular response to his emotional rendition, the song remained in Jackson’s live set for many years. Although he had attempted to record the song’s last few moments with emotional restraint, after numerous tries he continued to end the rendition the same – by breaking down in tears. Producer Quincy Jones subsequently let Jackson’s tearful recording stand:

She’s Out of My Life I’d been carrying around for about three years, – you can feel the pain in it you know. And I held on to it and finally something said ‘this is the right moment to give it to Michael’.

And when we recorded it with Michael I know it was an experience he’d never even thought about to sing in a song, cause it’s a very mature emotion. And, – he cried at the end of every take, you know. We recorded about, I don’t know, 8-11 takes, and every one, at the end he just cried, and I said ‘hey – that’s supposed to be, leave it on there.’

—Quincy Jones, Off the Wall 2001 Special Edition, Quincy Jones Interview 3

Jones wanted Jackson to record material with more mature themes and “feel the full range of his voice,” so he brought the song to Jackson’s attention, whereas he’d originally intended to save the song for Frank Sinatra.

Subsequently, the song peaked at #10 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.  The single was even more successful in the UK and peaked at number 3 on the charts (the equivalent position reached by Off the Wall’s debut single Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough). A music video was also produced to promote the song.

• “Michael” & His Secret Family
• HOLD MY HAND ft Akon
• 1969 MICHAEL JACKSON 1st TV APPEARANCE
• 1973 – Carol Burnett Show
• 1974 – WITH A CHILD’S HEART
• MOTOWN 25
• THRILLER
• BILLIE JEAN
• BEAT IT
• HIStory Teaser
• EARTH SONG
• THEY DON’T CARE ABOUT US
• BAD
• SMOOTH CRIMINAL
• BLACK OR WHITE