|
|
Michael Jackson King of the POP
|
Michael Jackson was a towering presence in the world of popular music - a giant who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Elvis, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra.
His skills as a singer, composer and arranger were often overshadowed by his showmanship and eccentricity, but his legacy will undoubtedly be the songs he recorded.
The most memorable records he made:
| I WANT YOU BACK - 1969
|
| Jackson's first chart hit came when he was just 11, with this Motown classic recorded alongside his brothers in the Jackson Five. |
|
The youngster's pyrotechnic vocal performance was a revelation -
yelping and screaming with boyish intensity as he pleaded with an
ex-girlfriend to give him "one more chance".
|
| In 2004, it was ranked 120 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. |
BILLIE JEAN - 1982
|
| Bizarrely, this era-defining funk track was not the first single to be released from the Thriller album - an honour which went instead to the saccharine Paul McCartney duet The Girl Is Mine. |
|
The song is recognisable from the very first thud of the kick drum, something that was very much intended - producer Quincy Jones told his audio engineer to create a drum sound no-one had ever heard before.
|
| Jackson's writing is a masterclass in musical economy - the entire
track comprising little more than a dirty, fuzztone bassline, that
drumbeat and the star's staccato, almost mournful delivery. |
| The lyrics, by the way, refer to a real-life experience Jackson
had with a fan who claimed he had fathered her twin sons. The insanity
surrounding his music was to become a more and more common feature in
later years. |
BEAT IT - 1983
|
| But before then Michael Jackson would break a few more musical boundaries. |
 |
The shimmering pop melody and heavy rock riffing on Beat It now seems an obvious combination. But for a black R&B artist to collaborate with rock god Eddie Van Halen in 1983 was nothing short of a revolution.
|
"I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were
to buy a rock song," Jackson said later. "That is how I approached it
and I wanted the kids to really enjoy it - the school kids as well as
the college kids."
|
| Twenty-six years later, the influence of Jackson's melting pot approach can be heard in the rap-rock crossovers of Linkin Park and the heavy, crunching guitars used by pop acts like Katy Perry. |
| THRILLER - 1984 |
| Considered to be one of Jackson's signature songs, Thriller was in fact written by British musician Rod Temperton. |
|
| Nonetheless, the subject matter was a perfect fit the 24-year-old star.
Not only was he obsessed with the hyper-real movie horror of An
American Werewolf In London, but the lyrics hinted at a period of
turbulence in the star's life. |
| Jackson's parents were threatening to separate, his media profile was
higher than ever and he had been involved in a paternity claim. When he
sings "they're out to get you", he means it. |
| Although the song is best remembered for its music video, it is also
one of Jackson's most sonically inventive tracks - from the creepy
B-movie sound effects to Vincent Price's spooky graveside rap. |
| MAN IN THE MIRROR - 1988 |
| "I'm starting with the man in the mirror / I'm asking him to change his
ways / And no message could have been any clearer / If you wanna make
the world a better place / Take a look at yourself, and then make a
change." |
|
Another song that seemed to comment on Jackson's state of mind, Man In The Mirror was also one of his most critically-acclaimed singles.
|
Jackson's voice is little more than a whisper as the music starts. He
seems vulnerable, broken and unsure as he tells himself "I'm going to
make a change". But as the music builds, so does his resolve.
|
| By the end of the track, he is backed by a gospel choir, screaming his
mantra at the top of his voice as a snare drum cracks like the whip. |
| BLACK OR WHITE - 1991 |
| Described by Jackson's record company as "a rock 'n' roll dance song about racial harmony", Black Or White was one of the biggest radio hits of the 1990s. |
|
| This was no mean feat in an increasingly formatted radio market, and
was a tribute to the star's ability to combine musical genres - in this
case hard rock, dance, pop and rap. |
The lyrics are perhaps less thought-provoking than Jackson intended -
"if you're thinking of being my baby it don't matter if you're black or
white" is hardly up there with Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" - but they gave Jackson another opportunity to poke fun at critics' comments about his skin tone.
|
His willingness to appropriate hip-hop beats also put him ahead of many
of his contemporaries, who were increasingly left behind by the likes
of Public Enemy and NWA.
|
| EARTH SONG - 1995 |
| Jackson's last UK hit to really cross over to the mainstream was a Christmas number one in 1995. |
|
| Written as a protest against environmental destruction, the song's
simple, wordless hook is a plaintive howl of despair - with none of the
promise of redemption Jackson saw in Man In The Mirror. |
As it builds to its catastrophic climax, the choir is no longer there
for moral support - they are harbingers of doom summoned from the
seventh circle of hell.
|
| For those who said Jackson had lost the passion of his
early work, this was a stunning riposte. But the loss of hope, and the
sprawling running time, hinted at the turmoil and lack of control that
were to mark the King Of Pop's final years.
|
RELATED ARTICLES:
Michael Jackson Dead at 50
Jackson family want new autopsy
The Official Michael Jackson Youtube Channel
Latest News of Michael Jackson (King of the POP)
MORE NEWS
|
legendary Jackson 5
|
Michael Jackson king of the POP
|
|
