COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN
For a long time, Michael Jackson was a source of annoyance to me. I used to work with a guy called Ben, around the same time Jacko had his song by the same name, all about a rat !! I'd come in to work, see Ben and immediately get stuck with the earworm.
"Hi Ben" .. 'the two of us need look no more' DAMN!
Then just as I'd get rid of the song in my head, I'd run into Ben again.
"Hi Ben" .. 'the two of us need look no more' DAMN! DAMN!
If it wasn't for the Halloween theme I maybe wouldn't have reviewed this album, but on reflection that would have been remiss of me.
Michael Jackson has gone in and out of favour, he's been massive and then plummeted into ridicule, idolised and maligned. From the 'King of Pop' to 'Whacko Jacko'. Whichever version you settle on, it has to be acknowledged that he was a major talent and influence on music throughout his life and this album made a massive contribution to that legacy. There are 9 songs on the album and 7 were released as singles with 5 of them reaching #1 somewhere in the world. 'Billie Jean' made it to the top spot in 7 countries.
Even though it's become THE Halloween song, looking at the timing of both the 'Thriller' album and the single of the same name, neither were released to coincide with Halloween, so it seems the association was not planned. It's amazing to think that it's almost 40 years since the song came out and the video a year later.
Yesterday I reviewed the Alice Cooper album 'Welcome To My Nightmare' and these two albums have one thing in common. Vincent Price. He is possibly more well-known for his work on 'Thriller' than his intro to Alice's 'Black Widow' but both recordings benefit from his uniquely spooky narration.
The writer of the track 'Thriller' as well as 2 other songs on the album, 'Baby Be Mine' and 'The Lady In My Life' was Rod Temperton, an English songwriter who wrote 'Boogie Nights' for his band at the time, Heatwave and 'Give Me The Night' for George Benson. He'd previously written 'Off The Wall' and 'Rock With You' for MJ.
Apart from the title track, this album really does have some strong performances by Michael with the obvious stars being 'Beat It' and 'Billie Jean'. His duet with Paul McCartney, 'The Girl Is Mine' despite getting it's fair share of criticism, is not a bad song. It followed on the heels of a couple of other collaborations the previous year, 'Say, Say, Say' and 'The Man', both of which were on McCartney's album 'Pipes of Peace'.
A few other people helped contribute to the album - the recently departed Eddie Van Halen did the guitar solo on 'Beat It', sisters Janet and La Toya Jackson did background vocals on 'P.Y.T.', founding member of 'Toto' Steve Lukather did guitar on three tracks and then of course there was McCartney and Vincent Price as mentioned.
So, Michael Jackson, Halloween, Thriller. Trick or Treat.
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