Michael Jackson is going to figure heavily in this blog. Perhaps the biggest recording artist of the decade, his is one of the first names most people think of when mentioning 80’s music. He was a pop juggernaut; a behemoth; someone who always appeared to be more than just a musician. He was a cultural icon. He recorded two of the biggest selling albums of the decade. He released a music video which people flocked to video rental stores to hire. He was on the front of every major magazine of the time. People were obsessed with him then and people remain obsessed with him now, for many different reasons… I’ve gone a little rogue with my first MJ selection for this blog, though it’s a song I’ve always loved – the brilliant Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.
The artist
For the first time, I won’t be providing a summary of the artist in question’s career prior to the release of this song. I mean, come on – it’s Michael Jackson! I’m assuming most people will already know the salient details on his life.
Why I’ve chosen to write about this song
The Thriller album is a stonewall classic – there is no debating that. Huge sales don’t always equate to brilliant music though, in this instance, that is the case. Depending on the sources you refer to, it has sold something in the region of 70 million – 110 million units. Truly astonishing figures, comfortably making this the biggest selling album of all time. Released in late 1982, it contains three songs considered to be pop classics – Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean. There really isn’t a duff track on the album though and it’s the opener – Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ – which I’ve chosen as my first foray into Jackson’s work within this blog. For me, it just sets the bar at a sky-high level for the rest of the album. Upbeat, energetic, and funkier than a mosquito’s tweeter, it immediately draws you in and doesn’t loosen its grip on your lapels for the full 6-minute duration. In addition to all this, the overall sound is huge and gorgeous. Produced by the legend that is Quincy Jones, with significant additional input from the esteemed recording engineer Bruce Swedien, Jackson reacted to the backlash against disco music at this time by throwing everything into the melting pot – the album features a mix of pop (particularly synth-pop), rock, funk, R&B, and yes – a little bit of disco too. This track opens with just drums and that classic synth-bass riff before swiftly adding more synth, multiple guitar parts, and those stunning brass stabs. There’s a lot going on here, though it never sounds mushy – every instrument track complements the others perfectly. To illustrate what contributed to that huge sound, Jackson himself programmed the beat on a drum machine, plus there was a ‘standard’ band set-up (guitar, bass and percussion), three keyboard players, six backing vocalists, and a horn section consisting of trumpet, flugelhorn, trombone, saxophone and flute! I don’t believe there’s ever been a better produced pop album – this is perfect in every way. Michael allegedly wrote this song for his sister La Toya, specifically referencing conflicts she was having with her sisters-in-law at the time, and whilst La Toya recorded her own version, Michael’s is by far the better known.
The video
Bizarrely, there is no official video for the song. Apparently, Jackson’s record company, Epic, wanted to save their budget for songs which they saw as being more prominent from the album, which makes sense when you consider just how embedded into popular culture the videos for Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean became. However, I’d have loved to have seen something created for this song. Sadly though, that wasn’t to be, so the version below will have to do!
The stats
Certainly not Jackson’s biggest hit, as the song entered the UK charts at number 38 on the 11th June 1983. It peaked at number 8 two weeks later. The number 1 song that week was The Police with Every Breath You Take. Whilst the number one album was also The Police with Synchronicity. It was this very week that they knocked Michael Jackson’s Thriller album off the top spot.
The cover version
The cover version this week is a live rehearsal snippet, rather than a full song. I’m a guitarist. I’ve played since I was 13, adore everything about the instrument, and admire a huge amount of players, though one of my absolute favourites is Nuno Bettencourt from Extreme. This clip is a minute or so of raw rehearsal footage of the band, with Nuno ripping it up, as he so often does. I’m including this as the cover as it goes down a route I’ve always thought would work really well for the song – a rocked up version which takes that amazing riff and dials up the volume to 10. I still dream of playing this in a covers band and it will happen some day! I’ve seen a lot of bands in my time, including many pub bands (where riskier / slightly different cover version often feature), and not a single one has ever covered this song, which is, quite frankly, an outrage!
The wrap-up
Writing about songs which aren’t considered to be the main ones for particular artists can be a risky approach for a blog like this, though that doesn’t apply when selecting tunes from the biggest selling album of all time. Even so-called lesser tracks on the albums are still considered as classics and this is perhaps my favourite MJ song of them all, for all the reasons mentioned above. Turn it up loud and let’s sing it together: ‘Ma ma se ma ma sa ma ma coo sa….’.
Best wishes.
Mick
