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Michael Jackson · S4 E1
The Mission
Michael Jackson decides to make the greatest album ever made
Early 1980. Michael Jackson walks out of the Shrine Auditorium with one Grammy and one obsession: the next album will be the biggest-selling record in the history of music.
Human Nature, Michael Jackson, live at Wembley (1988). Watch how 72,000 people hold their breath for a quiet pop ballad. This is what Michael meant when he said every track had to be a killer.
Human Nature, Michael Jackson (1983)
Steve Porcaro of Toto wrote the original melody on a Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer in a hotel room, a simple chord progression over a drum machine that was never intended for Michael Jackson. Lyricist John Bettis added the words, and Quincy Jones heard the demo and claimed it for Thriller on the spot. Listen for how Michael's vocal floats above the arrangement rather than attacking it, a restraint most pop singers of the era could never pull off. Miles Davis later covered the song on his 1985 album "You're Under Arrest," the ultimate compliment from jazz's greatest mind.
Sources
Thriller liner notes, Epic Records 1982
Steve Porcaro interview on the origins of Human Nature
The Preparation
For the next two years, Michael writes obsessively, building demos at home on a four-track recorder and collecting ideas between Triumph Tour dates with his brothers. By the time he calls Quincy Jones to begin work on the second album, he has hundreds of song demos on tape. Every one of them is an audition for what he believes will be the greatest album ever made.
“"Michael told me he wanted every single track to be a potential number one. I said, 'That's never been done.' He said, 'That's exactly why we're going to do it.'"”
— Quincy Jones (on the making of Thriller)
TAP TO REVEAL: What was Thriller originally called?
Baby Be Mine, Michael Jackson
The second track on Thriller and proof that this album has no weak spots. Written by Rod Temperton, it is a mid-tempo funk track with a soaring chorus and one of Michael's most joyful vocal performances. Never released as a single, never performed live in full. It is the track Thriller fans argue should have been a hit, and they are right.
How many songs did Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones select for the final Thriller tracklist?
Michael Jackson is driving on the Ventura Freeway when a bass line starts playing in his head so clearly that he does not notice his car is on fire. That bass line will become "Billie Jean."
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