Man in the Music
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“was very rhythmically driven”: “50 Best Michael Jackson Songs,” Rolling Stone, June 23, 2014.
CHAPTER 2: THRILLER (1982)
“In today’s world of declining sales”: Alan Light, “Dancing into Immortality,” Rolling Stone, July 2009.
“I heard some people say”: Bruce Swedien, In the Studio with Michael Jackson (New York: Hal Leonard, 2009), p. 38.
“There had never been a bleaker”: Rob Hoerburger, “ ‘Thriller’ and the Lessons of the Mega-Super-Album,” New York Times, August 31, 2012.
“Rock videos are firing up”: Jay Cocks, “Sing a Song of Seeing,” Time, December 26, 1983.
“For a record industry stuck”: Jay Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller,” Time, March 19, 1984.
“After four years of slumping sales”: J. D. Reed, “New Rock on a Red-Hot Roll,” Time, July 18, 1983.
“There is no question that Thriller”: Gail Mitchell and Melinda Newman, “How Michael Jackson’s Thriller Changed the Music Business,” Billboard, July 3, 2009.
“In general”: Michael Jackson, Moonwalk (New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 181.
“I remember being in the studio”: Ibid.
When Jackson hired: Author interview, John Branca.
“It’s an awful thing”: Timothy White, Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews (New York: Holt, 1990), p. 457.
He also secured for him: Author interview, John Branca.
“biggest star in show business”: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness (London: Pan Books, 2004), pp. 191–92.
“Escapism and wonder is influence”: Steve Demorest, “Michael in Wonderland,” Melody Maker, March 1, 1980.
“cross between a vest-pocket Disneyland”: Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller.”
“I’m putting all this stuff in”: Gerri Hirshey, “Life in the Magical Kingdom,” Rolling Stone, February 17, 1983.
“His intelligence is instinctual and emotional”: Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller.”
“Dad was also painfully self-conscious and shy”: Ibid.
“They’re very inspirational to my work”: PommeTete, “Michael Jackson Unauthorized Interview [1983/1984],” YouTube video, 24:27, July 11, 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he5nO3ccAv8.
“He wanted the album to be excellent”: Chris Williams, “Engineer Tom Perry on the Making of the Jacksons’ 1980 Album Triumph,” Wax Poetics, June 23, 2016.
“Triumph will be much better, much more creative”: Marilyn Beck, Tribune Media Services, June 18, 1979.
“He was the driver and creative force”: Williams, “Engineer Tom Perry on the Making of the Jacksons’ 1980 Album Triumph.”
“Michael Jackson was a genius producer”: Ibid.
“You could feel the sense of liberation”: Greg Phillinganes, “Season 1, Episode 10: Greg Phillinganes” (lecture, Red Bull Music Academy, Montréal, December 13, 2016).
“Rivaled in the exalted sphere of Superdisco”: John Abbey, “The Jacksons: Triumph (Epic),” NME, October 21, 1980.
“The scream was the kind that normally”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 177.
“a cinematic use of sound effects”: Nelson George, Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection, Sony, 2004, compact disc. Liner notes, p. 23.
“he did all the harmonies”: Williams, “Engineer Tom Perry on the Making of the Jacksons’ 1980 Album Triumph.”
“the most ambitious song”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 170.
“from too many cooks”: Ibid., p. 171.
“You can hear [Michael’s] confidence surge”: Rob Sheffield, “When Michael Became Michael,” Rolling Stone, July 2009.
“Let the song create itself”: Audio clip of “The Girl Is Mine,” original demo, 1981.
“and a few days later”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 191.
“Even while we were getting help”: Ibid., p. 192.
“I loved that one”: Crystal Cartier v. Michael Jackson, 59 F. 3d 1046 (10th Cir. 1995), Music Copyright Infringement Resource, February 16, 1994.
“Once I was out at Michael’s studio”: “Post Here If You Worked on Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS Album,” Gearslutz, June 27, 2009.
“with complete bass lines, counter lines”: Quincy Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 236.
“stay up all night, and memorize every one”: Author interview, Bruce Swedien.
“one of the most exciting and memorable moments”: Matt Parker, “Toto’s David Paich Talks Quincy Jones Sessions and Writing ‘Africa’,” MusicRadar, December 4, 2013.
“nice little CS fuzz”: Michael Boddicker, “THEN: The Vintage Keys of Thriller,” in “Michael Jackson Keyboard Sounds of His Signature Songs Then and Now,” Keyboard, September 1, 2009.
“I heard something in this”: Swedien, In the Studio with Michael Jackson, p. 29.
“What we did on Thriller was the extension”: Author interview, Matt Forger.
“[Quincy] loves creating these textures and colors”: Ibid.
“There was a misconception”: Ibid.
“We didn’t use all these tracks just to record”: Ibid.
“I was getting faxes and conference calls”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 235.
“Michael didn’t really want that version”: Author interview, confidential source.
“a producer’s producer. He has a plan”: Parker, “Toto’s David Paich Talks Quincy Jones Sessions and Writing ‘Africa’.”
“a very unusual instrument, the lyricon”: Swedien, In the Studio with Michael Jackson, p. 36.
“I was up to mix number two”: Michael Jackson, Thriller 25th Anniversary: The Book Celebrating the Biggest Selling Album of All Time (Hinesburg, VT: ML Publishing, 2008), p. 32.
“[Jones] and I both agreed that the song had”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 197.
“like riding a rocket”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 236.
“I like my songs”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 185.
“write the type of rock song”: Ibid.
“This is the vocal harmonies and choruses”: Audio clip of “Beat It,” original demo, 1982.
“We knew he’d come up with”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 237.
“[It] was one of the most difficult tracks”: Jackson, Moonwalk, pp. 197–98.
“We did the final mixes and fixes”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 238.
“It was a disaster”: Ibid.
“I felt devastated”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 199.
“We’d put too much material on”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 238.
“The intro to ‘Billie Jean’ was so long”: Jackson, Thriller 25th Anniversary, p. 13.
“We put it dead in the pockets”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 239.
“When it was done—boom—it hit us hard”: Jackson, Moonwalk, pp. 199–200.
“The phones lit up”: Steve Knopper, MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), p. 114.
“From the beginning”: Gail Mitchell, “Exclusive: How Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Changed the Music Business,” Billboard, July 3, 2009.
“His nose is now streamlined and sculptured”: Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, p. vii.
“iconic sun-god relaxing”: Jackson, Thriller 25th Anniversary, p. 65.
“From Prince to Marvin Gaye”: Christopher Connelly, review of Thriller, Rolling Stone, November 1982.
“When you have two strong names”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 188.
“CBS screamed ‘You’re crazy’ ”: Ibid., p. 207.
“the biggest star in the pop-cultural”: Michael Goldberg and
Christopher Connelly, “Trouble in Paradise? Michael Jackson, an Exclusive Look Inside a Musical Empire,” Rolling Stone, March 15, 1984.
“wonderful pop record”: John Rockwell, “Michael Jackson’s Thriller: Superb Job,” New York Times, December 19, 1982.
“the best year for crossover”: Nelson George, The Death of Rhythm and Blues (New York: Penguin, 2003), p. 157.
“When Thriller came along, it really changed”: L.A. Reid, interview by Ann Curry, NBC, June 26, 2009.
“The sound of ‘Beat It’ was simply outrageous”: Alan Light, “ ‘Thriller’: How Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones Made the Bestselling Album of All Time,” Rolling Stone, October 30, 2009.
“I’m not going to give you any more videos”: “The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born,” Blender, April 1, 2009.
“Certain executives from MTV will deny it”: Author interview, John Branca.
“Michael Jackson always understood”: Michael Eric Dyson, “Freedom Fighter,” Ebony, September 2009.
“The pulse of America”: Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller.”
“parts added up to the most improbable”: Jody Rosen, “King Michael,” Slate, June 26, 2009.
“We live now in the world”: Tom Ewing, review of Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition, Pitchfork, February 15, 2008.
“It’s a giddy and glamorous sound”: Jim Miller, “The Peter Pan of Pop,” Newsweek, January 10, 1983.
“Jackson seemingly summons the gods”: Mark Anthony Neal, review of Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition, NewBlackMan, February 2008.
“I don’t want the Blacks”: Robert E. Johnson, “Michael Jackson at 21,” Jet, August 16, 1979.
“These are the brilliant moments”: Neal, review of Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition.
“Imagine if this weren’t the better”: “Ann Powers and Other Pop Critics Remember Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’,” Los Angeles Times, June 25, 2009.
“proof that Michael Jackson is”: @Nas, Nasir Jones, Twitter, 1:32 a.m., February 28, 2013.
“[Paul] handed me a little book”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 187.
“We worked together as equals”: Ibid.
“He actually does radiate an aura”: “George Martin: 20 Great Non-Beatles Productions,” Rolling Stone, March 9, 2016.
“The song I’ve just done with Michael”: Miller, “The Peter Pan of Pop.”
“[‘The Girl Is Mine’] sounds very pretty”: Ibid.
“If ever a video killed the radio star”: Quoted in “Ann Powers and Other Pop Critics Remember Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.”
“On the intro”: Swedien, In the Studio with Michael Jackson, p. 33.
“such spectacular robo-funk”: J. Edward Keyes, “Michael Jackson: The Essential Playlist,” Rolling Stone, June 26, 2009.
“hip-hopped to it in clubs”: Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller.”
“this-ain’t-no-disco AOR track”: Connelly, review of Thriller.
“asphalt aria”: Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller.”
“greatest dance record of all time”: “Billie Jean Voted Top Dance Song,” BBC, July 15, 2008.
“one of the most revolutionary songs”: “How Billie Jean Changed the World,” Guardian, July 12, 2007.
“But let it play”: Mark Fisher, “And When the Groove Is Dead and Gone,” in The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson, edited by Mark Fisher (Washington, DC: Zero Books, 2009), pp. 14–15.
“ ‘Billie Jean’ is hot on every level”: “The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born.”
“When I started reading the lyrics”: “Michael Jackson Remembered: Chris Cornell on the Power of ‘Billie Jean,’ ” Rolling Stone, July 9, 2009.
“one of the most sonically”: “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” Rolling Stone, December 2004.
“It’s been said before”: Ibid.
“not only one of the best singles”: Fisher, “And When the Groove Is Dead and Gone,” pp. 14–15.
“Sequencing an album is one of”: Jordan Runtagh, “Why Is Quincy Jones Worried About Music’s Future and The Distortion of Sound?,” VH1 News, August 5, 2014.
“music with wings”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 197.
“a Yamaha CS-80 with glide”: Dave Policher, “NOW: Sound Design and Keyboards for the This Is It Concerts,” in “Michael Jackson Keyboard Sounds of His Signature Songs Then and Now,” Keyboard, September 1, 2009.
“a thing of unnatural beauty”: David Stubbs, “The King Is Dead; Long Live Everything Else,” in The Resistible Demise of Michael Jackson, p. 74.
“Now me, I may bob”: Michel Martin, “Jackson Songwriter Remembers the King of Pop,” NPR, July 6, 2009.
“It’s all about the chipmunks”: “Ann Powers and Other Pop Critics Remember Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.”
“The breakdown in ‘P.Y.T.’ ”: Rob Mitchum, review of Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition, Pitchfork, February 2008.
“ ‘Lady’ shines for its classic simplicity”: “Ann Powers and Other Pop Critics Remember Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’.”
“It’s an expression we use”: Rachel Aberdein-Quirie, “The Story Behind Michael Jackson’s ‘The Lady in My Life,’ ” YouTube video, 0:58, March 29, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3iDPxF0tmE.
“Jackson’s closing minute-and-a-half”: Neal, review of Thriller 25th Anniversary Edition.
CHAPTER 3: BAD (1987)
“Jackson’s free-form language”: Davitt Sigerson, review of Bad, Rolling Stone, October 22, 1987.
“Many observers find in the ascendancy”: Jay Cocks, “Why He’s a Thriller,” Time, March 19, 1984.
“Michael’s concept of what really is bad”: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness (London: Pan Books, 2004), p. 447.
“CNN for black people”: Stereo Williams, “Is Hip-Hop Still ‘CNN for Black People’?,” Daily Beast, March 24, 2015.
“We are the Michael Jackson of now”: Ed Kiersh, “Beating the Rap,” Rolling Stone, December 4, 1986.
“He’s the best man in the world”: Ibid.
“My dear brothers, we have forty-six stars”: Quincy Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 253.
“I love working quickly”: Michael Jackson, Moonwalk (New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 261.
“I have never before or since experienced”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 258.
“more than an unprecedented communal”: Stephen Holden, “The Pop Life; Artists Join in Famine Relief,” New York Times, February 27, 1985.
“Anybody who wants to throw stones”: Jones, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones, p. 258.
“He’s not afraid to look into”: Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, p. 382.
“Every night the kids would come”: Ibid.
“The year 1985”: Gerri Hirshey, “The Sound of One Glove Clapping,” Rolling Stone, December 1985.
“It’s a great paradox about Michael”: Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, p. 350.
“It’s rhythm and timing”: Shmuley Boteach, The Michael Jackson Tapes (New York: Vanguard, 2009), pp. 144–46.
“This is going to be my bible”: Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, p. 357.
“arrest[ing] public attention”: James Cook, ed., The Colossal P.T. Barnum Reader (Champagne, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2005), p. 95.
“It’s like I can tell the press”: Taraborrelli, Michael Jackson: The Magic and the Madness, p. 360.
“The Michael Jackson cacophony”: James Baldwin, “Freaks and the American Ideal of Manhood,” Playboy, January 1985.
“Freaks are called freaks”: Ibid.
“t
he most expensive publishing purchase”: Robert Hilburn, “The Long and Winding Road,” Los Angeles Times, September 22, 1985.
“Well, it includes the Northern Songs”: Author interview, John Branca.
“Michael told me, ‘Branca, you gotta’ ”: Ibid.
“too pricey”: Ibid.
“John, please let’s not bargain”: Ibid.
“Jacko Macacco” was the name: Joseph Vogel, “How Michael Jackson Made ‘Bad,’ Atlantic, September 10, 2012.
“In record time”: Quincy Troupe, “The Pressure to Beat It,” Spin, June 1987.
“the most powerful backlash in”: Ibid.
“I visited [his] remains [and] I feel”: Robert E. Johnson, “Michael Jackson Comes Back!,” Ebony, September 1987.
“It’s too late, anyway”: Michael Goldberg and David Handelman, “Michael Jackson in Fantasyland,” Rolling Stone, September 24, 1987.
“Like the old Indian proverb”: Michael Small, “Message from Michael,” People, October 12, 1987.
“I can’t answer whether or not”: Jackson, Moonwalk, p. 270.
“I like to experiment with different”: Author interview, John Barnes.
“That was the first song we worked”: Ibid.
“Out here”: Ibid.
“For the first time in my life”: Ibid.
“In those days”: Ibid.
“We helped develop a big step”: Ibid.
“Michael was always searching for”: Author interview, Matt Forger.
“We were just being as creative and innovative”: Author interview, John Barnes.
“It really opened up another realm”: Author interview, Matt Forger.
“I just did what I wanted”: “Post Here If You Worked on Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS Album,” Gearslutz, June 27, 2009.
“I was an engineer when he”: Author interview, Bill Bottrell.
“Bill was on staff there”: Author interview, John Barnes.
“My process”: Author interview, Bill Bottrell.
“It’s just a different sensibility”: Author interview, John Barnes.