Michael Jackson was a child star who created and performed music with his brothers in the band the Jackson 5 and later renamed The Jacksons. Along the way he created several solo songs including “Ben”, “Music and Me” and a few others. As a young adult, Michael was ready to develop and release his first solo album. Initially, he didn’t have a specific producer in mind, but he was sure that he was ready to branch out on his own and discover new types of sounds and music that was inside of him and ready to be recorded.
Quincy Jones first met Michael when he was a kid at Sammy Davis Jr.’s house. They later met each other on the set for The Wiz, a film adaptation of the stage play depicting a new version of The Wizard of Oz with an African-American cast. Michael was cast as the Scarecrow and there was a scene where he pulls pieces of paper from his pocket with different philosopher’s names on it. He would always mispronounce the name Socrates; when he would read the name he would always pronounce it SO-CRA-TEES. Quincy told him the correct way to pronounce the word and Michael was very receptive and appreciative of the criticism. Quincy also noticed that Michael studied the entire script and every character’s blocking, in addition to his role he knew everyone else’s as well. Quincy noticed these characteristics about him and told Michael that he would like to take a shot at producing his first solo album.
Quincy’s first step was to bring Michael down to earth because he had so many ideas about the kind of music he would like to create. Quincy explained that he needed to focus on making one song to the best of his abilities then branch out from there. Michael made a demo for “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” and “Workin’ Day and Night” with his little brother and sister, Randy and Janet on percussion.
Both songs made the album. They shopped around for other songs that were not completed by other producers. They created a collection of songs that had the energy of disco, but was a staple of contemporary R&B.
Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough: is a dance and house music song that has a foundation built on funk guitar and percussion. Michael sings the entire song in his upper register as a tenor. The songwriting is exceptional and compliments the music. There is a horn section played between each verse that Michael didn’t like initially. He told Quincy “it was messing up his groove” and that he wanted it removed. Quincy explained that the horns make the song iconic and they really should stay on the record. The horns made the final edit and Quincy was right, those horns add a unique layer of sound to the song.
Rock With You: “Rock With You” is one of my favorite songs to watch Michael perform live. He seems to have so much fun with the band and the singers. He’s got some signature dance moves that he only uses during this song. During performance he always ends the song with an incredible high note that he sings along with the drums. The drums are the driving force of the instrumentation. All the other instruments are played with melodies that make you want to dance. The song was a hit and became one of the most popular on the charts.
Workin’ Day and Night: takes the percussion from the demo and builds out the track with some funk guitar and bass. It’s the third song in a row that is considered dance and house music, but more than anything else it’s contemporary R&B (for the time period). The songwriting is excellent and this is another song that Michael performs well live. The song has a lot of energy and great lyrics and vocals.
Get On The Floor: features some exceptional bass playing. It is also a dance track that is designed to get people moving. The vocals and lyrics are strong. Songwriting is sound. It’s an important track because it is taking disco and placing it in a new direction. The horn section sounds great over the bass.
Off The Wall: is a great title track. There are features of it that make it sound like it’s a prequel to “Thriller”. It’s dark and edgy. It has wonderful bass. The vocals, lyrics and songwriting are perfect. Michael and Quincy nailed this one. The best part about it is that it’s a call to action to get everyone to be free and have a good time.
Girlfriend: is a song written by Paul McCartney that was originally supposed to be recorded by Paul McCartney and Wings; however, he thought it would be a good song for his friend Michael, and it turned out to be a good recording. The songwriting tells of a relationship in which one partner is stringing someone else along at the same time. The other partner is being flirtatious and saying that they will spill the beans. The song is very charming. It has some great bass and horns.
She’s Out Of My Life: is just Michael and the piano. It is a beautiful song. It was also a popular single for the album. The lyrics are very mature, which is why Michael would shed tears during the last note of the song even after trying to record it 11 times. Quincy eventually said to leave Michael’s emotional reaction to the song on the record, it was “meant to be” he said. The other great thing about this song is that you can hear the wonderful resonance of Michael’s voice.
I Can’t Help It: “I Can’t Help It” is my favorite song by Michael Jackson. The instrumentation matches his voice perfectly. He sounds so free and he’s singing a variety of different notes throughout the song. The song is really smooth and it has perfect production. It’s my favorite song by him because it’s an expression of who he is as an artist: smooth, wonderful vocal range, meshing well with the accompaniment, the razzmatazz-everything works so well in this song.
It’s The Falling in Love: it’s the first song on the album that features another artist, in this case a female artist. Their voices complement each other. There’s a lot of emphasis placed on the lyrics to this song. What is most astounding is the way the song builds to the end where you feel the melodies and all the instruments.
Burn This Disco Out: is an interesting song because it was created toward the end of the popularity of disco music. In the lyrics, it appears that the disco that he is referring to is a place where you go dance and have a good time. That message is branded within the lyrics of this songs. Michael and Quincy take the disco genre and put it into a new direction that is more R&B/soul music. The song is a fun and unique way to end the album.