Off The Wall At 37: The Album That Forever Changed Michael Jackson’s Career

Yesterday,Michael Jackson’s 1979 album Off The Wall celebrated its 30th anniversary. The album was reissued on CD with its full cover art for the first time in the new millennium in the US. A special bonus edition also features Spike Lee’s documentary film ‘Michael Jackson’s Journey From Motown To Off The Wall’. Personally I’ve come to view Off The Wall this way: the people who love MJ’s most musical aspects love this album,whereas those who appreciate him more as a commercial phenomenon showcase his finest album as being 1982’s Thriller.

Before 1979,Michael Jackson was mainly the charismatic lead singer for The Jackson 5/Jacksons. He had a four album solo career on Motown in the early/mid 70’s too. Still,that album was very much connected to the music he was doing with his brothers. It was becoming more apparent as he grew that he would again have a solo career. Not sure if anyone anticipate that after 1979,MJ would become the Sammy Davis Jr. of his day-only one where the post civil rights era really allowed him to shine more as performer. On that musical level,here’s the content of a review I wrote about it six years ago.

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In terms of someone like Michael Jackson,different phases of his career will impact on people differently. For some reason this album pretty much locks into my own brain as his general peak of his career. Despite the record breaking success he’d have in the 80’s,this album stands as one that says the most about his musical character. We all know the history. Mike meets up with Quincy Jones during the production of [[ASIN:B000XUOLNO The Wiz]],they begin recording this album with the help of some of the biggest musicians and songwriters of the era and so begins a new chapter for him.

No longer would Mike’s solo career be an adjunct to that of his brothers. And while still a functional member of The Jacksons at the time of this recording,his own self identity was being developed here as well. This album has some very unique hallmarks. It’s heavy on production but musically focused. It’s sophistifunk of the highest degree but heavier on the funk than the sophistication. Most important,pop considerations are very important here but Mike is not yet defining himself as the King Of Pop.

“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough”,which despite may hearings flaunts it’s obvious late 70’s Barry White influence heavily couldn’t be a better way to start this album.”Rock With You” of course owes it’s grooving sleekness in part to Rufus’ Bobby Watson’s fluid bass line as much as it does to Mike’s elastic vocal. Now “Working Day And Night” is one of the most inspired and strong minded funk jams Mike ever made. He’d never quite got on the one in the same way before or after this.

“Get On The Floor” and the title song both work the disco floor,the former heavier on the funk end and the latter more on the urban dance side moving to the post disco era a bit more. Over the years I always say his cover of McCartney’s “Girlfriend” as a week link but it’s a vital straight ahead pop piece with some modern R&B/funk production elements for a little spiciness. “She’s Out Of My Life”,a very sad ballad Mike actually cannot keep a dry eye to himself is a rich interpretation of an orchestral,non rhythmic ballad.

Of course to my ears the finest ballad tune here is the more mid tempo “I Can’t Help It” from Stevie Wonder-featuring both Wonder’s unique way with chord progressions and electronics that Mike takes to maximum vocal effect. “It’s The Falling In Love”,a mid tempo pop/soul type duet with Patti Austin comes to “Burn This Disco Out”,a steamy horn funk closer finding Mike throwing down his best and underused bass vocals.

There are many people who to this day contest that this is Michael Jacksons finest solo album for a musical perspective. And I cannot say there isn’t a point there. Something about the music he made with and without his brothers circa 1978-1981 had a certain flavor to it that I don’t honestly think he ever fully recaptured. This period,culminating in a way with this and The Jacksons [[ASIN:B001BKMC9K Triumph]],recorded around the same time but released the following year, really allowed Mike to fully take command in interpreting  his own compositions

But it also let him be the most involved with the creative environment provided via Quincy Jones and his engineer Bruce Swedien. This wasn’t a Michael Jackson who wasn’t very concerned about breaking records,media attention,adulation of fans or indulging in potentially scandalous behavior. This WAS a Michael Jackson who had matured into adulthood creatively. And on that front was in a similarly energized state as he was a decade earlier when the J5 first debut for Motown. As such this album is as much as the conclusion of something as it was a new beginning. And that enthusiastic quality drips from every pore of the music you’ll find here.

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Off The Wall  winds up being one of those albums where one’s perception of it evolves with time. Its instantly lovable,especially for any funk and post disco enthusiast. Considering the artist itself and the primary bass player here Louis Johnson aren’t with us anymore,I now look at the album this way. It represents the era when each Michael Jackson/Jacksons album was distinctly different. This album really prioritized live strings,horns and a rhythm section. The same personnel also produced the more electronic boogie sounding number “Sunset Driver” for this session. Shows just how distinctive MJ hoped this to be.

 

Prince Summer: “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night” (1991)

Prince was undergoing a major change during the early 1990’s. Following the release of his final motion picture Graffiti Bridge,he began putting together a whole new band. He named them the New Power Generation. They were as much a concept as they were a unified band. That’s because even during their first decade together,the NPG had its share of lineup changes. But the idea was an instrumental framework through which Prince could channel the talents of different musicians into his eclectic embracing of styles. This was especially true on his debut with them on 1991’s Diamonds & Pearls. 

On many tracks,this album showcased Prince embracing then contemporary elements of hip-hop and techno/house genres. As always,he had other ideas up his sleeve as well. During this time,Prince began a professional report with film director Spike Lee. They eventually decided to do a collaborative project together. What ended up happening was that Prince asked Spike to pick any song from the Diamonds & Pearls  album to direct as a music video. Spike’s selection was a song that has been speaking to me a lot in recent times entitled “Money Don’t Matter 2 Night”.

A drum kickoff gets the song going-the main beat being a steady funky/soul one that contains a slowed down break on every chorus of the song. Prince,singing the song in his lower voice,is accompanied melodically by bell like electric keyboard chords playing off his vocal changes. The guitar of the song is predominantly a soul jazz hiccup with a bass line,as was often typical of Prince,staying right along with it throughout rather than playing any counter chords. On some parts,the guitar hugs the melody completely. After a brief burst of string synthesizer,the guitar break brings the song to an abrupt end.

Musically speaking,this song is a bit different for Prince. With it’s relaxed jazzy pop flavor,the production has more in common with the natural style of instrumentation found in the neo soul genre a decade later. Lyrically,its clear why Spike Lee saw it as so imagistic. The song paints a series of pictures emphasizing the need to “look after ones soul” rather than pursuing financial gain-including then contemporary social commentary about the greed laying behind the Gulf War. Its one of my favorite Prince message songs. And certainly one of his most melodic and easy going in its sound.

 

Anatomy of THE Groove 08/29/14 Rique’s Pick : “Misrepresented People” by Stevie Wonder

Spike Lee most likely achieved a career long, and possibly life long dream when Stevie Wonder scored his 1991 film “Jungle Fever”, introducing us to his classic “These Three Words.” Stevie’s classic “Living for the City” was also featured very prominently in the film, during a hellish scene inside of a crack house. I remember the eager anticipation I had for 2000s film, “Bamboozled”, which was a satirical look at the hip hop driven black image at the edge of the 21st century, juxtaposing it with the minstrel image of 100 years earlier. Aside from my excitement for the film, there was also the promise of new music from Stevie Wonder. Todays Anatomy of THE Groove feature, “Misrepresented People” was a powerful and funky song on that soundtrack that told the history of black people in the United States of America and made the connection between the type of “misrepresentation” Spike was dealing with in his film as a very dangerous thing because its dehumanizing influence makes brutality possible.

The song starts off in classic cinematic Stevie fashion. One of the Wonder mans incredible abilities in his music and production is to create aural movies in his songs. He did it on tunes like “”Pasttime Paradise” and especially “Living for the City” with its jarring “Get in that cell, Nigger” interlude (skyscrapers and every THANG). He does it here through his choice of instruments and music to play his opening melody. Stevie uses a harpsichord sound with the sound of sail masts in the background, as he says “In 1492 you came across the shores/700 years educated by the Moors.” From the harpsichord music, the sounds of sails and Stevies slightly proper, slightly British inflections, you can vividly see the picture of the slave ships. For me, the contrast between the attempted holy sterility of the music and the European attitude with the indignity of the slave ships is especially powerful. Stevie goes on to speak of the Indian genocide and the African being marketed. Then he delivers the line that hits me the hardest, “In the so called land of God/my kind was treated hard.” Stevie goes on to deliver the chorus with a classical style melodic run that would become popular in R&B in the early ’00s.

About 1:15 in, a seriously funky groove kicks in. An analog synth type bass sound revs up, with a keyboard string sound embellishing the songs melody. The song is fully in the style of Stevie’s ’70s funk pieces, with a classical element reminiscent of “Village Ghetto Land” layered melodically on top of the mournful funk. Stevie goes on to tell the story of black people from the introduction of slavery in the U.S, to the Civil War and Antebellum Jim Crow period. Then around 2:34 into it, he makes a key change in his classic style. We feel the intensity increase, as Stevie brings us to “1969/Black powers at the door” replete with samples of a militant speech from that time. He goes on to carry the black story through the ’80s and ’90s until he gets to 1999, of which he says, “our colors fill the jails.”

This particular song had a great impact on me. It was true hardcore Stevie Wonder funk with a social message, along the lines of classics such as 1976’s “Black Man.” The song is one that gets to me quite deeply, because of the earnest passion Stevie displays in detailing the history of black people in America. The mixture of classical overtones and funk is one that is very rare and reminiscent of the great Bernie Worrells work with P-Funk. Stevie Wonder takes a powerful moral approach in this song, like great figures such as Maya Angelou, Malcom X, and Dr. Martin Luther King took. He makes his point about the evils of black misrepresentation, both outside coonery imposed from those who neither understand nor care, and what Raashan Roland Kirk termed “Volunteer Slavery”, not through simply bemoaning every ignorant thing he sees. No, he details the hurts African Americans have experienced in this country as if to say, “if you really realized what we’ve been through you’d never allow yourself to be potrayed in that manner.” In that way, this funky song is a song of enlightenment. This song and message was one I particularly appreciated because in 1999/2000 there was so little music that carried such a powerful black political and historical message. It’s a true 21st Century classic from Mr. Stevie Wonder and needs to be heard today, as so many in this culture of over exposure go further and further down the path of misrepresentation.