The Witching Hour Sessions – 19/01/2018
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson (1958 – 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Dubbed the “King of Pop”, he was one of the most popular entertainers in the world, and was the best-selling music artist during the year of his death. Jackson’s contributions to music, dance, and fashion along with his publicized personal life made him a global figure in popular culture for over four decades.
His album ‘Thriller’ is the best-selling album of all time, with estimated sales of over 66 million copies worldwide.Jackson’s other albums, including ‘Off the Wall’ (1979), ‘Bad’ (1987), ‘Dangerous’ (1991), and ‘HIStory (1995), also rank among the world’s best-selling albums. He is one of the few artists to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice, and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Dance Hall of Fame as the only dancer from pop and rock music.
He became the first artist in history to have a top ten single in the Billboard Hot 100 in five different decades when ‘Love Never Felt So Good’ reached number nine in 2014. Forbes ranked Jackson as the top-earning deceased celebrity for the fifth straight year in 2017. His estate earned $825 million in 2016, the highest yearly amount ever recorded by the publication.
Tonight’s listening:
1 – Off The Wall (1979)
Michael Jackson had recorded solo prior to the release of ‘Off the Wal’l in 1979, but this was his breakthrough, the album that established him as an artist of astonishing talent and a bright star in his own right. This was a visionary album, a record that found a way to break disco wide open into a new world where the beat was undeniable, but not the primary focus — it was part of a colorful tapestry of lush ballads and strings, smooth soul and pop, soft rock, and alluring funk.
2 – Thriller (1982)
Nobody could have prepared anybody for the success of ‘Thriller’, since the magnitude of its success was simply unimaginable — an album that sold 40 million copies in its initial chart run, with seven of its nine tracks reaching the Top Ten. Simply great music.
3 – Bad (1987)
The downside to a success like ‘Thriller’ is that it’s nearly impossible to follow, but Michael Jackson approached ‘Bad’ much the same way he approached ‘Thriller’ — take the basic formula of the predecessor, expand it slightly, and move it outward. This meant that he moved deeper into hard rock, deeper into schmaltzy adult contemporary, deeper into hard dance — essentially taking each portion of ‘Thriller’ to an extreme Another mighty Jackson album.