At a guess, I'd say 'Who Is It?' is probably Michael Jackson's best loved song throughout the fan community. Ironic really as it's probably one of his least known songs amongst the general public.
Previously I've written this about it: 'Who Is It' begins with a haunting choral piece before breaking into a baseline to blow your mind. This was to be recreated in the infamous Oprah Winfrey interview where Michael blew our minds again with a beat boxing accapella intro that summed up genius in 30 seconds. If 'Who Is It' was to be categorised into a genre, I suppose it's a soul epic, the last 2 minutes of which are pure pleasure as Michael adlibs his way over a repeated chorus with a voice that encapsulates heartbreak and unrequited love. Because of Michael's success in terms of sales and innovation in terms of dance, his songwriting genius can get missed, But 'Who Is It' is a perfect example of why it shouldn't be and why his production skills shouldn't be overlooked either as he single handedly produced this. In my view the best song on the Dangerous album, if not his best ever.
If I had one wish, it would be to see this song performed live and I think many if not most would agree with that. So whenever I hear it, I imagine how it would look or sound. I distinctly remember when MTV10 was on and my heart jumping into my mouth when WYBT began and I thought it was the beginning of Who Is It!
So how do you see it playing out?
I picture this....
The stage is fully dark, when the choral piece begins. Maybe soft blue lights begin. Then when THAT bassline kicks in, Michael is in the middle of the stage with a microphone stand, arms out beatboxing along. He's wearing one of his more simple stage outfits, black trousers, T-shirt with black shirt undone (maybe after this he's singing 'Give In To Me'?!
The performance is all in the emotion for the first 4 minutes, it's a bit like Man In The Mirror live. He has his arms outstretched finger clicking to the beat. For the chorus he maybe removes the mike from the stand and comes out more and does the odd spin and 'flamingo' move.
Then for the crescendo final quarter of the song, it goes crazy! Firstly I imagine that the 'demo' version of the song is used so we have an extra minute of chorus & ad-libs. And again I guess this is where it's similar to MITM. The backing singers are all over the chorus and MJ is going wild on the ad-libs. When there is the breakdown after 'I can't take it cos I'm lonely' he does of his trademark mega-spins and crashes to the floor. He stays there to continue, emotion wretched in his face, the ad-libs continue, not just the ones from the track, but new ones.
He finally makes it back to his feet for the final, 'I can't take it cos I'm lonely'. And he disappearers from stage as the lights fade to the original blue, much like at the end of Stranger in Moscow or Human Nature live.
That's how I mainly see it (maybe I have too much time on my hands!). I also imagine just a fully Unplugged version where he's sat down for it all, and have also considered a dance routine version that has echoes of Will You Be There?
That's just my thoughts? How's about we stop back-biting in other threads and celebrate the music in this one instead
Previously I've written this about it: 'Who Is It' begins with a haunting choral piece before breaking into a baseline to blow your mind. This was to be recreated in the infamous Oprah Winfrey interview where Michael blew our minds again with a beat boxing accapella intro that summed up genius in 30 seconds. If 'Who Is It' was to be categorised into a genre, I suppose it's a soul epic, the last 2 minutes of which are pure pleasure as Michael adlibs his way over a repeated chorus with a voice that encapsulates heartbreak and unrequited love. Because of Michael's success in terms of sales and innovation in terms of dance, his songwriting genius can get missed, But 'Who Is It' is a perfect example of why it shouldn't be and why his production skills shouldn't be overlooked either as he single handedly produced this. In my view the best song on the Dangerous album, if not his best ever.
If I had one wish, it would be to see this song performed live and I think many if not most would agree with that. So whenever I hear it, I imagine how it would look or sound. I distinctly remember when MTV10 was on and my heart jumping into my mouth when WYBT began and I thought it was the beginning of Who Is It!
So how do you see it playing out?
I picture this....
The stage is fully dark, when the choral piece begins. Maybe soft blue lights begin. Then when THAT bassline kicks in, Michael is in the middle of the stage with a microphone stand, arms out beatboxing along. He's wearing one of his more simple stage outfits, black trousers, T-shirt with black shirt undone (maybe after this he's singing 'Give In To Me'?!
The performance is all in the emotion for the first 4 minutes, it's a bit like Man In The Mirror live. He has his arms outstretched finger clicking to the beat. For the chorus he maybe removes the mike from the stand and comes out more and does the odd spin and 'flamingo' move.
Then for the crescendo final quarter of the song, it goes crazy! Firstly I imagine that the 'demo' version of the song is used so we have an extra minute of chorus & ad-libs. And again I guess this is where it's similar to MITM. The backing singers are all over the chorus and MJ is going wild on the ad-libs. When there is the breakdown after 'I can't take it cos I'm lonely' he does of his trademark mega-spins and crashes to the floor. He stays there to continue, emotion wretched in his face, the ad-libs continue, not just the ones from the track, but new ones.
He finally makes it back to his feet for the final, 'I can't take it cos I'm lonely'. And he disappearers from stage as the lights fade to the original blue, much like at the end of Stranger in Moscow or Human Nature live.
That's how I mainly see it (maybe I have too much time on my hands!). I also imagine just a fully Unplugged version where he's sat down for it all, and have also considered a dance routine version that has echoes of Will You Be There?
That's just my thoughts? How's about we stop back-biting in other threads and celebrate the music in this one instead
