I don't think by any means we can take away from all that Qunicy has contributed in his lifetime. He has done some great work. I mean the theme from Sanford and Son in itself is a masterpiece. And what Quincy was able to do was enhance what all that Michael brought to the table and give us some really fantastic, jazzy, layered, and timeless classics on three albums.
What Quincy is able to do with sound, I don't downplay. I think WE have to give credit where credit is due even if QUINCY does not. I am thinking maybe people who downplay Quincy are not aware of his catalog of production??? Maybe??
That said, I think Quincy (and anyone else who falls in this category) does an enourmous disservice by downplaying Michael and what he was able to achieve. Dangerous is my favorite album, and is the favorite of many MJ fans, and has no production from Quincy whatsoever.
They both have been very successful before and after ever working together. However, when they were together... It was magic!
ITA on all points. Quincy Jones has a very long and very impressive resume
without his MJ period, including fantastic movie scores, television shows, and much more. There was some show honoring him years ago and they listed some of his works, and I was stunned he'd scored certain movies and television shows, as well as produced them. I had no idea how extensive his work was.
What Michael did for him in the eighties, was to make him more mainstream and be recognized in the "pop" arena. Because no one popularized the name of Quincy Jones as Michael Jackson did.
Together, they were indeed magic, but after they stopped working together, Quincy did often downplay MJ especially in the later years. Generally when I read an interview on Quincy, when it was mentioned how great it must have been to work with Michael, he'd agree MJ was good, but always counter by saying he'd worked with giants such as Sinatra or Fitzgerald, as if MJ was not in the same league.
I thought when they parted ways after Bad, it was amicable, but it's become pretty apparent Quincy remained peeved about that or something or lots of things. Who knows? But choosing to make his real feelings fully known after MJ's death when fans were reeling was just nuts. Whatever comes out his mouth about MJ now just sounds disingenuous.
So I completely give him his due respect for his work, but just don't respect him the man much anymore.