mjprince1976;4105288 said:
I kind of agree mostly. I believe that for a dance or pop artist who does a wide mix of songs - dance, poppy melodies, ballads, rock and soulful dance songs like Michael, you need a song with all those ingredients to launch a project. Mostly he has reached it.
For Don't Stop, I totally agree, a very upbeat dance song, plus it has a very catchy melody and its a powerful in your face song. Plus the video would help sell it. there's a lot of top notch material on Off the Wall, yet this is the best song. Possible other first singles would be Workin Night and Day, which is also a catchy song and has a get on the floor feel (Could have been a 3rd single too). Rock with you as well, but that was single #2 and became the second iconic number 1 for the adult Michael Jackson.
Agree too, about the Girl is Mine, right before Michael made his huge push, at a time, when Black and White music was still separate and the addition of an iconic white musician like Paul McCartney, ensured it would be a big hit (2) and it was a good if somewhat underwhelming start. At the time (November 1982), MTV still had a racist White musicians only videos and a lot of first rate Black music was not hitting like it should (After the Rock and Roll, Motown and Sexy Soul/Disco output of the 1955 - 1979) Black music had moved out of prominence and the 1979/82 era was a revival of ultra white rock and country and western type hits (Elvira, Love a Rainy night, 65 love affair/Queen of hearts etc). part of it could be played up with the anti disco backlash in which blacks and gays were blamed for polluting the mainstream with low quality disco music.
In my opinion a load of racist crap, the 1979/1982 period is comparable to the neo racism of now with many whites being openly racist against blacks and blaming Obamacare and Black Lives matter etc. So Billie Jean would have been a better 1st single, but may have not hit #1 if released in 1982 rather than early 1983.
In one of my Prince books, it mentions the video for Prince's 1999 was added to the MTV Playlist on December 16th 1982 and it was the first Black video played on the network after Warner Brothers and Columbia both threatened to pull all their artists videos from MTV unless it ended the colour bar. (MTV started in August 1981). Billie Jean was shipped to the channel on January 12 1983 and became very popular. Diana Ross and Lionel Richie videos were also added to the playlist. The effects were immediate with Michael hitting #1 with Billie Jean in March 1983, when sales of Thriller (0.8 million in March 1983) really took off selling 1 million copies in April 1983 and 2 million more in May (After Motown 25 was shown with Michael moonwalking), and Prince scored a #6 hit with Little Red Corvette. By the end of 1983, Thriller had sold 13 million copies and Princes 1999 released in October 1982 went from 200k in Jan 1983 to some 2.5 million.
So in this regard, Girl was a better single to drop and they had another duet #1 in December 1983 with Say, Say, Say.
Agree with Bad single "I just can't stop loving you", the smouldering ballad is so 1987, although I still think Bad may have been a great 1st single too as it has the instant epic feel to it. TWYMMF was not a good choice for 1st single as great as it is, its too MJ for some casual listeners. A part of me says that maybe Smooth Criminal may have been a great lead off single, for its sheer danceability.
I think Black or White may have been a good choice, but it hit more for its controversy with the video than the song. I really think Give in To Me and Remember the Time may have been better 1st singles, with Jam a good choice too. In fact had Jam been released earlier with a NBL tie in,it would have gone #1.
Scream was not a good choice, its a good song, but not a good first single choice and is a bit too angry, the album could have been better started with You Are not Alone, a tender ballad, well written and offering a sincere and thankful Michael to the world. Plus it was bizarre for Michael to put out a song with the f word out let alone as a lead single and its the reason it was his first album starter not to hit #1. Contrast with You are Not Alone which was a well deserved #1 hit. By this time, the #1s were less assured and he never had any after this.
You Rock my world is not the best song on Invincible, but probably his most catchy on it and it has all the classic Dance Michael touches and the neo Smooth Criminal feel to it. To me my favourite song on it is Butterflies, which should have been the 1st single, even if it is a bit quiet and meek for a in your face instant hit. Still the nu soul feel may have roped someone in.
Well thats my opinions there.
Thanks for your detailed & interesting response regarding the selection of the lead singles!
I agree that the energetic, disco-fused ‘Working Day and Night’ should have been released as a single & there is no doubt that it was a (generally) better song than other tracks from that album that eventually were released as singles (like ‘Girlfriend’, ‘She’s Out of my Life’
. Happily, that fact alone (that it did not get an official release as a single) never diminished its huge popularity that the song achieved in the following years.
Personally, I think the recorded material that was eventually included on the ‘Thriller’ album was in sharp contrast with the inclusion of one of his weakest songs (‘The Girl is Mine’
on that record, let alone the selection of that song as a lead single.
‘Bad’ album had only two ballads & the fact that one of them was released as a lead single could have been perceived as a way to emphasize the
romantic aspect of that album. Personally, I believe that ‘I Just Can't Stop Loving You’ is among his weakest ballads & although it has one of the most beautiful intros (I am referring to the instrumental part, not the spoken one) I think as the song unfolds it fails to live up to the initial expectations.
But, at the same time, I tend to believe (like you) that ‘Bad’ could have been a wise choice as a lead single. For example, the profound funky-pop feeling of that song would have set the mood for that record in no uncertain terms, & this is stylistically supported as well (judging by the video’s concept that was in accordance with the album’s cover).
Regarding ‘Black or White’ I am afraid that I have to disagree with you that the controversy overshadowed the impact of the song itself. As I noted earlier, I think the controversy (that it was triggered by the last minutes of the full version of that song) was probably a part of a general, strategic plan with the subsequent apologetic statements (that were released by MJ himself) only to further expand the album’s sales. Also, I have to disagree with you about the selection of ‘Give in to me’ or ‘Remember the Time’ as possible lead singles for the reasons that I mentioned earlier (album’s global concept, & so on). But I agree with you that ‘Give in to me’ is a very good song, in fact this song is probably his best (hard) rock flavored track he has ever recorded &, for this reason, I am still amazed that it got such a late official release.
I am afraid that I have also to disagree with you about the selection of ‘Scream’ (as a lead single). I think this anger/aggression that it
had to be emphatically conveyed was exactly his purpose regarding that album. As long as that message was effectively conveyed, then there was room for things to ease off, & that exactly happened with the selection of ‘You Are Not Alone’ as the second single.
I agree that ‘You Rock my World’ had all those classic, dance elements that tried to epitomize his characteristic music style throughout his career. This is another reason why I firmly believe that it was the wisest/safest choice as a lead single.
On the other hand, the concept for the music video of ‘You Rock my World’ was below par. Although it was technically well executed, I think the whole idea behind that video was not fit for his magnitude in music history (in terms of music videos), & in no way can be regarded as a groundbreaking effort, especially at the threshold of a new millennium.
Lastly, regarding ‘Invincible’ I doubt that any other possible choice (as a lead single) would have changed for the better the sad course of events during that period. It seems that MJ wanted ‘Unbreakable’ (as a way probably to get his invulnerability across for one more time) but, in my view, that song (as a possible single) would have appealed only to his devoted fans. Although it had a nice, unstoppable groove, it was overly long while I think its lyrics would have been totally indifferent to the general public (for example, casual listeners, non-fans).
