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The Ultimate Billie Jean Thread

Tony R

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On Sunday, it is an outstanding 32 years since 'Billie Jean' hit Number One in the UK (his second solo #1 after 'One Day In Your Life' was re-released after the OTW success in 1981).

So to celebrate this, this is the ultimate Billie Jean thread to celebrate MJ’s best known song & his crowning glory. It may not be his best song for some (I don’t think in it’s my Top Ten MJ – I know that sounds crazy!) but it the one that I would say made him a superstar.

So this thread can go on forever. And can be used to reminisce/talk/argue about it.

Suggestions are:
Remembering the first time you heard it (were you alive when it went #1?)
Best performances
Motown 25
Cover Versions
Samples
The short film

Even post if by chance you don’t like it & think it’s over-rated!!

To start with, some notable covers/samples

Blackstreet – No Diggity / Billie Jean:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IqV51qZoSm0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nirvana & Michael Jackson – Smells like Billie Jean
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1lH8-5PCPu4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Chris Cornell – Billie Jean
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BfWDJG6NKsw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Can't deny it's what people probably think of when the envision Michael on stage. I do like it, especially when played with some serious audio equipment. One of my more recent memories of Billie Jean was probably getting emailed through iTunes the short film as a free download because I had tickets for the "This Is It" tour.
 
I think fans tend to take it for grandted, but it really is a genius song. I like it how Blender magazine described it when they voted the song #1 on their "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" list:

The song is "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio". They added that it was "frighteningly stark, with a pulsing, cat-on-the-prowl bass figure, whip-crack downbeat and eerie multi-tracked vocals ricocheting in the vast spaces between keyboards and strings". Overall, the magazine described the track as "a five-minute-long nervous breakdown, set to a beat".
 
I don't remember the exact first time I heard Billie Jean, but it was probably on the radio, then the brand new MTV, and oh my, how I loved watching him dance, that sidewalk glowing with his every footstep.
 
respect77 said:
I think fans tend to take it for grandted, but it really is a genius song. I like it how Blender magazine described it when they voted the song #1 on their "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" list:
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Yes, that's the point behind the thread I think! We do take it for granted (or I do at least!), when it comes on shuffle it does stop me in my tracks.

The live version kills it for me, especially the Dangerous ad-libs.

Who has the maxi CD 12 inch mixes, that has the extended version? This is where the lyrics are taken from for the Thriller sleevenotes, so at some point they must have thought about putting the full version on the album.
 
dewey said:
I don't remember the exact first time I heard Billie Jean, but it was probably on the radio, then the brand new MTV, and oh my, how I loved watching him dance, that sidewalk glowing with his every footstep.[/QUOT

Exactly the same for me!
Click to expand...
 
Also, more proof Quincy didn't fully understand MJ's vision. Wanting to shorten the drums?! Crazy stuff.
 
respect77 said:
I think fans tend to take it for grandted, but it really is a genius song. I like it how Blender magazine described it when they voted the song #1 on their "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born" list:

The song is "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio". They added that it was "frighteningly stark, with a pulsing, cat-on-the-prowl bass figure, whip-crack downbeat and eerie multi-tracked vocals ricocheting in the vast spaces between keyboards and strings". Overall, the magazine described the track as "a five-minute-long nervous breakdown, set to a beat".
Click to expand...

This.for.the.WIN!

Also is there any credence to the rumors that Quincy didn't think Billie Jean was strong enough to compete for a place on Thriller?
 
Themidwestcowboy said:
This.for.the.WIN!

Also is there any credence to the rumors that Quincy didn't think Billie Jean was strong enough to compete for a place on Thriller?
Click to expand...

Quincy has said that those rumours were not true and that he loves Billie Jean
 
analogue said:
Quincy has said that those rumours were not true and that he loves Billie Jean
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Yes, I think people just mixed up the Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal story (it was the latter that QJ didn't want on the Bad album.) With Billie Jean he just wanted to cut the long intro, but luckily MJ did not let him. Also I think there was a disagreement between them because MJ felt Q should not take main producing credit for it when the song sounds almost like MJ's demo.
 
^^ Interesting, I'd never heard about that before.

I remember a few years back reading some BS critic saying something along the lines of "only the most ardent and deluded of Jackson fans would believe that it was Jackson who came up with those haunting strings and percussive keyboard stabs."

It's so annoying when people try to diminish MJ's songwriting/production credentials. I usually point them to the Billie Jean Home Demo and that shuts them up.
 
MattyJam said:
^^ Interesting, I'd never heard about that before.

I remember a few years back reading some BS critic saying something along the lines of "only the most ardent and deluded of Jackson fans would believe that it was Jackson who came up with those haunting strings and percussive keyboard stabs."

It's so annoying when people try to diminish MJ's songwriting/production credentials. I usually point them to the Billie Jean Home Demo and that shuts them up.
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Yeah, exactly. It really irks some of his critics that he was so talented on so many different levels. You have amazing productions on songs which have nothing to do with Quincy - eg. Who Is It - so I don't know why it's so hard to believe for some of them that yes, the man could do all that.


Here it is from Wikipedia (I know).

Jackson faced numerous disagreements with the song's co-producer. It has been reported that Quincy Jones did not want the song to appear on Thriller and that he felt that the song was too weak to be part of the collection, but Jones has stated this is a false rumor.[SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][8][/SUP] The producer disliked the demo and did not care for the song's bassline.[SUP][9][/SUP] Jones wanted to cut Jackson's 29-second introduction, which was the longest one ever created at the time.[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][10][/SUP] The entertainer, however, insisted that it be kept. "I said, 'Michael we've got to cut that intro'" Jones later recalled. "He said: 'But that's the jelly!'[...]'That's what makes me want to dance'. And when Michael Jackson tells you, 'That's what makes me want to dance', well, the rest of us just have to shut up."[SUP][7][/SUP][SUP][11][/SUP] Jones also wanted to change the track's title to "Not My Lover", as he believed that people would think the song referred to the tennis player Billie Jean King.[SUP][12][/SUP][SUP][13][/SUP] Jackson refused to change the title and asked Jones to give him co-producing credits for the track, as he felt that the demo tape sounded exactly like the finished product. In addition, Jackson wanted extra royalties. Jones granted neither and the two fell out for several days.[SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][9][/SUP]
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Although I see some of it comes from Taraborelli whom I don't consider a credible source, so who knows.
But it's true that when you look up the credits to Billie Jean, actually the order of the production credits is switched compared to all other songs on Thriller. On all other songs Quincy is put in first place MJ second (where they both produced a song), but on Billie Jean it's switched. So I guess MJ achieved at least that.
 
If someone pointed a gun to my head and asked me my favorite Michael song of all time, I'd pick this. It's literally one of the greatest songs of all time. So timeless.
 
who helped mj make the billie jean home demo without quincys guidance
 
Dilan said:
who helped mj make the billie jean home demo without quincys guidance
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You don't need a producer to make a demo, you need them to help make the finished product.

I hate it when people downplay Quincy's role in making OTW, Thriller and Bad a success.
 
Tony R said:
You don't need a producer to make a demo, you need them to help make the finished product.

I hate it when people downplay Quincy's role in making OTW, Thriller and Bad a success.
Click to expand...

I don't think anyones doing that here, but it is commonly the other way round (Quincy getting all the credit, MJ getting none). I'm sure you'd agree it is ludicrous to make out as if the success of those albums had nothing to do with Michael's almost supernatural levels of talent.
 
MattyJam said:
I don't think anyones doing that here, but it is commonly the other way round (Quincy getting all the credit, MJ getting none). I'm sure you'd agree it is ludicrous to make out as if the success of those albums had nothing to do with Michael's almost supernatural levels of talent.
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Of course, but at the same time, if we think songs on a Thriller are perfect then credit must be given to the producer also. I know you'll agree, but some really diminish Q's involvement. Mainly due to comments he's said in the past.
 
Tony R said:
Of course, but at the same time, if we think songs on a Thriller are perfect then credit must be given to the producer also. I know you'll agree, but some really diminish Q's involvement. Mainly due to comments he's said in the past.
Click to expand...

Well yes, Quincy hasn't exactly endeared MJ's fanbase in recent years. Irrespective of Quincy's unnecessary and narrow-minded comments, I still maintain that the genius of those albums was 75% MJ and 25% Quincy.
 
MattyJam said:
Well yes, Quincy hasn't exactly endeared MJ's fanbase in recent years. Irrespective of Quincy's unnecessary and narrow-minded comments, I still maintain that the genius of those albums was 75% MJ and 25% Quincy.
Click to expand...

Yes, of course as the chief songwriter of the big hits, MJ gets more credit.

I'll go 75/25 on the MJ written ones and 60/40 on the others!
 
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