Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall is a musical gateway drug.
At least it was for me. It was love at first listen when I first heard the Jackson-penned “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” on the radio as a child. I was so in love that I gathered quarters from the couch cushions and scraped together enough cash to buy the record at my local vinyl shop.
Miraculously, that beloved dog-eared disc still blasts red hot disco dance beats and soul-baring ballads out of my also-worn stereo speakers and only skips in a couple of spots. Regardless, interruptions are unacceptable when it comes to one of the finest records ever created, so another unblemished vinyl copy keeps the original company along with the compact disk for burning this disco out in the car.
The discovery of this musical gem turned me into a raving fan at a young age. So much that I proudly donned homemade Michael Jackson T-shirts, misspellings and all, and eagerly snatched up any Teen Beat with my beloved Michael’s image on the cover. And learning that music could be this alluring, exciting and fulfilling led me and many others down a never-ending path of music and musical-idol worship, from Elvis to ELO. Post-Michael there were shrines to Duran Duran, Prince, U2, Bauhaus, The Cure, etc. But Michael got the fires burning.
While we all have our musical skeletons in our closet, Off the Wall is a first love record that one can always be unashamed of worshiping. Despite the fact that Jackson was riding the tail end of the disco wave, each song is packed with enough flava and honest emotion to keep it on any music lover’s permanent top 20.
So many of the elements were right:
- The flawless production courtesy of Quincy Jones.
- The perfect layering of lead and backup vocals (all courtesy of Michael, of course).
- A rhythm section so undeniably strong that they can overcome the cheesiest of lyrics and admittedly, the album does contain plenty of those, but hey, it was disco!
- The multitude of musical details and layering that makes each song feel so full and multi-dimensional without coming across as overwhelming.
And there was the great songwriting. Besides the songs that Jackson wrote or co-wrote, Rod Temperton (of funky disco band Heatwave), who co-wrote “Boogie Nights” and also contributed to the legendary Thriller album, wrote three songs and was very involved in the album’s planning. Jackson himself wrote three songs and co-wrote one with Temperton. Additionally, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (with the help of Susaye Green-Brown) contributed “Girlfriend” and “I Can’t Help It” respectively.
On top of the musical elements that made the album a success, Jackson had not yet become a nip/tuck and gouge junkie and was a damn nice looking 21-year-old. The album cover featured a grinning, Afroed young man in a tux, standing in the spotlight with a brick wall for a backdrop. His name and album title were scrawled in graffiti-like lettering to his right. The album folded out to show a full body shot, which featured Jackson’s glowing white socks. This was not a freak or a weirdo. This was young Mr. All-American – a kid who was clean cut but who wanted to show had more than enough street cred to rock the house.
My young taste for the album was not unique. The album went platinum over seven times and had four hit singles. This was quite a feat, considering that Jackson’s career was predicted to fail as a result of leaving the ever-powerful Motown Records for Epic. Yet Jackson was somehow still disappointed in how his album performed, especially at the Grammys where Off the Wall only earned one award. But he ended up showing them all with the success for his next album, but I digress.
One element that Off the Wall is most well known for is the single “She’s Out of My Life,” a tragic-sounding, lovelorn lament written by Tom Bahler. As the song reaches its emotional climax, Jackson breaks down in tears, an event that Jones made no effort to conceal on the album and it works. When Jackson wails, “Damn indecision and cursed pride,” his emotions seem to have been almost physically wrung out of him and the tears running down the microphone are the result. Now Jackson was probably never in what would be considered a normal relationship in his life, but anyone who knows the Jackson basics knows that the pain coming through in the song is real. Jackson has had more than his share of agony in life.
But though those ballads are essential to the album, the up-tempo songs are the ones that jump to mind when the words “Off the Wall” come up. With a few exceptions, this is a party album that dares you to stay in your seat. No wonder so many kids like me were quickly converted to hopeless music addicts.
In fact, Off the Wall was a gateway album for Michael Jackson’s impending reign as the King of Pop, as he was determined to outdo himself with the next record. It’s also safe to say that in a way, the album was a gateway drug for the popularization and success of black music in mainstream America (thanks again, Thriller and your armload of Grammys).
Jackson was the first black artist to appear on MTV in 1981 and 26 years later things sure have changed. But back then Jackson was the first artist that closeted bigots at MTV felt was strong enough to break through racial barriers. And once the gates were down, mainstream America began to wake up to a world of music that many of them had previously been deprived of.
To this day, the album remains a crowd-pleasing favorite of dance party DJs around the world, so much that songs have been even sliced and diced into rave fodder by electronic DJs. The power and feeling that the album oozes makes it timeless and not a relic from the era of shallow decadence.
And though I have outgrown giant posters and shrines, I can thank Michael Jackson for a lifetime of record-buying, radio-listening, concert-going, music-writing and all the rest. There is no Betty Ford Center for music addicts and this addiction is for life.
Damn you, Michael Jackson and your awe-inspiring jams. Damn you.
Whatever anyone thinks of him now, you can’t deny he’s a musical genius.
— jon 01/10/2007 03:31 AM #
love your king of pop MJ. x
— Michael Jackson 01/10/2007 06:59 AM #
How privilaged we are to be able to enjoy the GENIUS of this remarkable man.
Much Love & Respect to Michael Jackson !!!
— angel2 01/10/2007 08:24 AM #
— Christine 01/10/2007 08:59 AM #
— Noel 01/10/2007 11:25 AM #
— Jordy 01/10/2007 12:23 PM #
shut up…you dont know anything!!!
Racist idiot ….
— Akdeniz 01/10/2007 02:54 PM #
I love you Michael xox
~Breanna
Dam i just read those pathetic comments.. it was provin to you that Michael is innocent biatch.
— Breanna 01/10/2007 07:42 PM #
Ike Turner and James Brown are also great examples of great talents that have had exhibited criminal behavior- unfortunately that often goes along with what makes a musician a musician. Passionate people commit crimes of passion. In Michael’s case, an abusive father turned him into what he is today, so Joe Jackson should share any blame… dammit I wasn’t gonna talk about this stuff. Dang.
— adrienne 01/10/2007 08:27 PM #
BUT, Jordy’s comments are not accurate. So he may not be racist, but he is ignorant to a certain extent. As well as kinda silly to make comments without knowing the facts.
MJ didn’t “pay off” 4 children to keep things quiet. He reached an out of court settlement with 1 in 1993. I don’t want to get into further details as they are not relevant here.
The other thing is, I don’t think it’s right to blame parents on everything that happens in someone’s life. People can have wonderful parents and still end up criminals. And vice versa.
My point is, that MJ is not a criminal. He was found not guilty. And apart from these allegations, u really can’t fault any other part of his character. So to call someone a criminal, when he is not…is unfair, to say the least.
— jon 01/11/2007 08:33 AM #
What more proof do you need?
And, please clarify: if someone hates his own color so much he makes himself white, isn’t HE a racist?
— lily 01/11/2007 09:23 AM #
— lily 01/11/2007 09:23 AM #
— deggie 01/11/2007 12:39 PM #
— fir 01/11/2007 04:15 PM #
— Kayla 01/11/2007 08:00 PM #
— alaina 01/11/2007 09:16 PM #
Michael Jackson the molester has bought his way free multiple times and that makes him a serial molester. Deal with it.
— deggie 01/12/2007 02:42 PM #
i am 11 and i’ve loved you since i was 5!!!!! (please write back!!)
— emily 01/13/2007 03:23 AM #
— Greg 01/13/2007 05:39 AM #
And you may not become a bad MUSICIAN overnight, but there a million examples of people who were once great songwriters that just got terrible- seemingly overnight. The Stones haven’t done anything decent in quite awhile, for example, but they wrote deservingly legendary albums. Fame does it, age does it. With Michael it seemed to me like the weirder he got, the more forced his music seemed. This doesn’t happen to all artists, but it happens all the time. Being a good musician and a good songwriter or performer are very different things though.
And though I have no idea if Michael really did do it, guilty people are let off all the time. Especially if they have money/fame. In this country money talks more loudly than justice often. Cough cough (OJ!) cough!
— adrienne 01/13/2007 11:10 PM #
— Johnny Cochran 01/14/2007 02:06 AM #
How come everyone always rushes to indict the male of the species but will look the other way when a bitch is whooping upside the head of her man?
— Mark Beef 01/16/2007 10:01 PM #
— Nikki 01/19/2007 12:14 PM #
— Nikki 01/19/2007 12:26 PM #
— Nikki 01/19/2007 12:37 PM #