Michael's singing was flamboyant, soulful and made use of ... Funky bass and
guitar parts that Jermaine and Tito would ... The Scarecrow: Michael Jackson.
MUS15: Michael Jackson Going Solo: The Wiz and Off the Wall
Jackson 5 Recap • Signed a record contract with Motown in 1969 • Bobby Taylor (a Motown staff songwriter and producer) recorded first several covers of popular R&B, Soul and Funk hits • Modeled after the Motown Sound that was so successful in the1960’s – Rooted in blues and soul music
From Blues to Soul • Blues:
– Lyrics closely 2ed to speech style in AAB rhyme scheme – The melody is similar to the call and response format of church music – The singing is narrow in pitch range, and mimics wailing, crying or moaning – Simple rhythmic structure as a way to support the vocal line – Relies on repe22on of short musical ideas
• Soul:
– Singing is more rooted in Gospel music, as a form of ‘secular tes2fying’ – Structurally based on the blues, adding more intricate rhythm sec2on, and looser singing style
From the Motown Sound to Pop • Bobby Taylor’s work with the Jackson 5 relied heavily on the Motown Soul sound – Michael’s singing was flamboyant, soulful and made use of excessive improvisa2on – Taylor’s tracks also featured very dense instrumenta2on, using strings, horns, harp, piano, organ, drums, bass, guitar, and 2ght vocal arrangements.
• Berry Gordy hated it, and was interested in cul2va2ng a sound that was cleaner. – He wanted to feature the boys’ youth by choosing songs with more naïve subject maOer, rather than having them perform adult material and stylings
New Sound/Decade/Scene • Gordy gave no no2ce that he would be moving his company to the Hollywood • Many of the musicians were stuck: either go with Gordy and try to keep the career alive, or stay in Motown and fade into obscurity • The Corpora2on
– Replaced Holland-‐Dozier-‐Holland as the primary songwri2ng and produc2on team – Team of songwriters and producers assembled by Berry Gordy for the new Hollywood studios and The Jackson 5
• Bubblegum Soul
– Less about novelty and more about depth that would appeal to kids and adults alike
Bubblegum Soul Formula • Smooth out Michael’s ins2nc2vely flamboyant lead vocal • Tight background vocals, drawing from doo wop tradi2ons, and call and response formats • Add interjec2ons by Jermaine and feature Jackie singing in his falseOo • Funky bass and guitar parts that Jermaine and Tito would play only on live performances • Extended choruses that would feature both a catchy hook and their 2ght choreography • Innocuous lyrics about aspira2onal rela2onships, not necessarily about anything that might be experienced – Plays up their youthful naïveté
4 #1 Hits • Diana Ross Presents: The Jackson 5 (1969)
– Produced by The Corpora2on – Singles: I Want You Back, Who’s Lovin’ You (the only Bobby Taylor-‐produced song to make it onto the album)
• ABC (1970)
– Produced by The Corpora2on – Singles: ABC, The Love You Save
• Third Album (1970)
– Produced by The Corpora2on – Singles: I’ll be There, How Funky is Your Chicken
Oversatura2on • First few records went to #1, though sales stalled aeer the 1972 • Merchandising • Saturday Morning cartoon • CBS Variety Show • Michael’s growth on display, and he became more withdrawn the more of a commodity he became • 1974: 1 more hit with Dancin’ Machine and Michael’s performance of the Robot on Soul Train – First 2me Michael aOached a signature dance to a song
Stalemate and the Move to Epic • The boys wanted to write more of their own material, but Motown refused • Motown wanted to keep them within the Bubblegum formula, they wanted to branch out • Released 6 albums from 1971-‐1974 • Epic Records, a label owned by parent company, CBS Records bought out their Motown contract, paying the group a 20% per record royalty (compared to Motown’s 2.8%) • Jermaine didn’t make the switch with the group aeer marrying Gordy’s daughter • Randy officially joined the group • Switch names to The Jacksons, since “The Jackson 5” was owned by Motown
Epic Records • The Jacksons (1976) – Produc2on team Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff – Mostly disco/funk song – Single: Enjoy Yourself
• DesBny (1978) – Self produced by the Jackson brothers – Michael was designated lead songwriter – Singles: Blame It On the Boogie, Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
From Child To Adult • DesBny proved to be the defining moment for Michael and his brothers • They had finally found their songwri2ng style – which would feature Michael’s expanding repertoire of vocal sounds and dance moves
• Michael had also begun a wri2ng partnership with his baby brother, Randy, that helped put The Jacksons on the map as an autonomous group to be taken seriously
MJ’s Turning Point • In 1978, a 20 year old Michael was invited to audi2on for an updated version of The Wizard of Oz (1939 MGM Musical) – This MGM classic was based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz a 1900 children’s novel
• The musical was very successful on Broadway, and in 1975, winning seven Tony Awards • Motown purchased the rights to the show in 1977 which was used, primarily, as a vehicle for Diana Ross
All-‐Star Cast •
Dorothy: Diana Ross
– Motown’s biggest star at the 2me, known for her work with The Supremes in the 1960s, and her mainstream success as a solo ar2st in the 1970s.
•
The Tin Man: Nipsey Russel
– Veteran comedian, known in the 60s and 70s for his appearances on Game Shows and Variety Programs
•
The Cowardly Lion: Ted Ross
– Broadway actor, eventually achieved mainstream success in the monumental sitcom, The Jeffersons
•
The Scarecrow: Michael Jackson – Duh.
•
The Wiz: Richard Pryor
•
The Good Witch: Lena Horne
– Controversial stand-‐up comedian and actor, who revolu2onized comedy with his uncompromising commentary about the condi2ons of his extravagant lifestyle, and the social status of African Americans in a Post-‐Civil Rights US. – Among the first African American stars to achieve mainstream success the film industry in the early 20th century
•
Evillene: Mabel King
– Veteran Broadway actress and singer, achieving success as Mamma in sitcom, What’s Happening
Why is it so important? • The Wiz comments directly on a racist American entertainment tradi2on, known as Minstrelsy • Performance tradi2on featuring both African Americans and Caucasians performing caricatured depic2ons of African Americans • Minstrel shows rose to prominence as the preferred form of entertainment in the 19th and early 20th Centuries
Caricature: Jim Crow • Created by blackface performer, T.D. Rice • The good-‐natured buffoon, who was oeen asked to dance for his supper and appear eternally grateful for any reward given to him by whites • Segrega2on laws were named aeer this character. • In popular culture, this character is oeen depicted by birds, the most famous of which appeared in Disney’s 1941 film, Dumbo.
Caricature: “Stagolee” or “Stagger Lee” • Slick, smooth-‐talking guy whose moral compass was no-‐where to be found • Represented more about white society’s “fantasies and fears about black men’s menacing sexuality. The legacy of the urban dandy was central to blues culture and [and comedians], to say nothing of the blaxsploita2on film genre and the myth-‐ making of gangsta rap.” – Warwick, 24
Caricature: “Mammy” • Characterizes a wise older woman, whose job was to raise the children of her slave owner. • The first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, is about a blackface vaudeville performer. – Al Jolson performing “Mammy”
Have McDaniel First African American to win an Academy Award, portraying Mammy in Gone With the Wind in 1939
The Fall of the Hays Code and its Influence on African Americans in Film • The Hays Code was a system of Standards and Prac2ces that controlled everything that came out of Hollywood up through the 1960s. • This set of values policed so-‐called obscenity… among other things: – Miscegena2on: a sexual rela2onship between 2 persons of different races – Lusxul Kissing – Realis2c Violence
All This Leads to The Wiz
Sydney Lumet, director • Sydney Lumet was an American film director who began making films in the 60s. • Immediately, he hired this guy, Quincy Jones, to do his film score for his 1964 film, The Pawnbroker. • Lumet is known for choosing storylines that featured griOy social realism • He would later go on to direct films like 12 Angry Men, The Network and Dog Day ATernoon (which, incidentally, features Al Pacino as the first openly gay character to appear on film).
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones • Got his start as a trumpeter and arranger for Dizzy Gillespie • Went on to be the first African American execu2ve of Mercury records • Arranged and produced records for Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and pop singer, Lesley Gore • Wrote 33 film scores…including this.
The Wiz • The film adapta2on featured new songs by Quincy Jones • First mainstream film to feature an all-‐black cast • American Musical Theater – African Americans in musicals had appeared primarily as accessories to the main plot, such as in Show Boat (1927) – Stormy Weather and Carmen Jones featured all black casts, but were largely only seen by African American audiences
Debunking Stereotype “My character had plenty to say and to learn. I was propped up on my pole with a bunch of crows laughing at me, while I sang “You Can’t Win.” The song was about humilia2on and helplessness – something that so many people have felt at one 2me or another – and the feeling that there are people out there who don’t ac2vely hold you back as much as they work quietly on your insecuri2es so that you hold yourself back.” – Michael Jackson, 140
MJ as Scarecrow • “It is as though Jackson, in this number, is extrica2ng himself from the vaudeville an2cs of Jim Crow and pleading to be recognized as fully human.” – 252 – Posturing him on the pole in a Christ-‐like stance – Elimina2on of his iconic dancing – Focus must be paid on the voice • The first 2me MJ fully explores the lower register!
• Michael enjoyed the escapism of Hollywood – 5-‐hour makeup job – Marveled at the process of filmmaking – Would plant the seed for his future music videos…
Reclama2on • Re-‐appropria2on of racist stereotypes – Evillene “No Bad News”
• The film wasn’t well-‐received by the popular press and it did poorly in the Box Office • Features the moral tale of a hard-‐working educated woman, whose own insecuri2es keep her from rising to the top – Much like Michael, Diana Ross used the film as a vehicle to sing more soulfully than Berry Gordy ever permiOed her to do before.
Transi2on • Michael was on loca2on in the late 1970s in New York City at the height of “Dicso Fever,” spending much of his free 2me at Studio 54 • First 2me he spent any extended 2me away from his family • MJ was suffering from immense anxiety and insecurity about shouldering the burden of his family’s business • While on the set of The Wiz, Michael shyly asked Quincy if he knew of anyone who would like to produce his next solo record. – QJ quickly offered himself, and a happy marriage was born!
The Art of Crossover • “[Off the Wall was seen] as the start of a new era of pop that might transcend the racial segrega2on that had long dominated the music market, an era that would culminate with the rise to universal stardom of Michael Jackson and Prince in the 1980s.” – Danielson, 151 • Off the Wall performed equally well on the Black R&B charts and on white Pop/Rock charts, – First record by a black ar2st to reach the top of The Billboard 200
• Successfully combines pre-‐constructed musical forms of both sides of the coin, and as such defines pop as a color-‐less, “mainstream,” “crossover” genre. • Represented a grown-‐up, sexy and self-‐aware MJ in it use of trendy contemporary musical styles.
Off the Wall (1979): Birth of an Icon
Off the Wall (1979) • Wanted a sound that was nothing like what he had cul2vated with his family. – Mixes disco, funk, pop, soul, rock and jazz elements in an effort to construct this new sound
• Featured music that was wriOen mostly by him, though also u2lized veteran songwriters and entertainers Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney. • Mixing by Bruce Swedien, frequent collaborator of Quincy Jones
Off the Wall (1979) • MJ and QJ wanted to construct a pop record on which there were no filler tracks • This type of produc2on was popularized by the Beatles in the 60s, and successfully adopted by “serious” music genres (Rock, mostly). • Pop was s2ll a market of singles, not albums • Ten tracks, in total and five singles:
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (MJ) Rock With You (Rod Temperton) Off the Wall (Temperton) She’s Out of My Life (Tom Bahler; QJ had originally planned on giving it to Frank Sinatra) – Girlfriend (Paul McCartney) – – – –
Is this what you associate with DISCO?
Disco • Disco is a dance-‐based music genre that popularized cultural subversion.
– Emerged out of the 1970s discotheque culture, in which people of all races, sizes and sexual orienta2ons could hang together
• Based in funk, soul and la2n
– Basic band: bass, guitar, drums
• The disco bass line acts as a melodic element.
– Also includes extensive string parts. Really long interludes… – Horns are included as well. – Percussion: cow bells, shakers, congas, guirros (La2n percussion) – Soul-‐based vocals with heavy reverbera2on. – Other orchestral elements: flutes, reeds. – Later, the synthesizer plays an important role.
Funk • The de-‐emphasis on vocal melody and bringing the rhythm sec2on to the foreground. – Musically constructed of small musical sec2ons that would get repeated (vamped) to provide room for vocal improvisa2on. – James Brown really developed the sound in the 60s, and in the 70s groups like Sly and the Family Stone, Tower of Power and ul2mately, the Parliament Funkadelic developed the form and brought it to a wider audience.
• Elements:
– Scratch guitar – Horns providing accents in loud hits!!! Really complex horn interludes. Highly rhythmic. – Improvised vocals – Syncopated bass lines: the bass riff becomes an important element in Funk. It’s not necessarily used as a melodic instrument, but it provides a very catchy founda2on.
Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough •
Intro:
– Throbbing bass under Michael’s 2mid (sexual) whispering – HOO!: Launches the soaring string parts
•
Verses: – – – – –
•
FalseOo singing voice Funky guitar parts La2n percussion Vocal Interjec2ons with himself The hiccups!
Chorus
– Add horns and building string texture – Recorded all the vocal parts himself – Hand claps
•
Bridge
– Music interjec2on between chorus and final verse – Featured a rock-‐heavy guitar solo
•
Final Chorus Repeat to Fade
– Each of the musical elements is in a constant loop, while MJ improvises
Lyrics Touch me and I feel on fire Ain’t nothin’ like a love desire I’m mel2ng Like hot candle wax Sensa2on, lovely where we’re at So let love take us through the hours I won’t be complainin’ ‘Cause this is love power (OOH)
Combina2on of Elements • “…pop fans have typically never shared the rock audience’s fascina2on with distorted or ‘raw’ sounds.” – Danielsen, 162 • Disco’s 2ght strings and smooth vocals – Even though Disco was quickly losing its popularity thanks to the film Saturday Night Fever, and disco records being released by white rock acts (Rolling Stones and Rod Stewart)
• Funk’s groove-‐based bass lines, punchy horns and insistent rhythm sec2on • Pop’s interest in “cleanliness” – Elimina2ng the subversive elements of the genres that preceded it – Shorten the length, and use simple verse/chorus/bridge structure
She’s Out of My Life • Pop Ballad: In the 1970s, the pop sound referred to really sappy, emo2onal and sen2mental content. • Elements:
– Overly sen2mental lyrical content. – Heavy use of synthesizers. – The emphasis is on the recording produc2on, making you feel as if the singer is talking directly to you. Genera2ng in2macy with such a broad format. – Whitney would revolu2onize the pop ballad, making it less cheezy and more soulful. Thank you, Whitney.
Des2ny World Tour • In December 1979, The Jacksons launched a tour to promote their previous record, DesBny • The show featured a set in which Michael would perform his Off the Wall singles
– His brothers would accompany him wearing the spacesuit MJ wore in his Rock With You video
• MJ would appear in his costumes used in his solo videos, sevng him apart from his brothers…but mostly solidifying the visual associa2ons of Michael as a solo ar2st – Sparkle socks and tuxedo – Performance a more sophis2cated version of his persona
The Music Video!!! “The produc2on values … are typical of the kind of low-‐budget videos that black ar2sts would be saddled with well into the mid-‐1980s: on videotape before a primi2ve green screen where backgrounds were dropped in later. As special effects, they are deeply chintzy, even by the standards of the era.” – Nelson George, 59-‐60
Television and Influence • As we witnessed in the case of Elvis Presley, and later with The Jacksons’ appearances on Soul Train, appearing on TV was something that could immediately affect the way music was produced. • Record labels, ini2ally having wriOen off Rock and Roll as a fad, began churning out Elvis look (and sound)-‐a-‐likes in droves. • Michael Jackson would change the way pop music was regarded, and as we’ll see next week, effec2vely change the way music videos are conceived and produced.
Changes • 1979: Michael fired Joe as manager… • “I was beginning to feel that I was working for him rather than that he was working for me.” – MJ, 152 • Off the Wall did well, but not nearly as well as he’d hoped. – Received only 1 Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” – He felt ignored by his peers
“Wait un2l next 2me – they won’t be able to ignore the next album.”
…un2l next 2me…
