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Speaker 2
I'm Adam.

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Speaker 1
Innes, and I'm Peter Martin.

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Speaker 2
And you're listening to the ultimate podcast.

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Speaker 1
Music explore.

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Speaker 2
Explore, brought to today by Open Studio. Go to Open Studio jazz.com for all your jazz lesson needs.

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Speaker 1
Tell me that again.

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Speaker 2
Open studio.

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Speaker 1
Jazz. Got it. Calm. That's a good that's a happy place.

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Speaker 2
By the way. You know when Ron came in he was like, that was good. That's fun right? No, that's a corner that was just had. I like that

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Speaker 1
That was fun. You sounded good, man. Oh, you.

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Speaker 2
Two man shout out also to Bob to boot camp Kirby. Yeah. Playing on our our intro and outro. We did took off quickly though. We do have a special outro today. A little two piano Rhodes piano.

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Speaker 1
That's going to be nice.

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Speaker 2
Duet on the way out. Yep.

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Speaker 2
Peter.

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Speaker 1
It's a big day, my man. I came, I came prepared, I got a stack of goodies.

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Speaker 2
Here, you guys. Yeah.

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Speaker 1
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
I said, let me a dish.

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Speaker 1
Don't say anything, okay? Don't say anything yet.

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Speaker 2
Today we're talking about one of my favorite, I think one of your favorite. Yeah. One of most people's favorite albums of all time. We're talking about aliens. Oh my gosh, Michael Jackson's Off the Wall. His 1979 masterpiece. An incredible work of art and like, an incredible, like, Michael Plant in the flag. Like I am here. I'm I'm a grown up now.

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Speaker 1
Kind of. Yes. Oh, yeah. Well, no, I think he wasn't even 19.

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Speaker 2
20 or 20. Yeah, but still, he's still relatively very young, but.

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Speaker 1
He kind of grew up in the public.

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Speaker 2
Eye, like you said. He started very young. But we'll get into that. We'll kind of get into the story of how this one came about. This wasn't his first solo album. He had some songs for Motown, but this was his first solo album away from Motown. So yeah, we'll talk about that a little bit. And what I really want to talk about is like, you know, he Michael, as a performer, he starts,

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Speaker 2
of course, with the Jackson five.

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Speaker 2
Yeah, they leave Motown and they leave,

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Speaker 2
they can't take the Jackson five name with them. So they move to epic and they become.

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Speaker 1
The.

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Speaker 2
Jacksons. And this is when Michael.

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Speaker 1
The Jacksons is different than the Jackson five.

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Speaker 2
Well, it's literally it is.

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Speaker 1
It's the same people.

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Speaker 2
For the most part. I think Jermaine stayed at Motown. Yeah.

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Speaker 2
But they made a few records. And this is on one of those early Jackson's record, and Michael is a teenager here. This is Shake Your Body Down to the ground. Ooh, a little, foreshadowing of maybe what's to come in a couple of years.

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Speaker 1
I think this was right before, dark.

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Speaker 3
Right before off the wall.

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Unknown
Yep.

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Unknown
I don't know what's gonna happen to your face, but I do know that the. One brothers time that you.

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Speaker 3
Came before us.

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Speaker 1
And I do wear my stakes.

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Unknown
For my watch. I love the States mustache. Check it by now. To guys face the shop.

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Speaker 2
I mean, entering a new era of pop music here with the Jacksons and the late 70s in general.

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Speaker 1
So his attack, like, you know, the his syncopation, it's. I mean, it was always there even when he was a little kid. Yeah. But this I remember this period. I want to say that on Destiny. I don't even know here. It doesn't matter. I know this came out right before off the wall, because this is one of the first, like, kind of mature.

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Speaker 1
Michael's like his voice and his vibe, his like with the rhythm and the feel and everything was in there.

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Speaker 2
I think as we're going to discover, as we get more and off the wall. And this is all still young Michael here three thriller right. Pre moonwalk. Yeah. But he is even at this point even at the point with the Jacksons here. He is one of the great vocal performers of all time. And he doesn't even have like this incredible you know instrument that a lot like he's not Luther Vandross right.

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Speaker 2
He doesn't have this amazing great instrument.

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Speaker 1
But it wasn't. Yeah, it was very unique.

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Speaker 2
And, you know, it's him as soon as you start singing. Unless it's one of his brothers singing sometimes, but his every single like,

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Speaker 2
vocal rhythmic thing that he does, every single improvization that he does, every run, every single that he does is like super. It just rips your heart out like he's an incredible musician.

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Speaker 1
And I think because, you know, like Randy and Jermaine and Tito, like he had so many they they're playing the instruments right.

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Speaker 1
And he was not seen with an instrument. And I know he played some piano, I guess, and guitar, but like, he wasn't, you know, his older brothers and like, like you saw them playing all the time.

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Speaker 1
And he was like, obviously the singer, the entertainer could dance, had the charisma or they all did. But I mean, you know, let's let's not forget how you show off how a great, musician you can be with your instrument of the voice. Yeah, he was there. You talked about your Sarah Vaughan, your Frank song, that. Well, Quincy talked about this.

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Speaker 1
Yeah. Like he. That's very much the lens with which he saw it. So let's jump ahead.

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Speaker 2
No, you're right on track here. So that takes us to where we are here. Right around the same time the Jacksons are making their album. Michael is maturing as a performer. Yeah, he gets a gig, with the film version of the musical The Wiz starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. And exactly. Look at that. Is that. That is a limited edition vinyl copy.

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Speaker 2
Well.

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Speaker 1
Yeah. And it's just, you know, it's got the poster. It's even got the, let's kind of listen to it. I'll show you.

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Speaker 2
So here's Quincy talking about that.

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Speaker 5
When Michael was 19, we first worked together. He was costarring in and I was the musical director. I was resisting for the score of the movie version of The Wiz, worked on the world's first. And, he said, I'm going to be on epic, and I'd like you to help me find a producer. So Michael and will talk about that.

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Speaker 5
You going by the song on the pitch? Yeah. You got this on down the road. Know what? You don't have a solo song. You know? So I'm going to get you a song for us. Never talk about the rest. We got you can't win. And then with the Scarecrow song.

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Speaker 6
It was terrific. So I always wanted to do. And, it was a lot of fun work with.

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Speaker 3
All the great Sidney Lumet, Quincy Jones.

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Speaker 5
And then, I started to love seeing how intuitive it was. You know, everybody's dialog. You could make up for five hours. You know, all the songs and all of the band stuff, like all this one very, very special talent. I mean, really special.

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Speaker 2
In every way. Incredible. So that's Quincy Jones and a little bit of Michael Jackson talking about the experience of The Wiz, where they they didn't mean for the first time, but they worked together for the first time. Pierce holding up this looks incredible.

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Speaker 1
This is like a whole album. Yeah.

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Speaker 2
Of the of the recording, the original soundtrack of The Wiz. But as you heard Quincy there, like Michael and he famously did this throughout his career. He knew everybody's part. He knew everybody's songs, you know, everybody's dance moves.

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Speaker 1
Yeah.

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Speaker 2
Just always the most talented person in whatever room he's in. And so as Quincy alluded to, he didn't have a song in the movie he had. He's on down the road. But they added this song, which is one of my favorite all time MJ moments. You can't win. You gotta look it till you get it. New sugar.

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Speaker 1
Ray and single.

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Speaker 2
Beat playing the Scarecrow.

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Speaker 3
With it can't make it even better. Can't get.

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Speaker 2
Up. He's doing this kind of thing.

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Speaker 3
People keep saying.

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Speaker 2
Like scooping is yeah.

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Speaker 3
You look just like to stay in the same when you get to be over your head. Oh.

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Speaker 2
Isn't that great? Oh good.

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Speaker 1
19 yeah.

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Unknown
You can't. Which I can't wait. I can't be giving you.

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Speaker 2
And of course, Quincy Jones is is the musical director for The Wiz. Amongst many, many other things. Yeah. They strike up a conversation. Michael wants Quincy to produce his first solo album on epic. And this is Quincy talking about that machine.

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Speaker 5
All those great things. They did great producers. I think I'd like to take a shot of a just a new record, because I felt something else in them. We finished the movie. Michael came back all teary eyed one day and said, the people at epic, the one whose who said, you too jazzy. And.

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Speaker 5
We will be fine. Just fine, Ella. Thank God he went back and they fought. They said he's doing it. You know, everybody that epic black and white said, no way is not going to work, I love them.

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Speaker 3
Yes, I know, well.

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Speaker 5
All you gotta do is get me going. Is underestimate.

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Speaker 2
Quincy Jones. Yeah. Go with them. You let.

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Speaker 5
Everybody else's. You can make him any bigger. So let's see. One thing led to another.

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Speaker 2
Quincy Jones. Just the best. I love that he talks there about people underestimating him. That's like the easiest way to get him going, because,

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Speaker 2
I feel that, too. It's such a great motivator when you feel like you can't do something. And, Man. And just he obviously could do anything. He's Quincy Jones. And at this point, he was, you know, the Sinatra, arranger and the Ella arranger and music director, and he's a jazz horn player, you know what I mean?

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Speaker 2
But,

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Speaker 2
he had Quincy have this in him. I love this relationship so much on Off the Wall and Thriller specifically because I feel like those two together make magic happen as you're about to hear. There's something about their relationship. It's, you know, they're different generations. Yeah. And, Quincy's sensibility is not quite the same as Michael's, but they bring out something in each other that is so magical.

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Speaker 2
So special.

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Speaker 1
Yeah. There was I mean, I think that that commonality between them of striving for perfection, you know, very competitive, as you mentioned, like with Quincy, with Epic Records and stuff. And Michael was very much that same way. The Jacksons, all of them were with this record and their record before, like with, you know, the BGS and Saturday Fever was the biggest record before.

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Speaker 1
And they were like, you know, we're going to have a bigger record than that. It was there was a lot of things. It was definitely a little bit of father figure, certainly working together and stuff with Michael and Quincy. It's a super interesting relationship.

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Speaker 1
and, you know, plus Quincy was like, by this point, I mean, Quincy had done so much stuff.

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Speaker 1
You know, he'd lived in Europe. Yeah. And, you know, studied like, you know, orchestration. But he'd also done big band play. He was fired. He was from Seattle. He traveled with, you know, a bunch of jazz musicians and bands produce a lot of different kinds of things. Television, you know, he did. What was it? Pawnbroker. He did a bunch of movies,

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Speaker 1
soundtrack.

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Speaker 1
A bunch of.

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Speaker 2
Great film scores.

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Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. And so he was. No, but he wasn't Q like, we know him yet, but it was this record that really made him this. I understand how epic and stuff was going, like, what now we're not getting. So Michael fell for him.

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Speaker 2
Michael fought for him, got him. And off the wall was recorded between December 1978. Hey, shout out December 1978 by the way, was that something? That's when I came into the world.

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Speaker 1
Nice.

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Speaker 2
Okay. December 30th.

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Speaker 1
So we both have an interesting thing, because I was eight years old when this record came out in 1979, believe was July or whatever that summer. This is the first pop record that I have memories of, a first pop record, like I was listening to jazz records before that, you know? Now this is the first record that came on the radio that I remember, like where I was when the singles came up and when I heard it, like going to skate to the stuff and you said, shout out you city skating rink and Saints and all of that.

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Speaker 2
Remember when records were made for the skating rink?

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Speaker 1
Yes. Yeah. And then I mean, like this was a big record and I remember how it felt that summer, you know what I mean?

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Speaker 2
So it was recorded between December 1978 and June 1979. So ended recording in June was released in August. Yeah. Like that's a really quick turnaround I love it.

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Speaker 1
What was the,

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Speaker 1
first track? The,

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Speaker 2
Don't stop.

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Speaker 1
You know, so I think that was the first single and I think that came out earlier in the summer, I believe.

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Speaker 2
Could have. Yeah.

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Speaker 2
I love this quote here.

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Speaker 2
About the sessions.

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Speaker 2
Quincy Jones famously implemented what he called check your ego at the door sessions, where everyone focused solely on making the best possible record.

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Speaker 2
For some of Michael's vocal recordings, the engineer would dim the studio lights completely or turn them off to help Michael feel less self-conscious and more emotionally connected to the material, which we're about to hear.

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Speaker 1
So detail oriented.

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Speaker 2
This does lead us to the first track and the first single. This is Don't Stop Till You Get Enough from off the wall.

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Speaker 6
You know who is who you know and to keep up to the fullest. It's got a lot of it makes me feel like, oh, who made me feel like, oh.

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Speaker 1
Too many string horns. The dynamics. Oh, it.

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Speaker 3
Oh.

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Speaker 1
It's.

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Unknown
The feel. I've heard it.

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Unknown
But I.

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Speaker 1
Got time.

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Unknown
I. Hum 0000.

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Speaker 1
And his layered vocals.

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Unknown
And some hot.

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Unknown
And it's not just for.

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Speaker 1
Oh it's haunted. Oh. Second time.

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Unknown
I'm my.

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Unknown
I'm just not. I don't know if I'm keeping. I don't want to get it I'm the.

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Unknown
Who?

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Speaker 2
I mean, if it's not the best production of the 70s, we've already talked about Asia songs in the Key of Life. It is up there. Yeah, it is up there. The quality.

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Speaker 1
There's nothing better than.

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Speaker 2
Oh, my God, everything sounds so delicious. Yeah, on this recording. And there's space for everything. By the way, this is one of the,

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Speaker 2
the tracks on the album that was written by Michael Jackson. Yeah. So Michael wrote this song. It's an incredible song.

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Speaker 2
And it's a ridiculous band. We got Louis Johnson on bass, John Robinson on drums, JR Gregg, Phil and gains.

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Speaker 1
Like it's all over this record. The great, the great, great feeling gains.

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Speaker 2
There is not modern keyboard piano playing without Greg Phil and gains. Yeah.

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Speaker 2
We got David Williams and Marlo Henderson on the guitars.

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Speaker 1
And those do get well. I mean, Lewis Johnson, of course. Johnson brothers, brothers Johnson I should say Johnson and they're all over. I think this is key based on here. This may be George Duke. He's on some of this stuff uncredited. Yeah, yeah. But,

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Speaker 1
Louis Johnson, Greg Fuller Gaines and,

00:16:56:19 - 00:16:57:18
Speaker 1
Joe Robinson

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Speaker 1
I know they had done some stuff before this with Q with Quincy Jones and with Q

00:17:01:13 - 00:17:05:08
Speaker 1
but, like that became, I know this record, like, those really became his guys.

00:17:05:08 - 00:17:10:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. And they overdubbed some stuff. There's several versions of this. There's there's a lot of fun lore about this in the studio.

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Speaker 2
Well, and so the horn section is a, is a section section called The Quint Horns. And it's arranged by Jerry. Harry. Hey. Yeah. Jerry. Hey, legend. Also, did you know Jerry? Hey. Uncle of great jazz pianist Henry. Hey, I just want to shout out Henry. Henry.

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Speaker 1
Hey, hey.

00:17:25:12 - 00:17:26:16
Speaker 2
I love your stuff. Yeah,

00:17:26:16 - 00:17:31:15
Speaker 2
but horns are amazing. The arrangements are amazing. So we actually have here. Here is actually.

00:17:31:15 - 00:17:32:08
Speaker 1
On the on the,

00:17:32:08 - 00:17:36:17
Speaker 1
Don't stop shaking up the string arrangements and the horn arrangements. Yeah.

00:17:36:17 - 00:17:38:06
Speaker 1
Oh, we're about to get into something. Well.

00:17:38:08 - 00:17:42:13
Speaker 2
Have you heard what Quincy said about the strings? Now, you know, Michael didn't want the strings, right?

00:17:42:16 - 00:17:44:00
Speaker 1
I knew he didn't. We didn't want them.

00:17:44:00 - 00:17:48:18
Speaker 2
Yeah. And then, you know, there's a famous interview with Quincy now where he's like, when you think about that, what do you think?

00:17:48:20 - 00:17:50:10
Speaker 1
Right. They don't really.

00:17:50:12 - 00:17:51:13
Speaker 2
That, you know what I mean.

00:17:51:13 - 00:17:59:15
Speaker 1
And the way is not wrong and the way this stuff is art, because it's like booty at a time, like the bones and stuff is very, very intentional. You know?

00:17:59:17 - 00:18:04:13
Speaker 2
Well, Quincy, an amazing arranger here is Michael's home. Demo writing don't stop.

00:18:04:13 - 00:18:05:12
Speaker 1
Battle.

00:18:05:14 - 00:18:15:13
Speaker 2
Just. It's this. This is like his whole setup with everything.

00:18:15:13 - 00:18:19:06
Speaker 2
You can just take it in the day.

00:18:19:06 - 00:18:19:16
Speaker 3
I didn't.

00:18:19:16 - 00:18:34:23
Speaker 6
Stop to. You know, when. You.

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Speaker 2
Me?

00:18:35:17 - 00:18:37:12
Speaker 1
I mean, it's already there, and it's,

00:18:37:14 - 00:18:40:00
Speaker 2
Listen, just it's missing one thing.

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Speaker 3
To bring it up. I don't know.

00:18:47:07 - 00:18:50:23
Speaker 2
I mean, I'd be happy with it. Yeah.

00:18:51:00 - 00:18:57:07
Speaker 1
Boom boom boom boom boom. Hello?

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Unknown
Don't go. There's a better.

00:19:03:11 - 00:19:07:11
Speaker 2
Even the demo vocal. Yeah. Slaves.

00:19:07:13 - 00:19:15:15
Speaker 1
But, where's your boy? Or do.

00:19:15:17 - 00:19:24:00
Speaker 2
So it's Michael Jackson's home demo of Don't Stop to Get enough. So before we get to our categories, Peter here, there's a few notable tracks that I want to mention before we get to our game.

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Speaker 1
We're not gonna listen to a whole record.

00:19:24:23 - 00:19:28:00
Speaker 2
We're going to listen to most of it. But I just want to talk a little bit about some of,

00:19:28:00 - 00:19:34:02
Speaker 2
the key tracks on here. I mean, they're all key tracks, but this is really banger after banger. There's a couple of quotable bits. Yeah, we could talk about,

00:19:34:02 - 00:19:39:15
Speaker 2
first is Off the Wall. I like to think of Off the Wall, the title track, written by Rod Temperton.

00:19:39:17 - 00:19:40:00
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:19:40:00 - 00:19:48:14
Speaker 2
Who wrote many of the hits of Michael Jackson's early career? Yeah. Including thriller. This is like thriller before thriller. Yeah. Off the wall. It's weird.

00:19:48:16 - 00:19:53:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. Scary. Yeah. It's got kind of early prog rock kind of vibes a little bit.

00:19:53:19 - 00:20:04:05
Speaker 2
Right? Crazy. Well, off the wall.

00:20:04:07 - 00:20:07:14
Speaker 1
That's kind of proggy.

00:20:07:16 - 00:20:13:05
Speaker 3
Under when the word is on the shoulder.

00:20:13:07 - 00:20:20:18
Unknown
You gotta straighten up. You didn't book it down if you came and get the feeling wrong.

00:20:20:20 - 00:20:24:14
Speaker 2
But to be clear, this is a disco rock. Yeah, like this is right. This is one.

00:20:24:14 - 00:20:32:02
Speaker 1
Of the more there's, like, 2 or 3 scary disco tracks on it. Nine burning. Yeah. Livin crazy.

00:20:32:04 - 00:20:38:12
Unknown
That's so tonight you're even at 5:00.

00:20:38:12 - 00:20:40:11
Speaker 2
Shadow Michael's vocals. Oh my God.

00:20:40:13 - 00:20:43:03
Speaker 3
Enjoy yourself.

00:20:43:05 - 00:20:46:03
Speaker 2
Every improvs. Yeah. Things he does.

00:20:46:05 - 00:20:54:21
Unknown
Get you like this so bad I don't think you live it off the wall.

00:20:54:23 - 00:20:56:12
Speaker 2
Can you up. Incredible.

00:20:56:14 - 00:21:10:08
Speaker 1
And then this is a weird. The way I remember hearing this as, like a kid, I was like, because I was already kind of playing music, but I remember being like, what? Like this start, like, started again. So it starts on like 2 or 4, like. It didn't start out one.

00:21:10:09 - 00:21:12:13
Speaker 2
Three, four. The on like the end of four.

00:21:12:15 - 00:21:20:12
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's a very unusual place. It's I remember even I was like what is on the radio stuff never started on anything but one you know.

00:21:20:12 - 00:21:24:01
Speaker 2
Again written by Rod Temperton who we're going to get back to in a little bit here. The.

00:21:24:01 - 00:21:32:12
Speaker 1
Next verse Quincy brought in and I mean, like, like Quincy truly, like, sometimes people like, what is the producer really do? Quincy did like all that and a bag of chips.

00:21:32:14 - 00:21:39:09
Speaker 2
A good producer in this era, specifically, the role changes and it has changed since then, but they really,

00:21:39:09 - 00:21:49:07
Speaker 2
helped to, I think, hone the artist musical direction. Yeah. And get the best out of them and then also get the right people in the room at the right time. Yeah. That's the biggest part of it still is in a way.

00:21:49:07 - 00:21:51:09
Speaker 2
Although now it's become much less like now.

00:21:51:11 - 00:21:54:04
Speaker 1
And yeah, they can kind of do everything in a way. It's like.

00:21:54:06 - 00:22:04:18
Speaker 2
Next up is a song written by Paul McCartney, Sir Paul, which will be an ongoing relationship. Mike will have, of course. He's got the girl as Mine on thriller, which we can discuss later if you want. Yeah.

00:22:04:18 - 00:22:06:11
Speaker 2
And then say, say, say on Paul's,

00:22:06:11 - 00:22:19:04
Speaker 2
early 80s record. This is girlfriend.

00:22:19:05 - 00:22:27:20
Speaker 3
Oh, I love that girlfriend. I'm gonna tell your boyfriend.

00:22:27:22 - 00:22:34:01
Unknown
Yeah, I tell you.

00:22:34:03 - 00:22:36:09
Speaker 3
Exactly what we do.

00:22:36:09 - 00:22:41:23
Unknown
When you tell him. What you do to.

00:22:42:04 - 00:22:47:14
Speaker 3
Me late at night without in this.

00:22:47:16 - 00:22:55:06
Speaker 2
Really, really fun song. Paul wrote that for Michael, but he also recorded it on a wings album in 1978, London Town. Next to another track that I.

00:22:55:07 - 00:22:59:20
Speaker 1
What do you think of that? How are you all we waiting for quibble bits? Can I quibble about that? You can call. You know, I.

00:22:59:20 - 00:23:02:01
Speaker 2
Understand the quibble about things like.

00:23:02:03 - 00:23:02:22
Speaker 1
I, you know, I.

00:23:03:02 - 00:23:06:22
Speaker 2
I know what you're going to say, pal. I've known you long enough. It's light hearted.

00:23:06:22 - 00:23:26:03
Speaker 1
Well, I mean, I yes, it's it's kind of like, almost harking back. Harkens back to Michael Younger, a little bit of bubblegum pop. Kind of like it to me. It just it's a weird placement in this record, actually. Both of the big ballads are the way, but the other ones I'm sure we're going to get to is so, like, iconic and so associated with my.

00:23:26:05 - 00:23:44:15
Speaker 1
This one just seems weird on this record. But like those dominant seventh chords, like, I mean, I know that people like, oh, you like horses. Yeah. Those are so like that elevates it a lot. I think it's a great song. I think Michael vocally on it is amazing. Of course, everybody playing on it is great just to me it's a little bit of like a it's a lull in the record.

00:23:44:15 - 00:23:47:19
Speaker 1
Remember we had that on Asia that didn't get us any trouble.

00:23:47:21 - 00:23:53:19
Speaker 2
Here's Paul's version. Okay. I'm from wings.

00:23:53:21 - 00:24:00:23
Speaker 1
Oh, you. Yeah. It's an interesting harmonic.

00:24:01:01 - 00:24:09:16
Speaker 2
I'm gonna tell you, boy. I mean, I prefer Michael's. Yeah, but you get it. Like here, it almost makes more sense here.

00:24:09:17 - 00:24:29:07
Speaker 1
I think it wasn't, you know, it was like Michael was such a. Would you call this sex symbol, I guess, or just so, like, girls, young women were so into him. I mean, I remember that when they were just like, yeah, you know, and, you know, like the Beatles or whatever, like, so the lyrics for that and like, I mean, they love that.

00:24:29:07 - 00:24:31:12
Speaker 1
I guess it wasn't for me. So that's fine. That's no problem.

00:24:31:13 - 00:24:32:17
Speaker 2
Okay. Next up,

00:24:32:17 - 00:24:41:19
Speaker 2
just a notable track here. It's the falling in Love. This is written by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster. Yeah. Fan of PMS over here.

00:24:41:21 - 00:24:43:02
Speaker 3
It's the fall.

00:24:43:04 - 00:24:46:11
Speaker 1
Oh, this with the Patti Austin making me.

00:24:46:13 - 00:24:49:01
Speaker 2
Yeah. Patti Austin is is singing on this track.

00:24:49:05 - 00:24:51:05
Speaker 1
I love Patti Austin, but this is always a weird one for me.

00:24:51:05 - 00:24:52:14
Speaker 2
And David Frost was playing keyboards.

00:24:52:17 - 00:24:59:07
Unknown
Falling in love struck me. Falling in love I love you I try.

00:24:59:09 - 00:25:00:04
Speaker 2
I love this track.

00:25:00:04 - 00:25:01:22
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:25:02:00 - 00:25:06:00
Unknown
Hum hum hum hum.

00:25:06:02 - 00:25:09:18
Speaker 1
Very foster. Yeah.

00:25:09:20 - 00:25:11:22
Speaker 3
You know anybody?

00:25:11:23 - 00:25:15:00
Speaker 2
I have a great track. Yeah. Great track. And it really.

00:25:15:00 - 00:25:20:03
Speaker 1
Shows like Michael's range. That was always just weird. It's like all of a sudden Patti Austin Austin's in there. Who's killing it on that?

00:25:20:03 - 00:25:20:11
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:25:20:11 - 00:25:41:15
Speaker 2
Another track that I really want to highlight, especially at the end. It's she's out of my life and it's one of the ballads on here, which we might have some quibble with, but Michael's final verse is legendary here, because Quincy Jones describes recording this track and and that Michael couldn't stop crying by the end of it. And that's how, like, emotionally connected Michael is.

00:25:41:15 - 00:25:43:01
Speaker 2
And I can tell you, man,

00:25:43:01 - 00:26:07:19
Speaker 2
I think this is what separates great vocalists from not great vocalists, from just good vocalists. Right? Is it like every note that Michael Jackson sings on this album? And I think every album after this, every word, every phrase he is so emotionally invested in. Yeah, truly. Like like an actor is emotionally invested in their in their role.

00:26:07:19 - 00:26:08:17
Speaker 1
He's in the part.

00:26:08:17 - 00:26:25:03
Speaker 2
He is in the part all the time that it matters so much to him that it matters to us. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that is the difference between like, a technical singer or someone who's got a great voice but doesn't sell the song as well as one of the all time greats. And the great is a great man.

00:26:25:03 - 00:26:36:12
Speaker 3
She's part of my life. If. She's out of my.

00:26:36:12 - 00:26:39:04
Speaker 1
Life, it's a good place to learn diminished chords.

00:26:39:09 - 00:26:40:17
Speaker 2
It is a great two minutes.

00:26:40:19 - 00:26:44:10
Speaker 3
Damn indecision.

00:26:44:12 - 00:26:48:13
Unknown
And cursed. Right?

00:26:48:15 - 00:26:51:05
Speaker 3
I give my love. I heard.

00:26:51:05 - 00:27:01:03
Unknown
Like, deep. It's like an it cuts like a knife.

00:27:01:05 - 00:27:02:22
Speaker 3
He's. I love.

00:27:03:00 - 00:27:07:17
Unknown
My.

00:27:07:19 - 00:27:16:02
Unknown
Love.

00:27:16:03 - 00:27:18:07
Unknown
Oh.

00:27:18:09 - 00:27:20:10
Speaker 2
How great is that? So good. Incredible.

00:27:20:12 - 00:27:26:09
Speaker 1
Really coming out super influenced by, When I think of, Diana Ross. Yeah.

00:27:26:09 - 00:27:28:03
Speaker 1
From The Wiz, that ballad.

00:27:28:03 - 00:27:33:23
Speaker 1
And just that whole way of, you know, Michael was so influential. Others, you know, DeBarge for sure. El DeBarge.

00:27:33:23 - 00:27:40:19
Speaker 1
Obviously Stevie Wonder was his ballot. I mean, just that style. But yes, that vulnerability, that being father, apparently,

00:27:40:19 - 00:27:43:09
Speaker 1
every take that he's saying that he would cry.

00:27:43:10 - 00:27:45:05
Speaker 1
That's what it wasn't just like they got lucky.

00:27:45:07 - 00:27:46:05
Speaker 2
Quincy said every.

00:27:46:05 - 00:27:50:16
Speaker 1
Single day we do it live, he would. I mean, where we fall it out, girls or young girls.

00:27:50:17 - 00:27:59:16
Speaker 2
What I'm saying, it's not even an act. It's like he is, you know, it's like how people talk about. Like. It's like when he's a scarecrow. He's. When people talk about, like how to how to,

00:27:59:16 - 00:28:04:04
Speaker 2
how to win friends and influence people that kind of like the other party. Yeah, exactly. But it's like,

00:28:04:04 - 00:28:09:07
Speaker 2
you know, you have to really care about the person you're speaking with for them to feel you really caring.

00:28:09:13 - 00:28:22:14
Speaker 2
And the trick is you actually have to care about it. And that's this is not like I'm just going to, like, put on a thing. And he's like, actually does care about it to the point where he can't help it. Which takes me to our next category. So let's do some desert island tracks.

00:28:22:14 - 00:28:25:23
Speaker 1
Okay. Let's go to that desert. Let's have a little desert. How about it?

00:28:25:23 - 00:28:29:03
Speaker 2
A little desert island track. So, Peter, your desert island track?

00:28:29:04 - 00:28:30:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, I can't help it.

00:28:30:21 - 00:28:32:04
Speaker 2
Stevie Wonder. Yeah.

00:28:32:04 - 00:28:33:03
Speaker 2
So you say green.

00:28:33:03 - 00:28:36:06
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:28:36:08 - 00:28:46:16
Unknown
And. He.

00:28:46:18 - 00:28:54:14
Unknown
Red.

00:28:54:16 - 00:28:58:11
Speaker 3
Looking in my mirror. Oh.

00:28:58:13 - 00:28:59:07
Speaker 1
Perfection.

00:28:59:09 - 00:29:01:13
Speaker 3
To me, myself, I mean everybody.

00:29:01:13 - 00:29:04:02
Speaker 2
It is just Michael. It is perfection.

00:29:04:04 - 00:29:09:04
Speaker 3
I can't help but since Rose jumps.

00:29:09:04 - 00:29:14:03
Speaker 1
Oh, man, my mind. I'm right in that range.

00:29:14:03 - 00:29:15:12
Speaker 2
We might get to that in the nerd.

00:29:15:13 - 00:29:23:08
Speaker 1
Okay, studio. Let's do it. Since you as key base. Right, guys?

00:29:23:10 - 00:29:25:10
Speaker 2
I got Lewis Johnson on the base from the credits.

00:29:25:10 - 00:29:41:00
Speaker 1
Oh, you done okay. It's caution to all the time. Double up the vocals. A triple A win for us if I can. I can't help it if I want it bad now. But no.

00:29:41:01 - 00:29:48:04
Speaker 2
I can't help it if I want it. I think he's purposely one of those voices. It's a it's significantly flatter.

00:29:48:04 - 00:29:49:05
Speaker 1
Yes. I was about to say.

00:29:49:05 - 00:29:51:16
Speaker 2
I think he's doing it on purpose to enhance the chorus.

00:29:51:17 - 00:29:57:02
Speaker 1
It is. And to fit in with the harmony and to give it a little more humanity and incredible, very sophisticated.

00:29:57:02 - 00:29:57:08
Speaker 2
I know a.

00:29:57:08 - 00:29:58:19
Speaker 1
Lot of people like, oh, is the attitude, no.

00:29:58:19 - 00:30:01:14
Speaker 2
No, no, that's all intentional.

00:30:01:16 - 00:30:04:22
Speaker 3
Back to my finger.

00:30:05:00 - 00:30:06:20
Speaker 2
Strings and the sense.

00:30:07:00 - 00:30:10:11
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yes, I.

00:30:10:13 - 00:30:15:11
Speaker 2
The Stevie Wonder and Greg filling games. Yeah. On the keyboards on the session. Yeah.

00:30:15:13 - 00:30:18:07
Speaker 3
Bringing sparkles to your,

00:30:18:09 - 00:30:32:15
Unknown
Life is like a trip to heaven. Yep. I miss the prize. I'm so glad I found you.

00:30:32:17 - 00:30:38:10
Speaker 2
Come on. Songs of the Key of Life. I mean, yeah, it has that similar kind of. Wow.

00:30:38:12 - 00:30:43:13
Speaker 1
I can't help it. Oh, man. The drum fills are perfection.

00:30:43:13 - 00:30:50:00
Unknown
I guess if I wanted to. A wedding outfit. No, I can't help it. If you want it.

00:30:50:01 - 00:30:51:13
Speaker 1
Where is it?

00:30:51:15 - 00:30:52:18
Speaker 3
Even if I get.

00:30:52:18 - 00:30:59:10
Unknown
It, I can't help it. If I wanted to, I would. Now piano new.

00:30:59:12 - 00:31:16:17
Speaker 2
Unbelievable, unbelievable. And it's also. It's in your repertoire. I've played it my whole life. Practically. Yeah, it is almost a standard at this point for most people I think. Yeah, it's an easy. We played it there on the intro, which was so much fun. But like, man, it just like a lot of the great Stevie tunes, it kind of plays itself.

00:31:16:17 - 00:31:33:14
Speaker 1
Yeah, and it's funny because it was always like, oh, this is the jazz, the jazzy thing on the record, which I never now I kind of get it after all these years, because I never I don't think of this as a jazz cut, you know what I mean? Or as being necessarily any more jazzy, because to me, Michael's vocal sensibilities as a musician.

00:31:33:15 - 00:31:47:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, were very jazz. I mean, not jazz oriented, but that the jazz sensibility to it. Yeah. And so for this, I think because of the harmony is so like that to that A7 to to A-flat. Yeah. But I mean, to me, like this whole record has a lot.

00:31:48:02 - 00:31:50:09
Speaker 2
Of that d-sharp on top. Yeah, A7.

00:31:50:12 - 00:32:11:00
Speaker 1
But it's all like it's no more harmony or jazzy than any of Stevie Wonder's other music. I guess just his world is so unique and has that element that when it comes on, kind of a high level bespoke disco album. I'm not insulting it by calling it that, but it's a little bit like, wow, you know? But to me it's the perfect kind of slight little off the pathway in this record.

00:32:11:01 - 00:32:12:14
Speaker 1
You know, I'm just right now this wasn't a.

00:32:12:14 - 00:32:16:21
Speaker 2
Hit or anything that was down for for bespoke playlist titles, high level bespoke disco.

00:32:16:22 - 00:32:22:21
Speaker 1
I mean it is this a disco record? But this is not a disco track. There's really only a couple disco tracks on this record.

00:32:23:00 - 00:32:23:11
Speaker 2
There's different.

00:32:23:11 - 00:32:25:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, but this isn't one of them. I don't think.

00:32:25:19 - 00:32:29:07
Speaker 2
So. Let me set the stage for you, Peter.

00:32:29:09 - 00:32:31:23
Speaker 1
We're going to come back and listen to some of that because I do have my,

00:32:31:23 - 00:32:34:19
Speaker 1
What's what's the. You got back? My apex moment is on there. I'm greedy.

00:32:34:19 - 00:32:40:05
Speaker 2
Sumi 1996. Yes. I'm a junior in high school. Yeah.

00:32:40:11 - 00:32:42:01
Speaker 1
Congrats. You made it.

00:32:42:03 - 00:32:42:16
Speaker 2
I don't know, that's your.

00:32:42:16 - 00:32:43:05
Speaker 1
Final year.

00:32:43:10 - 00:33:09:06
Speaker 2
I bought it, I bought a 1984 Chevy S10. Okay. For 500 bucks. Nice. Again. It's 1997 credit. No cash? No. I saved up some gigs. I saved up driving around High Ridge to teach various little kids how to play piano. And I was not aware of this album up to this point. I was too young. I was born when it was made.

00:33:09:06 - 00:33:30:00
Speaker 2
Yeah. Thriller, at the time when it came out, was, and still remains one of my all time favorite. I think thriller is as close as a perfect pop record that's ever been made. I think we can all agree that it should be talked about in that. Yeah, in that sense. But I didn't really know off the wall because it was a little bit before my time thriller was so massive, and then bad was so massive.

00:33:30:02 - 00:33:51:03
Speaker 2
Those two specifically. And I love dangerous too, by the way, don't get me wrong. Yeah, but like that run thriller and beyond kind of just took over my early childhood. Michael Jackson was my favorite artist dance to my kitchen every night to thriller when it came out. And it wasn't until I was a teenager, like 1617 that I discovered this specific track.

00:33:51:03 - 00:34:10:09
Speaker 2
I forget where I heard it, but I said, is that Michael Jackson? This was also I was into jazz at the time. So I was like, this is a different sensibility than thriller. This is less pop. This is has more of the things that I'm into right now. And it was this.

00:34:10:11 - 00:34:19:03
Speaker 1
Oh.

00:34:19:05 - 00:34:22:18
Speaker 1
Perfect. Yeah.

00:34:22:20 - 00:34:31:04
Speaker 3
You're close your eyes. Let that rhythm get you.

00:34:31:05 - 00:34:49:06
Unknown
Don't try to find between the things that you can't. Relax your eyes right. But you grew up in the mind. You gotta feel that beat.

00:34:49:08 - 00:34:52:05
Speaker 3
And a weekend right. The boogie share.

00:34:52:05 - 00:34:59:13
Unknown
That beat another up in the rock. The people. The hand clap.

00:34:59:19 - 00:35:00:09
Speaker 2
The hand clap.

00:35:00:10 - 00:35:07:05
Speaker 1
That song love the rock. Big forehand. Yeah it was big for.

00:35:07:07 - 00:35:13:23
Unknown
I got a lot of bananas for a.

00:35:14:01 - 00:35:17:12
Speaker 1
Second verse. Big ass, a perfect disco track.

00:35:17:17 - 00:35:21:07
Speaker 2
Perfect pop.

00:35:21:09 - 00:35:26:05
Speaker 1
You know that's a classic. That's a magic.

00:35:26:07 - 00:35:34:14
Speaker 2
Band. Must be love again. The sequined horns here, Gary Hager stuff.

00:35:34:16 - 00:35:40:12
Speaker 1
It's like a like a psychic breeze coming from the sea when you feel that, Oh, we gonna.

00:35:40:12 - 00:35:43:19
Unknown
Ride a boogie. Share that. Man.

00:35:43:21 - 00:35:50:20
Speaker 1
Love that bass drum sound. I think the sound of oh my God.

00:35:50:22 - 00:35:55:23
Speaker 2
The whole track is magical. Yeah, you love all the harmony.

00:35:55:23 - 00:35:58:01
Speaker 3
Hear all.

00:35:58:03 - 00:36:01:19
Speaker 2
The horns. And I love the bread.

00:36:01:19 - 00:36:02:14
Speaker 1
The friends I know.

00:36:02:14 - 00:36:07:19
Unknown
I was like, in when the crew let and go.

00:36:07:21 - 00:36:09:22
Speaker 1
Oh, the bass Lewis they're.

00:36:10:00 - 00:36:15:15
Unknown
They tell us about Tony Carter.

00:36:15:17 - 00:36:36:18
Speaker 1
What I love this was like an instrumental. Oh no I remember I was like, damn, what is it? Sparkles. Oh, was Johnson gonna get the modulation? Oh, no.

00:36:36:18 - 00:36:38:17
Speaker 2
Second time we saw it.

00:36:38:17 - 00:36:42:12
Speaker 1
Save it. Yeah.

00:36:42:14 - 00:36:49:09
Unknown
Boom boom boom. 000.

00:36:49:11 - 00:36:53:12
Unknown
I won't give you. Oh, no no no no.

00:36:53:14 - 00:36:54:04
Speaker 2
There we go.

00:36:54:06 - 00:37:06:02
Unknown
Yeah. There's not that one. Beep. Why not. Yeah. Like I said you rock with you man. You got it.

00:37:06:07 - 00:37:14:11
Speaker 2
When they finished tracking that they they must have like just handshakes all around. Break out the cigars. They had to know that they just killed that. Yeah.

00:37:14:12 - 00:37:16:11
Speaker 1
They crush that. Right, right.

00:37:16:12 - 00:37:17:10
Speaker 2
That's unbelievable.

00:37:17:10 - 00:37:35:06
Speaker 1
You think about the final product like this record, but that track in particular and I actually I don't even think this was the first single. It may, may have been, but I think it was Don't Stop. But I remember when this came out of the radio, man, it was like, damn, like the sound, the whole thing. And when you're a kid, you don't quite associate.

00:37:35:08 - 00:37:44:02
Speaker 1
I mean, I remember exactly where I was when I heard this in the vacant lot across from my parents house. Somebody brought out a boombox, and just like it came on the radio and everybody was like, what? You know.

00:37:44:05 - 00:37:44:17
Speaker 2
I mean, and.

00:37:44:17 - 00:37:55:13
Speaker 1
They'd be at the skating rink, like the next day and you hear it, but think about what? Like something what we just heard did for the culture. Oh my gosh, like of the world for sure. But I mean.

00:37:55:13 - 00:37:55:21
Speaker 2
Like that.

00:37:55:21 - 00:38:13:00
Speaker 1
Anymore. No, no. And I mean, it was like everything was so radio driven. I'll just say like, I think a big difference between off the wall, obviously off the wall. And I couldn't find off the wall my LP collection, I know it's there somewhere, but we do have this. Ever heard of that thriller? But like the big difference between those records, because there's so much commonality.

00:38:13:00 - 00:38:31:06
Speaker 1
Q Temperton the rhythm, I mean, like Michael Jackson mainly, and his musical prowess and his stamp on it. But I think that, you know, Off the Wall was radio driven. Yeah. And it was. Yes, it was a crossover. It was a huge record. I mean, it's one of the best selling records of all time. If it wasn't being overshadowed by the best selling record.

00:38:31:08 - 00:38:41:12
Speaker 1
But thriller was like right at the cost. But it became, it was MTV driven. Yeah. That's right. Especially for white America, the white America. Like that's that's what this is. Put moonwalk.

00:38:41:12 - 00:38:48:00
Speaker 2
Pre videos. There were videos for this but but the Rock with you video is him in like a sparkly disco jumpsuit.

00:38:48:01 - 00:38:57:03
Speaker 1
There was nowhere to watch it. There was there was nothing. Yeah. Exactly right. But it was also like it was I mean, it was a top billboard charting and stop it like it got a not thriller.

00:38:57:03 - 00:39:01:17
Speaker 1
Off the wall got pushed out of the Grammys. I mean, I think it got like a R&B song award or something.

00:39:01:17 - 00:39:09:13
Speaker 1
Yeah, but it was still like the segregated radio stuff. There was segregated, but he wasn't played on white radio. So like Saint Louis, no. 100 sex was played on 108 one.

00:39:09:13 - 00:39:12:14
Speaker 2
It won a Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

00:39:12:14 - 00:39:14:02
Speaker 1
Yeah, for one track or something.

00:39:14:02 - 00:39:15:09
Speaker 2
Right, for Don't Stop.

00:39:15:11 - 00:39:18:21
Speaker 1
But it did. It was like the. By then it was like the biggest selling record of that year of a.

00:39:18:21 - 00:39:32:23
Speaker 2
Yeah, it had had two number one hits, Don't Stop to Get Enough and Rock With you. It had a number ten with Off the Wall in number ten with You Thought of My Life. It sold over 7 million initial copies in its first year, has sold now over 20 million, certified eight times platinum, remains one of the best selling for.

00:39:32:23 - 00:39:35:15
Speaker 1
Top ten singles. I think that's extremely rare.

00:39:35:20 - 00:39:46:13
Speaker 2
It's extremely rare, but peaked at number three on the Billboard charts, reached number one on the Billboard Top Black Albums charts, now called the top R&B Hip Hop Albums. For 16 weeks, it was number one, but so.

00:39:46:13 - 00:40:05:22
Speaker 1
The that's why it says one thing real quick, what I mean about the culture, I mean not just the culture of humanity. 100 is like the US, sure, but like what? Like like this put more happiness and health and dance. You talk about a little dude in High Ridge one 200 Japan. Oh, my. I mean, just everywhere around the world.

00:40:05:22 - 00:40:06:12
Speaker 1
Yeah, we don't.

00:40:06:12 - 00:40:22:19
Speaker 2
Have an artist like that. And we probably won't ever have it again. Yeah. So in our little boxes with each other and fighting over stupid stuff, I mean, you could say someone like. But even like Beyonce or Taylor Swift are polarizing now in a way that they wouldn't have been. Yeah. I'm not I don't think it's them. I think it's us.

00:40:22:19 - 00:40:23:11
Speaker 2
I think, well, I think the.

00:40:23:17 - 00:40:42:12
Speaker 1
Culture, I think music I don't want to be, you know, yell at the clouds. Boomer yelling at the clouds. Yeah. But I mean, the fact that, like, you hear that rhythm like it's. Yes, it's Mike like it's his, the way that he approaches things, his syncopation, his vocal vocal abilities, his musical abilities. Quincy's production, the strength like the humanity that was still in the music.

00:40:42:13 - 00:41:03:01
Speaker 1
I remember this when I started kind of learning about playing stuff. I was like, I would go back and listen to this and be like, wait, is that drum machine? Because I thought I was like, the way that that the rhythm section was. But that was like there was so much vibe and humanity to it. And I think it's something when you talk about something when you basically, as you say, have a disco record or a half disco record and it ages so well, that kind of pretty awesome.

00:41:03:01 - 00:41:06:04
Speaker 1
Yeah, it belittles it a little bit for us to even throw in, you know, disco.

00:41:06:04 - 00:41:14:22
Speaker 2
Well, let's talk a little bit right now, Peter, about Rod Temperton. So that last track, Rock With you, was written by Rod Temperton, who was from the band,

00:41:14:22 - 00:41:18:11
Speaker 2
formerly of the funk disco band Heat Wave. Yeah. And he originally wrote,

00:41:18:11 - 00:41:22:03
Speaker 2
Rock With you under the title I Wanna Eat You Up.

00:41:22:07 - 00:41:22:17
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:41:22:19 - 00:41:25:22
Speaker 2
Quincy Jones requested more radio friendly lyrics. Here's rod.

00:41:26:00 - 00:41:28:21
Speaker 1
Tell us about radio drivin this radio drivin.

00:41:28:22 - 00:41:35:22
Speaker 2
Here's Rod's original demo. This is pretty great. Some of these things are added, I think, after the fact.

00:41:36:02 - 00:41:46:04
Speaker 1
Definitely the drums.

00:41:46:06 - 00:42:04:07
Speaker 3
Put up at the. Tonight's the night when I fall on the night. Mama. La la la la la la la la da da.

00:42:04:08 - 00:42:12:08
Speaker 1
I mean, he's got the outline there, but, the little pitchy, as they say on the shows.

00:42:12:14 - 00:42:13:06
Speaker 2
It's all right, though.

00:42:13:06 - 00:42:20:17
Speaker 1
Yeah, it's got the bug. And I love the. That's that's from.

00:42:20:19 - 00:42:23:21
Speaker 2
The UK zone. Right. Time for ten. Give it up, everybody.

00:42:23:22 - 00:42:25:08
Speaker 1
Here's another shout out rod though.

00:42:25:09 - 00:42:30:14
Speaker 2
Yeah. No. Incredible artist wrote again. So many of Michael Jackson's biggest hits.

00:42:30:14 - 00:42:33:20
Speaker 1
Well supposedly. What do you have 3 or 4 tunes on this record? Something like two.

00:42:34:00 - 00:42:35:01
Speaker 2
Oh yeah. Two I believe. Two.

00:42:35:02 - 00:42:42:19
Speaker 1
Okay. But so. But apparently they were like Michael was or Quincy, I guess Quincy got the songs and he was hoping that,

00:42:42:19 - 00:42:53:13
Speaker 1
he was hoping Michael he wanted Michael to pick one of them. Yeah. I think it might be more than two anyway. Or maybe it could be three. Yeah, but anyway, he wanted Michael to pick one of them, and Michael's like, I love them all.

00:42:53:13 - 00:42:58:04
Speaker 1
I want to do them all and they push some other stuff. All right. Yeah. And then of course thriller, you know, goes next level.

00:42:58:04 - 00:43:10:05
Speaker 2
I also I have this this is rock with you with just strings. Rhodes and Michael's voice. Check this out. And horns off.

00:43:10:07 - 00:43:21:20
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:43:21:22 - 00:43:27:16
Speaker 3
Girl, close your eyes. Let that rhythm get it.

00:43:27:18 - 00:43:29:14
Speaker 2
Teeth. It's a touchdown.

00:43:29:15 - 00:43:33:05
Speaker 1
Damn. Don't add the extra point. It.

00:43:33:06 - 00:43:40:01
Speaker 3
I mean, the thing that you can do. Relax your.

00:43:40:01 - 00:43:41:11
Speaker 2
Mind. Oh let's go.

00:43:41:11 - 00:43:54:03
Speaker 3
Unison leaving the king in mind. You gotta feel the beat. And a week get a ride. The book is oh, don't be in love.

00:43:54:05 - 00:43:55:15
Speaker 2
I wanna rock.

00:43:55:17 - 00:44:15:05
Speaker 1
Yeah man. Shout out to the stream player. Because you can hear them. Like, this wasn't just like, yes, it was great string writing cue hooked up, like the production of it and all that, but they're playing their asses off like you can hear it in there. Those are like crack players putting a vibe on it. Like if you just went in like, read this down, like they I don't know, you know what?

00:44:15:11 - 00:44:23:21
Speaker 1
This was all I had it another studio, it was all recorded separately probably after it. And they were listening to it and shout out to them for getting the vibe and bringing the vibe for sure.

00:44:23:23 - 00:44:29:23
Speaker 2
Peter, let's get to some categories here. Your apex moment is can't help it from basically the end of Can't Help.

00:44:29:23 - 00:44:44:09
Speaker 1
Yes. Oh my God. He goes off to the minor 11. I'm going to get nerdy, but he goes up to well no I can't. And so that's minor nine. I went on that F minor. He says. But you do. And then he's going to go up to the deal.

00:44:44:11 - 00:44:53:13
Unknown
No, I can't help it. Oh what I when I'm with you, man, if I get I can't help it if I literally go event.

00:44:53:18 - 00:44:56:13
Speaker 1
No. Then what? He's improvising here.

00:44:56:15 - 00:45:06:16
Unknown
If I want to do up. What if it. Even if I get, I can move it if I want it to put nothing. No no no.

00:45:06:18 - 00:45:10:13
Speaker 1
What you not do what he sings here.

00:45:10:15 - 00:45:17:08
Speaker 3
You say 000. You did that then.

00:45:17:08 - 00:45:30:21
Speaker 1
Now that's syncopation. Killing what? Killing. Kill it. And this is a fade out. Which is a quibble that I have, but for some reason this will works for me. Oh, I'm sorry you threw it.

00:45:30:23 - 00:45:42:23
Speaker 2
Michael. All right. That is an excellent apex moment for me, man. I'm going. And this might be. Actually, I'm not sure. Let us know in the comments. Who wrote working day and Night? You know, that might be about 10%, actually.

00:45:43:01 - 00:45:44:06
Speaker 1
I mean.

00:45:44:08 - 00:45:49:05
Speaker 2
Here's the horn stone. Good work. Oh, this is my first bonus. I'll be.

00:45:49:05 - 00:45:59:02
Speaker 1
Working. Oh, man. Lewis Johnson goes crazy. Then what can be mine? Oh, no. You got you pretty close, Johnson. And it's cold. Okay.

00:45:59:04 - 00:46:04:05
Speaker 2
Now again. Those those horns. Gary. Hey. Yeah.

00:46:04:07 - 00:46:07:16
Speaker 1
See, this is more fun than disco to me.

00:46:07:18 - 00:46:15:09
Unknown
Oh.

00:46:15:11 - 00:46:21:11
Unknown
Oh.

00:46:21:13 - 00:46:30:02
Unknown
Oh.

00:46:30:04 - 00:46:33:23
Speaker 2
How great is that? Oh, my. Yeah. So that horn breakdown is my apex moment for this one.

00:46:33:23 - 00:46:35:01
Speaker 1
That was a great one.

00:46:35:03 - 00:46:37:13
Speaker 2
Bespoke playlist title. So, Peter, you have.

00:46:37:18 - 00:46:40:09
Speaker 1
Oh, what the hell did I come up with? You have.

00:46:40:11 - 00:46:41:02
Speaker 2
Art meets.

00:46:41:02 - 00:46:42:05
Speaker 1
Chart.

00:46:42:07 - 00:46:56:21
Speaker 2
That's the name of the playlist art meats chart. I think it's a great playlist. So you know what you have on here. Yeah. You've got Art meats chart, right? You got Michael Jackson off the wall. Yeah, right. You got a little Prince Prince purple for sure. For sure. Maybe you got a little you got a little Steely Dan Asia maybe.

00:46:56:21 - 00:46:58:17
Speaker 1
Yeah. What's that. Yeah yeah yeah for sure.

00:46:58:17 - 00:47:04:01
Speaker 2
But there's a handful, a smattering of albums. Yeah. The art and the chart really come at a high level.

00:47:04:01 - 00:47:09:19
Speaker 1
Yeah, and maybe not so much anymore. But they did happen a little bit more thriller, of course, too.

00:47:09:19 - 00:47:10:20
Speaker 1
What now?

00:47:10:22 - 00:47:13:12
Speaker 2
Which who's thriller? Oh, Michael Jackson's.

00:47:13:12 - 00:47:33:07
Speaker 1
Michael Jackson's Thriller. I've heard of that. I did have an alternative handcrafted hit factory. My deal was this like, to me, the thing about this record and there's very few, and you don't want to have a whole bunch clogged it occasionally. There's this intersection where everything is just off the charts. I don't know if that means it's a perfect wreck, because, you know, I do have some quibble bits in terms of some of the repertoire or whatever, but I mean, like the playing.

00:47:33:07 - 00:47:49:20
Speaker 1
I mean, look, Sumi, I'm a musician, so I love great playing, but I mean, shout out Quincy Jones for like making sure that not only the right people in the room, but the right stuff ended up on the cutting room floor because they had a bunch of great musicians. Yeah, the record on this, and it never got on there because it was like put piece in it together.

00:47:49:20 - 00:48:01:12
Speaker 1
It's like, it's great to go in and do a jazz record where like, we made a whole record in two hours. But sometimes it takes, you know, a whole lot of crafting to do it, to be like, we're going to make something that's going to it's going to last for the ages.

00:48:01:14 - 00:48:16:16
Speaker 2
Mine. I just have modern pop masterpieces. That's pretty boring. I just I couldn't come up with anything else. Up next, if this were on a streaming platform and a recommendation for Up Next would come up, you picked some really good ones. You picked, Stevie Wonder's song In the Key of Life. Yeah, I think that's great.

00:48:16:19 - 00:48:21:10
Speaker 2
Yeah, because thriller, of course, because Sinatra at the Sands, which is a Quincy Jones. Yeah, I.

00:48:21:10 - 00:48:23:16
Speaker 1
Think that's one of his other greatest records,

00:48:23:16 - 00:48:28:01
Speaker 1
with Count Basie band. I mean, he's conducting the band and did some of the arrangements and stuff.

00:48:28:06 - 00:48:33:02
Speaker 2
I have, Herbie Hancock Sunlight from around the same time.

00:48:33:04 - 00:48:36:00
Speaker 6
Who?

00:48:36:02 - 00:48:37:12
Speaker 1
Do you like Herbie in the 70s.

00:48:37:14 - 00:48:39:17
Speaker 2
We're going to get there. That's a whole episode, Herbie.

00:48:39:17 - 00:48:42:12
Speaker 1
It's like he's already lurking. I've already. He's lucky to have.

00:48:42:13 - 00:48:49:17
Speaker 2
The episode completely finished in my mind. Yeah. No sunlight. Okay. My other, Up next,

00:48:49:17 - 00:48:53:16
Speaker 2
you know, I had actually Earth wind in fires. I am, because of the David Foster.

00:48:53:20 - 00:48:54:08
Speaker 1
All right.

00:48:54:08 - 00:48:56:08
Speaker 2
Collaboration. Yeah. After the love is gone.

00:48:56:10 - 00:48:57:23
Speaker 1
After the love is gone. Yeah.

00:48:58:01 - 00:49:06:13
Speaker 2
And also Earth, Wind and fire mixed sort of boogie off. Yeah. Of off the wall with still.

00:49:06:13 - 00:49:08:20
Speaker 1
Kind of into some perfect production too. That was good.

00:49:08:21 - 00:49:21:21
Speaker 2
Captioning the arrangements. Yeah. This is incredible to love us. Oh, we could do same playlist. It's me. It's off the wall. Credible. Okay. Clip of. It's. It's time.

00:49:21:21 - 00:49:23:21
Speaker 1
Let's start with yours.

00:49:23:23 - 00:49:30:08
Speaker 2
I don't have mine on this one. I honestly, I mean, I think so you could talk about the ballads you said, you know,

00:49:30:08 - 00:49:32:16
Speaker 2
which I think you will talk about the ballads.

00:49:32:18 - 00:49:34:12
Speaker 1
But you got none. That's what I want you to think.

00:49:34:16 - 00:49:48:09
Speaker 2
I think you're your girlfriend. Thing is valid. I actually don't of all of the UN thriller and off the wall, the two Paul McCartney's, I could kind of take it leave. I mean, I like him, but they're not. They're not my favorite parts of.

00:49:48:09 - 00:49:59:00
Speaker 1
The yeah, I, I like them. I just feel like they don't quite fit. And this is a smart like when you have such a perfect type of record or a great record, maybe you need a little bit of lull or McCartney to.

00:49:59:00 - 00:49:59:11
Speaker 2
It's nothing to me.

00:49:59:12 - 00:50:13:09
Speaker 1
Yeah of course. Yeah. No, no, no. And it's just and obviously they had such a fruitful, you know, collaboration when they did it. It's just on this particular record it always feels I always I'm going to quibble I mean it's all good you know. But anything that I would skip over which I would I.

00:50:13:09 - 00:50:14:07
Speaker 2
Kind of think that again just.

00:50:14:07 - 00:50:24:06
Speaker 1
Made some people like if you have, a young female of a certain age like that was a coming, a rite of passage that was like he was singing to you, you know, and I did it.

00:50:24:06 - 00:50:32:01
Speaker 2
I think. I think Michael and Paul should have just made a duo album together. They should have just made a band. Right. You know what I mean? The Beatles five. No. Right.

00:50:32:02 - 00:50:32:17
Speaker 1
Something.

00:50:32:19 - 00:50:34:19
Speaker 2
But they could have just made a band together, made their own album.

00:50:34:19 - 00:50:48:19
Speaker 1
Well, and think about, like, you know, the Beatles and whatever was 64 on The Ed Sullivan Show. Michael Jackson with Jackson five but little low Michael out in front being on the Ed Sullivan. There's a lot of like connections there with the kind of cultural zeitgeist that they did. Okay.

00:50:48:19 - 00:50:49:12
Speaker 2
What are your equivalent?

00:50:49:12 - 00:50:55:02
Speaker 1
So okay. Well yeah girlfriend. But then also just there's two ballads on the b side that

00:50:55:02 - 00:51:06:10
Speaker 1
in a row, they're both in the. Yeah. Which I'm a little bit like. Yeah, yeah. Which is a little bit weird. I think most people don't care or whatever, and that's fine. But like that's getting very quickly that you have two ballads in the same key.

00:51:06:10 - 00:51:06:15
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:51:06:15 - 00:51:07:13
Speaker 2
This is kind of what we call.

00:51:07:13 - 00:51:08:14
Speaker 1
He's a he's good.

00:51:08:16 - 00:51:12:19
Speaker 2
With Steely Dan's Asia just about the track order. And that's a very small quibble.

00:51:12:21 - 00:51:35:04
Speaker 1
Number one other thing that I had for quibble is that as much great stuff is in there, and this is very tiny kind of thing, but like when you played some of those stems, like with the horns, some of that stuff I heard for the first time, like it's such a thick record and the production is so good, the engineering and what is the gentlemens and the I always forget is that that dude is a bad MF.

00:51:35:06 - 00:51:37:01
Speaker 1
The guy who is saying like who did thriller,

00:51:37:01 - 00:51:53:16
Speaker 1
and cuz it, I mean this is cuz guys, you know what I'm saying? Like this is cuz guys, one of the most incredible engineers win. Yeah, genius. Like the fact that he could place all that in there. And the record sounds so good. Like rock with you, but like, you have to really listen and isolate things to get some of that string stuff.

00:51:53:18 - 00:52:03:21
Speaker 1
And I get it. So like I'm like, I can't even say it's too thick because it really is perfect. But sometimes I'm like, I would love to be able to hear that. But with everything going on, they did an amazing job.

00:52:03:21 - 00:52:10:18
Speaker 2
So yeah, I you know what? That's not that's that's a decent take actually, if you're going to quibble with anything, that's some of the stuff, because as.

00:52:10:18 - 00:52:14:05
Speaker 1
Much as I listen to that record and so you had those times, I was like, dang, I didn't even totally notice.

00:52:14:05 - 00:52:20:13
Speaker 2
It is very maximalist. Okay. So this nanometer, is it super snobby? It's a ten or not very snobby.

00:52:20:16 - 00:52:22:23
Speaker 1
I like how you're trying to get dog that you trying to cut off.

00:52:23:00 - 00:52:29:16
Speaker 2
The back of that now? Is it really snobby, a snobby album? Is it a ten or is it not a snobby album? It's an accessible album. It's a one.

00:52:29:18 - 00:52:31:15
Speaker 1
Okay, I'll put it at three then. Okay.

00:52:31:17 - 00:52:35:00
Speaker 2
I'm going to go one. I think it's his most accessible. It's, it's.

00:52:35:02 - 00:52:36:17
Speaker 1
It's like Kenny G.

00:52:36:19 - 00:52:38:17
Speaker 2
You think that's the most accessible.

00:52:38:18 - 00:52:42:07
Speaker 1
Kenny G you said Aunt Linda loves Kenny G. You told me.

00:52:42:09 - 00:52:49:01
Speaker 2
We're we're sidetracked with the. I think we we let our avatars of Ethan Iverson and Linda take over. What was.

00:52:49:01 - 00:52:53:16
Speaker 1
The. That's part of it. Ethan Iverson. What would he think? How would he rate this record? He loves.

00:52:53:16 - 00:52:53:22
Speaker 2
This.

00:52:53:22 - 00:52:58:18
Speaker 1
Record, though. Yeah, of course he made it like I don't know. We got we got to bring him on.

00:52:58:18 - 00:53:02:22
Speaker 2
Is it better than Kobe. Is better than kind of blue.

00:53:02:23 - 00:53:07:22
Speaker 1
No. Maybe. Maybe after listening to the diving into it.

00:53:07:22 - 00:53:09:07
Speaker 2
It might be it might be as.

00:53:09:07 - 00:53:14:07
Speaker 1
Good. I think it's more important. I think it's contributed more. I don't know, I think you.

00:53:14:09 - 00:53:17:22
Speaker 2
I think kind of blue is more important, but I think this is as good of a recording for you.

00:53:17:23 - 00:53:20:08
Speaker 1
I oh my gosh accouterments.

00:53:20:08 - 00:53:22:04
Speaker 2
The cover you got nine, I got a nine.

00:53:22:04 - 00:53:26:16
Speaker 1
And I don't know why you're on say ten because there's nothing could be better about it. But tell me why you think it's seven. I think.

00:53:26:16 - 00:53:27:21
Speaker 2
It's good. Not great.

00:53:27:23 - 00:53:39:19
Speaker 1
I think for pop records at that time, I think it was important because it like it was so intentional. I love that to have him, like in the tux, but he's got the socks, which was his tray, you know. But yeah, maybe you mean artistically. Oh, you don't like the way he looks?

00:53:39:19 - 00:53:44:06
Speaker 2
I know it's great, but I just think it's good. Yeah. It's good. It's just like.

00:53:44:08 - 00:53:46:00
Speaker 1
This is so different than jazz records.

00:53:46:00 - 00:53:50:11
Speaker 2
I know thriller is amazing. Yeah. The lion on the inside. You know, the tiger on the inside.

00:53:50:15 - 00:53:55:03
Speaker 1
I would actually rate this lower. Yeah, but. But I'm more but I'm more attached to this.

00:53:55:03 - 00:53:56:08
Speaker 2
There's a tiger. There's a baby.

00:53:56:08 - 00:54:00:20
Speaker 1
Tiger. This was weird even at the time. I was like, wow. Because I was in eighth grade, we got to come out.

00:54:00:22 - 00:54:03:09
Speaker 2
Peter, this is so much fun. Thank you for listening.

00:54:03:09 - 00:54:11:02
Speaker 2
For open studio members, check out our nerd nook. We're gonna be talking a little bit about. Can't help it in some of the chords they're asking people. And leave us a rating and review wherever you get your.

00:54:11:02 - 00:54:13:20
Speaker 1
Yes, please do. Did you know where the top 25 now?

00:54:13:20 - 00:54:17:23
Speaker 2
So we are we we're we're making moves. That's where I make music. Until next time.

00:54:18:05 - 00:54:19:06
Speaker 1
You'll hear it.

00:54:19:06 - 00:59:06:14