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Billie Jean

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This article is about the Michael Jackson song. For the 1985 film, see The Legend of Billie Jean.
"Billie Jean"
Song
B-side
  • "It's the Falling in Love"
  • "Can't Get Outta the Rain"

"Billie Jean" is a 1983 hit single from Michael Jackson's Thriller album. A number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the song was also the number-one R&B single for nine weeks in the United States and is widely acknowledged as one of Michael Jackson's most critically acclaimed songs. It was voted best single of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics' poll, and received two Grammy Awards in 1984 in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best New Rhythm & Blues Song. It was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year, along with "Beat It", at the Grammy Awards of 1984. In 2005, Blender magazine recognized "Billie Jean" as the greatest song since 1980.[1]

On March 6, 2006, "Billie Jean" was re-released as a single as part of Visionary - The Video Singles box set. It went on to become the highest charting UK Visionary single, reaching #11 on the UK Top 40.

Largely because of the impact of the video, and the live performance in which Jackson dons a black fedora, a sparkly black jacket and a single white sequin glove while performing his most famous dance step the "moonwalk", and the overall haunting nature of the song itself, "Billie Jean" is regarded by some as his signature song.

History

Michael Jackson undertook the composition of "Billie Jean" quite personally, drawing upon actual circumstances. In about 1981, during a Jacksons tour, a woman known later to be a stalker had accused Jackson of not claiming the paternity of one of her fraternal twins. She went so far as to call herself "Billie Jean Jackson", and to claim she was married to the singer. The woman was later sent to a mental hospital. Later, in a 1996 interview, Jackson said that he had known a lot of figurative "Billie Jeans" who had been Jackson 5 groupies. "Every girl claimed that their child was related to one of my brothers," the singer said.[citation needed]

He started writing the first demo of the song in his home in Wilson, North Carolina in the fall of 1981. When he presented the song to his co-producer Quincy Jones, Jones had problems with the title and wanted to call the song "Not My Lover". He thought when audiences heard it they would assume Jackson was referring to tennis superstar Billie Jean King.[2] He also had complaints about the length of the song's intro, believing it was too long; Jackson replied that the long intro made him want to dance. Jackson won both arguments: he got to keep the title of the song and the intro.[3]

The introduction of the character Billie Jean is foreshadowed by a two-line reference from the album's first track "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", another Jackson-penned song. It's evident she doesn't have the singer's best interests at heart, "tellin' lies and rubbin' shoulders," but her dismissal is casual: "So they called her mouth a motor." However, coupled with her appearance on the second side of the album, the listener is made privy to the earliest of Jackson's lyrics to deal with the subject of celebrity suspicion of those in their periphery (media, groupies, etc.). This marked a subtle but important occasional shift in the entertainer's material toward somewhat more adult themes.

Jackson is said to have recorded his lead vocal performance on the first take. But it was Jackson's arrangements and orchestration in "Billie Jean" that helped make the song unique. Jackson had wanted to write "the perfect bass line" and has said he worked on it for a couple of weeks until he succeeded with what became the basis of the final product. The bassline of the song is a unique piece of art that is one of Michael's most defining musical achievements. He had also arranged the drum and synthesizer lines into perfect order, and with help from co-collaborator Jerry Hey on the strings and horns and Jackson's mastery at multi-tracking his voice for background vocals, completed the final production on "Billie Jean" only weeks before Epic's scheduled release of the Thriller album on December 1, [1982]]. "Billie Jean" officially became the second single from Thriller when it was released in January 1983.

Impact of song and music video

Upon its release, critics who had given mixed reviews to the album's lead-off single, "The Girl Is Mine", were praising "Billie Jean". The song soon dominated the top of both the Pop Singles Chart for seven weeks and the Black Singles Chart for nine weeks, both consecutively and respectively. But the hit song's impact wasn't limited to its chart success, and it would play a crucial role in defining Jackson's burgeoning crossover influence on pop culture.

Jackson and Epic had planned to present the music video for the song to the executives of newly-formed cable network MTV, which was at the time not playing videos by black performers or even dance artists. Since its inception, the network's playlist was predominantly white and mainly featured videos by the top rock artists of the day such as Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, The Clash, Blondie, Journey, Pat Benatar, Genesis, and Billy Idol. In 1983, Jackson and CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff informed MTV's President that if the cable channel didn't play Jackson's video, CBS would not allow them to play any of their white artists who were getting exposure on the network (most notably Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Joel), and would denounce them publicly as racists. With that ultimatum, MTV finally bowed to pressure and premiered Jackson's "Billie Jean" video on March 10, 1983.[3]

Directed by Steve Barron (who would go on to feature films including the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film), the imaginative and cryptic video loosely followed the song's narrative. It featured Jackson as a lonely, elusive figure walking the streets while the ground glowed wherever he stepped, suggesting Michael's stardom and fame [4]. A trenchcoated "stalker", possibly a journalist, pursues Jackson, supposedly to get the scoop on the titular love-interest, missing his opportunity when Jackson seemingly vanishes beneath glowing bedsheets with his never-seen mystery lover. Jackson himself has said the following about the "Billie Jean" video: "It's kind of surreal and it's different. I didn't come up with that concept. It was — I think a British fellow — Steve Barron — and I thought he had wonderful ideas but I let him go with it. The only part I wrote in the piece was — I said: "I just want a section." I said: "Give me a section here I could dance on." 'Cause he said no dancing in the whole piece — so the whole section where you see this long street and this billboard of these two girls, one of them Billie Jean and I'm dancing — that's the only part I contributed."[5]

The video, with its production values and dance performance by the star, was something completely new for MTV and quickly set an industry standard which even Jackson would emulate (and even more quickly re-define with the follow-up "Beat It").

Soon enough, MTV was airing the video in heavy rotation, thus making Jackson the first black performer to find stardom on the network. Producer Jones has said of the early relationship between Jackson and MTV: "...[they] rode each other to glory". Other black artists to soon after have videos on MTV included Prince, The Pointer Sisters, Rick James, Lionel Richie and Run-DMC. Jackson was the first — and by most accounts, is still the greatest — pop megastar to emerge from the network, each benefitting by cross-interest from the other's respective audience. This paved the way for a multitude of artists like Prince, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, and within a few years his own younger sister Janet Jackson, to also have their careers blossom in the new video arena. By the end of the year, numerous other competing outlets were also showcasing the medium, solidifying music videos as a specific form of entertainment and record promotion.[citation needed]

Motown 25 performance

File:Motown-25 Billie Jean.jpg
Jackson at Motown 25.

The video viewership for the song on both MTV and new African-American focused cable network BET helped make the song a bigger hit. On March 25, 1983, "Billie Jean" and Jackson reached an even larger audience when he debuted the song before a live audience during taping of the tribute special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. Having reunited with the Jackson 5 for a medley of their hits, he remained onstage for a bravura solo performance. Dressed in a glittery black jacket, sparkling silver shirt, tight black pants cuffed high to showcase white spangled socks and black penny loafers, and a single sequined glove (which the entertainer had begun wearing onstage during Jacksons concerts as early as 1979) Jackson signalled the start of his routine with a soon-to-be trademark crouch and snapping a black fedora to his head. Jackson lip-synched his song and the audience rose to their feet.

It was during this electrifying performance that Jackson also debuted a dance move he had discovered from black inner-city youths and tweaked to distinction. Credited to former Solid Gold dancer Cooley Jackson, "The Back Slide" was given a new name by the media following Jackson's interpretation: The "Moonwalk". The step has since gone on to become Jackson's trademark dance move, and is synonymous with the song.

Upon its broadcast on May 16, over forty-seven million viewers witnessed Jackson's performance, and the immediate result was unprecedented sales of his Thriller album, which as of November 2006 has sold over 104 million copies[6]. The "Billie Jean" single has since sold over 5 million copies worldwide and became Jackson's top-selling single.

Choreography

Despite the fact that Jackson usually never closes his shows with the song, "Billie Jean" is generally regarded as the pinnacle of most Michael Jackson performances and stage shows.[citation needed] The song has been the key feature of every concert, from the Victory tour through to the 30th Anniversary Performance at Madison Square Garden in 2001.

The structure of the live "Billie Jean" routine has remained consistent; fans have even named moves that are regularly performed. These include the "Sidewalk" (where Jackson appears to "moonwalk" sideways along the stage, by slightly raising and crossing his feet whilst sliding them sideways), the "Cobrasteen" (where Jackson pivots on his heels, followed by a slide of one foot from front to back, whilst keeping the upper body stiff), and spot spins. Obviously, the most famous move that Jackson performs is his "moonwalk", which occurs always at the bridge in the song. This move is generally never performed in any other song, although slight "moonwalk" variations are also found in "Stranger in Moscow" and "Smooth Criminal". Jackson also usually displays his tapping ability during a "Billie Jean" set.[citation needed]

In concert, "Billie Jean" is almost always extended for an extra two to three minutes with just the beat and bass line, whilst Jackson improvises an array of dance steps. Most fans consider this to be why "Billie Jean" rates as a favorite above other song routines, as Jackson "freestyles" the moves to an extent. Videos of "Billie Jean" performances are readily available on the internet, and on some released VHS/DVDs.

It is important to note that the actual choreography of "Billie Jean" has not changed much since the Motown 25 performance, but has been enhanced through continual performance and improvement.

Track listing

Original release

U.S. single

  1. "Billie Jean" – 4:57
  2. "It's the Falling in Love" – 3:48

UK single

7" single
  1. "Billie Jean" – 4:57
  2. "It's the Falling in Love" – 3:48
12" single
  1. "Billie Jean" (extended) – 6:20
  2. "Billie Jean" (instrumental) – 6:20
  3. "It's the Falling in Love" – 3:48

Visionary single

CD side
  1. "Billie Jean" - 4:10
  2. "Billie Jean" (12" version) - 6:23
DVD side
  1. "Billie Jean" (Music video)

Mixes

  1. Album version – 4:53
  2. 12" version – 6:23
  3. Instrumental – 6:20

Credits

  • Written, arranged and composed by Michael Jackson
  • Produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson
  • Lead and background vocals by Michael Jackson
  • Drums by Leon "Ndugu" Chancler
  • Bass by Louis Johnson
  • Guitar by David Williams
  • Emulator by Michael Boddicker
  • Rhodes & Synthesizer by Greg Phillinganes
  • Synthesizer by Greg Smith
  • Synthesizer & Synthesizer Programming by Bill Wolfer
  • Vocal, Rhythm and Synthesizer Arrangement by Michael Jackson
  • String Arrangement by Jerry Hey
  • Strings Conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
  • Mixed by Bruce Swedien

Trivia

  • The outfit worn by Jackson in the "Billie Jean" video was one of several available for the Michael Jackson action figure produced the following year.
  • The moonwalk is the song's most signature dance moves performed by Michael in live performances. Ironically, the dance move is not featured at any point during the music video.
  • During a segment on the 1999 millennium-end retrospective special of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart walked on a staircase with steps that lit up. At the end of the segment the beat from "Billie Jean" played in the studio as Stewart parodied the memorable sidewalk of the video.
  • Michael Jackson first introduced the moonwalk to the tune of "Billie Jean".
  • The television talk show Late Night with David Letterman featured a running gag at the height of the song's popularity, which questioned what one of the lyrics was. As part of the refrain was played back, a single word was overdubbed by a deep, male voice (probably bandleader Paul Shaffer's voice) to create the new line, "...the CHAIR is not my son".
  • In 2005, Blender magazine declared that "Billie Jean" was the greatest song released after 1980.
  • In 1984, Jackson filmed commercials for Pepsi (with his brothers) with an altered version on the song. During one of the commercial shoots, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Michael's hair caught on fire when the pyrotechnics malfunctioned. He suffered second degree burns on his scalp.
  • The song was unofficially remixed by Bushwacka! in 2001, becoming a dancefloor favorite after a rare CD copy was eventually pressed on bootleg white label vinyl.
  • The song's instrumentals were remixed with Eminem's vocals by Paul B making the remix, "Without Billie Jean". It is popular on P2P and filesharing networks. There is also a version with DMX vocals making the remix, "No Love for Billie Jean". P. Diddy also made a remix of the song featuring vocals from The Notorious B.I.G..
  • This song was covered by Ian Brown, as well as "Thriller", and was released as a single.
  • German punk band The Bates released their cover of "Billie Jean" as a single in 1995, accompanied by a video based on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
  • Eminem parodied the music video of "Billie Jean" in his music video "Just Lose It". He parodies Jackson and enters a bar while the ground glows beneath him at every step.
  • Guild Wars uses some Michael Jackson dances on some of its character classes.
  • The White Glove Tracking project endeavors to track Jackson's trademark white glove through every frame of his Motown performance, utilizing crowd-sourcing to capture the glove in every frame.

See also

References

  1. ^ blender.com
  2. ^ Billie Jean Songfacts. Songfacts. Retrieved April 26 2007.
  3. ^ a b Blender: "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: Number 1" Cite error: The named reference "Blender" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. ^ Click on "The Professor
  5. ^ Click on "The Professor
  6. ^ Guinness Records

Sources

Preceded by Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
March 5 1983 - April 16 1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs number-one single
February 12, 1983 - April 9, 1983 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UK number-one single
February 27 1983 		Succeeded by
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