Michael Jackson's "Bad" (1987) : Track by Track!

<v Speaker 1>Hello everybody, and welcome to the Surely Can't Be Serious podcast,
<v Speaker 1>discussing and debating the iconic and the forgotten of eighties
<v Speaker 1>and nineties pop culture with your co hosts James D.
<v Speaker 1>Graves and Jason Colvin.
<v Speaker 2>Hey, guys, welcome back for part two of the Bad
<v Speaker 2>Versus Thriller Debate. Here is a quick recap of last
<v Speaker 2>week's episode.
<v Speaker 3>I don't think we can follow that.
<v Speaker 2>We're here to do our podcast first episode. I'm super excited.
<v Speaker 3>Me too, Me too, Hey dude, I'm awesome. How I'm
<v Speaker 3>doing well? So today we're going to talk about it.
<v Speaker 3>Compare Michael Jackson's Thriller album versus Michael Jackson's Bad album.
<v Speaker 3>That is actually a better album.
<v Speaker 2>There is no way that you can think that Bad
<v Speaker 2>is better than Thriller.
<v Speaker 3>With lines like the funk of forty Years, how can
<v Speaker 3>You Kill Rock? It was very nearly not Thriller. It
<v Speaker 3>was almost called Starlight.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it changed music history.
<v Speaker 3>It was a pop culture nuclear bomb.
<v Speaker 2>And it rocks. I mean, there's no question about it.
<v Speaker 2>This is a rock song.
<v Speaker 3>The dog Gone Girl is Mine? Yeah, the dog on
<v Speaker 3>Girl is Mine.
<v Speaker 2>Dude, that's the best part of the.
<v Speaker 3>Oh my gosh.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so you've got the video, you've got Playboy Model, well, right, yes,
<v Speaker 2>thank you, beautiful.
<v Speaker 3>I didn't know she wasn't Playboy though.
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, yeah, it's Google's arch, no kidding. You've defined
<v Speaker 2>the eighties.
<v Speaker 3>In four songs, that's right, in four songs. If that's
<v Speaker 3>all you know about that, you've got a pretty good handle. Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>and sounds good, sounds great, and then you get the Chipbucks.
<v Speaker 3>The only thing I remember is Michael Jackson winning in
<v Speaker 3>our wrestling contest.
<v Speaker 4>You know, those were good songs.
<v Speaker 2>I like those songs a lot, but especially I like
<v Speaker 2>the new songs.
<v Speaker 3>Much anticipated, right, so maybe the most anticipated album of
<v Speaker 3>all time?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>I mean is that fair theoretically?
<v Speaker 4>Could?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>I mean after Thriller? What I mean? What comes after Thriller?
<v Speaker 3>The whole world wants to know?
<v Speaker 4>Right, right?
<v Speaker 1>What is it?
<v Speaker 4>Right?
<v Speaker 5>Okay?
<v Speaker 2>It's kind of like what comes after Empire Strike back?
<v Speaker 2>Well return, and that's what this.
<v Speaker 3>Is, well sort of you say, Star Wars and Empire
<v Speaker 3>Strikes then we went.
<v Speaker 2>Off the wall is star Wars, thrillers and bad.
<v Speaker 4>As we turn.
<v Speaker 3>We'll get into this a little bit, okay, But anyway,
<v Speaker 3>So the first single released I still haven't got a
<v Speaker 3>good answer on this. The first single released from Bad
<v Speaker 3>Yeah is I Just Can't Stop Loving You, which is
<v Speaker 3>a great song, number one hit.
<v Speaker 2>No video, Yeah, well there is a video. It was
<v Speaker 2>produced by Jefferson uh Starship and it's called Sarah because
<v Speaker 2>it's the same song.
<v Speaker 3>Oh my gosh. Okay, the same song. Well that's a
<v Speaker 3>great song too, another number one hit.
<v Speaker 4>Right.
<v Speaker 2>Well, it's really easy. Hey, the video has already been released.
<v Speaker 2>We just changed the lyrics to this song and we
<v Speaker 2>can just throw it on top.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, all right, so let's go through. We want to
<v Speaker 3>go track by track through this.
<v Speaker 2>Let's go for it, tract by track all right. So
<v Speaker 2>the first one, the first track on the album is bad.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So the title track moves from midway through the
<v Speaker 2>album to top of the album. Yes, okay, what.
<v Speaker 3>Do you think.
<v Speaker 2>It's a great song.
<v Speaker 3>It's pop gold.
<v Speaker 2>It is it's it is pop gold. It is not
<v Speaker 2>a paradigm shift. It is the it what Okay? Okay,
<v Speaker 2>So here's what here's what I thought we already getting
<v Speaker 2>into this, yes, because this is what this is about,
<v Speaker 2>right okay, Okay, I mean, do you have bad things
<v Speaker 2>to say about any of the songs of a thrilling No, okay,
<v Speaker 2>then let's keep it okay. So okay, So I you
<v Speaker 2>told me something really surprising and interesting about the song Bad,
<v Speaker 2>and I had no idea. This is fantastic stuff.
<v Speaker 5>Go ahead, okay.
<v Speaker 3>So this is what I read that Quincy Jones actually
<v Speaker 3>got Prince and Michael Jackson together, and Bad was originally
<v Speaker 3>intended to be a duet, sort of a back and
<v Speaker 3>forth you're but is mine right?
<v Speaker 5>Right?
<v Speaker 2>That it becomes more uncomfortable like that, right.
<v Speaker 3>Go ahead, But it was supposed to be this sort
<v Speaker 3>of I'm bad and you're not. Well, I'm bad and
<v Speaker 3>you're not. And it's of this back and forth between
<v Speaker 3>Prince and Michael Jackson, and so Quince Jones got him
<v Speaker 3>at the table together. They sort of sat sort of
<v Speaker 3>cross armed and skeptical of each other, is what It's
<v Speaker 3>what he was talking about, because they were both so
<v Speaker 3>intensely competitive against each other. So you had Thriller in
<v Speaker 3>eighty two, eighty three, eighty four, Prince had Purple Rain,
<v Speaker 3>and Purple Rain is a fantastic album. And so I mean,
<v Speaker 3>you got two guys at the top of their game,
<v Speaker 3>and Prince listened to the song Bad, and after listening
<v Speaker 3>to it, he said, he said, this is a hit.
<v Speaker 3>He goes, this is a hit without me. You don't
<v Speaker 3>need me for this, and that's why Bad is not
<v Speaker 3>a do it.
<v Speaker 2>And so now I'm gonna listen to Bad and think, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>this is where Prince part Prince's part would be. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it's good stuff. Yeah, but it is. It's an extended
<v Speaker 2>dance version of beat It. It is. Bad is return
<v Speaker 2>of the Jedi. We've we've we've done Empire, and Michael
<v Speaker 2>Jackson's like, okay, we got Empire. Let's just go back
<v Speaker 2>and let's take that and make it. Okay, let's add
<v Speaker 2>on to it.
<v Speaker 3>Let's know, let's keep no, we'll we'll well, we'll put
<v Speaker 3>the we'll put them on the scales. Yeah, once we're done,
<v Speaker 3>and we'll keep going. All right, all right, So Bad,
<v Speaker 3>we've established number one hit, hot, one hundred, awesome video,
<v Speaker 3>cool in the subway system. You've got the whole You
<v Speaker 3>ain't bad, you ain't nothing right right, get the Wesley snipes.
<v Speaker 3>It's kind of stance off thing.
<v Speaker 2>And uh, just for the for our listening audience, my
<v Speaker 2>friend just did a dance with his hands right then, dance.
<v Speaker 3>You have to have to dance.
<v Speaker 1>Right.
<v Speaker 3>And then Wesley Snips decides I'm not gonna beat up
<v Speaker 3>Michael Jackson because he dances so cool.
<v Speaker 4>So that's the way it goes down, right, Right.
<v Speaker 3>It's got a life of its own. It didn't shift
<v Speaker 3>the paradigm because he had already done that, but it
<v Speaker 3>had a major cultural impact pop culture.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, keep going.
<v Speaker 3>I mean if I just say, if I walk into
<v Speaker 3>somebody on the street and I say I'm bad, they're
<v Speaker 3>gonna know what I'm talking about. Yeah, And you also
<v Speaker 3>get a sidebar, a little sidebar. You get the weird
<v Speaker 3>al fat video from this which.
<v Speaker 4>Is yo, home boy, Well you've been looking fight you.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, we ain't seen you around Burger World lately, so
<v Speaker 3>where you've been? Huh, genius.
<v Speaker 2>It's better.
<v Speaker 3>It's better, I mean better than bad or better than heat.
<v Speaker 2>Better than bad. No, it's better than bad because the
<v Speaker 2>video is better than bad because he expands and becomes fat,
<v Speaker 2>and it's amazing.
<v Speaker 3>It's it's gold in itself. Yeah, it is golden. And
<v Speaker 3>the same guy who's rollers skating instead of pulling himself
<v Speaker 3>up by his own collar, is skating like a three
<v Speaker 3>year old, right, like barely barely skating and he pulls
<v Speaker 3>off the vent that blows the walk the air at
<v Speaker 3>him and he's got a pin wheel and you have
<v Speaker 3>the chicken falls out of his jacket.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 3>Anyway, so one parody, one weird ol parody per album.
<v Speaker 2>Right, both based both gold, both based on two he
<v Speaker 2>didn't fat?
<v Speaker 3>Interesting?
<v Speaker 2>Interesting? Did you just make that connection?
<v Speaker 3>I guess so. All right, so bad right out of
<v Speaker 3>the gate, number one hit, awesome video, pop gold.
<v Speaker 2>Right, and it is. I will say this, it pulls
<v Speaker 2>pop back in like the pop albums of the time.
<v Speaker 2>You've got George Michael and that's about it. The hair
<v Speaker 2>bands were ruling the day.
<v Speaker 3>Hair bands were ruling the day, and.
<v Speaker 2>I think that Bad probably gave those pop listeners something
<v Speaker 2>to attached to.
<v Speaker 3>It's probably fair.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, okay.
<v Speaker 3>Next song on the album, which is also the second single,
<v Speaker 3>no third single, excuse me. Yeah, so I just get up.
<v Speaker 3>I'm going to use the first single. Bad's the second single,
<v Speaker 3>third single, second track listing, the Way you make Me
<v Speaker 3>Feel You're knocked me not not right, number one hit,
<v Speaker 3>pop gold, another.
<v Speaker 2>Video, and then there's the video.
<v Speaker 3>It gets a little grabby.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, okay, I I don't know about you, but I
<v Speaker 2>can very vividly remember like the point that he starts
<v Speaker 2>doing those yells that iowa, what the heck? What is
<v Speaker 2>is this? Like is weird? How going to pop out
<v Speaker 2>here in just a second? What is he doing? And
<v Speaker 2>it didn't stop, like it was just you know, all
<v Speaker 2>his and it wasn't musical, it wasn't I was just
<v Speaker 2>I was weird, this is really bizarre. Why is he
<v Speaker 2>doing this?
<v Speaker 3>This is the first time I watched Michael Jackson video
<v Speaker 3>where I thought, what the crevi is it? Let's get
<v Speaker 3>this out of here.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so we agree there, yes, the primal yells should have.
<v Speaker 3>None, and I think, what would it get smashing on
<v Speaker 3>the windshield or something there.
<v Speaker 2>Oh yeah, it's this tough guy act.
<v Speaker 3>But it just doesn't and it's all out of place,
<v Speaker 3>and it's humping the ground and it's remember the shum shoom,
<v Speaker 3>shum shoom. They're all humping the ground. But the song
<v Speaker 3>it's awkward. It is awkward, and it's very grabby.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but that kind of killed the song for me too.
<v Speaker 2>I was just like I couldn't hear the song without
<v Speaker 2>thinking about him doing those weird yells anymore.
<v Speaker 3>Well, I understand what you're saying. But the song is
<v Speaker 3>still pop gold. Okay, all right, number one hit right,
<v Speaker 3>pop goold number one okay do. Let's take a second
<v Speaker 3>and do a shout out to some of our friends
<v Speaker 3>in the podcast community.
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, podcasters are so supportive of us, and we have
<v Speaker 2>podcasts out there that we love and love to support. Today,
<v Speaker 2>let's talk about Jet Thomason, who does the intro for
<v Speaker 2>our show.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Hello, everybody, Hello, everybody, the best voice in our show.
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, we give you great thanks for giving us that intro.
<v Speaker 2>Jet and Jet has a podcast with his wife Chelsea
<v Speaker 2>called Limos and Roses, a Bachelor Verse podcast that recaps
<v Speaker 2>the show. That show is just coming back on again,
<v Speaker 2>so they're about to start up again. If you are
<v Speaker 2>a Bachelor fan, you need to be listening to that show.
<v Speaker 3>Thank you, Jed and Chelsea. We sure appreciate you, guys.
<v Speaker 5>Next song, speed Speaking.
<v Speaker 2>It's not a skipper, it's not a skipper.
<v Speaker 3>It's not a skipper.
<v Speaker 2>But it had already been done as what speed racer. Okay,
<v Speaker 2>speed racer, I wanted maybe I can do this, Maybe
<v Speaker 2>I can do this. Debo had put out a song
<v Speaker 2>called speed Racer earlier and if you listen to speed
<v Speaker 2>Racer and then this is the This is the one
<v Speaker 2>that I thought of immediately upon re listening to speed
<v Speaker 2>Demon was Bob Seeger's song from Beverly Hills cop to Shakedown. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>they're the it's the same song. It's it's like and
<v Speaker 2>those songs both came out before Bad did I. Once again,
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, Michael Jackson is doing that Chipmunk thing where
<v Speaker 2>he's like, hey, this is popular, now I'll just borrow
<v Speaker 2>from that, and so he's stole this speed racer concept
<v Speaker 2>from Bevo and pumped it up up a bit with
<v Speaker 2>the style of music from Shakedown, and then you get
<v Speaker 2>speed Okay. Have you seen the video for that, by
<v Speaker 2>the way, Yes, I did not remember it clearly, but
<v Speaker 2>it was. It's the one where like the people with
<v Speaker 2>the weird heads spot Michael Jackson on a production setmy
<v Speaker 2>man the money. I will say this, I will not
<v Speaker 2>ever ever agree that Bad is a better album, but
<v Speaker 2>they took it up a notch on their videos. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>definitely absolutely.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, all right, so speed Demon, he wrote after getting
<v Speaker 3>a speed ticket on the way to the album, quinc
<v Speaker 3>Jones said, watch best song about it, So that's what
<v Speaker 3>we get. It's not skipper. It was released as a video,
<v Speaker 3>not a single, right. And actually the question is did
<v Speaker 3>they really make the video or they just pluck it
<v Speaker 3>out of the Moonwalker movie. I think they just plucked
<v Speaker 3>it out of the Moonwalker movie.
<v Speaker 2>Probably, Yeah, well, I mean it's this big chase?
<v Speaker 4>Is that? What is?
<v Speaker 2>I didn't I don't think I ever saw the Moonwalker.
<v Speaker 2>I don't think I saw it.
<v Speaker 3>I played the video game. Yeah, okay, next one after
<v Speaker 3>a speed Demon.
<v Speaker 2>Liberian Girl, Liberian Girl?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah okay.
<v Speaker 3>So what do you think about the Library and Girl?
<v Speaker 2>Flat? Flat? It's flat? And you know who agrees with me?
<v Speaker 2>Michael Jackson, really because he made a video where you
<v Speaker 2>don't even really hear the song. It's all just and
<v Speaker 2>this again, I think, goes to a rating scrap. You
<v Speaker 2>gonna what do you want to watch? You want to
<v Speaker 2>watch a bunch of movie stars all together. So let's
<v Speaker 2>put all of these really famous movie stars in this
<v Speaker 2>video and we're gonna let them talk and you're gonna
<v Speaker 2>be able to hear what they say. And everybody's looking
<v Speaker 2>for Michael Jackson.
<v Speaker 3>Where Michael Jackson there is?
<v Speaker 2>When's he gonna get here? We're all here for this video.
<v Speaker 2>When's he gonna get here? And what's going on in
<v Speaker 2>the background? Is the song like it's not even real,
<v Speaker 2>not out front. You're right, it's not there because it's
<v Speaker 2>not good enough to be there. It's not good enough
<v Speaker 2>to make a video out of it. Is it's good
<v Speaker 2>background music for a short film where everybody's waiting for
<v Speaker 2>Michael to show up. It's kind of the where's good O,
<v Speaker 2>where's Michael?
<v Speaker 3>Okay. So here's my take on my very It's not great.
<v Speaker 3>It's not great. It's it's one of the weaker tracks
<v Speaker 3>in the album. So for me, the song eh video
<v Speaker 3>I think is cool, especially I mean as a eighties
<v Speaker 3>time capsule. If you haven't ever seen this video, which
<v Speaker 3>I hadn't until a few years ago, absolutely it is
<v Speaker 3>a fantastic eighties time capsule.
<v Speaker 2>By the way, you get Bridget Nielsen in the video
<v Speaker 2>as well. Yes, who was in Beverly Hills Coup too too,
<v Speaker 2>which is where the songs.
<v Speaker 3>Coincidence came from.
<v Speaker 2>I think not.
<v Speaker 3>I think not so, but you get I mean who's
<v Speaker 3>in that?
<v Speaker 4>You got?
<v Speaker 3>You got Danny Glover, Debbie Gibson, Yep, you get Jamal
<v Speaker 3>Malcolm Warner, THEO from the Yeah from I Don't Know,
<v Speaker 3>THEO from the Cosmic Show. You got Steven Spielberg. Not
<v Speaker 3>a skipper, but not one of the stronger tracks.
<v Speaker 4>Okay.
<v Speaker 3>Then you go into this song called just Good Friends. Now,
<v Speaker 3>Quincy Jones said he tried something and it didn't He
<v Speaker 3>didn't think it worked out very well. But it's a
<v Speaker 3>duet between Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so literally can't even remember that.
<v Speaker 3>It's it's kind of funky, It's it sounds more like
<v Speaker 3>a Stevie Wonder track.
<v Speaker 4>Okay.
<v Speaker 3>Still, I mean you got two icons.
<v Speaker 2>I mean I just listened to the album like two
<v Speaker 2>days ago, and I still don't remember that song.
<v Speaker 4>Okay.
<v Speaker 3>If there is a skipper on the album, this is
<v Speaker 3>the skipper. But it's still interesting that you've got Stevie
<v Speaker 3>Wonder Michael Jackson on the same track. All right, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>So but now.
<v Speaker 2>It's interesting because people will be willing to people fans
<v Speaker 2>from both sources will buy albums. Right, that's true, You've
<v Speaker 2>got more album sales.
<v Speaker 3>Well, he definitely wanted to sell the albums, that's for sure. Okay.
<v Speaker 3>Now this is where we get into kind of the
<v Speaker 3>meat of the lineup right here?
<v Speaker 4>All right, go ahead?
<v Speaker 3>Okay. So after just good Friends, you get a song
<v Speaker 3>called Another Part of Me. Okay, but it's kind of
<v Speaker 3>a funky song, kind of a dance song. Pretty big hit,
<v Speaker 3>not quite in top ten. I like it eleven on
<v Speaker 3>the hot tracks. Good Dancer, nothing innovative, but a nice
<v Speaker 3>song to listen to. There you okay, gotcha and a hit,
<v Speaker 3>a moderate hit. Okay, all right, here we go. Are
<v Speaker 3>we ready for this?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah?
<v Speaker 3>Man, Maria, what do you think to meet?
<v Speaker 4>Kid?
<v Speaker 2>Preachy? Preachy? What the heck is?
<v Speaker 3>We are the world? I mean, you take we are
<v Speaker 3>the world?
<v Speaker 2>And because they say we he starts off, He starts off,
<v Speaker 2>and he says, I'm looking at the man in the mirror.
<v Speaker 2>I'm asking him to make a change. Yes, no, message
<v Speaker 2>could have been any clearer. Here it goes the switch.
<v Speaker 2>If you want to make the world a better place,
<v Speaker 2>take a look at yourself and you make a change. Yeah. No,
<v Speaker 2>it could have been great if he'd kept it with I,
<v Speaker 2>I and me, me and we are the world. Not
<v Speaker 2>it became preachy. You're way off, basically, and he's not
<v Speaker 2>only preaching, he's got a choir behind him.
<v Speaker 3>That sounds fantastic. This is the best song on either album.
<v Speaker 2>Oh no, this.
<v Speaker 3>Is the best song on either album. You it's not
<v Speaker 3>my favorite, but it's the best one.
<v Speaker 2>Why what makes it the best one?
<v Speaker 3>Because it's because it has a message, an important message.
<v Speaker 3>It has that key change with the choir is awesome
<v Speaker 3>in the middle of it. It's more mature writing. You're
<v Speaker 3>not buying it, and I'm buying it. I'm just I mean,
<v Speaker 3>surely you can't be serious. I am serious, and don't
<v Speaker 3>call me. This song is the best song on either album.
<v Speaker 3>I'm sure people are gonna flip out on that, but
<v Speaker 3>I just think it's a It's a more mature song.
<v Speaker 3>It's number one hit. If I go up to anybody
<v Speaker 3>on the street and I say I'm starting with the
<v Speaker 3>Man in the Mirror, They're gonna know what I'm talking about.
<v Speaker 3>It had pop culture impact.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, it was definitely a big hit and everybody
<v Speaker 2>knows Man in the Mirror. Yes, And it's.
<v Speaker 3>The last part, that key change in the middle of
<v Speaker 3>the song. Awesome, awesome. This song was written by I
<v Speaker 3>think her name is Sila Garrett. I'm not sure I
<v Speaker 3>pronounce her first name, but it's the same girl who
<v Speaker 3>recorded I Just Can't Stop Loving You, which we'll get to,
<v Speaker 3>the same person she wrote Man in the Mirror she
<v Speaker 3>sang the duet with on the next track. Anyway, Also,
<v Speaker 3>the Man in the Mirror video is probably well, I'm
<v Speaker 3>not gonna say that it's one of my favorite videos
<v Speaker 3>because Michael's not in it except for one brief moment,
<v Speaker 3>and all it is is just sort of clips from
<v Speaker 3>what was going on in the world at that moment.
<v Speaker 3>And for some weird reason, when I see Baby Jessica
<v Speaker 3>pull it out of that pipe, you're probably too.
<v Speaker 2>Young to remember, No, I totally remember. Okay, yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>mean there's twelve I.
<v Speaker 3>Remember the whole world waiting on pins and needles, baby
<v Speaker 3>Jessica down in this pipe, And when they show that
<v Speaker 3>clip during the music video, I'm like, oh, man, Baby
<v Speaker 3>Jessica got out of the pipe, you know.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 3>So anyway, I love the music video. I love the song.
<v Speaker 2>Best song on both albums.
<v Speaker 5>I think, so.
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I think it's absolute gold, and it's at
<v Speaker 3>least in the conversation with beat it so well, and.
<v Speaker 2>I mean it's it is a song that's still getting
<v Speaker 2>play and the way you make me feel is still
<v Speaker 2>getting play, and Bad is still getting play. Liberian Girl
<v Speaker 2>is not another part of me really isn't anymore. But
<v Speaker 2>Man in the Mirror is something that you're still going to.
<v Speaker 2>You're still hearing today.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, so number one hit, huge number one hit.
<v Speaker 2>Right next, I just can't stop loving you.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, what do you think?
<v Speaker 2>Why don't you tell me what you think? First?
<v Speaker 3>Well, catchy good song, number one hit. Originally supposed to
<v Speaker 3>be a duet with Barbara Streisan, which is interesting. She
<v Speaker 3>said no. So they asked Whitney Houston, which that could
<v Speaker 3>have been interesting. So they settled on Sila Garrett, who
<v Speaker 3>they called it was a proge of Quincy Jones. They called, said, hey,
<v Speaker 3>come on up to the studio. We want you to
<v Speaker 3>help us out on the song. When she shows up,
<v Speaker 3>they said, oh, by the way, we're laying down track today.
<v Speaker 3>You're singing, so, I mean, I just can't even imagine
<v Speaker 3>showing up and all of a sudden boom, you're on
<v Speaker 3>a number one single, right right, So first single off
<v Speaker 3>of released off of Bad, the first number one hit,
<v Speaker 3>and a string of five number one hits, which was
<v Speaker 3>a record setter. We'll get into that more later, I think, Yep, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>big song. I can get a lot of radio play
<v Speaker 3>it today, but a number one song at the time.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, yeah, listen. I like the song. I like listening
<v Speaker 2>to the song, Yes, but I also like air Supply. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>it's fair and that's what it is. I mean, it's
<v Speaker 2>another air supply song, it is. And it's so close
<v Speaker 2>to Sarah by Jefferson Starship and those are all good songs.
<v Speaker 2>But it's just like I'm just listening to again Alex Sarah.
<v Speaker 2>Thriller gave us things we'd never heard before, and bad
<v Speaker 2>gave us a bunch of stuff we'd already heard before,
<v Speaker 2>even from Thriller.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, but we love it.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I get it, I get it. I get it
<v Speaker 2>all right, Okay, next one.
<v Speaker 3>So the next one is Dirty Diana.
<v Speaker 2>You will not hear me say anything bad about Dirty
<v Speaker 2>d Okay, star of two Stars on that album that's
<v Speaker 2>starting ever War.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, that's fair because I was getting ready.
<v Speaker 2>To jump on you like there was no way. I
<v Speaker 2>will not say anything bad about it. A great song
<v Speaker 2>and great song, rockin' freaking' roll.
<v Speaker 3>Yes song, yeah really, and they had Steve Stevens from Billy.
<v Speaker 2>Idols band, Billy Idols band, that's right.
<v Speaker 3>And he plays the crazy guitar on that.
<v Speaker 2>And I had a great video where it's just him
<v Speaker 2>and Michael along the stage tearing it up and wind
<v Speaker 2>blowing and.
<v Speaker 3>It was at a man, it was it was right
<v Speaker 3>until he Michael Jackson rips his shirt.
<v Speaker 2>I think he sold it. Okay, I think he sold it.
<v Speaker 2>It's kind of like you. It's kind of like the
<v Speaker 2>end of Jaws. You got it if you if you've
<v Speaker 2>bought in for the full length of the movie, you're
<v Speaker 2>in for the shirt rip. I think he sold it.
<v Speaker 3>Well. Great song, fantastic number one, another number one hit. Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>part of that.
<v Speaker 2>Because it kicks awesome, ear gold, Yeah for the year. Yeah, okay. Next,
<v Speaker 2>Smooth Criminal Star number two on the album.
<v Speaker 3>It's fantastic.
<v Speaker 2>I will not say anything bad about it. It is
<v Speaker 2>freaking incredible. These those two songs. To me, I don't
<v Speaker 2>think Dirty Diana necessarily was innovative in the way that
<v Speaker 2>I was really hoping that the whole album was going
<v Speaker 2>to be. But it kicks, but solid rock, solid rocket,
<v Speaker 2>It's great. Yeah, Smooth Criminal, Smooth Criminal. Finally at you know,
<v Speaker 2>the last part of the album gives me something that
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, ah, here finally is something new and exciting.
<v Speaker 2>This was something that I just thought, Okay, it's spot off.
<v Speaker 2>It's really really good.
<v Speaker 3>Knocking out of the park without a doubt. Another number one. No,
<v Speaker 3>actually this was not a number one hit, which is
<v Speaker 3>crazy to me.
<v Speaker 2>It's crazy, but it's also crazy. The Thriller was only
<v Speaker 2>number four.
<v Speaker 3>So number seven is the highest it got to on
<v Speaker 3>the Hot one.
<v Speaker 2>It doesn't make sense.
<v Speaker 3>It doesn't make sense the video.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, killer yep.
<v Speaker 3>Showed this to Ava the other day, you daughter, so
<v Speaker 3>you get the anti gravity lean, which is kind of
<v Speaker 3>a neat little trick, but she was a how's he doing?
<v Speaker 3>That's the you know. And he does sort of this
<v Speaker 3>sideways moonwalk while he's on stage, so you get a
<v Speaker 3>little taste of sort of the robot slash moonwalk as
<v Speaker 3>he's walking around doing these cool things and beating up
<v Speaker 3>gangsters and actually blows a gangster away with a gun
<v Speaker 3>in the middle. I was anyway, really awesome video. It
<v Speaker 3>gets off track in the middle. I don't know if
<v Speaker 3>you've seen the long version of this in a long time.
<v Speaker 2>I haven't seen it.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, so the long version of Smooth Criminal video you
<v Speaker 3>get the music stops, boom, all the dancers are on
<v Speaker 3>the floor. There's a whole lot of screaming and yelling.
<v Speaker 3>So that weird the Way You Make Me Feel vibe
<v Speaker 3>lots of moaning and groaning.
<v Speaker 2>I think that. I think that after the Way You
<v Speaker 2>Make Me Feel, I always hesitant about all Michael Jackson videos,
<v Speaker 2>and so I probably just stuck to the music on
<v Speaker 2>that one.
<v Speaker 3>Well, but so just to cover that real quick, they
<v Speaker 3>break into this weird moaning and groaning.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, remember it now you brought that these yes, horrible
<v Speaker 2>memories of because they're out on there shavers or something.
<v Speaker 3>So about the time you're willing to change the channel
<v Speaker 3>thinking this is too weird for me. Michael Jackson is
<v Speaker 3>really weird.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 3>He it snaps back into full on smooth criminal bus
<v Speaker 3>right back into the middle of the song and he's
<v Speaker 3>back to knocking it out of the party, right last.
<v Speaker 2>Track, leave Me Alone than cool song. Yeah, it's just repetitive.
<v Speaker 2>I mean it's good, it's it's kind of the it's
<v Speaker 2>the same thing that he had with the with the
<v Speaker 2>Paul McCartney The Girl is Mind. They've got a good
<v Speaker 2>chorus and catchy tune and it's repetitive. And then they
<v Speaker 2>released a cool video over the elephant Man Skeleton's dancing
<v Speaker 2>with video is.
<v Speaker 5>Kind of neat.
<v Speaker 2>It's kind of neat, isn't it. That's the one that
<v Speaker 2>he's on the car like on the train car, like the.
<v Speaker 3>He's on the train car and you get you get
<v Speaker 3>what is the chimp? What the bubbles bubbles thinking bubbles
<v Speaker 3>is there? And you get the elephant man bones and
<v Speaker 3>it's kind of poking fun at his life in the spotlight.
<v Speaker 3>And cool song, good song, solid song. Yeah, cool video
<v Speaker 3>didn't track or didn't chart.
<v Speaker 2>It didn't chart at all, really art Yeah, I'm.
<v Speaker 3>Not sure they released it as a single, but it
<v Speaker 3>didn't chart.
<v Speaker 2>So now the question is, have my arguments against your
<v Speaker 2>absurd position changed your mind?
<v Speaker 4>Coach?
<v Speaker 3>Well, why don't you state your position clearly first?
<v Speaker 4>Okay?
<v Speaker 2>So my position is this, the release of Thriller was
<v Speaker 2>a paradigm shift of music. They've got music that's so
<v Speaker 2>sonic that it doesn't sound like other music before. Okay,
<v Speaker 2>And they give us music that is unlike music we've
<v Speaker 2>heard before. It's not I mean you if you can
<v Speaker 2>go and find me stuff that people were doing before
<v Speaker 2>Thriller including off the wall and say yeah, this is
<v Speaker 2>all just the same thing. Then I'll concede. But what
<v Speaker 2>you've got with Thriller is a game changer. The game changer.
<v Speaker 2>It is Empire strikes Back, it is I Am your father.
<v Speaker 2>Holy crap, what did I just listen to? That was incredible?
<v Speaker 2>Everything has changed. And then had had Bad come out
<v Speaker 2>two years later, it probably I probably would have liked
<v Speaker 2>it better because it would have been it would have
<v Speaker 2>been a more logical step and you're like, Okay, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>this is this is just Thriller Part two, and it's great.
<v Speaker 2>It's got all of those same kind of fun things
<v Speaker 2>that Thriller had. But to come out five years later
<v Speaker 2>and all you've got is a repeat of Thriller songs
<v Speaker 2>in a new vein. I think he was just making
<v Speaker 2>a money grab. I think he's just like, let's let's
<v Speaker 2>I mean not money grab, but sales grap I mean,
<v Speaker 2>obviously the man had more money than humanly anybody would
<v Speaker 2>ever need. But he you know, he talked when he
<v Speaker 2>when he was making Thriller, his big deal to talk together.
<v Speaker 2>The guys were like, I want this to sell, you know,
<v Speaker 2>a fifty million or eighty million hundred million is what
<v Speaker 2>his goal was, one hundred million copies. He for Thriller.
<v Speaker 2>He wants a hundred million in sales. He does, he
<v Speaker 2>said at the time. So he comes out with bad.
<v Speaker 2>He's got five years to change the game again, and
<v Speaker 2>he doesn't do it. And he's still concentrating on those albums.
<v Speaker 2>He's got one song, one song on that whole album
<v Speaker 2>that I said, this is unlike anything I've ever heard
<v Speaker 2>in that smooth criminal. But when you compare the entire album,
<v Speaker 2>I mean, except for our two throwaway songs and Thriller,
<v Speaker 2>that was that every single one. If you look at
<v Speaker 2>want to be starting something, nobody else was doing that.
<v Speaker 2>If you want to look at the girl as Mine,
<v Speaker 2>well okay, let's skip that one if you will only
<v Speaker 2>get Thriller. Obviously that wasn't That was amazing and totally
<v Speaker 2>different than anybody had ever heard. Same with beat It,
<v Speaker 2>same with Billy Jean, same with PYT. You've got an
<v Speaker 2>album full of songs that nobody has ever heard anything
<v Speaker 2>like it before, and then you get Thriller Part two.
<v Speaker 3>Yet Thriller Part two, you get Thriller Part two. I
<v Speaker 3>think it's unfair to ask the guy to change the
<v Speaker 3>world again.
<v Speaker 2>Though I'm not saying it's fair and that he should
<v Speaker 2>have changed the world. I'm just saying you can't say
<v Speaker 2>that Bad is better than Thriller.
<v Speaker 3>I'm saying Bad is better than Thriller. I'm not saying
<v Speaker 3>it's a game changer like Thriller was because Thriller was
<v Speaker 3>first to the table. I'm just saying, if you lay
<v Speaker 3>them down side by side, if you go talk to
<v Speaker 3>you know, we're familiar with his argument.
<v Speaker 2>Right.
<v Speaker 3>You go find the guy in Africa who's never heard
<v Speaker 3>Bad or Thriller. Yeah, and you play both for them
<v Speaker 3>and you say which one you need to think is better.
<v Speaker 3>He's like, ah, I think I like both, but this
<v Speaker 3>one's a little stronger. That's my position on Bad. So
<v Speaker 3>it is Thriller part two. But listen, here's why can
<v Speaker 3>I say, all right, I think Bad is a stronger album. Okay,
<v Speaker 3>you have to remove the nuclear blast that Thriller did
<v Speaker 3>on pop culture. So I think you have to separate
<v Speaker 3>that because there's no challenge. I mean, it's Thriller all
<v Speaker 3>the way if you just say because you would, and
<v Speaker 3>I remember, it changed, it changed MTV, it changed pop
<v Speaker 3>cultor it changed radio. It changed everything. It was a
<v Speaker 3>game changer, no doubt about it. I think Bad came
<v Speaker 3>along and I think gave us Thriller Part two fair
<v Speaker 3>but we had it's first album in history to have
<v Speaker 3>five straight number one hits. Okay, first album in history
<v Speaker 3>to do that. Let that zinc in for a second.
<v Speaker 3>Thriller had two number one hits. Bad had five, right, Okay,
<v Speaker 3>Bad had two skippers, two junk songs. Bad has zero
<v Speaker 3>or one skipper. Okay, if they're baseball teams, this.
<v Speaker 4>Is how I did.
<v Speaker 3>Sure, Thriller's got you know, Babe Ruth and Joe Demagio
<v Speaker 3>and Louke Garrig. But up and down the line up,
<v Speaker 3>I think Bad is. So you take the five number ones,
<v Speaker 3>you can't get any higher than those. You compare them
<v Speaker 3>to thrillers too, you get stronger showing there, and I
<v Speaker 3>just think the other songs that other songs are what stronger.
<v Speaker 3>That's my opinion. Okay, you don't have to agree with me, No.
<v Speaker 2>I don't. I am serious, and don't call me shirt. Yeah, okay,
<v Speaker 2>I I would say that even going back now and
<v Speaker 2>just listening to each album, and you know, you never
<v Speaker 2>know because we've had history with them I can't listen
<v Speaker 2>to it listen to them with the naked ear. But
<v Speaker 2>listening to the songs on Bad, I get three that
<v Speaker 2>I'm like, yeah, Bad, Smooth Criminal or Diana. I'm enjoying myself.
<v Speaker 2>I'm tapping my foot. I'm listening to these songs and
<v Speaker 2>the rest of them, I'm like, oh yeah, I can't
<v Speaker 2>remember this, and I remember that, you know, here's that
<v Speaker 2>preachy song, okay, And listening to Thriller, oh man, it was.
<v Speaker 2>It's it's just a symphony from the beginning at the end.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, especially the thriller of the song, but the
<v Speaker 2>album itself, the variation that it has from song to song,
<v Speaker 2>the strength of the songs that it has, I still think,
<v Speaker 2>even compared side by side, that there's no way that
<v Speaker 2>you're gonna say bad better. I mean, okay, let me.
<v Speaker 2>Let's going back to the Star Wars analogy. Yes, if
<v Speaker 2>you saw Empire Strikes Back, yes, and you saw Return
<v Speaker 2>of the Jedi, yes, and you could and you said,
<v Speaker 2>here's both of them, which one's better? Well, you know what,
<v Speaker 2>you're probably gonna say return of the Jedi because Return
<v Speaker 2>of the Jedi did some stuff that wasn't even possible
<v Speaker 2>when they did Empire Strikes Back. I mean the flying
<v Speaker 2>through the forest and the scenes, the war scenes, even
<v Speaker 2>with those goofy little ewoks, it was still amazing, amazing
<v Speaker 2>stuff that they didn't really do an Empire strikes Back.
<v Speaker 2>Empire strikes Back, they didn't really do anything technology that
<v Speaker 2>was more impressive than they had done in Star Wars.
<v Speaker 2>But Empire Strikes Back was a game changer, and that's
<v Speaker 2>why it's the best movie. And Thriller was a game changer,
<v Speaker 2>and that's why it's the best album.
<v Speaker 3>I think your Star Wars analogy is pretty good, but
<v Speaker 3>I think that Thriller is Star Wars, which is game changer.
<v Speaker 3>Star Wars was a game changer. True, that's true and
<v Speaker 3>that but what impress strikes Back is widely regarded as
<v Speaker 3>the best of the series, no question, because it's just
<v Speaker 3>a little bit better now.
<v Speaker 2>It's because you find out that Darth Vader's look, we.
<v Speaker 5>Needn't get into that.
<v Speaker 3>We'll get into that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we'll get in there.
<v Speaker 3>So anyway, all right.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think that's it. So, I you know, with
<v Speaker 2>this is an audience this is an audience participation thing.
<v Speaker 2>And so at the time that you're finished listening to
<v Speaker 2>us who want you to join us on social mid
<v Speaker 2>give us your opinion, you know which can jump in
<v Speaker 2>if you if you came into this it came into
<v Speaker 2>this with an opinion and had that opinion change, We
<v Speaker 2>definitely want to hear that. But I have a feeling
<v Speaker 2>and you feel like thank either one of us gave
<v Speaker 2>you some strong arguments behind your opinion and you're sticking
<v Speaker 2>with it. Let's hear about that too.
<v Speaker 3>All right, everyone jump in on this. We've got it
<v Speaker 3>on our social media page. We'd love to hear from you.
<v Speaker 3>Tell us what you think. Am I crazy? Maybe I
<v Speaker 3>am isd crazy? Is the old fashion? Is he thinking
<v Speaker 3>about throller skating the ring and not comparing them side
<v Speaker 3>by side? Then we want to hear that too. So
<v Speaker 3>just for the record, I love.
<v Speaker 2>Thriller and just for the record, I love that. Okay,
<v Speaker 2>thank you so much for your support of the Shirley
<v Speaker 2>You Can't Be Serious podcast. Don't forget. We also love
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<v Speaker 2>All music, images and the eclips are used for the
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