Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ Could Have Been Turned Into 12 Songs, Says Producer
Michael Jackson‘s “Billie Jean” deeply impressed an important R&B musician. He said that the track could have been transformed into 12 different hit songs if Jackson had divided it up in a certain way. The R&B icon discussed how he tries to find songs similar to “Billie Jean” every day.
An R&B maetro explained why ‘Billie Jean’ is Michael Jackson’s masterpiece
Antonio “L.A.” Reid is a major pop/R&B producer. He has worked with stars like Boys II Men, Whitney Houston, and Toni Braxton. In a 2011 essay he wrote for Rolling Stone, he said the King of Pop was the best entertainer of all time, comparing him to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and The Beatles. Reid recalled seeing The Jackson 5 at a state fair when he was young. Reid recalled Jackson’s voice resonating throughout the fairground.
“‘Billie Jean’ is the most important record he made, not only because of its commercial success but because of the musical depth of the record,” Reid wrote. “It has more hooks in it than anything I’ve ever heard. Everything in that song was catchy, and every instrument was playing a different hook. You could separate it into 12 different musical pieces, and I think you’d have 12 different hits. Every day, I look for that kind of song.”
Antonio ‘L.A’ Reid named some of the artists who took ideas from Michael Jackson
Reid noted that the King of Pop had a huge musical impact. He named Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Usher, and Janet Jackson as some of the artists who pulled from the “Thriller” singer‘s playbook. He could have added many others, including Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Chris Brown, and The Weeknd. Who knows if music videos would be as important as they are today without Jackson’s influence?
“Late in his life, there were many, many people who thought of Michael as a spectacle, and it was sad,” Reid said. “The world without Michael Jackson is a very, very different world. And I think we should all feel very blessed that an artist of that caliber came into our lives because he enriched our lives.”
‘Billie Jean’ outshone all the other songs from ‘Thriller’ on the charts
“Billie Jean” became the biggest hit from Thriller. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a whopping seven weeks, lasting on the chart for 25 weeks in total. Jackson only released one other song that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks: “Black or White.” The song’s parent album was even more popular. It was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 37 weeks, remaining on the chart for 622 weeks in total.
Each of Thriller‘s singles reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. “Beat It” reached No. 1, the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl Is Mine” reached No. 2, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” reached No. 5, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” reached No. 10, “Human Nature” reached No. 7, and “Thriller” reached No. 4. Very few albums had produced that many hit singles and even fewer have produced that many hit singles that are still popular 40 years later.
“Billie Jean” could have been 12 songs, but the world loves it as a singular masterpiece.
