The BEST Moments from MJ's Greatest Run, Ranked

Discovering Michael Jackson's catalog

0:00You know, I was... Mind-blowing. That is a vocal performance that only Michael Jackson could do. That's a perfect track. It's a perfect track. I'm going to put it out there. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I discovered this specific track. I said, is that Michael Jackson?

0:28Hey, Adam. Yeah. You know what we're doing today? What? We're going to look back at some of our favorite moments. Yep, no, no, over here. Oh, yeah. Okay, sorry, sorry. We're looking back in time. Oh, okay. You know, what would you say is our favorite period of Michael Jackson? The greatest run, if we were to isolate three albums. Off the Wall Thriller Band. Yeah, that's what we're looking back on. Every moment with these albums is amazing, but these are some that stand above the rest. So stick around. You'll see it, and you'll hear it. Thriller at the time, when it came out, was and still remains one of my all-time favorites.

1:04I 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 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. Those two specifically. And I love Dangerous, too, by the way. Don't get me wrong. But that run, Thriller and Beyond, kind of just took over my early childhood. Michael Jackson was my favorite artist, danced in my kitchen every night to Thriller when it came out. And it wasn't until I was a teenager, like 16, 17, that I discovered this specific track.

1:40I 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 has more of the things that I'm into right now. And it was this.

2:08Perfect. Yep.

2:21The hand clap. The hand clap. Yeah.

2:54Big four hand clap. Yeah, it is big four.

3:03Second verse. Big ass verse. It's a perfect disco track. Perfect pop track.

3:12That's a classic.

3:18Again, the sea wind horns here. Gary Hay.

3:24It's like a, like a summer breeze coming from the sea winds. When you feel that heat. Uh, uh, uh. And we gonna ride the boogie. Share that deep love.

3:35That bass drum sound. Perfect. Perfect. The sound of, oh my God. The whole track is magical. Yeah.

3:44The harmony here. The horns.

3:50The bridge. The bridge. I know. Oh, the bass here. Lewis. Boom. Double.

4:07I love this little segue. A little instrumental. I remember I was like, damn, what is that?

4:14You sparklies? Oh, it was Johnson.

4:25Cordulation. Oh, no. Second time. Waste for it. Save it. Yeah.

4:34Oh.

4:43There we go. Yeah. A little mop off one beat. Why not? Yeah.

4:53Man. You gotta, when they finished tracking that, they must have like just handshakes all around, break out the cigars. They had to know that they just killed that.

5:07This might be the best song on the album. Are we at the apex of the album? We might be at the apex.

Writing Man in the Mirror

5:12Um, and this was not, again, not written by Michael. Um, and this was like the fourth or fifth single. I don't know if it was the biggest hit. I felt like at the time it was the biggest hit, but, um, we're talking about Man in the Mirror, right? We're talking about Man in the Mirror. It was written by, excuse me, Saeeda Garrett. Yeah. And Glenn, is it Ballard? Yeah. Glenn Ballard. And they were like a songwriting team. Charlie's a Ballard? Ballard. He's a Ballard duck. Okay. Yeah. Saeeda Garrett, very interesting story because she, there's a little connection with friend

5:43of the pod, friend of Open Studios, John Beasley, who legend, well, really, Saeeda Garrett said this, actually first coined the phrase, man, well, he didn't coin it, but he first brought it to Saeeda Garrett's attention years before. Wait, Beasley? Beasley. Bees. Our, like, Open Studio mentor session teacher Beesley. My number one sub in Dianne Reeves for many years and now music director. Now Dianne Reeves, music director. Great jazz pianos from LA. Yeah. He was doing some songwriting with Saeeda Garrett several years before this and was on the phone. Baby Bees. Baby Bees. Right.

6:14The Bees Knees. Wow. We got all sorts of names. Okay. And he said something about Man in the Mirror and that caught her attention. She wrote it down years later when Glenn Ballard came in. He's like, I got an idea. Great. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. With that intro. She immediately was like, hold on. And she went back and found in her notebook. Cool. And that's how the title came about, so.

6:42The panning of the shakers. Yeah. I'm gonna make a change for once in my life. And these are real claps, I think. It's gonna feel real good. As opposed to the, which makes a difference. Gonna make it right. As I turn up the collar board. My favorite winter coat. This wind is blowing my mind. I see the kids.

7:12This one sounds sharp, too.

7:15Yeah, sharp.

7:18It's like the 442s. They push everything up.

7:22Oh.

7:26Man, the little harmonic backgrounds. What a melody, man. This here? That's what Saidi Garrett's singing.

7:34Gorgeous. Yeah. Cause they got no way to go. That's the one I want you to know. Filling game. Enter the filling game.

7:46Don't worry. This is a superhero. And then.

7:52Bring the blues into it. Let's bring a little diminished. If you wanna make the world a better place. Take a look at yourself. Then make a change.

8:01Oh. Walk down.

8:04I gotta. Sorry. This is a perfect track. I gotta back it up. So we talk about the snare drum. The entrance of the snare drum after the first chorus is one of the great moments. This might be my effects. So there's a little, there's a little piccolo snare. Yeah.

8:25That's playing on all four beats. Right? Dot. Dot. Dot. Oh.

8:34It's coming in hot. Incredible. Incredible.

8:43Oh. The lyrics are killing all this too. I wanna talk about the lyrics. Yeah. Cause I think it's interesting. Yeah. Ooh.

8:52Controversy. What's that? Controversy. That's next. Next on the list is controversy.

9:01The pre-chorus is magical.

9:04This here.

9:08Oh. Back down.

9:12Man. What a melody. Yeah. Unbelievable.

9:18Oh. Philly Gaines. Starting to get in there. He's like, he's like, he's starting to add some stuff. See if anyone noticed. He's like, cool. I got it. Every time Michael performs this live here, we're going to spin. He's like, you want to make the world. The dance moves come out. Oh, yeah. You know what I mean? Pop. If you want to make a change. I'm starting with the. Check out Philly Gaines. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I'm asking him to change his way. Whoa. And no mess.

9:49Got the best. Let's take our time. Let's take our time. If you want to make the world a better place. Take a look at yourself. You changed that up too.

9:58Why? And to choir. I'm drinking. We're at a lift. Greatest. Maybe the greatest lift ever. Oh, so good. And it's an effortless lift, right? It's not like. It's just. It's on. It's on. I will always love you. It is. Territory. It might even be above.

10:16Oh.

10:19Riffing.

10:21Woo. We're not even doing the apex. No.

10:29You know what the apex is on, right?

10:33Oh, yeah. You know what they are? Oh, yeah.

10:36But this is like. It sets it up.

10:41Here it is.

10:48Oh, Philly Gaines fitting on that floor. Come on. Yeah, yeah. Woo. Yeah, yeah.

10:55Cool. Oh.

11:00Oh, sit on it. Sit on it. Man. It's gonna feel real good. Sam on. Sam on indeed, Peter. Just lift yourself. You know. Oh. You've got to stop it. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Mine is the. Oh. I feel that.

11:30So you're going. Man.

11:36This is so much longer than should work. And it is work. Every second works. Oh. Man, Michael Jackson is gospel chaps. Shit.

11:53We did it.

11:59Man, in lesser hands, all this.

12:07Yeah, yeah, yeah.

12:11Damn.

12:18Man, that's a perfect track.

Closing out with Lady of My Life

12:23So we closed out the album with easily the most underrated track of the album. Best track of the album. And it is probably the best song on the album. Can we just move right into Desert Island tracks? We might as well. Yeah, so your Desert Island track is? The Lady of My Life. I would like to listen to this whole thing. Another Rod Temperton classic. A Quiet Storm classic. Totally Quiet Storm.

12:54Almost smooth jazz-esque. We got some more Greg. I mean, the band here is insane. Jeff Pecorro is drumming on this. Greg Fillingain's, Paul Jackson Jr. on guitar, Jeff Pecorro on drums, David Pietsch on synths, Steve Pecorro on synths, Louis Johnson on synths. Yeah. Unbelievable band. And this is easy for them. This is easy. Hey.

13:32Hey. Hey. Hey. Like, oh. Man, those lines.

13:45Man, this is such a romantic. I remember when I heard this song. I was like, I'm a romantic. I'm a romantic.

13:54I've tried to write this song at least 30 times in my career. I've heard it a couple times.

14:00But the balance of the arrangement is so great.

14:05And it's kind of.

14:08Oh, it's that one to four. That's the smooth jazz. Major one to minor 11-4.

14:13Oh. You like a bridge? You like a bridge? There's a night we won't forget.

14:20To the one minor? Look it out. Oh. Oh, Jeff, bro.

14:26Oh. Jeff, bro. Oh, baby. Come on. Imagine there's just this rain on the road. It's nighttime. You know what I mean? Yeah. You're heading down to the loop. Yeah. 1984. Oh. Oh. And I will keep you warm Through the shadows of the night Let me touch you in my love I can make you feel so right And baby through the years Even when we're rolling It's so epic

14:57And we're only halfway through the track But we're about to vamp the second half The whole melody's almost over Yeah, we're all good with that, though Yeah Like, that's the end of the thing It's like a George Benson track I mean, I know Ron wrote for George Benson, too Yeah I want you to stay with me The rest is, he's just jamming Ooh Paul Jackson Hold up

15:28I'm about to give you some perfect rhythm guitar Bam! You got it Oh Two minutes ahead in here Oh You got a little voodoo in here, maybe? Man Yes You're my lady And I love you, girl Percolating

15:59Whoo Man, the ultimate reward I love you, I love you, I need you, I want you, baby Just that organic climaxing of it Stay with me Don't you got nowhere Shout out to Jeff Beccaro, too, on the drums It is unbelievable Perfectly controlling Percolating Phil and Gaze Phil and Gaze knows what to do

16:29I'm gonna go nowhere You're my lady Unbelievable

16:53Thank you For everyone See you See you See you Do On the fucking thigh I waiting Give it to go Bye I saw you Yay Until see me Listen Well By See you Like See you Bye Love Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye Thank you.

17:52Thank you.

18:22Thank you.

18:52Thank you.

19:22Thank you.

19:52Thank you.

20:22Thank you.

20:52Thank you.

21:22Thank you.

21:52Thank you.