Hey OKP crew...Here are some bits from my Q&A surrounding the release of Michael Jackson's BAD 25 Deluxe project...Some cool stories here from keyboardist and band director Greg Phillinganes, guitarist Jon Clark, and choreographer Vincent Patterson...What Mike was like in the studio during the Bad era; how obsessed he was to destroy Thriller; how much of a crazy, mammoth undertaking the Bad tour was; who Michael looked at as his biggest competition; and why Bad is still underrated to this day...Enjoy...

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BAD 25 Shines Light On Michael Jackson’s Most Underrated Album, Era, And Competitive Obsessions
Keith Murphy

Intro: In the summer of 1986, Thriller hung around Michael Jackson’s neck like a mammoth, neon albatross; a 25-million-copies-sold albatross to be exact. Indeed, it is now well documented that the biggest pop star to ever moonwalk across the planet wanted to bury music’s most commercially/culturally successful album of all time (now 42 million and climbing in America alone). To achieve this ridiculous coup, Jackson envisioned a follow-up work that was bolder, more musically groundbreaking, and grander in epic songwriting scale.

When the dust settled months after its much-anticipated August 31, 1987 release, Jackson’s Bad album did not meet the late Gloved-One’s over-the-top ambitions of quadrupling his previous landmark 1982 statement in sales. But it did something much more impressive. The no. 1 Billboard album displayed a genius talent who grew exponentially as a songsmith, producer, and vocalist. Unlike previous releases, 1979’s glorious Off The Wall and the monster that is Thriller, this time Jackson ran the show, leaving all-world producer Quincy Jones to settle on backseat driver duties.

Which is why Tuesday’s release of BAD 25—a deluxe package featuring three discs that includes a remastered version of the original album; remixes by electronic music visionaries Afrojack and Nero; unreleased songs; and the first ever commercial DVD of the 1988 Wembley Stadium concert from Jackson’s record-breaking Bad tour—is an intriguing set. Let the music historians and insiders dwell on how Bad “failed” to meet the record industries’ (and MJ’s) grandiose sales expectations. Brush aside Bad’s impressive U.S. numbers of more than 20 million copies off the shelves. And set aside its movie-quality barrage of award-winning music videos. It’s all about the songs, which includes five no. 1 singles. “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Smooth Criminal,” “Man In The Mirror,” “Liberian Girl”…this is greatness, y’all.

link: http://www.vibe.com/article/bad-25-shines-light-michael-jackson%E2%80%99s-most-underrated-album-era-and-competitive-obsessions


Excerpts....

On MJ's obsession with destroying Thriller

VIBE: For Michael, there was a lot to live up to with the release of Bad. By now we’ve all heard the stories about how he was intent on destroying the record sales of Thriller. But Michael was also intent on raising the bar artistically with Bad from the album to the tour. Can you talk about his mindset going into that era, album and tour?

Greg Phillinganes: He simply wanted to top Thriller.

He was aiming for 100 million copies, so says the legend, correct?


Greg: Yes, but there’s a fine line between having a goal and being unrealistic *laughs*. Thriller broke all the records. It became this massive iconic success that it is today. But Michael was driven . By this time he had way more songwriting and production input in the music. It was still up to Quincy Jones to keep everything solid and make sure we didn’t lose touch with reality.

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On MJ's relentless perfection...

Vince Patterson: Yes! I’ll give you an example from the “Smooth Criminal” video shoot. There’s this one dance phrase that repeats itself in the video. I gave it to Michael and he stood in front of the mirror for four hours doing just the same count again and again and again! I kept coming over and saying, “Michael come on…you can take a break.” And Michael told me, “No, Vincent…I want to do this ‘til it’s perfect.” Michael was a taskmaster on himself.

On the HUGENESS of the Bad tour:

Jon Clark: It’s important to note that at the time the Bad tour was the biggest production ever. We were in London and someone said that this was the biggest tour they had ever seen…bigger than U2, bigger than everyone. And I just remember during the “Billie Jean” section there was a special light that was developed just for Michael’s tour. It was made just for him to do his thing on “Billie Jean”.

Greg: The true bigness of the Bad tour was the size of the actual set. We were building sets in the stadium as opposed to the arenas. We had several bags of airplane regulation landing lights *laughs*. They would blind the hell out of you when they first turned on. But Michael’s favorite toy was the cherry picker. It was the extended ladder with an arm that moved out, so he was able to dangle off of it over the crowd.

Jon: Dangerously dangle off it *laughs*.

Greg: Right…the fans loved it, but it scared the hell out of the insurance guy .

Jon: I never shit my pants when I looked out into the crowd *laughs*. But I will tell you that you will never know what it feels like to see 70,000 people swaying while you are playing “Man In The Mirror.”

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On who MJ felt was his biggest competition....


Michael was really known as the ultimate competitor. He looked at other artists in terms of what they did musically and performance wise and wanted to top them. During the Bad era who was the one person that Mike looked at and said, “Oh, I have to raise my game to another level”?

Jon: That had to be Prince *laughs*. During the Thriller and Bad eras, it what just those two guys—Michael and Prince. And they both knew it. Everyone has read about that infamous summit that Quincy put together. Only Quincy could bring Michael and Prince together in one house and try to convince them to do “Bad.” But Prince decided not to be a part of the song. You could see the friendly rivalry between those two, even on their tours and in their videos. Michael would tend to hone in on some of things Prince was doing. They were both amazing and brilliant.

Imagine those conversations…

Greg: Crazy. But the craziest thing is at the Wembley shows I personally set out to make a statement. During the band solos I would play tunes from artists that I would find out were in the audience. So I had heard Prince was at the show. So I did a whole separate section of “It’s Gonna Be A Beautiful Night” by Prince. I’m talking about the groove, the breakdown and everything! We stepped down to the front of the stage and got the audience to clap on the four. We wore that shit out . And I still don’t know if Prince was really in the audience. But the bad news is that session will not be included in this DVD because Prince decided not to give us the rights. And I wish he would change his mind.

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On why Bad represents MJ's finest moments as a songwriter and producer...

Looking back at Michael Jackson’s Bad album, what is the overall legacy of that work?

Greg: Bad showed off his solo artistry because Michael was more involved production wise and songwriting wise. Yes, he worked with Quincy…but it was not quite as much as Off The Wall and Thriller. You saw the transition of Michael becoming more of a solo force behind the scenes and away from the Jacksons. By the time he went into Dangerous, Quincy was no longer there. Michael started bringing in different producers to express his musical ideas. I think Bad is the most definitive expression of Michael’s craft.

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To read the entire piece go to:

http://www.vibe.com/article/bad-25-shines-light-michael-jackson%E2%80%99s-most-underrated-album-era-and-competitive-obsessions