Off The Wall – Michael Jackson

Although this was actually Michael’s fifth album around the time it was released in 1979, it was only his first one for Epic Records, the company whom The Jacksons aligned themselves with after a rather lengthy run with Motown. “Off The Wall” was the first time a much more adult – and certainly a much freer Michael Jackson was being exposed to the general public. It was while he was filming the movie “The Wiz” with Diana Ross and a whole host of others, that he met legendary producer Quincy Jones & asked him to produce the album. According to Mike himself, he was struggling with a certain line in the movie and Quincy corrected him. From that moment on they became very good friends & the rest was history. Personally, I never heard the “Off The Wall” album until 2004 – guess I need a mega late pass for that. If I was on Okay Player I’d be coppin’ all kinds of hell from those folks. Anyway, here’s what I think of each track:

Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough: This is your typical disco anthem from the mid-to-late seventies. It’s full of big brass, big cowbells, big horns and one hell of a soaring falsetto lead vocal from good ole Mike Jack. My favourite part of this song is that solo that comes in halfway thru the song. Mike caps that off with very firm, very final “Woo!” Classic stuff right there. Obviously this one was a huge hit all over the world back in the day and it still gets people movin’ once the folks at the party recognise its legendary opening bass riffs & Michael’s spoken word intro.

Rock With You: Here’s the other big hit that still gets played to death on old school radio stations all over the world….well, at least I always hear it on Mix 106.5, but anyway this one’s just a tad bit more laid back than the previous cut, but obviously the funk, soul and even disco elements are still there. Michael’s vocals are of course a lot smoother & surprisingly, he’s actually singing about a rather adult topic. He did it in a rather classy manner though.

Get On The Floor: Basically, this track takes a great big bite out of the Disco sound that was quite popular around the time this album was being made and it merges that particular sound with a more straight up Funk type of groove with slapped & popped basslines and great hornlines. In fact, it reminded me a lot of something that Rufus & Chaka Khan were doin’ back in the day. Mike obviously chose the right person when he asked Quincy to produce the set. That fast “cha-cha-cha” scat that he does throughout the song is just the icing on the cake too.

Working Day & Night: In the intro to this one, Mike’s still doing that fast scat from the previous cut, but unlike “Get On The Floor,” “Workin’ Day & Night” is certainly more of a straight up Funk type of cut. Initially it first came to my attention while I was watching a very muffled copy of “The Making Of Thriller” on VHS, but thanks to the LP Rip that I made of this album, I can now hear it much clearer.

Off The Wall: Great title track. It has that classic Jacksons sound all over it with those fantastic organised harmonies combined with the excellent pop/funk sound that only the Jacksons could do oh so well back in the 1970s. I think what he was trying to say with this song was “live your life in a crazy way & very much on the edge,” but some other folks out there will probably do something else, like play it on the radio & announce: “That was “Michael Jackson with “Off The Wall”…now he’s completely lost the plot!” That’s exactly what happened when I first heard this song in fact. The DJ said something along those lines at least. Obviously this was about twenty years after the album was released.

Girlfriend: For some strange reason, I immediately knew that this song was written by Paul McCartney: somebody who Mike was of course very good friends with for many years. Even though it was quite obvious to me that this sounded a lot like a McCartney composition, they still managed to throw in a few funky bass licks, which is something that I don’t think Macca would’ve ever done back in the day. Even though that’s the case, this is still quite a corny song in my eyes. It’s quite syrupy as well as far as I’m concerned.

She’s Out Of My Life: Obviously this is another one of Mike’s most recognised songs. Even Eddie Murphy sang a few lines from this one when he was imitating him on his, now legendary “Delirious” TV special. For those not in the know, Mike is simply backed by a piano on this cut, and not much else. I must admit his vocals sound great, but generally this one also has me pressin’ the skip button. Quincy Jones later revealed that Mike actually broke down & cried while he was recording this song…and several times actually. Either he could relate to the lyrics in a very big way or he’d actually been there at some point in his life. Who knows for sure though right?

I Can’t Help It: This is a very lush, mostly Rhodes-based piano ballad that would’ve fit oh so perfectly on Stevie Wonder’s “Hotter Than July” album from 1980. Oh! That’s right! The song was actually written by Steve himself! No wonder it sounds so much like one of his songs! Mary J Blige used the chorus of this song on a track of hers called “Sexy” from her self-titled album from 1999. I actually had no idea what she’d done at that point in my life, but imagine my distain when it all finally dawned on me that that was an uncredited interpolation of an old Michael Jackson song. Yeah, I said uncredited all right.

It’s The Falling In Love: Is that Diana Ross singing with Mike in this song? No, I was wrong it’s Patti Austin. Anyways, this is another funky one, and I’m glad it is too, cuz if it were a sappy love ballad then I’d probably wanna press the skip button. Good move on that bass players part for throwin sum funky licks down.

Burn This Disco Out: With a title like that you’d probably be expecting to hear some Donna Summer type of groove right? Thankfully it’s not like that. It’s nuttin but tha F-U-N-K. And lots of it too. Lyrically he’s not saying anything too exciting – just that he wants to dance all night long with his friends….and why not?

Verdict: This album pretty much justifies the proclamation that music was at its finest in the 1970s, because the album is not only very well done it also doesn’t sound too old, which is always a good thing in my eyes. It’s a great album that will always be worth discovering & rediscovering for many years to come…..what more can I possibly say?