I’m taking a rare break from movie talk for a blog series about the King of Pop himself Michael Jackson. Today marks the release of MJ’s well reviewed posthumous album Xscape, which I’ve dutifully already downloaded on iTunes. However, I’ve yet to have the opportunity to get into it, but plan to shortly. We’re also approaching the five year anniversary of the superstar’s death in June.
This has led me to creating my personal Top 25 MJ songs of all time. A couple of caveats: this list does not include any Jackson 5 tunes and covers just Michael’s solo work. So if you’re looking for “I Want You Back” or “The Love You Save” or “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” or “I’ll Be There”, perhaps a Jackson 5 top ten list will come in the future. Also, being that I haven’t listened to the new album hardly at all, no tracks will be included from that one. However, I will say the current single “Love Never Felt So Good” featuring Justin Timberlake is fantastic.
Simply put, I grew up on MJ and he is extraordinarily high on my favorite musical artists of all time. When you listen to pop music, his influence is omnipresent. Listen to “Rock Your Body” by Justin Timberlake. Or “Let the Groove Get In” by JT. Or “Treasure” by Bruno Mars. Or Pharrell music or Chris Brown. It goes on and on.
Let’s get to it, shall we? This will be a five-part series and feel free to comment when all is said and done with your own MJ personal faves.
25. “Baby Be Mine” (from Thriller – 1982)
It’s from the best selling album of all time and yet it’s probably the least talked about track on the record. It’s still great though and is highly reminiscent of his Off the Wall dance tracks that came three years earlier (and will show up on this here list).
24. “Will You Be There?” (from Dangerous – 1991)
Sort of cheesy? Yes. Best remembered for its video and inclusion in the film Free Willy? Yep. Call this a guilty pleasure MJ track if you will, but I love Michael’s vocals on here and the choir that closes it out.
23. “You Are Not Alone” (from HIStory – 1995)
My second MJ slow jam was written and produced by R. Kelly and is the first single in U.S. history to debut at #1. It’s got a pretty memorable video featuring then wife Lisa Marie Presley, too.
22. “In the Closet” (from Dangerous – 1991)
The third single from 1991’s Dangerous album is a Teddy Riley produced New Jack Swing banger. Once again – the B&W music video featuring Naomi Campbell and directed by famed photographer Herb Ritts is a classic.
21. “Earth Song” (from HIStory – 1995)
This environmentally conscious and operatic tour de force served as MJ’s third single off 1995’s History and is my favorite among his socially conscious anthems (you won’t find “Heal the World” on this list). It’s the artist’s largest selling single ever in the United Kingdom.
And that’s all for now, folks! I’ll be back tomorrow with part two and numbers 20-16.
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