Mentor of singer Michael Jackson for the albums “Off The Wall” (1979), “Thriller” (1982) and “Bad” (1987), the American producer Quincy Jones, whose death was announced on November 4, has reshaped the face of modern pop. A collaboration which remains the most profitable in popular Music.
Maker of global hits, American producer and jazz trumpeter Quincy Jones marked his era by establishing himself as an outstanding composer with a multi-awarded career. An eclectic and hard worker, Quincy Jones has released more than 400 records and won 28 Grammy Awards, achieving the status of living legend.
One of the most influential shadow men in the history of music, it was alongside singer Michael Jackson at the end of the 1970s that he truly burst into the open and to the general public by shaping his sound and production. from the discographic trilogy composed of “Off The Wall”, “Thriller” and “Bad”. The two artists then change dimension and modify the face of modern pop.
“Off the Wall” (1979)
The quintessence of a white funk that is both sophisticated and shimmering from a young man of 20 with a not yet pale face, “Off the Wall” begins the highest-earning collaboration in pop between producer Quincy Jones and singer Michael Jackson . The spicy cocktail imagined here of soul, dressed with disco, rock and coated with a certain marshmallow manages to quickly seduce far and wide.
Fifth solo album from the precocious king of pop, “Off the Wall” above all constitutes a new departure for Michael Jackson. And reveals a somewhat alien high-pitched voice. A funk mutant who notably delivers the irresistible steamroller that is “Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough”.
The other miraculous recipe of this album remains “Burn This Disco Out”, whose score mixes Giorgio Moroder with the funk of Earth, Wind & Fire and the Phily Sound. A title signed by the Englishman Rod Temperton (ex-Heatwave) to whom we also owe the unstoppable saw that is “Rock With You”. Finally, the unstoppable hit “Blame It On The Boogie”, where Jones packs Jackson's voice with sumptuous vocal harmonies, completes this landmark first set.
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“Thriller” (1982)
Three years after “Off The Wall”, the pair do it again for what still remains one of the greatest albums in the history of modern pop. If only by the scale of its sales, more than 104 million, Michael Jackson's incunabula “Thriller” remains an extraordinary work. This album produced by Quincy Jones is part of a phonographic trilogy which covered and marked the 1980s. An incredible triptych, of which “Thriller” is the authentic cornerstone.
The king of pop dreamed of being a black Beatle, his songs confirm his ambitions. A nod to “Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band” in the intro to “Billie Jean”, a duet with Paul McCartney on “The Girl Is Mine”, Jackson and Jones demonstrate here in nine pieces their desire to synthesize musical roots black and white.
And “Thriller” pulverizes absolutely everything in its path when in turn the infernal groove of “Beat It” including the heavy metal guitar of Eddie Van Halen, “Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'”, “Human Nature”, “PYT ( Pretty Young Thing)” and finally the monumental “Thriller” take over from “Billie Jean”. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones achieve an absolute masterstroke here, which has since become pop mythology.
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“Bad” (1987)
Beyond the fact that “Bad” continued to suffer from comparison with Michael Jackson's two previous innovative albums, the disc still very brilliantly completes the collaboration with Quincy Jones. And allows Bambi to definitively free himself from Jackson 5 supervision.
Five tracks from “Bad”, where the science and magic of detail in Jones' arrangements operate, particularly leave an impression, in addition to the insane eponymous song with its crazy organs: “The Way You Make Me Feel”, the disturbing “Man in the Mirror” and the very powerful “Dirty Diana”, a treasure in terms of sound design.
A “concrete” album, as Quincy Jones would say, which also corresponds to the start of the global spread of the “Moonwalker” virus.
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>> Also read, the tribute to Quincy Jones: Music legend Quincy Jones dies at 91
Olivier Horner
