Quincy Jones-Michael Jackson "Thriller" Record Hit

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Celebrity music producer Quincy Jones tells of his historic collaboration with Michael Jackson when "we made history together".

In a special eulogy in the Los Angeles Times today,Quincy,my friend on MySpace,says:"Like the world last week I was devastated by the news that Michael Jackson had suddenly left the room.

"This blessed artist commanded the stage with the grace of an antelope.shattered recording industry records and broke down cultural bounderies around the world,yet remained the gentlest of souls.

"Michael Jackson was a different kind of entertainer.A man-child in many ways,he was beyond professional and dedicated.

"Evoking Fred Astaire,Sammy Davis Jr. and James Brown at once,he'd work hours perfecting every kick,gesture and movement so that they came together precisely the way they were intended to.

"Together we shared the '80s,achieving heights that I can humbly say may never be reached again and reshaped the music business,"  adds Quincy.


Quincy tells the amazing story of how he and Michael Jackson began a successful collaboration in 1978 first as the musical mentor to the rising singer picked to play the scarecrow in "The Wiz",the remake of "The Wizard of  Oz".

He recalls he "pulled" his A-team together,anchored by British keyboard player and songwriter Rod Temperton to create "Off The Wall" that would sell 10 million copies.

They went on to produce "Thriller" with great engineer Bruce Swedien.

Quincy says Michael wrote "Beat It",Rod contributed "Thriller" and "The Lady In My Life" working to a tight schedule in happy creative teamwork.

"We delivered the album and watched "Billie Jean" - thanks to Michael's debut performance of the moonwalk on the 25th anniversary of Motown special -"Beat It" and "Thriller" just explode,fueled in part by heavy video rotation on MTV," notes Quincy.
"Prior to "Billie Jean", MTV wasn't playing videos with black artists.

""Billie Jean","Beat It" and "Thriller" took us straight to the stratosphere.

"After these three videos virtually every video on MTV was trying to emulate their style.

"Michael,the music and MTV all went to the mountaintop.

"It was the perfect convergence of forces.

"In the music business,every decade you have a phenomenon.

"In the '40s you had Sinatra,in the '50s Elvis,in the '60s the Beatles,in the '70s the innovation of Dolby despite the best efforts of Stevie Wonder and Elton John.

"In the '80s you had Michael Jackson.

"For everyone from 8 to 80,he was the biggest entertainer on the planet.

"Followed up by "Bad" and the collective on "We Are The World",we all made history together,we owned the '80s and our souls would be connected forever,"records Quincy,who is also a noted music composer and arranger.

"Thriller" turned Michael Jackson into the world's music superstar.It sold more than 50 million copies and shot to Number One on the American charts for 37 weeks - the best selling world record music video ever.

Seven of its nine tracks were hit singles.It won a record eight awards at the 1984 Grammy Awards.