Without a doubt the biggest music star of 1983 was Michael Jackson. His sixth solo album 'Thriller' had been released in November of the previous year and had a lot to live up to; his previous solo effort 'Off The Wall' produced five hit singles. As with that record, the 'Thriller' album touched on several different musical styles - but this time, including a venture into rock.
For the song 'Beat It', producer Quincy Jones recruited Eddie Van Halen to play the lead guitar solo. At first thinking the call was a joke, the guitarist then agreed to play the solo and furthermore, did it free of charge. At the time, his decision was ridiculed by his bandmates but as the song became a smash, suddenly many more people outside the world of rock wanted to know more about this guitar sensation. He was, of course already widely known within rock circles, having won numerous 'best guitarist' polls. The success of 'Beat It' achieved Jackson's aim of producing a song that would cross over to rock and in return Van Halen (both the guitarist, and the band named for him and brother Alex) got a lot more attention.
Eddie Van Halen wasn't the only rock musician to appear on the track; others included were Steve Lukather, plus Steve and Jeff Porcaro of Toto. The song's video (whose concept was about gang disputes), was also influential, featuring a synchronised dance sequence which went on to become a trademark of his videos (and would be taken a step further on the track 'Thriller'). Dance sequences began to feature in videos from other artists too, including rock singer Pat Benatar, whose 'Love Is A Battlefield' video featured a Jackson-inspired sequence. Not only that, but other mainstream artists suddenly found room for a guitar solo in their songs, once Jackson's 'Beat It' paved the way.
Jackson collected eight Grammy awards the next year, two of which were for 'Beat It'. His achievements in 1983 could span several articles (they will!) but the significance of a soul artist successfully crossing over and making a hit rock song was just the start of a phenomenal year for Michael Jackson. Here is 'Beat It':
No comments:
Post a Comment