I'll never get why Billie Jean is Michael's most famous song. Sure, it's not a bad song but I could name dozens of other songs that are better than it lol.
That seems to be the general consensus, not really an unpopular opinion tbf.
Isn't it the video and Motown 25? I think BJ - and Thriller - are both really good songs but I think they are so deeply embedded in people's minds bc of the videos and the iconic dance routines. I prefer the videos / dance routines for Beat It, SC and Bad but you can't copy those dance moves so easily. Maybe BJ (and Thriller) are more famous bc of the moonwalk and the zombie dance.
I've seen many fans lean towards the other side of the spectrum, prefering Michael to write the majority of songs like he did with Bad.
Yeah I think I misunderstood what you meant haha
Me too
I agree with twymmf....its just walking the stage back & forth until the dance break
I'll spare you the rest of my very impassioned thoughts on this matter. But it's very possible that are just not performances that can be appreciated the same way by men 
I have nothing against the chasing itself but it is boring from left to right and back again.I'm a firm believer that his performances of TWYMMF are for the ladies and I cannot tell you how much I, a lady, appreciate them. The Bad tour Wembley performance of it is one of my favorite performances period. I am beyond weak for him in it
I'm a firm believer that his performances of TWYMMF are for the ladies and I cannot tell you how much I, a lady, appreciate them. The Bad tour Wembley performance of it is one of my favorite performances period. I am beyond weak for him in it
Bc I'm me I have to disagree with both of you.
I agree! But to me it's most hot on the HIStory tour. soooooo fucking sexyI'm a firm believer that his performances of TWYMMF are for the ladies and I cannot tell you how much I, a lady, appreciate them. The Bad tour Wembley performance of it is one of my favorite performances period. I am beyond weak for him in it
Ohhh it's incredible on the HWT! Also I think most of the ladies on here would agree with you
but I am a lunatic for the Bad tour. Still, I adore the HWT performance of it too!!! I.... I cannot even allow myself to open that right now. It will destroy (in the best possible way) my entire day lol. I'm actually not kidding. Any further detail on this will make me sound completely unhinged so that's all I'm going to say
This ties in quite nicely with the discussion about Michael's ambitions to be in film. I watched the bit you flagged up and it is awesome. It's exactly the sort of thing I love from Michael and I think it's part of why I was never fussed on the film thing. I get so much from him as a dancer. All this morning I've been running a little gif in my head - gold leotard, as it happens, lol. But the leotard is not the point. It's all about him moving his right hand up and across his body. It's such an elegant, graceful moment. As his hand moves through space, the lightness of the movement, like his hand is weightless ... just mesmerises me.
This is my favorite comment you've ever made, I think. I want to pin it somewhere on the board forever
Indeed. Especially when each re-release sounds WORSE than the version before. I find it insulting that they think I'd want to keep buying new inferior versions of stuff I already own.
This. Stop using a handful of new songs as an excuse to clock up another sale of a legacy album. If the new songs are that good, just release them as a new release, and let them stand on their own two feet.
IJCSLY has amazing ad libs live.
Those are business choices, not creative choices. And you can blame Joe and Motown for teaching that.
I doubt this is the reason. Because Bob Dylan made commercials advertising stuff and he's considered by the boomer rock press to be the greatest songwriter. In general, rock music (mainly blues based, not really prog or metal) was always taken more seriously than other types of music in the rock magazines. Mike's music is considered R&B or dance music. Dance music (disco, funk, house, electronic, etc.) is usually not given the same importance as what was called singer-songwriter like Paul Simon & James Taylor. Those acts also did not have an old Vegas/Broadway showbiz style image. Early Elvis Presley is usually praised more than 1970s Vegas Elvis, which is sometimes made fun of and so was some of his 1960s soundtrack songs.
This is true, but I think that what I said certainly contributes to his perception as a songwriter.
Like all of those rock acts who did commercials for beer companies?
Anyway, taken seriously by who? Magazines like Rolling Stone & Spin? What difference does that make? It's not like they often rate Tin Pan Alley or songwriters who wrote for movie musicals. The rock media doesn't usually praise people like Diane Warren either, she's mostly known for adult contemporary hits or Barry Manilow. Which is not the cool music. Barry Manilow is not in the Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame (started by the founders of Rolling Stone magazine) and unlikely ever will be. Barry literally wrote jingles for commercials, not just changing the words to his existing songs. Jagger/Richards are praised as songwriters and they sang for cerealLooks like this jingle was done pretty close to the beginning of their career, not when they had made it big. Looking at the comments the consensus seems to be that it was written by Brian Jones not Mick or Keith. So I'm not sure if it's really comparable to the situation with Michael where he was a hugely successful star (the entire reason they wanted him for the ads, obviously) plus he took his big hits of the day and diluted the lyrics to fit the advert.
I'm conflicted about it. I don't like the fact that he messed with his own songs and diluted them for an advert. Otoh, I can understand him wanting to build a business empire and develop other income streams. The pop business is unpredictable and even the most successful artist can find themselves out of fashion. A successful advert can generate a huge amount of money. He worked really hard to build his brand and be highly visible. I'm really old-school about this so I don't really like the fact that he did it but I also admire his business smarts which were phenomenal - at least in the 80's.
