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Rating Rod

What is Rod's best MJ track?

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Tony R

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One of the main contributors to Michael's early solo success is undoubtedly the late, great Rod Temperton.

In fact you could argue that if it wasn't for him, the megastar Jackson may never have happened, so synonymous is the track & video Thriller with the '80s success. Don't read into that that I'm taking anything away from the man himself, but I can't imagine the '80s mania without that track & video.

Anyway, we should discuss his works. And I don't know the answer to this question - but what was Rod Temperton's best MJ track?

I know for me, it's not Rock With You, although I have a feeling it may win this poll. Unless it's the Live at Wembley version, I rarely play this. It's not that I don't like it - I do. But it's just never become one of my favourites (athough vocally it is velvet).

I prefer the title track from the album it came from, & maybe would have voted for this previously; however I'm massively into 'Burn This Disco Out' at the moment. This, like Another Part Of Me from Bad, is a song I cannot sit still to. I just love the groove of it - and like all OTW tracks, the fun, young, exhuberant vocal is a joy to behold.

The Thriller tracks? Well, I think most of us would agree that although Thriller's short film may well be the best ever made, the song itself is no where near his peak. Maybe because it's so overplayed? Maybe because it's so synonymous with Halloween that it seems almost gimmicky? But actually it is a really good song. Especially if you haven't heard it for a while.

Rod's other 2 tracks on Thriller were the only non-singles. In Baby Be Mine's case probably justifiably. Again, its not bad, but not up to its counterparts on the albums.

Lady In My Life however, is just blissful. And despite owning Thriller for 35 years, one I've only really got into in the last 2 years, since Rod released the full 6 minute version that finally explained why I'd had extra lyrics printed on the vinyl & CD.

LIML oozes sensuality and romance and love and sex. And takes the listener on a journey through them all. From the romantic talk of the first verse:

There'll be no darkness tonight
Lady our love will shine (Lighting the night)
Just put your trust in my heart and meet me in paradise (Now is the time)
Girl, you're every wonder in this world to me
A treasure time won't steal away

To the yearning lust of the ad-libs....

(Ooh girl let me keep you warm) I wanna give you all
(You are the lady in my life) In my life
(Feel you with the sweetest love) Let me be your baby
(Always the lady in my life) All over all over all over
(Lay back in my tenderness) Lay back with me
(You are the lady in my life) Let me touch you girl
(Rock me with your sweet caress) Lay back with me
(Always the lady in my life) All over baby
(Ooh girl let me keep you warm)
(You are the lady in my life)
(Fill you with the sweetest love)

Like with Man In The Mirror, even though Michael didn't write it, I don't believe anyone else could sing it like this & I think the ad-libs at the end are what raises the song above great & into brilliant.

Anyway, in answer to my own question, I don't know the answer. Either Burn This Disco Out or Lady In My Life.
 
1. Off The Wall, Baby Be Mine and The Lady In My Life (I know I'm cheating, but I honestly can't choose between these three)
2. Rock With You
3. Thriller
4. Burn This Disco Out
 
1) Off The Wall- Legendary.
2) Lady In My Life- One of MJ's best vocal delivery. Those ad-libs are just heavenly.
3) Thriller- Good song but made more famous by the legendary music video.
4) Burn This Disco Out- Very underrated song. I like MJ's low pitched vocals in this song.
5) Baby Be Mine- Sweet little song that absolutely deserves its place on Thriller.
6) Rock With You- Slate me but I've never been too keen on this song. I find it a bit boring and it's easily my least favourite from Off The Wall.
 
MattyJam said:
Thriller is the best Rod Temperton penned MJ song. Everything about this song is just pop perfection. His vocal delivery is immense (one of his hardest songs to sing ) and the harmonies are blissful. The song is fun, dark and funky all in one. Vincent Price's rap is a stroke of genius.

I feel the song is taken for granted because of how groundbreaking the music video was. And yes, it's been overplayed, but a lot of MJs biggest hits have been.

Interestingly, nobody ever complains about the songs written by Rod Temperton and other outside songwriters on Thriller or Off The Wall, and yet fans act as if it was a cardinal sin for MJ to do this come Invincible.

I can't help but feel like a lot of the songs on OTW and Thriller that were written by outside songwriters benefitted massively from sitting alongside the bona fide classics that MJ penned for those two albums. The songs MJ penned on OTW and Thriller were by far the best ones and it irks me a little seeing fans heaping praise on songs like Baby Be Mine or PYT (two pretty weak songs imo), whilst scoffing at some of the far superior gems on Invincible just because MJ didn't write them.

I think songs like PYT and Baby Be Mine get a free pass, just for being on Thriller. Just because a song happened to be on a classic album, doesn't mean it's great. And by the same token, just because an entire album flew under the radar, it doesn't say anything about the strength of that albums material.
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And the award for the most tenuous way of making a thread into another Invincible one goes to.......

I won't be drawn in, I simply won't....
 
tumblr_lj9hxvsWPZ1qdfk9yo1_400.jpg
 
Wasn't P.Y.T released as a single? I hear it a lot on the radio in the UK
 
analogue said:
tumblr_lj9hxvsWPZ1qdfk9yo1_400.jpg
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Brilliant!

respect77 said:
I don't think they are weak songs. Baby Be Mine actually seems to be pretty popular. Any time there is a poll about Thriller's best tracks on a semi-general forum that I attened (it has an MJ section but it isn't specifically an MJ forum and in those polls not only hard core fans vote) rather surprisingly Baby Be Mine always finishes near the top.

And PYT is one of MJ's most popular tracks on Spotify - and easily his most popular song that wasn't a single. 70 million spins for a song that isn't even among MJ's most famous songs is not too shabby. There is something about it that people seem to like.

While I don't think they are up there with the genius of Billie Jean, WBSS, Beat It or Human Nature, but I think they are good fun songs and I can see why they are popular with the general public. I actually prefer both of them to Thriller.
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Me too. Especially PYT, I love this track.

But this about Rod, so I'll try not to lose my temper (ton).
 
I think Rod Temperton is the songwriter who came the closest to capturing something that Michael would have written himself.
 
analogue said:
I think Rod Temperton is the songwriter who came the closest to capturing something that Michael would have written himself.
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Perfectly put. Totally agree although I'd say same for Siedah and Glen, albeit only having two songs to base it on.
 
I just logged in to say this is the most horrible poll ever.
I'll have to think long and hard about this and come back.
 
Off The Wall and Rock With You are the best ones to me. I'm not that fond of Rod's tracks on Thriller but my favorite one is Baby Be Mine. What makes Thriller to stand out is its legendary short film and Vincent Price's rap, IMO.
 
I voted Lady In My Life! Words can't describe how much I am in love with every little bit of that song. I have been known to have it on repeat in my car for hours at a time. :lol: It is sublime and heavenly and every single superlative I could throw at it!

A very close second for me is Off The Wall - what a slick piece of genius that is. So fun, carefree, gorgeous...

Thriller speaks for itself but I think the sheer amount of times I've heard it, I tend to skip by it a lot.

Look at the quality of all those songs though, pure gold!
 
Off The Wall is amazing too. - Especially live...
 
I love most of Rod's work, but would probably put RWY at #1 on the list.

Just a point though. I don't think the Thriller video was Rod's idea, was it? I'm not sure he even wanted to call it Thriller originally. Or am I remembering this incorrectly?
 
Torn between Off the Wall, Rock with You and Thriller, I finally ch?se Rock with You. When I first heard Rock with You I was indifferent to it but it eventually grew immensely on me, now it's among my favorite songs of Michael.
 
Taking everything into account of course - the groundbreaking video and iconic look - I'm most glad that Thriller came about.

I could just about imagine a world without the other songs, but not Thriller!
 
I couldn't imagine a world without Michael period...but for poll sake let me just say Off The Wall and Lady In My Life are the 2 tracks from that CD that will never sound dated to me. Each time I hear them I grow more in love!!!
 
I meant a video with audio of good quality for Off The Wall from Destiny Tour. Well, I'm interested in the second leg of the tour as a whole but I haven't seen any concerts uploaded.
 
Man I've been struggling with this for a long while now. I'm torn between Rock With You and Lady In My Life

Rock With You. I love everything about this song, the rhythm arrangement, the progression is really soothing as well and Michael's vocals are perfect. I really love the less is more approach here, I wish Michael would have had this style tactic post HIStory era.

Lady In My Life. I don't listen to this often, but when I do I'm blown away. It's the little things in this I adore, how Michael comes back stronger with every verse, the pacing of the song, the thing that shines here is Mike's vocal though, to me this is his first really vulnerable vocal because this emotion was yet unexplored, unlike SOOML, where he'd done similar (not nearly as strong) stuff with early Motown, here he is going full Marvin Gaye and pleading for it.

I'm going to go Lady In My Life, because that song doesn't get as much love as it should.

Great thread by the way. I appreciate all of Rod's songs, whilst all of them might not have been hits, each song makes the record stronger.
 
I guess I need to quit procrastinating and vote in this poll-it's just so hard. 'Rock with You' was my seduction song-Michael says that it's about "coaxing a shy girl onto the dance floor", but to me, it was coaxing a shy girl into bed-and it would have worked.
'Lady In My Life' clenched the deal.

I can't say enough great things about 'Lady in my Life' and how beautiful it is so I'll just re-quote SmoothCriminal1995

Lady In My Life. I don't listen to this often, but when I do I'm blown away. It's the little things in this I adore, how Michael comes back stronger with every verse, the pacing of the song, the thing that shines here is Mike's vocal though, to me this is his first really vulnerable vocal because this emotion was yet unexplored, unlike SOOML, where he'd done similar (not nearly as strong) stuff with early Motown, here he is going full Marvin Gaye and pleading for it.
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It gets my vote. Final answer.
 
All of them are great, but i chose Rock with you, as it is the perfect love song and has voice sounds so made for the song.
Plus the first is the best, I was all of 4 when I first remember hearing it and thinking "I like that song, it makes me feel happy",
I was too young to remember artist names at that age, but established that when Thriller came out, it was that Michael Jackson
guy.

Next would be Off The Wall, joyous pop, then Thriller (Shorn of the Vincent Price monologue) and the other 3.
 
mjprince1976 said:
All of them are great, but i chose Rock with you, as it is the perfect love song and has voice sounds so made for the song.
Plus the first is the best, I was all of 4 when I first remember hearing it and thinking "I like that song, it makes me feel happy",
I was too young to remember artist names at that age, but established that when Thriller came out, it was that Michael Jackson
guy.

Next would be Off The Wall, joyous pop, then Thriller (Shorn of the Vincent Price monologue) and the other 3.
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Why do always insist on shearing off the VP monologue in Thriller?

It's integral to what make the song and video elevate.

It's like saying, I like that E.T film but could do without the cute alien.
 
Tony R said:
Why do (you) always insist on shearing off the VP monologue in Thriller?

It's integral to what make the song and video elevate.

It's like saying, I like that E.T film but could do without the cute alien.
Click to expand...

Because it slows the song down and I have to skip it. Songs should be so god, they can be enjoyed interrupted.
VP's jibba jabba is like a comedy album, hilarious and great the first time you hear it, bearable teh second and annoying
and boring the third time.
 
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