written by Siedah Garrett and Glen Ballard

produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson

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A: Virtually nothing, I’d imagine.

 

Q: What can possibly be said about Michael Joseph Jackson in

the 2020s that has not already been said in the 50 years prior?

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Michael and his slightly less famous siblings (yes, we could say equally famous, but who’d we be kidding) were from Gary, Indiana. Michael himself was born summer ’58, and became a young Prince of Pop in single-digit years with older brothers Marlon, Tito, Jermaine and Jackie to form Jackson 5. Their break came toward the tail end of the ’60s, starting with the record Diana Ross Presents The Jackson 5... (I can’t say for sure, I wasn’t there, but we do know Michael and Diana did a fair share of collaborating in the ’70s and ’80s) and a string of hits from there, spilling into the ’70s with the equally successful album—and title track therefrom—ABC.

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The brothers Jackson mixed hits written by their loyal Motown personnel—including label founder Berry Gordy himself—and the occasional old standard or two, with staying power into the late ’80s, definitely keeping Michael busy juggling the band projects with his solo career, which we haven’t big enough words to describe. His solo career goes all the way back to 1972, starting with Got To Be There, Ben, and Music & Me. The young pop king’s recording career cooled off around the mid-’70s... then torridly heated up with the release of Off The Wall, shortly before his 21st birthday. It included one of Michael’s first collaborations with ex-Beatle and current Wings frontman Paul McCartney: Michael’s version of the Wings song “Girlfriend.” This was a few very eventful years before Michael purchased the entire catalogue and publishing rights of The Beatles for 47.5M USD.

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The Jacksons had been continuing to enjoy success with releases Goin’ Places, Destiny and Triumph, the third of which opened the ’80s. Throughout the latter half of the ’70s, they’d changed their name from The Jackson 5, and also switched labels, from PolyGram’s Motown to CBS’ Epic. The last single released from Triumph was “Walk Right Now,” in June ’81. A year and a half later... we know we’re all waiting for it, let’s just say it... Michael dropped what would become the biggest-selling album in the history of the recording industry.

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Thriller, nothing short of a hit machine, with every song being a doozy—7 out of 9 original tracks being released as singles, and 1 more as a b-side—sold a total of 66 million+ copies as of my constructing this page... this page, however, is not dedicated to a Thriller song, but rather a song on the next full-length solo Michael record five years later. In the span of those five years, Michael teamed up with Lionel Richie and 44 other American artists to ease famine in Africa by organizing and recording “We Are The World” (with a little inspiration from Britain’s Band Aid the Christmas before).

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As there seemed now to be no limit—be it the sky, the moon, the stratosphere—Michael spent the next two years working on the following solo album, which turned out to be another birthday release (just after his 29th) with the goal set to hit the next milestone of sales: 9 figures. He wanted to see if he could make the new album sell one hundred million copies (that’s a whopping eight zeroes), an achievement Thriller couldn’t reach. But at the time... anything seemed possible. And with to date 35 million+ copies sold, this new 1987 album didn’t do too *Bad* itself. As the song we’re featuring here was released on Bad, and as a single the following February, I’m going to end the summary here.

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“Man In The Mirror” deals with a recurring subject in much of Michael’s work, changing the world for the better—also suggested by the music video—this time taking a closer look at oneself to help do it. There was still work to be done after the philanthropy of “We Are The World,” and Michael’s music continued to reflect it—as the ’91 album Dangerous would attest with a cut called “Heal The World”—when he wasn’t wowing audiences with some outstanding dance moves, that is.

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RIP Michael, 8/29/58 to 6/25/09.

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(Oh, dear... I’m biting off all I can chew printing these lyrics... thank goodness the insert comes with them. It’s just going to be painstaking.)

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Have notes to add? Let me know!

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YT:

full version

music video

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Michael’s official website