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Jackson, Michael
Listen to Michael Jackson:
More than other styles, production was immensely important to the success of a dance hit. The long-term result is that many songs from this period don't enjoy the same longevity as the pop music that preceded it. The competitive nature of the producers caused them to insist upon 'hotter' sounds that would become obsolete once a newer innovation came along. With too much attention on production and not enough on content, songs were easily dismissed in a short span of time.
The Jackson's career at Epic Records had gotten off to a slow start, but once they were granted the creative license to write and produce their own material, things improved dramatically. Although their career had been disappointing during most of the disco period, they were now fully prepared to write and record songs in the post-disco style of dance music. "Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" was the Jackson's entry into the post-disco maze, and it immediately brought them up to date. The production was as hot as anything that had preceded it, but there was something even more fascinating about the sound of this record. It had been five years since the Jackson 5 had left Motown and in that time, all of them, particularly Michael, had visibly aged. No longer a precocious teenager, Michael Jackson was an introverted young man who had become so accustomed to being in the public eye that a normal life was all but impossible. His unique persona combined the asexual tension of a man obsessed with his privacy and an appealing, unthreatening assertiveness that brought considerable intensity to his performance. This made "Shake Your Body" fascinating to listen to and proved to be too good to be easily dismissed.
As it turned out, "Shake Your Body" was nothing more than a precursor for what was to come. Michael Jackson had decided to take the considerable risk of renewing his solo career and asked Quincy Jones to assist him in formulating an album. Using the cream of L.A.'s session musicians and incorporating meticulous attention to every detail, from song selection to production, Jones and Jackson created a masterpiece of perfectly executed dance pop and balladry. Off The Wall was the title of the album, and it yielded four top ten hits, including "Rock With You" (#1 for four weeks), "Off The Wall" (#10) and "She's Out Of My Life" (#10). The first single and the highlight of the set was Jackson's own composition, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". With its airtight groove and letter-perfect production, this one song is enough to justify the entire disco trend. It has all of the ingredients, yet it escapes sounding stereotypical - a miracle, really. Syncopated horns, a processed beat, a string section, falsetto voices, a funky guitar riff, sharp-as-a-tack production and sexual innuendo would usually add up to nothing more than another variation on a common theme. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a wonder in that it effortlessly soars over the heads of its plebeian competition. With generic ingredients, Jackson and Jones created state-of-the-art dance music that still sounds innovative today.
 
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