The whole idea of this website was initially supposed to be to add an blog entry every time I wrote a song, for the purpose of promoting the creation and recording your own music at home. That would allow those kind enough to read to follow along in my progress.
If you've been following along at your computer you've been nodding off and you've noticed that your computer has been collecting dust. I just have not been creating enough musical output, for a variety of reasons. That being the case, I thought I would widen the focus of the blog to include commentary not just on my own music, but on others as it relates to the music creation process.
A quick legal comment: one reason I was hesitant to cover music by others is the wild, unsettled universe of copyright on the web. I am now confidently aware of the concept of <fair use>. What that means is that as long as I use small illustrative clips of other people's music for commentary purposes only, everything in this blog will be legal and proper. It is analogous to one literary work quoting another, with attribution of course.
That being the case, the first musical influence I will choose to comment on became clear given recent events: Michael Jackson.
Since some who read this may idolize him, I will be honest--I believe with reasonable certainty that he actually did the criminal acts for which he was acquitted. I don't intend to argue the point--I'll just refer you to a book written by the uncle of one boy.
Still, that does not prevent me from being a fan of the music.
There's a funny thing about the artists I believe to be pedophiles--that does not prevent them from creating outstanding work. Woody Allen went on to make Match Point; Roman Polanski, The Pianist; R Kelly, Trapped In The Closet. Does committing questionable acts and getting away with it affect the creative process?
I said I would be honest.
But back to the subject at hand: the influence of Michael Jackson. I can point to one particular song he wrote which made a huge impression on me as a songwriter. He did not even record the song under his own name, although he made a cameo appearance on it. The song is "Centipede", performed by his sister Rebbie Jackson.
Even at the height of their fame the Jackson family always said Rebbie was the best singer in the family, and I agree. Even so, in spite of the song being a hit her career never took off.
What really impressed me though was not so much the song she sang but the flip side of the single. That was the same song without the lead vocal. It introduced me to a whole new way of listening to pop music.
When you listen to a song without the lead vocal you can hear things that were there all the time which you never heard before. As a songwriter it was a revelation.
Although I have heard Michael haters (incredibly) claim he did not write his own music, it is clear that he certainly wrote many of his biggest hits. What separates him from you and me is that in his position at the top of the musical food chain he had access to the best equipment, the best engineers--and the best collaborators.
I remember reading a musician's comment at the time (I'm sorry, I don't remember who it was) that indicated as soon as he heard "Centipede" he said to himself, "that has got to be Michael Boddicker."
I had read a little about Michael Boddicker and I made it my business to find out more. As soon as I heard some of his music I knew what the musician was talking about.
Boddicker worked with Jackson as a synthesist and arranger. He was highly in demand for his original sounds (e.g., the opening analog synth bass sound in Luther Vandross' "Stop To Love" is his). The instrumental portion of Jackson's song behind the shouted lyric "Centipede!" was identifiably Boddicker's style. It was clearly sequenced and quantized. It is reasonable to assume that Boddicker performed a large portion of the instrumental version of the song.
One lesson I took from countless plays of that instrumental was that it did not matter how expensive the gear was that I had. I had enough. I did not have Boddicker's chops, but I could slow down my MIDI sequencer and put together a sequence of sounds just as elaborate as a professional.
Even though there was a world of difference between Michael Jackson's music and mine I could take my time and make it sound as though I hired Michael Boddicker. And so can you.
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Because this blog centers more around songwriting than singing or performing, the video in the sidebar "Gone Too Soon" shows an example of one of the extremely well crafted songs Jackson was able to give us. This slower paced example was not written by him but by Buz Kohan and Larry Grossman. Again Michael Boddicker added his magic to Jackson's version of the recording. I must admit though, I selected this version because in my opinion the performance in the video, taken from the memorial for Jackson soon after his death, was striking, better than he performed it himself.
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Michael Jackson
