Speaker 1: What's up, music heads, We are back. You are listening
Speaker 1: to Crash Course Pod. It's been a long hiatus, about
Speaker 1: nine weeks, but Crash Course Pod is officially back on
Speaker 1: the mic.
Speaker 2: I am your.
Speaker 1: Host Ashtone and I really needed a break to recharge,
Speaker 1: but I just couldn't stay away any longer, especially not
Speaker 1: this week. So let's get into our topic for the day.
Speaker 1: Two days ago or a few days ago actually now.
Speaker 1: One of the most anticipated music biopics of the decade,
Speaker 1: Michael hit the theaters, and if you've seen it, you.
Speaker 2: Know why we're here today. I have not yet.
Speaker 1: Anyways, we're just talking about a pop star. We are
Speaker 1: talking about the architect of the modern music industry.
Speaker 2: Today.
Speaker 1: We're breaking down the genius of Michael Jackson. All right,
Speaker 1: you guys, So.
Speaker 2: Let's get into it.
Speaker 1: You can't talk about the genius of Michael Jackson without
Speaker 1: talking about the Sponge. With Sponge, I'll tell you. In
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight and nine year old Michael auditioned for
Speaker 1: Motown by mimicking James Brown's every move. Nine year old
Speaker 1: Michael performed James Brown I got the feeling for Motown executives.
Speaker 1: Gordie later said that Michael was a sponge in the
Speaker 1: way that he didn't just sing. He studied the way
Speaker 1: the adults worked, controlled the room. And it just that
Speaker 1: Barry Gordy didn't just see a kid, he saw a
Speaker 1: professional in Michael Jackson. So then we have the Motown machine.
Speaker 1: The Jackson Five were the ultimate product. They were the
Speaker 1: first act ever to have their first four singles go
Speaker 1: number one. By nineteen seventy those four singles that went
Speaker 1: number one was I Want You Back, ABC, The Love
Speaker 1: You Save, and I'll Be There. They all went number
Speaker 1: one on the Billboard Hot one hundred.
Speaker 2: So the first major crash.
Speaker 1: Course lesson, in my opinion, is always knowing when to leave.
Speaker 1: And in nineteen seventy five, the group left Motown for
Speaker 1: Epic Records because Motown wasn't letting them write their own music.
Speaker 1: With that leave, they rebranded as the Jacksons, and Michael
Speaker 1: began transitioning as a solo dominance with Off the Wall
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine and also by teaming up with
Speaker 1: Quincy Jones. So let's get into the musicality of this man.
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson was a vocal percussion. He didn't just sing lyrics.
Speaker 1: He dictated every baseline, every synth layer into a tape recorder.
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson would often beatbox or vocalize every single layer
Speaker 1: of a track, the rhythmic pocket and even the string counterpoints,
Speaker 1: and his engineers would listen to that on the tape
Speaker 1: recording and produce the magic. He was essentially a human
Speaker 1: daw digital audio workstation. His hiccups and gasp I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna gasp, but his gasps weren't just ticks. They were
Speaker 1: percussive instruments. They were there to fill the empty spaces
Speaker 1: and the melody, keeping the listener's ear engaged even during
Speaker 1: the transitions.
Speaker 2: So let's start off.
Speaker 1: With my very first song, human Nature. That's like one
Speaker 1: of my very favorite songs so written by Steve Piccario
Speaker 1: of the band Toto.
Speaker 2: That's the origin.
Speaker 1: Anyways, if you listen to the subtractive arrangement, it's ethereal.
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson uses a reathless, whispered delivery that creates a
Speaker 1: sense of intimacy, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: The why why?
Speaker 1: The that part is like a call and response with
Speaker 1: the sense that sticks to your brain forever.
Speaker 2: Why why that way?
Speaker 1: I love that song. It's so angelic and beautiful and melodic.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: So then we have the song black or White, which
Speaker 1: you guys should be writing these down. So if you
Speaker 1: have never listened to a Michael Jackson song, because who knows,
Speaker 1: I would say start off with the band you know,
Speaker 1: listen to I Want You Back, ABC's.
Speaker 2: I'll Be There.
Speaker 1: Those are like the top three from them as a
Speaker 1: group that I really really like and everyone else does too.
Speaker 1: And then if you want to start getting into his
Speaker 1: solo career than its human Nature and then Black or White,
Speaker 1: Black or White, So so far you should have those
Speaker 1: songs written down to check out later. Anyways, everyone thinks
Speaker 1: that Slash played that main riff on Black or White
Speaker 1: because he's in the video, but the actual riff, according
Speaker 1: to my sources, was written and played by producer Bill Botreaux.
Speaker 1: Just a little, just a little fun fact on the
Speaker 1: crash cars. Anyways, this was a genre bending label at
Speaker 1: its finest, hard rock, pop and rap bridge. Michael Jackson
Speaker 1: used one note harmonies in the verses to build pressure
Speaker 1: before the chorus exploded. My favorite part of Black and
Speaker 1: White is that guitar.
Speaker 2: Turn dun.
Speaker 1: Dun.
Speaker 2: I took my baby fond.
Speaker 1: I don't know the words, guys, but anyways, I love
Speaker 1: that song because baby or my baby don't matter if
Speaker 1: you like go why I love that song.
Speaker 2: Can we get an apploud for me? Alright? So the
Speaker 2: last song I really love. I feel like this last song.
Speaker 1: First off, write it down, but then I feel like
Speaker 1: this last song should be like the new national anthem.
Speaker 1: Like this song, every American or wherever you're from, you
Speaker 1: should wake up and sing the song every single morning.
Speaker 1: It should be national bells that go off and every
Speaker 1: human being seen to this song every every morning. And
Speaker 1: that song I'm talking about is Man in the Mirror.
Speaker 1: That's like my top three Michael Jackson song.
Speaker 2: The Build. It starts with just the.
Speaker 1: Just dry vocals, no reverb, and it's raw, and then
Speaker 1: at like the two minute mark, like the two minute
Speaker 1: fifty second fifty three second mark, we get the legendary
Speaker 1: key change.
Speaker 2: I don't really know, but like this specific maybe G major,
Speaker 2: I don't know, but that's.
Speaker 1: When the key changes. And this is the holy grail
Speaker 1: of pop modulation. It's exactly when the gospel choir enters
Speaker 1: signifying the change in the lyrics. Not to mention the
Speaker 1: lyrics are are just so reflective and inspirational. I love
Speaker 1: a song. I was gonna mimic it just now, but
Speaker 1: I forgot the open.
Speaker 2: I'm starting with me looking at the man in the
Speaker 2: mirror and change his ways. That's all I remember. And
Speaker 2: then like as the song progresses, he gets more like
Speaker 2: into the song and it's just like I'm starting with
Speaker 2: the man in the mirror. Whoa, you know. I don't
Speaker 2: have these written down. But another song.
Speaker 1: That I really really like of Michael Jackson is You
Speaker 1: Rock My Round and Nana.
Speaker 2: As You Rock My World.
Speaker 1: I really liked that song and it's a fun listen.
Speaker 1: I really I think when I was a kid, I
Speaker 1: saw the premiere of that music video up the year
Speaker 1: it came out.
Speaker 2: In two thousand and one, so I was like ten
Speaker 2: when the song came out. But I really like I
Speaker 2: like the music video because it tells a story, and.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it gives me a little bit of like a
Speaker 1: modern take on Billy Jean, like the vibe of Billy Jean.
Speaker 1: You Rock My World is is epic.
Speaker 2: You Rock my Wound. And my favorite part of that
Speaker 2: song is when he goes and girl, I know that
Speaker 2: this is love.
Speaker 1: I felt the Magic song Indy I forgot the I
Speaker 1: forgot the melody, I forgot the whole the melody, but
Speaker 1: I love it and then.
Speaker 2: The oh oh oh.
Speaker 1: All of those little takes in the song, as you
Speaker 1: could say, I love it. And then there's another song.
Speaker 1: I call it the Free Willy Song, but the actual
Speaker 1: song is called It's actually will you Be There?
Speaker 2: Dude. I loved that movie Free Willy as a kid.
Speaker 2: That song came out in ninety one, and so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this song will play like at the end of
Speaker 1: the movie Free Willy, and I would just do my
Speaker 1: little performance.
Speaker 2: I love that song. Hold Me you and my friend
Speaker 2: carry Me like you're my brother, like you my mother?
Speaker 2: Will you be They? And then at the endages builds
Speaker 2: up hold Me, hold Me. So yeah, those are like
Speaker 2: my couple of you. He has some modern music and
Speaker 2: they're good. Actually I do like it. It's just these are
Speaker 2: my favorites. These are my favorites.
Speaker 1: So hopefully you guys wrote those down, and yeah, check
Speaker 1: them out for yourself and listen to them. Just to
Speaker 1: throw in a final one. People also like Smooth Criminal.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I was gonna go into detail about his newer album,
Speaker 1: and we'll probably do that on another episode, but let's
Speaker 1: move on for now and talk about his.
Speaker 2: Let's see what.
Speaker 1: Do we want to go into now We're about to
Speaker 1: end the episode, so let's talk about how Michael didn't
Speaker 1: just want to be good. He wanted to set the
Speaker 1: standard that Virgo perfectionism in him, and so he spent
Speaker 1: his later years calling the next generation to preach the
Speaker 1: gospel of branding. He was great at branding, and I
Speaker 1: think that's what separates a superstar from a global.
Speaker 2: God.
Speaker 1: And I use the word god as the step higher
Speaker 1: than superstar. Anyways, he told the group Brownstone to treat
Speaker 1: their name like Coca Cola, like a Coca Cola brand,
Speaker 1: not just a hit. And during the Invincible Sessions, Michael
Speaker 1: Jackson mentored Brandy on harmonic stacking, and so if you
Speaker 1: listen to her album Full Moon, you're hearing the Michael
Speaker 1: Jackson method of vocal percussion.
Speaker 2: And then we have Usher.
Speaker 1: And Justin Timberlake, who they both cite him as their
Speaker 1: stage professor. He taught them that being a master requires
Speaker 1: a sacrifice. Most people aren't willing to make. Tune into
Speaker 1: the next episode because this was just part one of
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson. We are just getting started. So if you
Speaker 1: want to hear more about him, tune into our second episode.
Speaker 1: That is where all of the Part two information comes.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, guys, I had a great time.
Speaker 1: Links and everything are below Bite