Bassist Louis Johnson and Tom Scott on the lyricon, a wind-controlled analog synthesizer, created one of the most iconic intros to a song in pop history with their intro to Michael Jackson‘s 1983 hit “Billie Jean.” The second single from Michael Jackson’s 1983 album Thriller topped the pop chart and won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Song and Best R&B Male Vocal Performance.
Despite its success, “Billie Jean” was nearly never released. While recording at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles, producer Quincy Jones had a problem with the lengthy bass line intro, which went on 29 seconds before Jackson’s vocals came in. Initially, Jones wanted to trim the intro from the song, but Jackson pushed back. He knew that “Billie Jean” was a bonafide hit as it was, and said it made him want to dance.
“I said, ‘Michael we’ve got to cut that intro,’” recalled Jones. “He said, ‘But that’s the jelly! That’s what makes me want to dance.’ And when Michael Jackson tells you, ‘That’s what makes me want to dance,’ well, the rest of us just have to shut up.”
Once released on January 3, 1983, “Billie Jean” sold more than a million singles and went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for seven weeks and topped the R&B chart for nine weeks. Thriller picked up a total of eight Grammys, topped the Billboard 200, and remained in the top 10 of the chart for an entire year.
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[RELATED: 7 Songs You Didn’t Know Michael Jackson Wrote for Other Artists]
“Unique Sonic Personality”
When they were first recording “Billie Jean,” Jones told engineer Bruce Swedien that the track needed to have “the most unique sonic personality of anything that we have ever recorded.” Jackson sang vocal overdubs through a six-foot-long cardboard tube. Then, Scott came in with the lyricon, and Johnson landed on using his Yamaha bass, which Jackson picked after the bassist played the intro on every instrument he owned.
It was only after the song was recorded that Jones had issues with the intro. Michael also wanted to get the sound just right and agonized over the recording with Jones.
“I adored Michael,” added Swedian. “He was the greatest. He’d say, ‘Bruce, that was perfect but let’s try one more.’ This was mix 80, [but] I said no problem.”
The ‘Real’ Billie Jean?
Written by Jackson, “Billie Jean” was never inspired by one person in particular. Instead, it was an amalgamation of many Jackson and his family had come in contact with throughout the years.
“The girl in the song is a composite of people we’ve been plagued with over the years,” revealed Jackson in his 1988 autobiography Moonwalk. “This kind of thing has happened to some of my brothers and I used to be really amazed by it. I couldn’t understand how these girls could say they were carrying someone’s child when it wasn’t true. I can’t imagine lying about something like that.”
She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene
I said don’t mind, but what do you mean, I am the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round?
She said I am the one, who will dance on the floor in the round
She told me her name was Billie Jean, as she caused a scene
Then every head turned with eyes that dreamed of being the one
Who will dance on the floor in the round
People always told me be careful of what you do
And don’t go around breaking young girls’ hearts
And mother always told me be careful of who you love
And be careful of what you do ’cause the lie becomes the truthBillie Jean is not my lover
She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son
She says I am the one, but the kid is not my son
For forty days and forty nights
The law was on her side
But who can stand when she’s in demand
Her schemes and plans
‘Cause we danced on the floor in the round
So take my strong advice, just remember to always think twice
(Do think twice, do think twice)
[RELATED: 7 Songs You Didn’t Know Quincy Jones Wrote for Other Artists]
Though “Billie Jean” made pop music history, Jones later denied that he ever had an issue with the track. “This whole fallacy of me not liking ‘Billie Jean’ is a lie,” said Jones in 2014. “It is some lie that started somewhere. Anybody can hear that record’s a smash. And also I know where it came from.”
Photo: Michael Jackson performs onstage in 1987 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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