Michael Jackson on YouTube
If you search “YouTube Michael Jackson,” you will find that the King of Pop has dozens of hits, complete with extremely well produced videos.
Michael Jackson, the one and only King of Pop, created some of the most amazing music videos, now on YouTube, that the world has ever seen.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Thriller
Michael Jackson’s Thriller is a 14-minute feature-length movie and music video for the song “Thriller,” released on December 2, 1983, and directed by John Landis. Michael Jackson and John Landis co-wrote the screenplay. At the time, Thriller was the most expensive video ever made, costing US$500,000. Guinness World Records listed Thriller in 2006 as the “most successful music video,” selling over 9 million units.
Often referred to as the greatest music video ever, Thriller proved to have a profound effect on popular culture, and was named “a watershed moment for the [music] industry” for its unprecedented merging of filmmaking and music.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
The short film and music video for Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is considered the video that brought MTV, a fairly new and unknown music channel at the time, into mainstream attention.
Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was one of the first videos by a black artist to be played regularly by MTV, as it had felt that black music was “not rock enough.”
Directed by Steve Barron, the Billie Jean music video shows a paparazzo following Jackson. The paparazzo never catches the singer, and even when photographed, Michael Jackson fails to materialise on the developed picture.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal
Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” music video was a hit. Jeffrey Daniel of the soul music group Shalamar co-choreographed the “Smooth Criminal” video. It was directed by special effects coordinator Colin Chilvers. Currently there are four different versions of the video for “Smooth Criminal”: Moonwalker Version, Moonwalker Edit, Album Version and the Single Version.
The video won Best Music Video at the 1989 Brit Awards.
In the Alvin and the Chipmunks video special Rockin’ with the Chipmunks, part of the music video is shown, but with animation of Alvin inserted.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Beat It
The short film and music video for Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”, directed by Bob Giraldi and choreographed by Michael Peters, helped establish Michael Jackson as an international pop icon. The film was Michael Jackson’s first treatment of black youth and the streets. Both “Beat It” and Thriller are notable for their “mass choreography” of synchronized dancers, a trademark of Michael Jackson.
The Beat It music video included around 80 genuine gang members — to add authenticity to the production — and 18 professional dancers. Inspired by the Broadway musical West Side Story, the video cost Jackson $150,000 to create after CBS refused to finance it.
The video’s featured choreography opened up many job opportunities for dancers in the US.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Dirty Diana
Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” music video was shot in early 1988 in front of a live audience. The video starts with a low guitar note, followed by MichaelJackson performing in front of an audience.
The music video rotates between shots of Michael Jackson performing and shots of a woman walking down a dark alley. Michael Jackson ends his performance by ripping off his shirt and ad-libbing dance moves. After the concert, the King of Pop races down the stairs toward his limo. He opens the door, only to find Diana waiting for him, with the video ending on the same guitar note as it began. The woman is portrayed by musician and singer Sheryl Crow who was the back-up singer for Michael during this time.
The video won the “Number One Video In The World” at the 2nd World Music Awards held on April 14, 1989.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Ben
Michael Jackson’s “Ben” is a number-one hit song written by Don Black and Walter Scharf and recorded by Michael Jackson for the Motown label in 1972. “Ben” was originally written for Donny Osmond, though offered to Jackson since Osmond was on tour at the time and unavailable for recording.
“Ben” won a Golden Globe for Best Song. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1973; Michael Jackson performed the song in front of a live audience at the ceremony.
Although Michael Jackson had already become the youngest artist to ever record a number-one (”I Want You Back” with The Jackson 5, in 1970), “Ben” made him the third-youngest solo artist, at fourteen, to score a number-one hit single.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Don’t Stop ”Til You Get Enough
The music video for Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” was directed and produced by Nick Saxton and made its world premiere in October 1979. “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” was Michael Jackson’s first solo music video. The music video featured a smiling Michael Jackson floating over a background of abstract, geometric figures, and performing dance techniques while singing the song in a tuxedo. At one stage, Jackson is seen dancing in triplicate, which was considered innovative at the time.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Rock With You
Michael Jackson’s “Rock with You” was released on November 3, 1979, as the second single from Michael Jackson’s fifth solo LP and breakthrough album, Off the Wall. Written by Heatwave group member and songwriter Rod Temperton, the song helped Jackson score one of the first Billboard number-one singles in the 1980s, as well as one of the last big hits of the disco era. “Rock With You” reached number one on both the pop and R&B singles chart and became one of Jackson’s most-loved songs.
A “Rock With You” music video features a happy Michael Jackson dancing in a sequined suit against a background laser. According to Billboard, the song was the fourth biggest single of 1980.
YouTube Michael Jackson – I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
Michael Jackson’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” is a popular ballad featuring a duet with Siedah Garrett. Written and composed by Michael Jackson, it was originally intended to be a duet between Jackson and his woman of choice: either Barbra Streisand or Whitney Houston. Even Aretha Franklin and Agnetha Fältskog (formerly of ABBA) were offered the song, but all four had other obligations.
YouTube Michael Jackson – Black or White
The music video for Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” was first broadcast on MTV, BET, VH1, and Fox (giving them their highest Nielsen Ratings ever) on November 14, 1991. Along with Michael Jackson, the “Black or White” music video featured Macaulay Culkin, Tess Harper, and George Wendt. The video was directed by John Landis, who previously directed Thriller.
The “Black or White” music video shows scenes in which Africans begin dancing like Jackson; so do, in sequence, Indonesians, American Indians, a woman from India and a set of Russians. Jackson walks through visual collages of fire (defiantly declaring “I ain’t scared of no sheets; I ain’t scared of nobody”), referring to KKK torch ceremonies before a mock rap scene shared with Culkin and other children. The group collectively states, “I’m not gonna spend my life being a color.” At the end of the song, different people dance as they morph into one another (shown as “talking heads”), which is reminiscent of the earlier music video for the Godley & Creme song “Cry”. This technique, known as morphing, had been previously used only in films such as Willow and Terminator 2.
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