MICHAEL JACKSON - DON’T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH

Publicació: 10 de juliol de 1979

Llistes: Regne Unit: #3  EUA: #1 (1 setmana)

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" és la primera cançó i el primer senzill del cinquè àlbum d'estudi de Jackson "Off the Wall". Aquesta cançó frenética d'obertura és la peça central de l'àlbum. Va ser el primer enregistrament en solitari sobre el qual Jackson va tenir tot el control creatiu. La cançó va ser un èxit mundial, arribant al número u als EUA i a nou altres països. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" va ser ben rebuda pels crítics músicals i és àmpliament considerada com una de les cançons disco més emblemàtiques de tots els temps.

Fins a aquest moment, Michael Jackson havia assolit quatre números 1 amb The Jackson 5, i un com a solista amb "Ben". Però aquest va ser el primer éxit que va escriure ell mateix. Quincy Jones, que va produir l'àlbum, va animar Jackson a escriure les seves pròpies cançons, i el jove cantant va desenvolupar ràpidament un talent per a la composició. Jackson va escriure o co-escriure nou dels número 1 de la seva carrera, inclòs "We are the world". 

Jackson i Jones van treballar per primera vegada junts en la música per a la pel·lícula de 1978 The Wiz (Jackson va interpretar l'Espantaocells); "Off The Wall" va ser el primer àlbum que Jones va produir per a ell. També va ser el primer àlbum que Jackson va gravar per a Epic Records. Tot el seu treball anterior en solitari va ser amb Tamla Motown. Jones va reclutar asos de la música de sessió per a la cançó: els guitarristes David Williams i Marlo Henderson, el bateria John Robinson, el baixista de Brothers Johnson Louis Johnson. Randy Jackson va tornar a tocar la percussió. És possible que Sheila E. també toqués la percussió, tot i que no va ser acreditada. El teclista Greg Phillinganes va suggerir un fragment de la lletra de la cançó, i probablement se li devia un crèdit com a compositor. Però a la nota de premsa del senzill, només va ser acreditat com a arranjador.

Jackson va escriure "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" a casa, cantant la melodia per a ell mateix una i altra vegada. Va gravar una versió demo de la cançó amb el seu germà petit i company de banda Randy tocant el piano. (Randy s'havia unit als Jackson quan van deixar Motown, en substitució de Jermaine, que es va quedar amb el segell i va anar en solitari. Michael no tocava el piano, així que li va dir a Randy què l’acompanyes). 

"Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" és una cançó disco. En un moment en que aquest fenòmen anava a la baixa, la seva carrera es va enlairar amb aquest tama. Segurament, si el single s’hagués publicat uns mesos abans hauria estat al cim de la llista de Billboard més setmanes de la única que hi va ser. 

Michael canta en falset deixant que la música envolti la seva veu. A la introducció, murmura tímidament, però quan el ritme comença, deixa escapar un crit triomfal i es manté en aquest registre durant tot el temps. Els seus udols no verbals diuen més a la cançó que les seves paraules. Aquí va implementar el seu particular estil de cantar, reconeixible arreu.

El vídeo era molt avançat per a la seva època. Mostrava a Jackson ballant davant de diversos fons funky, amb tres imatges de Michael a la pantalla al mateix temps. El director Nick Saxton, que va ser assistent de producció de la pel·lícula anterior a “Star Wars” de George Lucas "THX-1138", va ser contractat per a dirigir el clip.

La mare de Jackson es va escandalitzar quan va escoltar la cançó per primera vegada, ja que pensava que tractava sobre sexe. I potser tractava sobre sexe. Però es tracta més de l'èxtasi de perdre's en alguna cosa més gran que tu, de lliurar-te. És vaga i mística: “Keep on with the force, don’t stop/ Don’t stop ’til you get enough" (Continua amb la força, no t'aturis / No t'aturis fins que en tinguis prou).

Jackson va guanyar el seu primer Grammy amb aquesta cançó, emportant-se a casa el trofeu a la millor interpretació vocal de R&B, masculí. Va ser nominat aquell any a la millor gravació disco (en l'únic any que es va fer aquesta categoria) però va perdre davant "I will survive" de Gloria Gaynor.

Si bé Michael havia encapçalat per primera vegada el Billboard Hot 100 en solitari amb la balada "Ben" als 14 anys l'any 1972, el seu segon número 1 i el primer a Epic Records va posar en marxa el seu monumental ascens al superestrellat com a intèrpret en solitari, alhora que va presentar als fans a un artista més madur tant en contingut sonor com líric.

MICHAEL JACKSON - DON’T STOP TIL YOU GET ENOUGH

Released : July 10, 1979

Charted:  UK: #3  US: #1 (1wk)

“Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” is the first track and the first single of Jackson's fifth studio album “Off the Wall”. This "jittery, frenetic opening track" is the centerpiece of the album. It was the first solo recording over which Jackson had creative control. The song was worldwide success, reaching number one in the US and other nine countries. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" was well received by contemporary music critics and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most iconic disco songs of all time. 

To this point, Michael Jackson had recorded four #1 hits with The Jackson 5, and one as a solo artist "Ben". But this was the first chart-topper he wrote himself. Quincy Jones, who produced the album, encouraged Jackson to write his own songs, and the young singer quickly developed a talent for composition. Jackson wrote or co-wrote nine more #1 hits in his career, including "We are the world”. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is the first solo song written by Michael Jackson, although "Blues away" had been released in 1976.

Jackson and Jones first worked together on music for the 1978 film The Wiz (Jackson played the Scarecrow); “Off the Wall” was the first album Jones produced for him.

Also this was the first album Jackson recorded for Epic Records. All of his previous solo work was with Motown. Jones recruited session-musician aces for the track: Guitarists David Williams and Marlo Henderson, drummer John Robinson, Brothers Johnson bassist Louis Johnson. Randy Jackson once again played percussion. Sheila E. may have played percussion, too, though she’s not credited. The keyboardist Greg Phillinganes suggested a bridge for the song, and he was probably due a songwriting credit. But on most pressings of the single, he merely got a credit as an arranger.

Jackson wrote “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” at home, singing the melody to himself over and over. He recorded a demo version of the song with his younger brother and bandmate Randy playing piano. (Randy had joined the Jacksons when they left Motown, replacing Jermaine, who stayed with the label and went solo. Michael didn’t play piano, so he told Randy what to play.) According to some reports, the percussion on the demo comes from Michael, Randy, and baby sister Janet, all of them shaking shakers and banging on glass bottles and cowbells with chopsticks. You can easily lose yourself in “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.” The song scans, at least partially, as disco. (Off The Wall, after all, ends with a song called “Burn This Disco Out.”) But it’s not built around the singular drum pulse. It’s rhythms are smaller, trickier, more liquid. They’re full of pushes and pulls. The instruments all seem to be dancing with each other: the rolling and pulsing bass, the euphoric bursts of horn, the diving strings, the layers upon layers of percussion. Jackson just dissolves into all this. He sings it in an airy falsetto, letting the music push his voice all around. Much of the time, he’s near-buried in the mix; his voice fades out before the song does. He understands the beat. He becomes a part of it. On the intro, he mumbles bashfully, but when the beat kicks in, he lets out a triumphant whoop, and he stays in that register throughout. (His nonverbal yowls say more on the song than his actual words do.) Jackson sounds like he’s being lifted heavenward, like his soul is ascending.

The video was very advanced for its time. It showed Jackson dancing in front of various funky backgrounds, with three images of Michael on the screen for a while. Director Nick Saxton, who was a production assistant on George Lucas's pre-Star Wars film “THX-1138”, was brought in to helm the clip.

This was the first Michael Jackson song where he made lots of screams and squeals throughout the vocals. He had tremendous success with the same technique on much of the “Thriller“ album. Jackson’s mother was scandalized when she first heard the song, since she thought it was about sex. And it might be about sex. But it’s more about the ecstasy of losing yourself in something greater than you, of giving yourself over. It’s vague and mystical: “Keep on with the force, don’t stop/ Don’t stop ’til you get enough.”

Jackson won his first Grammy Award for this song, taking home the trophy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. It was nominated that year for Best Disco Recording (the only year that category was offered) but lost to Gloria Gaynor’s "I will survive”.

While Michael had first topped the Hot 100 apart from the Jackson 5 with the ballad "Ben" at age 14 in 1972, his second No. 1 and first on Epic Records set in motion his monumental rise to superstardom as a solo performer, while introducing fans to a more mature artist in both sound and lyrical content.