MICHAEL JACKSON - ROCK WITH YOU

Publicació: 3 de novembre de 1979

Llistes: Regne Unit: #7 EUA: #1

"Rock with You" és una cançó escrita per Rod Temperton i produïda per Quincy Jones. Va ser llançada com el segon single del cinquè àlbum d'estudi en solitari de Jackson "Off The Wall". Aquest va ser el tercer número u de la recent estrenada dècada dels 80.

Rod Temperton va ser el teclista i compositor del grup Heatwave. A 1977 va escriure "Boogie Nights" que va ser un éxit a les pistes de ball i va cridar l'atenció del productor de Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones. Jones va contractar Temperton per escriure algunes cançons per a Michael Jackson. Temperton va deixar Heatwave el 1978 per centrar-se en la composició de cançons. Inicialment va oferir "Rock With You" a Karen Carpenter, que en aquell moment estava treballant en l'àlbum en solitari que només seria llançat anys després de la seva mort. Carpenter va rebutjar la cançó. Després la va oferir a Quincy, de manera que finalment Temperton va escriure tres de les cançons que van ser incloses a “Off The Wall”: "Rock With You", "Burn This Disco Out" i la cançó que dona nom a l’àlbum. També va fer els arranjaments vocals a "Rock With You". Jackson i Quincy Jones van gravar la cançó amb molts dels músics de sessió que havien tocat en l'anterior hit número 1 de Jackson "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough".

"Rock With You" tracta sobre ballar, però també parla clarament sobre sexe. Les insinuacions són clares, però la intèrpretació melosa de Jackson fa que es vegi com una balada, enlloc d’una suggerent invitació sexual. Igual que "Please don't go" de KC & The Sunshine Band, la cançó que la va precedir al número 1, o “Reunited” de Peaches & Herb, "Rock With You" es podria incloure en les cançons d'amor easy listening que estaven substituint la música disco que estava sent foragitada de les llistes d’éxit. La diferència és que "Rock With You" era més sofisticada que moltes d’aquelles balades meloses, conservant el subtil toc de balada R&B que la feia ballable tant en parella com en solitari. 

A l'àlbum “Off The Wall”, "Rock With You" apareix just després de "Don't Stop", i immediatament empeny el disc cap a direccions més elegants i subtils. Líricament, "Rock With You" és una cançó bastant trillada i òbvia. Jackson vol ballar fins a la sortida del sol, i és molt clar què vol dir això. “feel that heat, ride the boogie, share that beat of love” (sentir aquesta calor, cavalgar el boogie, compartir aquest batec d'amor), vol que la noia es relaxi i deixi que la música s'apoderi del seu cos. 

Si algú pensa que comparteixen aquest batec d'amor a la pista de ball és que aquest algú és bastant ingenu. Però Jackson ho fa tan suau i delicat que "Rock With You" queda com una agradable invitació a deixar-se seduir per a les noies. Jackson és delicat com la gasa, quan et diu que tanquis els ulls i deixis que el ritme entri en tu, és una petició tímida, no una ordre. Flota eufòricament sobre la cançó, sense semblar que s’està insinuant. Fins i tot la paraula "rock" es torna suau i fràgil a la seva gola. Potser Jackson va pensar que la cançó realment tractava sobre ballar, i potser així va decidir cantar-la. Sigui com sigui, és una peça magistral.

Es va publicar un vídeo musical per a la cançó, utilitzant la versió més curta del single, on Michael apareix vestit lluent i brillant cantant la cançó amb un làser darrere d'ell. Bruce Gowers va dirigir el vídeo musical, que es va rodar el mateix dia que el clip de "She's out of my life". Gowers també va dirigir "Bohemian Rhapsody" de Queen.

"Rock With You" probablement no hauria estat una gran cançó de Karen Carpenter. Probablement no hauria estat una gran cançó per a ningú més que Michael Jackson, però Quincy Jones va escoltar el potencial de la cançó i van convertir "Rock With You" en quelcom màgic. Ningú ho hauria pogut fer millor. L'any 1979, Jackson tenia tot el potencial per ser una estrella, i encara no havia adquirit l'aparença de dur que aportaria a tots els seus discos a partir de “Thriller”. Llàstima que no es va quedar com estava. 

MICHAEL JACKSON - ROCK WITH YOU

Released : November 3, 1979

Charted:  UK: #7  US: #1

"Rock With You" is a song written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. It was released as the second single from Jackson's fifth solo studio album “Off The Wall”. It was also the third number-one hit of the 1980s.

Rod Temperton was the keyboard player and primary songwriter in the group Heatwave. He wrote their 1977 hit "Boogie Nights" which got the attention of Michael Jackson's producer, Quincy Jones, who enlisted Temperton to write some songs for Jackson. Temperton left Heatwave in 1978 to focus on songwriting. He initially offered “Rock With You” to Karen Carpenter, who at the time was working on the solo album that would only see release years after she died. Carpenter turned the song down. Then he offered to Quincy, so at the end Temperton wrote three of the songs that made it onto Off The Wall: “Rock With You,” “Burn This Disco Out,” and the title track. He also did the rhythm and vocal arrangements on “Rock With You.” Jackson and Quincy Jones recorded the track with many of the same ace session musicians who had played on Jackson’s previous #1 hit "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough”.

“Rock With You” is about dancing, but it’s also pretty clearly about sex. And yet because of the song’s all-encompassing lushness and Jackson’s feathery delivery, “Rock With You” feels like a ballad, not a banger. Like KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Please don’t go”, the song that preceded it at #1, “Rock With You” could almost be a reaction to the moment when disco was plummeting off of the charts but easy-listening love songs were holding strong. It’s just that “Rock With You” is an infinitely more sophisticated take on that dance-ballad approach. 

Lyrically, “Rock With You” is a pretty trite and obvious song. Jackson’s character wants to dance you into the sunlight, and it’s pretty clear what that means. He wants to feel that heat, ride the boogie, share that beat of love. Jackson wants his girl to relax and let the music take over her body, but when they "share that beat of love," it's not likely to happen on the dance floor. But Jackson is so soft and vulnerable that “Rock With You” never comes off as the obnoxious come-on that almost any other singer would’ve made it. 

On the Off The Wall album, “Rock With You” shows up right after “Don’t Stop,” and it immediately expands on that song’s sound, pushing it into sleeker and subtler directions. The two main things that Jackson brings to “Rock With You” are his rhythmic grace and his gentle vulnerability. He kept that rhythmic grace for his entire life, but the gentle vulnerability wouldn’t last long. On “Rock With You,” Jackson is delicate like chiffon. When he tells you to close your eyes and let the rhythm get into you, it’s a shy request, not a command. He floats euphorically over the song, never even hinting at the smug eyebrow-waggling innuendo that was the default setting for so many of his ’70s contemporaries. Even the word “rock” becomes soft and fragile in his throat. Maybe Jackson thought the song really was about dancing, or maybe that’s just how he decided to play it. Either way, it’s masterful stuff.

A music video was released for the song, using the shorter single version. It features Michael in a sparkly sequined suit singing the song with a bright laser behind him. Bruce Gowers directed the music video, which was shot the same day as the clip for "She’s out of my life". Gowers also directed Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody”.

“Rock With You” probably wouldn’t have been a great Karen Carpenter song. It probably wouldn’t have been a great song for anyone but Michael Jackson, but Quincy Jones heard the potential of the song and they made “Rock With You” into something magical. Nobody could’ve done it better. Back in 1979, Jackson was all starburst potential, and he hadn’t yet acquired the hard and paranoid edge that he’d bring to all of his records from Thriller on. Too bad it didn't stay as it was.