MICHAEL JACKSON - BEAT IT

Publicació: 14 de febrer de 1983

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

"Beat It" és una cançó del seu sisè àlbum d'estudi, "Thriller". Va ser escrita i composada per Jackson i produïda per Jackson i Quincy Jones. Jackson va escriure aquesta cançó quan Quincy el va animar a escriure alguna cosa com "My Sharonna" que va ser un gran èxit per a The Knack el 1979. (Confirmat a "Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones). Quincy i Michael volien que l'àlbum “Thriller” de Jackson arribés al públic més ampli possible. Jackson havia flirtejat amb la música disco a “Off The Wall “, el seu àlbum anterior, i Jackson i Jones estaven preocupats perquè “Thriller” pogués caure en la reacció anti-disco que havia esborrat el gènere de les llistes el 1982. Així que Quincy Jones li va dir a Michael Jackson per escriure una cançó de rock. "Beat It" té un riff gran i potent, i també té el famós solo de guitarra d'Eddie Van Halen. Les emissores de rock van tocar "Beat It", l suficient per que el single arribés fins al número 14 a la llista de Billboard Mainstream Rock. Però "Beat It" encara sonava més com una cançó de Michael Jackson que cap altra cosa.

El solo de guitarra "Beat It" és una part crucial de la llegenda de la cançó i del seu atractiu transversal, Eddie Van Halen va tocar el solo de guitarra. Ho va fer com un favor a Quincy Jones i no li van pagar, va gravar el solo de manera gratuïta. Eddie es va connectar amb Quincy a través de Ted Templeman, que era el productor de Van Halen i amic de Jones. Va ser un bon moment perquè els companys de banda d'Eddie estaven fora de la ciutat, així que tenia temps lliure per assumir un altre projecte. El so característic d'Eddie, que és evident en el solo, incorpora tocs al diapasó. Just abans que comenci el solo de guitarra de Van Halen, se sent un soroll que sona com si algú trucés a una porta. Es diu que el cop va ser d’una persona que entrava a l'estudi de gravació de Van Halen. També es diu que un Van Halen borratxo colpejava la porta de l'estudi, demanant que el deixessin entrar. Una altra llegenda afirma que el so era simplement el músic que colpejava la seva pròpia guitarra. Eddie va construir les seves pròpies guitarres i va desenvolupar el seu propi estil, així que posar-lo a "Beat It" significava que la cançó tindria una secció de guitarra diferent de qualsevol cosa que s'escoltés fora d'un disc de Van Halen. També va portar la seva tècnica innovadora a les oïdes dels fans del pop. Segons Eddie, va fer que l'enginyer reestructures  la cançó per adaptar-la al seu solo, i després va fer dues preses. Jackson va aparèixer després de la segona presa i es va emocionar perquè l'Eddie es preocupés tant per la cançó com per reelaborar-la. Segons Rod Temperton, que va escriure "Rock With You" i "Thriller", es va declarar un misterós incendi a la sala de control mentre Eddie van Halen tocava el seu solo de guitarra. "Eddie estava tocant i els altaveus del monitor es van incendiar literalment", va recordar Temperton a la revista Q. "L'altaveu es va incendiar i tots estaven pensant: 'collons, si que és bo aquest solo!' Els tècnics van haver de córrer a la sala de control amb extintors i apagar-lo". Quan l'àlbum "1984" de Van Halen va pujar al segon lloc als Estats Units durant tres setmanes el març de 1984, "Thriller" el va deixar fora del primer lloc.

Però Van Halen només apareix a "Beat It" durant uns 20 segons. La persona que interpreta el riff és Steve Lukather de Toto. De fet, tres membres de Toto toquen a “Beat It”; el teclista Steve Porcaro i el bateria Jeff Porcaro també hi són.

Part del llegat de Jackson va ser el seu èxit transversal amb el públic blanc, cosa que molts artistes de Motown van aconseguir, però Jackson va assolir un nou nivell. Va ser el primer artista negre que va emetre regularment a MTV, i aquesta cançó va ajudar a ampliar encara més la seva audiència aconseguint que alguns dels seguidors de Van Halen se’n fessin resó. "Beat It" va ser una cançó clau en l'ascens de Jackson al superestrellat.

La lletra tracta sobre la vida al carrer i l'activitat de les bandes, de la qual cosa Jackson estava molt deslligat. Va ser educat per tutors tota la seva vida i es va convertir en una estrella a una edat jove, de manera que la seva interpretació de "dues bandes que es troben per barallar-se" es va basar en les interpretacions de cel·luloide que havia vist, concretament “West Side Story”, que utilitzava les bandes com a art musical. A "Beat It", Jackson va escriure una cançó amb un so dur que tracta específicament i intencionadament del contrari, del valor de no ser dur. La lletra de Jackson va sobre un noi que està sent perseguit per una banda local. El noi vol enfrontar-se a ells, lluitar, i Jackson l’adverteix, una vegada i una altra, que hauria de sortir: “Don’t wanna see no blood, don’t be a macho man.” ("No vull veure sang, no et facis el macho"). Si el noi intenta resistir-se, Jackson sap exactament què passarà: “They’ll kick you, and they’ll beat you, and they’ll tell you it’s fair.” ("Et donaran puntades de peu, et colpejaran i et diran que és just"). Jackson vol que el noi escapi il·lès. Ell sap que no és just, i el seu missatge és que l'equitat no importa. Fes el que puguis per continuar viu.

Després de "Beat It", Jackson va llançar quatre cançons més de “Thriller” com a singles. Tots ells van entrar entre els 10 primers. Cap d'ells va arribar al número 1. Però Jackson estava al cim. "Beat It" va guanyar el 1983 els premis Grammy al disc de l'any i a la millor interpretació vocal de rock.

MICHAEL JACKSON - BEAT IT

Released : February 14, 1983

Charted:  UK: #3  US: #1 (3 wks)

“Beat It” is a song from his sixth studio album, “Thriller”. It was written & composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Jackson wrote this song, he came up with it when Quincy encouraged him to write something like "My Sharonna" which was a huge hit for The Knack in 1979. (Confirmed in “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones). Quincy and Michael both wanted Jackson’s Thriller album to appeal to the widest audience possible. Jackson had flirted with disco on 1979’s Off The Wall, his previous album, and Jackson and Jones were worried that Thriller could get pulled into the anti-disco backlash that had wiped the genre out of the charts by 1982. So Quincy Jones told Michael Jackson to write a rock song. “Beat It” has a big, nasty riff and a chest-puffed-out strut, and it’s also got that famous Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. Rock stations played “Beat It,” at least enough to get the single up to #14 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock chart. But “Beat It” still sounds more like a Michael Jackson song than anything else.

The “Beat It” guitar solo is a crucial part of the song’s legend and of its crossover appeal, Eddie Van Halen played the guitar solo. He did it as a favor for Quincy Jones and was not paid, he recorded the solo free of charge. Eddie connected to Quincy through Ted Templeman, who was Van Halen's producer and friends with Jones. It was good timing because Eddie's bandmates were out of town, so they couldn't give him any static for taking on another project. Eddie's signature sound, which is evident on the solo, incorporates tapping on the fretboard. Right before Van Halen's guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Van Halen's recording studio. Someone says was a drunk Van Halen bashing the studio door, demanding to be let in. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar. He built his own guitars and developed his own style, so getting him on "Beat It" meant the song would have a guitar section distinct from anything heard outside of a Van Halen record. It also brought his innovative technique to the ears of pop fans. According to Eddie, he had the engineer restructure the song to accommodate his solo, then blasted out two takes. Jackson showed up after the second take and was thrilled that Eddie cared enough about the song to rework it. According Rod Temperton, who wrote “Rock With You” and “Thriller“, a mystery blaze broke out in the control room as Eddie van Halen played his guitar solo. "Eddie was playing and the monitor speakers literally caught on fire," recalled Temperton to Q magazine. "The speaker caught fire and were all thinking, like, 'This must be really good, this solo!' That technicians had to race into the control room with fire extinguishers and put it out." When Van Halen's ”1984” album rose to #2 in America for three weeks in March 1984, it was held off the top spot by “ Thriller”.

But Van Halen is really only on “Beat It” for about 20 seconds. The person playing the riff is Toto’s Steve Lukather. In fact, three members of Toto play on “Beat It”; keyboardist Steve Porcaro and drummer Jeff Porcaro are in there, too.

Part of Jackson's legacy was his crossover success with white audiences, something many Motown artists achieved, but Jackson took to a new level. He was the first black artist to get regular airplay on MTV, and this song helped expand his audience further by bringing in some of the Van Halen listeners. "Beat It" was a key track in Jackson's rise to superstardom.

The lyrics are about life on the streets and gang activity, something Jackson was very detached from. He was schooled by tutors his whole life and became a star at a young age, so his interpretation of "two gangs coming together to rumble" was based on the celluloid interpretations that he'd seen, specifically West Side Story, which used gangs as musical art. In “Beat It,” Jackson wrote a tough-sounding song that’s specifically and intentionally about the value of not being tough. Jackson’s lyrics are directed at a kid who’s being chased out of town by a local gang. The kid wants to stand up to them, to fight back, and Jackson warns him, again and again, that he should just get out: “Don’t wanna see no blood, don’t be a macho man.” If the kid tries to fight back, Jackson knows exactly what’ll happen: “They’ll kick you, and they’ll beat you, and they’ll tell you it’s fair.” Jackson wants the kid to escape unscathed. He knows it’s not fair, and his message is that fairness doesn’t matter. Stay alive. Do what you can.

After “Beat It,” Jackson released four more Thriller tracks as singles. All of them made it into the top 10. None of them got as far as #1. But Jackson was at the peak of his culture-dominating powers. “Beat It” won 1983 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Rock Vocal Performance.