User:JonChesterfield/Lipsum

"Beat It"
File:Michael Jackson beat it uk single cover.jpg
Single by Michael Jackson
From the album Thriller
Single Released	April 1983 (USA) April 1983 (UK)
Single Format	CD Single Cassette Single 7" Single
Genre	Pop/Rock
Song Length	4:16
Record Label	Epic
Writer	Michael Jackson
Producer	Quincy Jones
Video Director	Bob Giraldi
Certification	Platinum
Chart Positions	#1 (USA) #3 (UK)
Michael Jackson single chronology
"Billie Jean" 1983	"Beat It" 1983	"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" 1983

"Beat It" is a very popular 1983 hit single from Michael Jackson's multi-platinum selling album Thriller. It was the third song released as a single, following "The Girl is Mine" (a duet with Paul McCartney) and "Billie Jean", the latter song having directly preceded it at the #1 position on the Billboard Hot 100.

HISTORY

In the years directly preceding "Beat It", Jackson had already composed several of his own hit songs. His "Off the Wall album, released in 1979 and produced by Quincy Jones, featured two of his compositions - "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Working Day and Night" - as well as a third co-written with Louis Johnson, "Get On the Floor". (Similarly, the Jacksons 1978 album Destiny showcased his smash hit song "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)" and 1980’s Triumph had the even more prescient “This Place Hotel”.) In many respects the "Off the Wall" album served as a measure of things to come. Jackson and Jones had laid a foundation for putting songs appealing to different segments of their audience together on one seamless record. Jackson's loyal fan base amongst his R&B audience had spread into mainstream pop for more than a decade, and his songs displayed an uncanny ability to appeal to a fairly wide-ranging group of preferences: those who liked ballads, or dance tunes, or disco, or slightly funkier grooves, or even lighter fare could all find something to appreciate on "Off the Wall."

With Thriller, Jackson and Jones would attempt at once to hone, embellish and surpass this feat. One of their ambitions was to include a rock song on the new album. They took partial inspiration from another chart-topping rock song by The Knack. According to Jones, "I said at the time, 'I need a song like 'My Sharona'...A black version of a strong rock and roll thing, with the power of everything else he [wrote]. And [Jackson] hit it right on the head."

Kicking off with an instantly recognizable "gong" which quickly segues into an equally distinctive rapid fire drumbeat and then the ongoing guitar riff, "Beat It" speaks of urgency from the outset and indeed plays out like the urban cousin of "My Sharona". The lyrics to "Beat It" are an immediate, frightful warning to avoid fighting and violence at all costs, especially when honor seems to be at stake ("It doesn't matter who's wrong or right").

SONG & VIDEO IMPACT

By all acounts, "Beat It" was an unqualified smash hit and is often heralded as the ultimate crossover hit. Not only did "Beat It" fare well with Jackson's R&B and pop fans, but it also did with rock and heavy metal fans because of Van Halen's contributions. Radio stations still playing the song's album-mate "Billie Jean" added the new one to their playlists, and it too rapidly advanced to the top spot. Jackson and Jones had succeeded in getting R&B radio stations to play a song featuring hard rock elements, and rock stations to play a song delivered from a formidable R&B performer. Van Halen's legendary guitar solo became ubiquitous across radio dials around the world.

Also as with its predecessor "Billie Jean", "Beat It" enjoyed unprecedented success on the still-growing cable network MTV. In fact, the music video for the new song was even granted an exclusive nighttime "World Premiere" on the channel, establishing a long-running tradition for top artists. Soonafter it was also running on other cable networks and video programs including BET's Video Soul and WTBS's Night Tracks. "Beat It" was also the first video shown on NBC's offering in this new market, Friday Night videos.

The video was directed by Bob Giraldi (who would go on to direct Jackson and his brothers in two Pepsi commercials) and choreographed by Michael Peters (who would later tackle the same task on Jackson's epic "Thriller" video). Many of the participants in the video's dance sequences were actual street gang members, brought in to authenticate the look and feel of the piece.

POP CULTURE

- In an issue of THE NEW TEEN TITANS from 1984, the character Cyborg crushes a boom-box blaring "Beat It" that belongs to a street-gang member.

- Heavy metal band Metallica covered this song, along with many others, at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.

- The song and its video were both parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Eat It".

- Actor Stoney Jackson (no relation) is one of the faux "gang-members" in the dance sequence.