Yes, he never sang it live in a concert, and I frankly think this is the most difficult MJ song to sing

The key is so damn high I wish he lowered it at some point...

Go check youtube if there's any covers. You'll barely find something decent.

It's one of MJ's most popular songs and yet no one ever seems to have a take on it:

I'm just curious how he did it....

Frankly, a lot of it is youth. Singers often drop the keys of songs either in concert to save their voice a bit, or because of age making one's voice a bit deeper. I noticed a few of the songs on George Michael's Symphonica were in a slightly lower key.

MJ's voice was in prime condition through Bad, so when I hear "Baby Be Mine", it just seems normal. The beauty of that is that a song like "Human Nature" or "The Lady In My Life" have him singing an octave or two lower, and it's just as brilliant. I'd argue that half of Thriller's success is array of diversity in his singing, the vocal aerobics, and the clarity of it all.

He was singing lower, in part, once Dangerous, History, and Invincible came along. There are just a few folks who could hold notes and sing well live in their 40s and beyond. GM's voice was so great during the 25Live tour, and Symphonica. MJ's mostly lip-synced the History tour, and it's just the same old tricks and stunts, and hardly any of the new music was used anyway. Of course, we know Prince's voice was really so great at the end. Those Atlanta show leaks really do amaze me, and I'm a tough critic without any purple-tinted glasses.

MJ's "Baby Be Mine" is an often-forgotten gem on Thriller, as is "The Lady In My Life".

TrivialPursuit said:

Frankly, a lot of it is youth. Singers often drop the keys of songs either in concert to save their voice a bit, or because of age making one's voice a bit deeper. I noticed a few of the songs on George Michael's Symphonica were in a slightly lower key.

MJ's voice was in prime condition through Bad, so when I hear "Baby Be Mine", it just seems normal. The beauty of that is that a song like "Human Nature" or "The Lady In My Life" have him singing an octave or two lower, and it's just as brilliant. I'd argue that half of Thriller's success is array of diversity in his singing, the vocal aerobics, and the clarity of it all.

He was singing lower, in part, once Dangerous, History, and Invincible came along. There are just a few folks who could hold notes and sing well live in their 40s and beyond. GM's voice was so great during the 25Live tour, and Symphonica. MJ's mostly lip-synced the History tour, and it's just the same old tricks and stunts, and hardly any of the new music was used anyway. Of course, we know Prince's voice was really so great at the end. Those Atlanta show leaks really do amaze me, and I'm a tough critic without any purple-tinted glasses.

MJ's "Baby Be Mine" is an often-forgotten gem on Thriller, as is "The Lady In My Life".

I love Baby Be Mine! It is my favorite song off of Thriller. Despite not being a single, I hear this song often on the radio around summer time. It is definitly an underrated gem that deserves more recognition and it is one of Michael's best vocal moments in his career.

The bolded is the reason why I love MJ overall as a singer. He can effortlessly change his vocal pitches and registers depending on the type of song he is singing. I love that he would change his singing style with each album. He would give you vocal hiccups and then lashing grunts but then go back to smooth sensual vocals but back to Thriller One great point you mentioned was the clarity and diversity of his vocal delivery on Thriller and to me overall that is why the album stands out as a classic. Thriller highlights some of his greatest moments as a Tenor vocalist. His voice is so rich and pure when he hits his high notes as well as his vocal diction. The classic songs are just the icing on the cake. I agree Baby Be Mine is one of his more difficult songs and I wish he had sung it live.

I don't care what anyone says Baby Be Mine is a great song

.....that's what i think of the song....

[Edited 2/20/17 17:24pm]

Vocally is a great, wonderful performance but to me is not a special song.

Great album cut, Rod Temperton knew how to write a song, and of course MJ's vocals were on point as usual!

Abdul said:

Great album cut, Rod Temperton knew how to write a song, and of course MJ's vocals were on point as usual!

I think people forget just how funky that old white English dude was, and the hits he wrote while in Heatwave.

Other songs by him, in part, are:

"Give Me The Night" by George Benson

"Off The Wall" (which sounds a lot like "Thriller" and "Boogie Nights" in the bass line)

"Rock With You"

"Thriller"

"Baby Come To Me" by James Ingram and Patti Austin (and Austin sounds a lot like MJ on that record)

"Stomp" by The Brothers Johnson
"Sweet Freedom" by Michael McDonald

"Man Size Love" by Klymaxx

"Ya Mo B There" by James Ingram & Michael McDonald

He also wrote for Mica Paris, Donna Summer, Stephanie Mills, The Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and of course his band Heatwave.

It stands to note that we lost Rod in October 2016. Well, probably. He's gone, but his death was announced in early October. The exact date of his date is unknown. He had an form aggressive cancer. He was only 66.

TrivialPursuit said:

nextedition said:

TrivialPursuit said:

Frankly, a lot of it is youth. Singers often drop the keys of songs either in concert to save their voice a bit, or because of age making one's voice a bit deeper. I noticed a few of the songs on George Michael's Symphonica were in a slightly lower key.

MJ's voice was in prime condition through Bad, so when I hear "Baby Be Mine", it just seems normal. The beauty of that is that a song like "Human Nature" or "The Lady In My Life" have him singing an octave or two lower, and it's just as brilliant. I'd argue that half of Thriller's success is array of diversity in his singing, the vocal aerobics, and the clarity of it all.

He was singing lower, in part, once Dangerous, History, and Invincible came along. There are just a few folks who could hold notes and sing well live in their 40s and beyond. GM's voice was so great during the 25Live tour, and Symphonica. MJ's mostly lip-synced the History tour, and it's just the same old tricks and stunts, and hardly any of the new music was used anyway. Of course, we know Prince's voice was really so great at the end. Those Atlanta show leaks really do amaze me, and I'm a tough critic without any purple-tinted glasses.

MJ's "Baby Be Mine" is an often-forgotten gem on Thriller, as is "The Lady In My Life".

I was always amazed how prince could still hit does high notes when he got older. GM had still a strong voice, but he didnt have a great range anymore. On 25live he let go on some of the high notes. Never knew what happened to MJ's voice. From the 90s he lipsynced almost everything. It couldnt be the dancing, cause the bad tour was 90% live. What happened?

It's probably due to those nose surgeries. Otherwise, I wouldn't blame him. As I said, most of his hits are sung in a VERY HIGH key. His voice dropped like two octaves during the 90s. Anyways, Prince wins in that departement lol.

nextedition said:

I was always amazed how prince could still hit does high notes when he got older. GM had still a strong voice, but he didnt have a great range anymore. On 25live he let go on some of the high notes. Never knew what happened to MJ's voice. From the 90s he lipsynced almost everything. It couldnt be the dancing, cause the bad tour was 90% live. What happened?

I'd agree mostly. GM didn't really use his falsetto much. His range was a great tenor with some lower range as well. While most remember GM has a dance song man, he was really a modern day crooner. Songs From The Last Century, most of Older, and all of Symphonica were more balladry than upbeat stuff like Faith or Wham! material. The thing is, he certainly knew how to use his voice, however his range changed over the years.

I'm not sure what happened to MJ's voice either, but I do believe he eventually got old enough that his childish upper register wasn't going to happen anymore. Blood On The Dance Floor and Invincible had songs in much lower register more often than not, compared to earlier stuff. One rumor for the History tour was that he was either suffering from a cold or something else. But knowing how MJ sings on record vs. live, and it being soooo obvious he was lipsyncing 99% of that material - it was really disappointing. This is a guy who is one of the greatest entertainers of a couple of generations at least (which is no surprise why he and Prince were pitted against each other so much). It just seemed cheap and obligatory by the time the History tour came around. Plus, he didn't do many songs from HIStory, and it was all the same old tricks and gags. If anything, MJ was rather uncreative when it came to a show. Some of those gags dated back to the days of the Destiny, Triumph, and Victory tours. I know it's about the music, blah blah blah, but still. Change something worth seeing.

Shawy89 said:

TrivialPursuit said:

[Edited 2/21/17 20:02pm]

TrivialPursuit said:

Abdul said:

Great album cut, Rod Temperton knew how to write a song, and of course MJ's vocals were on point as usual!

I think people forget just how funky that old white English dude was, and the hits he wrote while in Heatwave.

Other songs by him, in part, are:

"Give Me The Night" by George Benson

"Off The Wall" (which sounds a lot like "Thriller" and "Boogie Nights" in the bass line)

"Rock With You"

"Thriller"

"Baby Come To Me" by James Ingram and Patti Austin (and Austin sounds a lot like MJ on that record)

"Stomp" by The Brothers Johnson
"Sweet Freedom" by Michael McDonald

"Man Size Love" by Klymaxx

"Ya Mo B There" by James Ingram & Michael McDonald

He also wrote for Mica Paris, Donna Summer, Stephanie Mills, The Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and of course his band Heatwave.

I don't think that there's a song that he wrote that I don't like.

SoulAlive said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I think people forget just how funky that old white English dude was, and the hits he wrote while in Heatwave.

Other songs by him, in part, are:

"Give Me The Night" by George Benson

"Off The Wall" (which sounds a lot like "Thriller" and "Boogie Nights" in the bass line)

"Rock With You"

"Thriller"

"Baby Come To Me" by James Ingram and Patti Austin (and Austin sounds a lot like MJ on that record)

"Stomp" by The Brothers Johnson
"Sweet Freedom" by Michael McDonald

"Man Size Love" by Klymaxx

"Ya Mo B There" by James Ingram & Michael McDonald

He also wrote for Mica Paris, Donna Summer, Stephanie Mills, The Manhattan Transfer, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, and of course his band Heatwave.

I don't think that there's a song that he wrote that I don't like.

I was thinking the same thing. Wow what a list! He owned the late 70s -early 80s.

Fantastic track. Although youth is the primary factor, the vocals have been sped up a bit with surgical execution.

imprimis said:

Fantastic track. Although youth is the primary factor, the vocals have been sped up a bit with surgical execution.

Sorry, could you explain this. Hot Street is a good song it should have been in Thriller album.

Y'all in this thread trippin'; don't get me wrong, Michael Jackson was a fucking talented vocalist
and probably one of the most influential vocalists of all time. But this song was not difficult to sing:
it's in the key of E and Jackson's quick and flexible technique handled that key and its modulation
well.

His voice in 80s is stronger than it was later in his career. You guys are doing to MJ what Romantic
composers did with Mozart: making hard hard work and talent and discipline seem like it was some-
thing preternatural when it may have just been hard work and talent and discipline.

Requiescat in pace, Jackson, cos God knows this world failed you.

I remember the first time I heard "Baby Be Mine" I thought my copy was defective/ scratched because of that part where it speeds up where he sings "The Reason that I live"...did anyone else have that experience?

I really like 'Baby Be Mine'. There are about a dozen Michael Jackson solo songs I like, and this is one of them. In fact, it's probably one of my three or four most favorite.

I must say, it's never sounded 'difficult' to sing... but then I've never given it much thought. I really like his vocal, though, and especially he sounds great when he sings "the dawn will be different". He actually sounds kind of mature and almost 'manly' there. I wish he had continued in this direction of R&B-style singing instead of the silly vocal affectations ('shamore!') and attempts to sound like a 6-year-old boy of all the later stuff.