SUPRMAN said:

P has never liked performing the song. I don't think he likes to perform Kiss either. I agree that the Musicology arrangements are the best they had ever sounded, but you won't be catching him performing it on any talk show (WDC that is).

SoulAlive said:

That's because of "One More Try". It was a big r&b hit.

daPrettyman said:

SoulAlive said:

"Father Figure" was also big on R&B radio (and "Hard Day" to a lesser extent).

AlexdeParis said:

I 4got about "Hard Day". I love that song.

shorttrini said:

explain to me how bad dangerous and history were attempts to top thriller all of these albums are different

daPrettyman said:

One of my favorites!

cdcgold said:

If you listen to those Cd's they do have that "Thriller" "pop sound", to them. But unlike "Thriller", their sound is not as consistent as that album. Quite frankly, I have not liked anything he has put out since, "Off The Wall". Why, because it sounds like the last time that he had fun making an album. Nothing that he has put out since has that vibe, especially the albums after "Thriller".

shorttrini said:

I know a lot of people that say that. Me, personally, I think it depends on your age. You find most people that are over 40 don't like anything after OTW. They think that OTW was his last great album. I happen to like all of Mike's solo albums. Especially Dangerous. It ranks among my favorite albums of all time. I also like HIStory. They are just different types of albums. Doesn't mean they are bad albums.

I think some people think an artist should stay on auto-pilot and do the same thing over and over. When they try to grow, it alienates some fans.
[Edited 4/10/09 10:02am]

daPrettyman said:

If I had to pick two of his cd's that were my favorite it would have to be "Dangerous" and "Invicible". Why, because except for maybe two or three tracks, they were just as good as "Thriller" and even "Off The Wall". What spoiled those two for me were the inclusions of "Heal The World" and "Whatever Happens". Those tracks kept those albums from being another "Thriller". Lastly, "Off The Wall", is an album with staying power, you still hear tracks from that album being played on the radio, especially, "R&B" stations. The same really cannot be said for the material on the other albums, which sounds dated....

shorttrini said:

If u had said "Speechless" or "Cry", I could see, but "Whatever Happens"? That song is one of the best on the album, imo.

FWIW, I hear Michael's music on different formats. Dangerous and Invincible are the only 2 albums that don't get touched by AC formats, but I do hear "You Are Not Alone" on AC formats as well as "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (from Bad). As for the r&b formats, you will forever hear "Remember The Time", "Can't Let Her Get Away" (during old school house mixes), "You Rock My World", "You Are Not Alone" and "Butterflies". It all depends on where you live.

daPrettyman said:

yep, on AC stations, I hear Black or White and from Invincible, I hear You Rock My World

SoulAlive said:

See reply #102 . . .

daPrettyman said:

Ummmm who associated songs that aren't on an album with the album?
(Strike the question as apparently you do.)
Neither one even sounds like they belong on 'Purple Rain.'

SUPRMAN said:

So, you think that a pop artist cannot make an r&b album? Boy George made "High Hat" and it was a straight r&b album. Sheena Easton made an r&b album with "The Lover In Me". Justin Timberlake's albums both have been r&b albums. I remember "Owner of A Lonely Heart" by Yes getting r&b airplay in the 80s. Especially the remix version. Hell, even Rodney Dangerfield charted on the r&b chart with "Rappin' Rodney".

It goes the other way also, P scored a number one r&b hit with "Let's Go Crazy" and it's not an r&b song. That single went number one mainly because of EC. Same can be said for "Let's Pretend We're Married". It didn't get much airplay on r&b stations, but the b-side did, "Irresistible Bitch". I remember looking at the chart in Jet Magazine in 83 and early 84 where they listed the single as "Let's Pretend We're Married/Irresistible Bitch" because that is what was getting the air play. So, at that time, r&b was taking a new direction that had a more pop feel.
[Edited 4/10/09 13:30pm]

daPrettyman said:

You noticed that too, huh? They have JET Archives and you can see they list b-sides among the a-sides so both sides charted on the R&B side but if you ask them what they listen to, they'll tell you the b-side.

Timmy84 said:

bboy87 said:

Here's the thing about "rock my world", 20 years ago it would have been considered R&B and would be played on R&B stations. That is not the case now. " Heal The World", would have not been played on any FM station, but might have had a chance on AM radio. So, I guess Michael has made a conscious effort to have his music played on the AC stations knowing that the listeners of those stations are the people who are willing to be in his corner, no matter what. I can't say that about his R&B listeners.

shorttrini said:

"You Rock My World" did well on the r&b charts. If it was a new single today, it would still be a r&b hit. You have to remember that MJ is 50 and his core audience is between 30 and 50. They grew up and so did Michael's music. I don't think that Mike made a "conscious effort" to make that kind of music, it just happened that way.

In my area, "You Rock My World" only gets played on the Urban AC station. I'm sure it may be played on a few other formats across the country.

As for Mike's r&b audience, they love most of his music. They still play songs from all of his incarnations (J5, Jacksons and solo projects). Urban AC radio is one of those that is built on a core group of songs. You will forever hear ABC, I Want You Back, Dancing Machine, Shake Your Body Down, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Working Day and Night, Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin' Something, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror and Remember The Time. Those are his core songs that fit their format. If they are a station that plays more recent hits, they'll throw in YRMW and YANA. Usually, most Urban AC stations stick to the music of the 70s and 80s. They rarely reach into the 90s. It's sad, but true.

There is a resurgence in the 90s r&b music format. You will find many "new r&b" formats out there now. But, when you listen to them, they tend to play it safe. They refuse to play up tempo and mid tempo cuts. We have one in Dallas (KRNB www.krnb.com) and they were one of the first ones to do the "new r&b" format. They play lots of stuff from the 90s (including YRMW) as well as the new songs from today. They try to bey "grown and sexy" but at times it comes across as "boring and dull".

SUPRMAN said:

Those songs are from that era and year. Not to mention they are the b-sides from that album. That's all. Most people associate Prince with those songs and they are from the PR era.

daPrettyman said:

Yeah, I saw yo ass tryin' to exclude me!

bboy87 said:

U don't count....u're a different breed of MJ fan.

The only track R&B plays from Invincible is Butterflies. They play absolutely nothing from HIStory BUT You Are Not Alone.

Timmy84 said:

From HIStory, I don't remember anything getting airplay but YANA and Scream. The rest of the singles were pushed to the side.

Now that I think of it, I heard "They Don't Care About Us" on the radio for the first time this past fall when Tom Joyner was trying to get Barack elected. He took that song and made a political song out of it with voice overs and comments.

Timmy84 said:

I haven't listened to radio in almost 10 years, but they definitely played "This Time Around" when the album was new (in addition to the singles).

AlexdeParis said:

It got tested in my area...but didn't stay on the radio but a second.

AlexdeParis said:

Yeah I remembered that very well. They also played the hip-hop version of "They Don't Care About Us" and the Refugee version of "Blood on the Dance Floor". They do play "You Rock My World" on occasion when I do hear it.

daPrettyman said:

I think there was a Sly Stone sampled remix for the "Scream" track that was played to R&B audiences when it came out in '95. It peaked at number two on the R&B chart possibly for that reason.

daPrettyman said:

It was played in my area, especially the remix with Ill Al Scratch.

Timmy84 said:

The remix that got played in my area was the remix that Naughty By Nature did. It did well, but died fast.