Thriller is iconic. Bad is iconic. Dangerous is iconic. Off The Wall is iconic. Invincible is…not too bad. Since 1979’s release of Off The Wall, everything Michael Jackson has done has been woven into the fabric of our culture. His music is a recognizable as Mickey Mouse. How many pop singers have their own Disneyland attraction? But what a lot of people don’t know is that MJ had a career before the super stardom. No, I’m not talking about The Jackson 5, I’m talking about MJ’s lesser known 4 solo albums from the 70s. Before he moonwalked across the stage, he was a kid figuring out his own path. Before he asked Annie if she was okay, he was singing ballads to rats. And before he was innovating the music video, he was singing songs about birds. Most of these early songs are not as iconic as MJ’s later material, but that doesn’t mean these songs are great. They’re MJ’s growing pains. And even MJ’s evolving material is stronger than many musicians’ best.
Thanks to Sonny, my special guest writer, for his list!! Trust me, this guy knows MJ.
The 11 Best Michael Jackson Solo Songs (Pre-Off The Wall):
- Got To Be There (Got To Be There)
- Ain’t No Sunshine (Got To Be There)
- Girl Don’t Take Your Love From Me (Got To Be There)
- I Wanna Be Where You Are (Got To Be There)
- Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone (Got To Be There)
- Rockin’ Robin (Got To Be There)
- Ben (Ben)
- We’ve Got A Good Thing Going (Ben)
- We’re Almost There (Forever Michael)
- Dear Michael (Forever Michael)
- You Can’t Win (The Wiz)
Buy Michael Jackson’s new album, Xscape…now!!