Sunday Sessions

Hop on over to Thea's blog to join in on her Sunday Sessions.  The idea is to post two songs - an oldie, and something newer from the charts (I don't really keep up with the charts - so I'm cheating a bit on that one and going with newish).

I heard the first few bars of this song earlier this week, and the memories came flooding back - has been on my brain a lot this week.



I was 7 years old when this performance happened, and it is one of the most vivid memories of my childhood.  My heart races every time that drum starts it's first beats, and I can't help but tap my feet in turn. 

I remember being a little girl, absolutely glued to the images - and then practising the moonwalk, over and over and over with my little sisters.  I distinctly remember being sure we'd mastered it, lol. Looking back now, I sincerely doubt it.

Where were you?  Do you remember this concert performance? Were you old enough to know this was something big?

And now, nearly 30 years later, can you believe that this song almost didn't even make it on to the album?   Quincy Jones hated it and said it wasn't nearly strong enough to make the cut.  He hated the bass line and wanted that song dropped from the Thriller Album.  He and Jackson apparently had a falling out over it, so determined was Jackson that this song was going to be HUGE.
Hard to imagine Billie Jean not existing.  It's up there with Imagine for John Lennon, Respect for Aretha Franklin, Hey Jude for the Beatles. 

The classic performanc and Motown 25 almost didn't happen either.  Jackson did not want to perform at the concert, particularly with his brothers.  It took a personal visit from Berry Gordy to get him to agree, on the condition that he perform Billie Jean.

The original Film Clip -



It's pretty hard to follow up a piece of classic pop history with a new song - nothing really compares to Billie Jean, does it? 

I heard this one at the CMA Awards a few weeks ago (yes, my mother would laugh her ass off if she heard I'd included a country song in this :-O), and I confess, I quite liked it.  Cheesy, but kind of sweet.



Do you think the speculation that this song is about Taylor Lautner is true?