Ahmed Nashaat: Favorite Michael Jackson Songs of All Time
Ten years ago this month my buddy Ahmed Nashaat and I were supposed to be at the o2 theater in London, attending the opening night of Michael Jackson’s This Is It tour. Sadly that never happened as MJ passed away in the June of that year, much to everyone’s sadness. Ahmed and I were chatting about this the other night with a couple of glasses of wine, reminiscing about the night we almost saw the legend in the flesh. We began to talk about his greatest songs of all time, or at least our favorites, a debate which we had for many hours. This is my top 5, what does your’s look like?
Michael Jackson 2nd June 1988. “Wiener Stadion” venue in Vienna, Austria photo/ Zoran Veselinovic
1 – Man in the Mirror
Man in the Mirror was MJ at his absolve best in terms of performance, it is a beautifully written song which Michael is able to bring off the page and turn into a masterpiece. The song does everything that is intended, it makes you look inside yourself, it makes you emotional and it gives you that raw passion which Michael always delivered.
2 – Beat It
Some songs like Billie Jean and Thriller have been played so much that it can be easy to go off them, one song which this hasn’t happened with is Beat It. Prior to Thriller everyone had MJ down as a Motown singer who dabbled in funk and disco, once this came out that all changed. That stomping riff and noodling solo of Eddie Van Halen and MJs ability to take on a badass persona combined perfectly for one of the greatest songs he ever sang.
3 – Streetwalker
Streetwalker actually never made it onto the Bad album and it was released as a bonus track on the reissue of the album. Quite how this song didn’t make it onto the album is beyond me, it is true perfection. The song builds slowly and features 2 pre-choruses before he gets into the meat of the song. A tune which will make you dance and sing, and a song which Michael performs with that amazing passion which he had.
4 – Off The Wall
For me Off The Wall is the best song on that album, despite what many say about Rock With You and Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough. The reason for this is that infectious hook at the start of the song, which instantly gets you grooving. This is followed up with Michael’s voice at its absolute best and lyrics which you can sing along to at the top of your voice.
5 – Just Good Friends
This is the song that Streetwalker made way for on the Bad album, a duet with Stevie Wonder which is massively underrated. The song is funky in the extreme and the way in which their voices work together is just sensational. Michael and Stevie created the perfect song for Bad and it is one which I would never tire of hearing.
Author: James Daniel
