For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.
Today's CoronaVinyl category is "J," and we're going with Michael Jackson's breakthrough solo album, 1979's Off the Wall.
Though he had been a star for a decade, both as a member of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist, he wasn't yet The King of Pop or the international star that he would become in the early '80s. The mid to late '70s weren't particularly successful for Jackson, with only a smattering of minor hits.
To shake things up, Jackson left Motown for Epic Records and teamed with producer Quincy Jones (who would produce his next several albums as well) and, for the most part, cut musical ties with his family. The result was pure magic, setting the stage for Jackson's ascent into unprecedented stardom that would come three years later with Thriller.
Off the Wall is a combination of pop, soul, funk, and disco, with songwriting contributions from Jackson himself, Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Rod Temperton, and David Foster, among others. The album reached #3 on the Billboard album chart,which was his highest-charting solo album at the time. It also topped the Billboard R&B album chart for 16 weeks and reached the Top 10 on the album charts in Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK.
The album produced four Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, making Jackson the first solo artist to have four Top 10 songs from the same album. "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" was Jackson's second solo #1, and his first since "Ben" in 1972. "Rock With You" also hit #1, and the title track and "She's Out of My Life" both went to #10.
Off the Wall has gone 9x platinum in the U.S., has attained platinum certification in eleven other countries, and has sold 20 million copies worldwide. It was ranked #36 on Rolling Stone's most recent list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time.
The title track is another funk/disco song that's all about escaping the mundanity of your daily life when you're going out at night.
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