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Black or white

“Black or White” (from the English - “Black or White”) is a song by the American author-singer Michael Jackson . The first single from his eighth studio album, Dangerous . It was released on Epic Records on November 11, 1991. Lyrics call for racial harmony.

Black or white
Cover of Michael Jackson's single "Black or White" (1991)
Michael Jackson Single
from the album Dangerous
Side BBlack or White (Instrumental)
ReleasedNovember 11, 1991
Format7 " , 12", CD , CS
Recorded by1990
Genrepop , rock , rap [1] , rhythm and blues [2]
Duration4:15
ProducersMichael Jackson
Bill Bottrell
Composer
SongwritersMichael Jackson
Bill Bottrell
Label
Epic records34-74100
Michael Jackson Singles Timeline
" Liberian Girl "
(1989)		"Black or White"
(1991)		" Remember the Time "
(1992)
Video clip
YouTube full-color icon (2017) .svg Black or White (full version)
YouTube full-color icon (2017) .svg Black or White (short version)

The track was Jackson's most successful single since Billie Jean . "Black or White" took the eighth line in the list of the best-selling singles of 1991 in the USA. Her climb to the top of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart was the fastest since 1969. “Black or White” was the first American song to debut on the first line of the UK UK Singles Chart since 1960.

On November 14, 1991, the television premiere of the 11-minute video for "Black or White", directed by John Landis . About 500 million people watched the video then. The second musical part of the video, in which the singer dances, crushing everything around, and " turns " into a black panther , caused a flurry of criticism and was immediately banned on American television - it was considered too provocative. Only the first half of the video was allowed to rotate.

Jackson was nominated for a Grammy and MTV Video Music Awards for the song and video clip and received the NAACP Image Award figurine in the Outstanding Music Video category.

Content

History of creation and composition features

 
Black or White (1991)
In the composition you can hear a variety of sounds, from the sound of a tree to the sound of bells [2]
Playback help

Jackson began work on “Black or White” in 1989, the final version of the vocal part was recorded in 1990. Once the singer came to the studio with a sketch of a guitar riff and rhythm, he sang it to Bill Bottrell. The producer reproduced what he heard on the first guitar and the simplest drum machine [3] . After some time, the riff turned into “something from satellite rock , it was a very energetic thing,” Bill recalled. Then Jackson proposed the idea of ​​a whole rhythmic track; the most diverse sounds were used as drums in the song: the sound of a tree, the sound of bells , the sound of shakers and others [2] . The team tried to get a swing sound. The guitar introduction, sounding in the full album version, was performed by Slash , the guitarist for Guns'n'Roses . According to Bottrell, the singer originally came to the studio with ideas for the lyrics [3] [4] . Words calling for racial harmony were written by Jackson in the course of work [3] [4] . Bill became the author of the rap section in the second half of the composition. Initially, Jackson planned to invite Heavy D or LL Cool J for her performance, but when he heard the demo performed by Bottrell, the singer decided that he should record this part for Black or White; on the editions of the album and single, Bill was hiding under the pseudonym LTB [5] . “Black or White” combines the genres of pop music , rhythm and blues , rock and rap with elements of funk and country [1] [2] . It was recorded in key in E major [6] .

The composition was included in the collections of Jackson's hits: Number Ones , The Essential , the first disc of the double album HIStory: Past, Present and Future and the soundtrack album This Is It [7] [8] [9] [10] .

Release

Single Release

On November 11, 1991, the song was released as the first single from Jackson's upcoming Dangerous album. The release took place on CD , compact cassettes and vinyl records [11] . For three weeks, the composition reached the top of the American Billboard Hot 100 chart , its ascent was the fastest in the history of the hit parade since 1969; in the first place, she spent 7 weeks [12] . The composition was the most successful in Jackson's career since the time of " Billie Jean " [1] [13] . She took eighth place in the list of best-selling singles in the United States in 1991. “Black or White” was the first song by an American artist to debut on the top line of the UK singles chart UK Singles Chart since 1960, when the hit parade was led by Elvis Presley's song “ It's Now or Never ” [14] . "Black or White" received two platinum status in the United States and silver in the UK [15] [16] .

Music video

The director of the new video was John Landis , who had already shot a clip for the song “ Thriller ” for Jackson. Shooting the video took eight weeks, the budget was $ 4 million, “Black or White” was included in the list of the most expensive music video clips [17] . Actors: Macaulay Culkin , George Wendt and Tess Harper [18] took part in the filming.

At the beginning of the video, the viewer plunges into the everyday life of an ordinary American family and watches the conflict between father and son: the son of the family (Calkin) listens to loud music in his room, his father (Wendt) watches baseball on TV, his mother (Harper) reads the tabloid newspaper . An annoyed father rises to his son’s room and screams to turn off the music: “Cut this garbage immediately and go to sleep!” - and slams the door loudly. The son decides to "take revenge": he rolls huge speakers into the living room and picks up an electric guitar . By the force of sound, the windows are knocked out in the house, and the father, breaking through the roof, flies out with the armchair [19] . The song begins to sound, the hero of Wendt lands in Africa and stares at Jackson, dancing with the African natives. Scenes change, the singer, adapting his movements, dances with representatives of different nations: Indians , Indians , Russians and others [20] . Then two babies, black and white, appear on the top of a large globe .

In the bridge of composition, the atmosphere changes dramatically: Jackson goes to the camera through a fire in which shots of hostilities appear, the singer pushes away a burning cross - a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan [21] . After that, the musician appears on the site of the torch of the Statue of Liberty , the camera moves back, and in general the viewer sees the famous cultural monuments from around the world - this is the Golden Gate Bridge , St. Basil's Cathedral , Taj Mahal , Big Ben , Parthenon , Eiffel Tower , Bolshoi Sphinx , Islamic mosque and skyscrapers of New York .

The following famous scene was shot using morphing : faces of men and women of different nationalities with different skin colors smoothly transition from one to another. Landis's voice sounds: “Shot!” - and he appears in the frame to thank the girl for a successful take. It seems that the video clip has already ended, the workers on the set begin to collect equipment, but the black panther crossing the studio gets into the frame. She goes to the backyard and turns into Jackson - he is in contrasting black and white clothes. The singer makes some quick jerky dance moves. Walking further down the street, he demonstrates an aggressive percussion dance without music, a step, he dances on the sidewalks and on the roof of the car, screams and smashes windows and windows of cars in anger. Stopping, Jackson looks around, becomes a panther again and leaves [22] . Then the viewer gets into the house of another typical American family - the Simpsons house, where Homer tells his son Bart to turn off what he just saw on television [22] .

The premiere of "Black or White" was held in 27 countries on November 14, 1991, then the video was watched by 500 million people [20] [23] . The full video clip was included in the collection of music videos by Jackson Dangerous - The Short Films , the video was edited: the Ku Klux Klan symbols, offensive racist inscriptions and fascist swastikas were added to the glasses that the singer broke [24] [25] . The same collection included documentary shots about the filming of "Black or White" [25] [26] . A shortened 6-minute version of the clip was included in the Number Ones collection [24] .

Critical Reaction

Critics' opinions about the song and the video clip were polar divided. Some journalists found a reason to ridicule the musician: “If the song says:“ It doesn't matter what you are, black or white, ”then why did Jackson change his skin color?” [4] . In fact, the singer suffered from vitiligo - a disease due to which his skin lost most of the pigmentation, only some of its areas remained dark [27] [28] [29] . Reviewers at the Los Angeles Times noted the “simple but very memorable” guitar riffs of the composition: “You will remember them regardless of whether you want it or not” [30] . In Rolling Stone magazine, the song was described as "a combination of the swagger of classic rock and the rhythm and blues drive" and was called "Black or White" Jackson's best song, released in the 90s. [2] .

After the first showing of the Black or White video clip on television, a flurry of criticism fell on the video, especially with regard to its final part. Journalists wrote about excessive sexuality of the video and unwarranted acts of vandalism [20] . In an interview, Jackson was asked to justify the aggression in the video, he replied: “Anger and rage can be an impetus for a shift in consciousness. If we do not feel anger at the unfairness of society, there is no hope that something will change ” [31] . The 11-minute version of the video was immediately banned on American television; only the first half was allowed to rotate. Some reviewers criticized the video for the fact that, in their opinion, all the expensive special effects used in it were just an advertising gimmick, designed to surpass the success of the video for the song “ Thriller ” [32] .

“In the midst of all this hype, only a few asked a simple question: what did all this mean? - noted the journalist The Guardian . - Recall what happened then: the black Rodney King was beaten by police, racial tension flared up in the United States. And in this context, Michael Jackson, the country's most famous black artist, turns into a black panther and expresses the fury and indignation of his nation ” [33] . Film critic Armond White , analyzing Jackson’s work, he wrote that the singer was able to illustrate in Black or White a peculiar re-education of white Americans who rejected the music of black “savages”, and also possibly changed people's perception of the purpose of show business [34] . The PopMatters reviewer called the ending of the video “a wild expression of pain from racial injustice” [35] . White wrote about this: “In a rebellious ending, the singer dances without music, to internal rhythms, since Jackson has no habit of expressing anger in music, but what he cannot express in words bursts out with the roar of a black panther” [34] .

“Black or White” was nominated for a Grammy in the category “Best Male Pop Vocal” [36] . The song became the 59th in the list of the Top 100 songs of the 90s of About.com [37] . In 1993, the video clip for this composition was included in the list of Top 100 music videos according to Rolling Stone magazine number 52 [38] .

Concert performances

For the first time, the musician performed "Black or White" on a show dedicated to the 10th anniversary of MTV in December 1991. On stage, Slash joined Jackson to perform a guitar solo. The composition was included in the set lists of the world tour of the singer Dangerous World Tour (1992–93) and HIStory World Tour (1996–97), solo performed by Jennifer Batten . It was planned that the song will be performed on the This Is It tour that did not take place in connection with the death of the singer. In 2001, the musician sang “Black or White” on two shows dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the singer’s solo career with a guitar solo from Slash [39] . In addition, Jackson performed it in the Apollo Theater in 2002 during the charity concert The Night at the Apollo; guitarist Dave Navarro joined the singer on stage [40] .

The official concert performance with "Black or White" was released on DVD Live in Bucharest [41] . The rehearsal for the tour This Is It was included in the documentary musical film " Michael Jackson: That's It " [42] .

List of Songs

  •   CD (Epic Records Catalog Number - 34K 74100) [43]
No.TitleDuration
one."Black or White"3:22
2.Black or White (Instrumental)3:22
  •   12 " (Epic Records Catalog Number - EPC 657598 6) [11]
Side a
No.TitleDuration
one."Black or White"3:22
2." Bad "4:06
Side B
No.TitleDuration
3.Black or White (Instrumental)3:22
four." Thriller "5:57

Record Members

Introduction

  • Michael Jackson - script
  • Slash - Guitar Solo
  • Matt Forger - Sound Engineer
  • Andres Mackenzie - “son”
  • LTB (Bill Bottrell) - “father”

Song

  • Michael Jackson - lyrics, music, vocals , backing vocals
  • Bill Bottrell - recording, mixing , rap (words and performance under the pseudonym LTB), percussion , guitar
  • Brian Loren - drums , Minimoog
  • Terry Jackson - Bass
  • Brad Buxer, John Barnes, Jason Martz - keyboards
  • Tim Pierce - Heavy Metal Guitar
  • Michael Boddicker Kevin Gilbert - Synthesizers

Awards and nominations

YearRewardNominated workCategoryResultA source
1992Billboard music awardsSingleSingle No. 1 in the worldVictory[44]
International Monitor AwardsVideo clipThe best special effectsVictory[24]
MTV Video Music AwardsThe best special effectsNomination[45]
Pro-Set Los Angeles Music AwardsVideo clip of the yearVictory[23]
Juno AwardsSingleThe best-selling single of a foreign artistNomination[46]
1993NAACP Image AwardVideo clipOutstanding music videoVictory[47]
Grammy awardsSongBest male pop vocalsNomination[36]
BMI AwardsAward in the category "Pop"Victory[48]
Juno AwardsSingleBest selling single (foreign or domestic)Nomination[46]

Chart Positions and Certifications

Chart Positions

Chart (1991–92)Top position
  Australia [49]one
  Austria [50]2
  Belgium (Flanders) [51]one
  Great Britain [52]one
  Germany [53]2
  Denmark [54]one
  Europe [55]one
  Zimbabwe [54]one
  Israel [54]one
  Ireland [56]one
  Spain [54]one
  Italy [54]one
  Canada [57]one
  Cuba [54]one
  Mexico [54]one
  Netherlands [58]2
  New Zealand [59]one
  Norway [60]one
  Poland [61]one
  United States (Hot 100) [62]one
  USA (R & B / Hip-Hop Songs) [14]3
  Finland [54]one
  France [63]one
  Switzerland [64]one
  Sweden [65]one

Certifications

A countryCertificate
  Great Britain ( BPI )Silver [16]
  France ( SNEP )Silver [66]
  Germany ( BVMI )Golden [67]
  Denmark ( IFPI )Golden [68]
  Canada ( Music Canada )Golden [69]
  New Zealand ( RIANZ )Platinum [70]
  USA ( RIAA )2 × Platinum [15]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1 2 3 Vogel, 2013 , p. 202.
  2. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 9. "Black or White" . Rolling Stone (June 23, 2014). Date of treatment May 11, 2015. Archived July 12, 2018.
  3. ↑ 1 2 3 Buskin, Richard. Michael Jackson 'Black Or White' . Sound on Sound (August 2004). Date of treatment July 10, 2015. Archived March 25, 2015.
  4. ↑ 1 2 3 Vogel, 2013 , p. 206.
  5. ↑ Taete, Jamie Lee Curtis. Meet the Mystery Man Who Rapped on Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' . Vice (5 May 2015). Date of treatment May 14, 2015. Archived on August 24, 2018.
  6. ↑ Black or White By Michael Jackson - Digital Sheet Music . musicnotes.com. Date of treatment July 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ Michael Jackson - Number Ones . Discogs Date of treatment June 21, 2015.
  8. ↑ Michael Jackson - The Essential . Discogs Date of treatment June 21, 2015.
  9. ↑ Michael Jackson - HIStory - Past, Present And Future - Book I. Discogs Date of treatment June 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ Michael Jackson - This Is It . Discogs Date of treatment June 21, 2015.
  11. ↑ 1 2 Michael Jackson - Black Or White . Discogs Date of appeal May 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ Michael Jackson's Top 50 Billboard Hits (English) (June 25, 2014). Date of treatment May 14, 2015. Archived May 22, 2015.
  13. ↑ `Black Or White` In 7th Week At Top . The Chicago Tribune (17 January 1992). Date of treatment June 8, 2015. Archived on August 24, 2018.
  14. ↑ 1 2 Halstead & Cadman, 2013 , p. 32.
  15. ↑ 1 2 Gold & Platinum . RIAA (23 August 2018). Date accessed August 23, 2018. Archived August 23, 2018.
  16. ↑ 1 2 Michael Jackson Black Or White . BPI Date of appeal September 8, 2018.
  17. ↑ Runtagh, Jordan. The 25 Most Expensive Music Videos Ever Made . VH1 (September 26, 2013). Date of treatment June 8, 2015. Archived July 11, 2015.
  18. ↑ Black or White (1991 ) . IMDb Date of treatment June 9, 2015. Archived March 1, 2017.
  19. ↑ Vogel, 2013 , p. 204.
  20. ↑ 1 2 3 Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' Album Proves He's Still 'The King Of Pop' (Eng.) // Jet : magazine. - USA : Johnson Publishing Company, 1991. - Vol. 81 , no. 7 . - P. 58-62 . - ISSN 0021-5996 .
  21. ↑ Vogel, 2013 , p. 203.
  22. ↑ 1 2 Vogel, 2013 , p. 205.
  23. ↑ 1 2 Grant, 2009 .
  24. ↑ 1 2 3 Halstead & Cadman, 2013 , p. 33.
  25. ↑ 1 2 Michael Jackson - Dangerous - The Short Films . Discogs Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
  26. ↑ Halstead & Cadman, 2013 , p. 253.
  27. ↑ Duke, Alan. Autopsy reveals Michael Jackson's secrets . CNN (May 7, 2013). Date of treatment May 7, 2015. Archived on September 3, 2014.
  28. ↑ Coroner releases new details about Michael Jackson's death . CNN (February 10, 2010). Date of treatment May 7, 2015. Archived June 2, 2013.
  29. ↑ Sher, Lauren. Exclusive: Photos of Michael Jackson Show Signs of Vitiligo and Needle Punctures . ABC News (July 14, 2009). Date of treatment May 7, 2015. Archived on May 7, 2015.
  30. ↑ Willman, Chris. Michael Jackson's 'Dangerous' . Los Angeles Times (November 24, 1991). Date of treatment July 9, 2015. Archived on September 15, 2017.
  31. ↑ Plaskin, Glenn. Out Of The Mouth Of Michael ... The Chicago Tribune (16 August 1992). Date of treatment June 20, 2015. Archived February 23, 2018.
  32. ↑ Pareles, Jon. New Video Opens the Jackson Blitz . The New York Times (November 16, 1991). Date of treatment July 9, 2015. Archived on October 3, 2017.
  33. ↑ Vogel, Joseph. Black and White: how Dangerous kicked off Michael Jackson's race paradox . The Guardian (March 17, 2018). Date of treatment March 20, 2018. Archived March 20, 2018.
  34. ↑ 1 2 White, 2009 , p. 23-35.
  35. ↑ Michael Jackson, Dangerous, and the Reinvention of Pop . PopMatters (September 27, 2011). Date of treatment July 9, 2015. Archived February 7, 2015.
  36. ↑ 1 2 Michael Jackson . Grammy.com. Date of treatment June 25, 2017. Archived June 22, 2017.
  37. ↑ Top 100 Songs From the 90s . About.com . Date of treatment July 10, 2015. Archived on April 5, 2015.
  38. ↑ Rolling Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" . rockonthenet.com (1993). Date of treatment July 10, 2015.
  39. ↑ Halstead & Cadman, 2013 , p. 34.
  40. ↑ Reid, Shaheem. Michael Jackson Sings For Bill Clinton In Harlem MTV (April 25, 2002). Date of treatment June 28, 2015. Archived January 8, 2015.
  41. ↑ Michael Jackson - Live In Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour . Discogs Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
  42. ↑ Michael Jackson's This Is It . IMDb Date of treatment June 20, 2015. Archived on May 28, 2015.
  43. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black Or White . Discogs Date of treatment June 20, 2015.
  44. ↑ 1992 Billboard Music Awards . The Baltimore Sun (December 10, 1992). Date of treatment September 21, 2015. Archived December 2, 2014.
  45. ↑ 1992 MTV Video Music Awards 1992 . rockonthenet.com. Date of treatment July 10, 2015.
  46. ↑ 1 2 Awards . junoawards.ca. Date of treatment June 24, 2017. Archived June 24, 2017.
  47. ↑ Janine McAdams. Whoopi Wows' Em At Image Awards (Eng.) // Billboard: Magazine. - 1993. - Vol. 105 , no. 6 . - P. 20 . - ISSN 0006-2510 .
  48. ↑ Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey win songwriter awards . UPI (18 May 1993). Date of treatment June 12, 2018. Archived June 12, 2018.
  49. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  50. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White (German) . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  51. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White (nid.) . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  52. ↑ Michael Jackson. Artist Official Charts Company . Date of treatment September 8, 2018. Archived on June 20, 2016.
  53. ↑ Officelle Deutsche Charts (German) . offiziellecharts.de. - You must enter the parameter "Black or White" in the "Suchen" field. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  54. ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Halstead et al, 2003 , p. 99.
  55. ↑ UK, Eurochart, Billboard & Cashbox No.1 Hits . MusicSeek.info. Date of treatment May 23, 2015. Archived June 14, 2006.
  56. ↑ Search The Charts . IRMA - You must set the “Search by Artist” parameter to “Michael Jackson” and the “Search by Song Title” parameter to be set to “Black or White”. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  57. ↑ RPM 100 Hit Tracks . RPM (18 January 1992). Date of treatment September 8, 2018. Archived on September 8, 2018.
  58. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White (nid.) . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  59. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  60. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  61. ↑ Lista Przebojow Trojki (Polish) . Date of treatment May 23, 2015. Archived January 15, 2018.
  62. ↑ The Hot 100 - 1991 Archive . Billboard. Date accessed May 23, 2015. Archived May 24, 2018.
  63. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White (Fr.) . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  64. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White (German) . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  65. ↑ Michael Jackson - Black or White . Hung Medien. Date of treatment May 23, 2015.
  66. ↑ Les Singles en Argent (French) . SNEP Date of treatment May 27, 2015. Archived July 11, 2015.
  67. ↑ Datenbank (German) . BVMI . Date of treatment May 27, 2015. Archived on September 17, 2017.
  68. ↑ Michael Jackson "Black or White" (Danish) (unopened) ? . IFPI (December 5, 2017). Date of treatment January 8, 2018. Archived on January 8, 2018.
  69. ↑ Gold / Platinum . Music Canada Date of appeal May 27, 2015.
  70. ↑ Top 40 Singles . RIANZ . Date of treatment May 27, 2015. Archived March 4, 2016.

Literature

  • Joseph Vogel. Michael Jackson: A Man in Music. - Enas-book, 2013 .-- 352 p. - ISBN 978-5-91921-185-3 .
  • Craig Halstead and Chris Cadman. Michael Jackson. Encyclopedia of creativity. - IP Zaitseva E.V., 2013 .-- 308 p. - ISBN 978-5-9902359-1-5 .
  • Adrian Grant. Michael Jackson: The Visual Documentary . - Music Sales Group, 2009. - ISBN 9780857122124 .
  • Armond White. Keep Moving: The Michael Jackson Chronicles . - Resistance Works, WDC, 2009 .-- 117 p. - ISBN 9780984215904 .
  • Craig Halstead & Chris Cadman. Michael Jackson the Solo Years . - Authors On Line Ltd, 2003 .-- 270 p. - ISBN 9780755200917 .

Links

  • “Black or White” on Discogs
Source - https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_or_White&oldid=101882443


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