At 12:59 AM 4/16/99 -0400, you wrote:
>I don't know how this thread evolved really...but why does every writer of
>note always tag "I Want You Back" as such a great song? Is it because it
>really IS a great song or is it because...what?
Speaking only for myself, Tera, I never made any claims for I Want You Back
being a great song. I did say I thought it was a great single, which is a
different, though not unrelated, thing altogether. From the second that
piano slides in at the opening, everything about the record--the
RECORD--works to emotional and rhythmic perfection: the bass (often
doubled, I think, by the piano), the strings, the funky guitar, the drums
that explode like gunshots at the beginning of each chorus, the brothers
call and response--the whole arrangement and production--plus Michael's
miraculous vocal, especially his phrasing, but also the shift from Michael
to Jermaine...man, it's all just incredible.
And the song? You know, it's pretty darn good, too. Not great, maybe, not
al by itself, but then with great singles, it's often the singer, or the
overall sound, in tandem with the song that takes everything to another
level. --david cantwell
PS: Great list, btw, Tera, espeically all the Aretha and Living For The City
PPS: Great righteous tirade, Donald!
