“This Is It,” the first single from the latest compilation album, was released for airplay-only on October 12. While not available for download or purchase, the song can been accessed at the official website, on YouTube, and heard on radio waves across the globe. The song also acts as teaser for the upcoming documentary, Michael Jackson’s This is It, which will be released for a two-week run on October 28th.
“This Is It” doesn’t really mesh with contemporary musical styles. Immediately, you get a sense of an old-school Michael: his voice, the lyrics, and whole mood of the song seem dated. Sure, the chorus is stuck-in-your-mind catchy, but when considering the usual calibre of Michael’s work, this track is weak. The vocals sound unrefined and the song itself is too simple and repetitive. I guess we can chalk that up to the fact that its original form was an early demo, co-written by Paul Anka and recorded in 1983.
The song, when initially discovered, featured only Michael’s vocals and piano accompaniment. Strings and backing vocals from the Jackson brothers were added later. Paul Anka, who was initially not credited as a co-writer until he talked to the Jackson family, commented on the single saying, “I've heard the record, they've made some major adjustments on the production that I started with Michael in my studio in '83. I like the way that it sounds.” I think Anka is being very safe with his comments now that the legal messiness is over.
I find myself wondering why this 1980s track never made onto any of Michael’s earlier albums. Paul Anka’s story that Michael took the tapes from the studio soon after recording is a huge red flag. Michael probably wasn’t happy with the track and decided not to continue on with it. On top of that, the song appears as a track on American artist SaFire’s 1991 album, I Wasn’t Born Yesterday, under the title “I Never Heard”. This fact is yet another indication that Michael did not want to make this song his own.
Michael Jackson, a man known for always being harshly critical of himself and his performances, would have been very displeased by the quality of this single. Let’s be honest here: this isn’t a finished song, it’s a glorified, threadbare demo that was probably never meant to be completed. I believe that if Michael was still here, that demo would still be collecting dust in a box.
At least the single isn’t available for purchase – one could look at that as either an act of goodwill or an attack of conscience on the part of those who dug around in places they probably shouldn’t have to find “This Is It.” As far as I’m concerned, once a person is gone, anything new released under his name isn’t truly theirs and that is a standpoint I feel all of his fans should consider. I wouldn’t be surprised if more of Michael’s discarded works is released to the public over the next few years; that’s a likelihood that leaves me feeling very unsettled.
