Finally, a compilation of Michael Jackson hits

Mariah Carey did it first – that is, to compile all of her number one hits in one album. Then the people behind the Elvis Presley catalogue came out with those of the "King of Rock and Roll." That was a bit forced because they had to include recordings that made number one not in the US of A but in the UK. Then came the Beatles, also with a collection of honest to goodness number one hits. So what is to stop somebody like Michael Jackson, who, also has his own share of number one sellers to do his own compilation? Nothing and no one especially now that he is between albums and said to be feuding with his record company. So that is the latest that we have, 17 big sellers and one new recording in Michael Jackson Number Ones.

These are Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough and Rock with You from the breakthrough album Off the Wall; Billie Jean, Beat It, Thriller and Human Nature, all from the monster seller Thriller, which remains the biggest selling album of all time; I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal from Bad. The historic albums Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad were all produced by Quincy Jones, the great arranger and producer who certainly did much to shape Jackson’s music and much of the sounds we heard during the ’80s including the all-star recording of We are the World.

The other songs were produced by Michael himself. Black or White the only cut from the album Dangerous; You are Not Alone and Earth Song from epic release HIStory-Past, Present and Future — Book 1; Blood on the Dance Floor from HIStory in the Mix; You Rock My World and Break of Dawn from the last studio album Invincible. And then there is One More Chance, which I believe is the new song that Michael co-produced with R. Kelly.

I like the way Michael worded his dedication. He wrote "…to those who remember when and are still on the journey." I say that we do remember and as all of us continue on the journey, I can promise him we always will. Do you think I should add, "no matter what" to that? Well, I guess, the "always" will suffice.

I miss She’s Out of My Life but then the song from Off the Wall never made number one. What I find difficult to dismiss is that the collection lacks the number ones from Michael’s early years at Motown. While the contents of the album include some of the most remarkable recordings of all time, they all come from the later period when Michael had already moved to the Epic label in Columbia. Now, he would never have gotten that far in technique and artistry if he was never with the Jackson Five and had never sang ABC.

So paging Motown, how about one or two compilation albums featuring Michael’s solo hits and those that he did with his brothers like ABC, of course, plus Got to be There, The Love You Save, I’ll Be There, Give Love on Christmas Day, Rockin’ Robin, Mama’s Pearl, Never Can Say Goodbye, Little Bitty Pretty One, I Wanna Be Where You Are, Ben, With a Child’s Heart, We’re Almost There, One Day in Your Life and others.

Here’s a trivia bit: One Day in Your Life was a number one single first in the Philippines in 1975. Just goes to show we do know what sort of music will sell. It was a cut in the album of the same title that had songs like Don’t Say Goodbye Again, Take Me Back, Make Tonight All Mine, We’ve Got Forever, It’s Too Late to Change the Time and others, most of them R&B stuff. The title track however was all the DJs wanted to play and the listeners, all sentimental Pinoys, wanted to hear.

One Day in Your Life remains a big favorite here until now. I believe the song must have been the last one Michael recorded for Motown. He was 16 then and his voice was changing but he still sounded good. Would you believe it was only in 1981, two years after Michael had already moved to Epic and made Off the Wall with Quincy Jones that Motown released the song as a single in the US and it became a hit?