1. Billie Jean (Michael Jackson, 1983)
When little Michael was a child prodigy, the other four members of
The Jackson 5 would have plenty of fun with the groupies that waited after their shows. MJ recalled how during those years they encountered endless Billie Jeans who claimed they had given birth to a Jackson baby. Jermaine, Tito and company brushed these claims aside routinely while young Michael decided to jot down a paranoia driven funk song about this sordid phenomenon, common in the underworld of touring musicians. Unlike Thriller and Beat it, Billie Jean was deprived of a memorable music video which MJ signature choreographies. Instead, it is Michaels majestic performance of this song in 1983 at the Apollo Theater in Harlem that has gone down in history as the moment the moonwalk was officially born. It needs to be noted that this performance is part of a concert with his brothers, as at the time The Jacksons career and Michaels solo endeavors were overlapping. Needless to say that he totally stole the show with his imaginative and unprecedented performance of what is perhaps his most iconic song. Billie Jean is pure Michael; the bassline, the hiccups, the falsettos and the glove!
Mother always told me be careful who you love! (...) Billie Jean is not my lover, shes just a girl who says that I am the one, but the kid is not my son!