And so we arrive at yet another staging-post on the long, but thinly spread, chart-topping career of Michael Jackson. One number one with his brothers, and seven solo, stretched out over two decades. Interestingly, and perhaps aptly, he only ever made #1 in odd numbered years…
You Are Not Alone, by Michael Jackson (his 5th of seven #1s)
2 weeks, from 3rd – 17th September 1995
’77, ’81, ’83, ’87, ’91 and now 1995. And this is just what we’ve been missing on our 1995 bingo card. After all the dance, the Britpop and the power balladry, what we really needed was some slow and syrupy, mid-nineties R&B. This sound was (thankfully) much more prevalent on the Billboard charts, possibly the sound of US pop at the time, and few acts would have had the star power to drag this sludge to the top spot in the UK.
Trust MJ, though. It was the second single from the ‘HIStory’ album, following ‘Scream’, the duet with sister Janet, more famous for its record-breakingly expensive video. And there is a sweet simplicity to this song. The chorus plays almost like a lullaby: You are not alone, I am here with you, Though you’re far away, I am here to stay… Like a lullaby in that it’s pretty, and in that it may send you to sleep.
Jackson puts in a pretty strong vocal performance as well, limiting the ticks and the gulps that have marked most of his music since ‘Bad’ (there’s not a single ‘eeeh hee’ either). He gives the lungs a workout towards the end, post key-change, reminding us that underneath it all he was always a fine singer.
And yet… Watch the video, and it’s easy to become distracted from the actual song. He is now fully white, and very plastic-looking. We’re almost treated to a full-frontal from the King of Pop, as he smooches with then wife Lisa Marie Presley, wrapped only in a towel. It’s all pretty icky. Of course, knowing what we know now means that any Jacko love song comes with its own in-built ick-factor. (‘You Are Not Alone’ was also written by R Kelly, just in case we needed any extra ickiness.)
So, in summary, this is a sweet enough, well-performed ballad, your enjoyment of which depends on how much you can block out thoughts of what we know now, and of a near-naked MJ canoodling with Elvis’s daughter. 1995 will actually turn out to be Jackson’s most successful year, in terms of chart-toppers. He still has a massive Christmas #1 to come, in which he puts his clothes back on and returns to his usual preposterous, overblown nonsense.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I remember when Tom Breihan covered this song in his column and mentioned that R Kelly wrote this song. Sigh, I dunno if MJ was a creep, but R Kelly is a definitely one.
I have a soft spot for 90s R&B, so I kinda like this despite how cheesy and dated it is. It’s definitely not one of his better songs, but it’s okay. I think this was MJ’s last No. 1 in the US too (but it was also the first song to debut at No. 1 in the US on the Hot 100). MJ does give a great vocal performance, though my preferable MJ is when he’s doing more harder-tinged, upfront in-your-face and forceful songs, like “Dirty Diana”, “Bad”, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, “Beat It” and “Leave Me Alone”.
I agree, and prefer his harder-edged stuff. Around this time he really started to go down a soft production, glossy, gloopy route, and dropped the dance bangers, sadly.
I’m really out of step…I prefer ABC and I Want You Back… he is so damn plastic looking. Dave had a post today pointing to the Pepsi commercial when his hair went up in flames literally…that was the start of the change because of drugs for the pain…he went from odd to just plain weird and maybe worse. Sad life really…even with all of his fame and fortune.
Yeah I just commented on that post. The Pepsi accident really was the beginning of the end, both in terms of the painkillers and the plastic surgery. In fact, it goes back to ABC and I Want You Back, knowing what we do now about his father and his childhood. Can you imagine showing someone from 1970 the You Are Not Alone video… And then telling them that it was the little kid from The Jackson 5!
Yes his father was a piece of work…all bad. Oh it’s no way they would believe it…they would think it was a robot or someone with a mask. He doesn’t look real anymore.
a tragic figure eventually, and me a huge fan from beginning to this one, his first big mis-step for me. Dragging in R. Kelly for a dirge of a song was Jackson trying to stay current while bunging giant statues of himself on a boat on the Thames, over-compensating much panic-combining a hits album with a new album to rake in more cash I didnt need the hits album thank you very much, bought them already. hated the video. And 2 years later an idealistic young sister of my friend dedicated this song to me at his wedding and wrote me a love letter, barely knowing me except that I’m always nice to everyone which some miss-read, and which got very embarrassing for all concerned. So I hate the record even more now! Always turn it off if it comes on the radio.
Oh God, what a record to have dedicated to you…! I don’t blame you for hating it nowadays…