And so Michael Jackson ends a twenty-year run of chart-toppers, with another of 1997’s curios…
Blood on the Dance Floor, by Michael Jackson (his 7th and final solo #1)
1 week, from 27th April – 4th May 1997
Throughout his career, it hasn’t been the MJ classics that have made #1. The Jacksons’ only made it there with ‘Show You the Way to Go’. Solo-wise, ‘One Day in Your Life’, ‘I Just Can’t Stop Loving You’, and ‘You Are Not Alone’ all made it, while ‘Bad’, ‘Beat It’, and ‘Smooth Criminal’ fell by the wayside. Only ‘Billie Jean’, and maybe ‘Black or White’, came close to popular ubiquity.
So what of his final #1? Well, at least it’s not a syrupy ballad, or one of his God-complex blockbusters. Actually, it’s much more reminiscent of his heyday. It isn’t up there quality-wise, but there are flashes. The bridge and chorus, the growl in his voice, and the dangerous woman in the lyrics, all feel very ‘Bad’-era. We can add Suzie (Suzie’s got your number, Suzie ain’t your friend…) to Billie Jean and Dirty Diana in Jackson’s list of ladies best avoided. Interestingly, some sources claimed that ‘Suzie’ was a metaphor for AIDS – giving a horrific double meaning to the line Look who took you under with seven inches in… – but Jackson denied it.
Elsewhere, the New Jack Swing production sounds quite dated, and away from the chorus he barely sings. The verses are a series of vocal tics strung together; sounding more like dolphins communicating, and just as indecipherable. When you learn that it was written originally back in 1991, during sessions for the ‘Dangerous’ album, the sound makes sense. The song was dusted off and tarted up ahead of Jackson’s remix album ‘HIStory in the Mix’.
In some ways, this is an underwhelming way for MJ to bow out. But then, several of his six other solo #1s have been underwhelming. And actually, compared to some of his nineties hits, this is a decent, if dated, dance tune with a fairly killer, funky beat. It was his 36th UK Top 10 hit, since his solo debut in 1972, and he still had a few more to come.
In fact, since his death he has featured on big hits with Akon, Justin Timberlake, and Drake, and so you wouldn’t count against him adding to his total in the years to come. Quite why records featuring Michael Jackson are still allowed to flourish while those featuring the man who preceded ‘Blood on the Dance Floor’ at number one – R. Kelly – have been buried in quicklime is a discussion for another day… Is it as simple as one having a court conviction? Or does musical snobbery come into play…? And I’ll end with an equally pressing question: am I the only person who just now realised that ‘dance floor’ is not one word…?
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I was going to ask…why is Michael given a free pass? To be fair though…I don’t like people piling on other people if they haven’t even had a trial.
One example…although the dude is NOT a saint but look at Depp and Heard…he was slammed before any evidence or anything was presented…to me that is unfair and shows a mob mentality that I hate. “Guilty until proven innocent” should not exist…but I will get off of my soapbox.
This all makes “Young Girl” by Puckett sound pretty innocent by comparison!
Maybe it is just as simple as Jackson never got convicted, and never will now. Though I’d say enough people have come forward to suggest that there was something unpleasant going on… I also think some stars musical ‘quality’ makes them harder to cancel.
You’re right on the pile ons. I’m sure I say this every time someone like this comes along, but I try to seperate the art and the artist (though I do understand why it might be difficult). We’re not giving ourselves enough credit as intelligent humans if we have to pretend that ‘bad’ people can’t make ‘good’ art.
Depp Vs Heard was so toxic. It felt like people had to be completely in one camp or the other, when it was clear they were two troubled individuals in a horrible relationship. She also got a lot of sexist criticism from people who seemed to think he could have done no wrong.
I love Michael Jackson, but I’ll admit I’m not really that familiar with his post-Dangerous output. I’ve never heard this song. . I’m not a big new jack swing fan to begin with, but it’s a pretty decent song and I’m glad his last UK No. 1 was uptempo and as usual he’s giving a great vocal performance, but wow, I can’t believe he chose to release a new jack swing song in 1997. 5 years after new jack swing’s peak. When you compare what’s happening in popular music in the US and the UK, it sounds so dated
Yeah I think this got to number one on star power, rather than it sounding hot and current. Last time MJ would manage it too – the lead single from his next album in 2001 would stall at #2 behind Kylie, quite a big event at the time.
It sounded dated at the time and a bit of an afterthought really, not a proper album or anysuch, but it was decent enough. Not found guilty of anything so I’d say it’s right his records continue to be played but this one certainly won’t be remembered much. I also suspect his very strange upbringing, child star and all that directly led to many of his obvious problems, but he gets a pass from me for the period he was still largely sane if troubled – up to Bad I guess.
I personally rank Jackson alongside OJ Simpson in the ‘not guilty, but….’ category. God bless the US justice system. Still, it means his classic records can still be played, and that’s one plus point.