BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
“Beat It” is a song by American singer Michael Jackson from his sixth studio album, Thriller (1982). It was produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones encouraged Jackson to include a rock song on the album, though Jackson had never previously shown an interest in the genre. Jackson later said of “Beat It”, “I wanted to write a song, the type of song that I would buy if I were to buy a rock song… That is how I approached it and I wanted the children to really enjoy it—the school children as well as the college students.”
Following the successful Thriller singles “The Girl Is Mine” and “Billie Jean”, “Beat It” was released on February 14, 1983, as the album’s third single. “Beat It” peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for three weeks. It also charted at number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. Billboard ranked the song No. 5 for 1983. It is a certified 5x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). With over 7 million copies sold worldwide, it is one of the best-selling singles of all time. “Beat It” was a number one hit in Europe, reaching number one in Spain and the Netherlands. The single, along with its music video, helped propel Thriller into becoming the best-selling album of all time.
“Beat It” received the 1984 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, as well as two American Music Awards.
Eddi Van Halen Guitar Solo
Eddie Van Halen, lead guitarist of hard rock band Van Halen, was asked to add a guitar solo. When initially contacted by Jones, Van Halen thought he was receiving a prank call. Having established that the call was genuine, Van Halen used a Hartley–Thompson amplifier borrowed from guitarist Allan Holdsworth and recorded his guitar solo free of charge. “I did it as a favor”, the musician later said. “I was a complete fool, according to the rest of the band, our manager, and everyone else. I was not used. I knew what I was doing—I don’t do something unless I want to do it.” Van Halen recorded his contribution following Jones and Jackson arriving at the guitarist’s house with a “skeleton version” of the song. Fellow guitarist Steve Lukather recalled, “Initially, we rocked it out as Eddie had played a good solo—but Quincy thought it was too tough. So I had to reduce the distorted guitar sound and that is what was released.” Two versions of the solo were recorded. Van Halen reported in 2015 that he also rearranged the song and asked Jones to edit the chords so his solo could be in the key of E.
Right before Van Halen’s guitar solo begins, a noise is heard that sounds like somebody knocking at a door. It is reported that the knock was a person walking into Eddie’s recording studio. Another story has claimed that the sound was simply the musician knocking on his own guitar. The sound, however, is that of Jackson knocking on a drum case, as he is credited in the album’s liner notes.
The engineers were shocked during the recording of Van Halen’s solo to discover that the sound of his guitar had caused the monitor speaker in the control room to catch fire, causing one to exclaim, “This must be really good!”
SIDE A:
Beat It* 4:17
Guitar – Eddie Van Halen, Paul Jackson Jr., Steve Lukather
Producer – Quincy Jones
SIDE B:
Burn This Disco Out 3:40
Producer – Quincy Jones
Written-By – R. Temperton*
Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough (Live Version) 4:25
Performed By – The Jacksons
Producer – The Jacksons
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Beat It | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #1 |
| 1983 | Beat It | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #14 |
| 1983 | Beat It | U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | #1 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Epic – TA 3258
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Stereo
Country: UK
Released: 1983
Genre: Pop/Rock, Funk / Soul
Style: Pop
CREDITS:
Written-By – M. Jackson* (tracks: A, A2)
NOTES:
*Taken from the album ‘Thriller’
Find the12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Username: btg
Password: burningtheground
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