1983 Michael Jackson – Human Nature (US: #7)

“Human Nature” is a song performed by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The lyrics describe a passer-by in New York City. It was written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis, and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the fifth single from the singer’s sixth solo album, “Thriller” (1982). Initially, Porcaro had recorded a rough demo of the song on a cassette, which was then given to Jones. Enjoying the demo, Jones brought in Bettis to finish the lyrics and had the ballad included on the “Thriller” album. The song was the last selected for the album, removing “Carousel” from the final track listing.

“Human Nature” was released on July 3, 1983, as the album’s fifth single. Although not released in the UK, the song achieved chart success in the US. Reaching number two on Billboard’s Hot Adult Contemporary chart and number seven on the Hot 100, the song became Jackson’s fifth Top 10 hit from “Thriller”. In New Zealand the single reached number 11.

“Human Nature” was written and composed by Steve Porcaro of Toto and John Bettis for Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. Initially, Porcaro recorded a rough demo of the song on a cassette. Fellow Toto band member David Paich then gave the demo, along with two songs written by Paich, to producer Quincy Jones, hoping they would be included on Thriller. Jones did not think Paich’s songs were right for the album, but enjoyed the rough demo of “Human Nature” at the end of the cassette.  Jones explained, “All of a sudden, at the end, there was all this silence, there was: ‘why, why, dah dah da-dum dah dah, why, why’. Just a dummy lyric and a very skeletal thing—I get goosebumps talking about it. I said, ‘This is where we wanna go, because it’s got such a wonderful flavor'”. However, Jones was dissatisfied with the original lyrics and so Bettis, who had written lyrics for hits by The Carpenters and The Pointer Sisters, among others, was asked to add lyrics to the song. He completed the song in two days.The producer asked if the song could be included on Jackson’s album, to which Porcaro and Bettis agreed.  “Human Nature” was the last song selected for Thriller, ousting “Carousel” from the final track listing.

Album

Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records, as the follow-up to Jackson’s critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall. Thriller explores similar genres to those of Off the Wall, including pop, R&B, rock, post-disco, funk, and adult […]

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Musicians

Drums	Jeffrey Porcaro
Guitar	Steve Lukather
Synthesizer	David Paich
Synthesizer	Steve Porcaro
Sampler	Michael Boddicker
Percussion	Paulinho Da Costa
Vocals	Michael Jackson

Produced By

Quincy Jones

Songwriters

Steve Porcaro
John Bettis

Charts

US:#7
UK:# –