"Off the Wall" is a song by American singer

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

, from his fifth album of the same name (1979). It was written by English songwriter

Rod Temperton Rodney Lynn Temperton (9 October 1949 – 25 September 2016) was an English songwriter, producer and musician. Temperton was the keyboardist and main songwriter for the 1970s pop music, disco and funk band Heatwave, writing songs including "St ...

and produced by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, and released by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

as the album's third single on November 17, 1979 in the UK and on February 2, 1980 in the U.S. Billboard.com - Search Results - Off the Wall (Singles chart)
. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-08-15. The song was first offered to

Karen Carpenter Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer, who formed half of the sibling duo the Carpenters alongside her older brother Richard. With a distinctive three-octave contralto range, she was praise ...

, while she was working on her first solo album, but she turned it down. Lyrically, the song is about getting over troubles. The song was well received by

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, and became Jackson's third top 10 single from ''Off the Wall'', which eventually spawned four top 10 singles; Jackson was the first person to accomplish this. It was performed by Jackson in five of his concert tours.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

highlighted the song on its studio album. The song became Jackson's third top 10 single from ''Off the Wall''. It peaked at number ten on the Pop Singles Chart and at number five on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Soul Singles Chart. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' called it "another killer" after "

Rock With You "Rock with You" was written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones. It was first offered to Karen Carpenter, while she was working on her first solo album, but she turned it down. It was released on November 3, 1979, by Epic Records as ...

" and "

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is a single written and recorded by American singer Michael Jackson. Released under Epic Records on July 10, 1979, the song is the first track on Jackson's fifth studio album ''Off the Wall'' (1979). It was the ...

," saying that "a fluid, sashaying dance beat rocks the cut."

Other versions

Live performances

Jackson performed the song on

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

Destiny Tour The Destiny World Tour was the third concert tour by the Jacksons to promote the group's ''Destiny'' album. The tour began on January 22, 1979, with their opening concert in Bremen, West Germany. They visited 3 continents and 14 countries, playin ...

's (1979) second leg, as well as the

Triumph Tour The Triumph Tour was a concert tour by The Jacksons, covering the United States and Canada from July 8 to September 26, 1981. The tour grossed a total of $5.5 million, setting a record breaking four sold out concerts in Inglewood, California, jus ...

(1981) and the Victory Tour (1984). He performed the song only on the first leg of his

Bad Tour Bad was the first solo concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album ''Bad (album), Bad'' (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts for over 4.4 million ...

(1987), his first solo tour. During the

HIStory World Tour The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and recording artist Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning ...

(1996), the song was included on the ''Off the Wall'' medley (also featuring the songs "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough") on some concert playlists. A live performance of the song can be seen in One Night in Japan, a bootleg live album and DVD release of Jackson's 1987 concert in

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, Japan, during the Bad tour.

Sample

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

interpolated "Off the Wall" on her song "

I'm That Chick "I'm That Chick" is a song by American singer and songwriter Mariah Carey from her eleventh studio album, '' E=MC²'' (2008). A disco track with influences of R&B, it was written by Carey, Johntá Austin and production duo Stargate (Mikke ...

", which is included in her 2008 album '' E=MC²''.

Vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, visual art style, and Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, elevator music, elevator, contemporary ...

producer Saint Pepsi sampled "Off The Wall" in the song "Enjoy Yourself," a line featured in the original song's chorus. The music video featured scenes from a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

with the character

Mac Tonight Mac or MAC most commonly refers to: * Mac (computer), a family of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * A variant of the word macaroni, mostly used in the name of the dish mac and cheese * Ma ...

PinkPantheress PinkPantheress (born 2001) is an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. PinkPantheress's songs, which are frequently short in length and include samples of music from the 1990s and 2000s, span a number of genres, including bedroom p ...

sampled "Off the Wall" in her 2021 single "Just a Waste".

Track listing

Official versions

#Album Version – 4:05 #Remix – 4:01 #7" Remix – 3:47 #Edit – 3:46 – Featured on the ''Essential Collection'' is an early fade of the album version. #

Junior Vasquez Junior Vasquez (born Donald Gregory Mattern, August 24, 1949) is an American DJ, record producer and remixer. He has been referred to as one of the only DJs of his time to gain international attention. Career Mattern moved to New York City a ...

Mix – 5:13 – Featured on the '' Stranger in Moscow'' single. #Live – 4:00 – Featured on ''

The Jacksons Live! ''The Jacksons Live!'' (a.k.a. ''Live'') is a live album by The Jackson 5, The Jacksons. It was released on November 11, 1981 by Epic Records. The album was recorded during the band's North American concert tour in fall 1981, known as the Triumph ...

''. US and Japanese singles feature the remix running 3:47, while the UK and the rest of the world got the other remix running 4:01.

Personnel

*Written and composed by

*Produced by

and

* Recorded and Mixed by

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien (; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedien fir ...

: Lead and background vocals * Louis Johnson: Bass * John Robinson: Drums * David Williams,

Marlo Henderson Marlo Henderson was an American guitarist and saxophonist, who played in mainly blues and R&B genres. As a session musician he played on albums such as '' Off the Wall'' by Michael Jackson, '' Them Changes'' by Buddy Miles, '' Face to Face'' by Ev ...

: Guitars *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

Electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthesi ...

: Synthesizer programming *

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

: Synthesizer, synthesizer programming * Paulinho da Costa: Percussion *Horns arranged by

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', ''Rock with You'', ...

and performed by The

Seawind Horns Seawind may refer to: *Seawind Ocean Technology Seawind Ocean Technology B.V., a Netherlands based company, is a manufacturer (OEM) of integrated floating wind turbine and green hydrogen systems. Seawind is developing two-bladed floating wind tur ...

: **Jerry Hey: Trumpet,

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

: Tenor and alto saxophones, flute **

Kim Hutchcroft Kim or KIM may refer to: Names * Kim (given name) * Kim (surname) ** Kim (Korean surname) *** Kim family (disambiguation), several dynasties **** Kim family (North Korea), the rulers of North Korea since Kim Il-sung in 1948 ** Kim, Vietnamese f ...

: Baritone and tenor saxophones, flute ** William Reichenbach: Trombone ** Gary Grant: Trumpet *Rhythm and vocal arrangements by Rod Temperton * Sound effects by George Duke

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1979 songs 1979 singles 1980 singles Michael Jackson songs Songs written by Rod Temperton Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Epic Records singles Columbia Records singles CBS Records singles Songs about dancing