Quincy Jones’ ‘Midas touch’: everything he touched turned to gold

Read more about Shirma Rouse sings Quincy Jones

King of Pop

Love. Quincy Jones could never emphasise enough how essential it was for music production. Without love, and the admiration that inherently comes with it, there was simply no starting point, he believed. Jones found that love, among others, in Michael Jackson, whom he met in 1978 while producing the music for the musical film The Wiz. Michael, still the child prodigy of the Jackson Five at the time, played the Scarecrow and was determined to make it as a solo artist.

Michael insisted to his record label that Jones had to produce his debut album, much to the dismay of the label’s executives. They considered Jones too “jazzy”, and therefore unsuitable for the charts. In the end, however, they agreed. Jones remained forever grateful: “If you underestimate me, I will prove you wrong. This was the best thing that could ever have happened to me.”

It marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration between Jones and Jackson. The music producer helped shape the signature sound of the King of Pop. Their ultimate climax came with the album Thriller. That famous bass line in Billie Jean? Quincy’s. It was also Jones who brought in rock icon Eddie Van Halen to play the solo on Beat It, a deliberate attempt to reach both a Black and a white audience with the song.

Pioneering

But Quincy Jones is more than just the man behind the King of Pop. His status as a musical legend had already been established decades earlier. From a young age, the jazz world lay at his feet. He worked with greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie. His talent as an arranger and bandleader was unparalleled, and he went on to become the first African American to hold a senior executive position at a major record label, Mercury Records. This placed him in a position from which he could change the music world from within.

His golden touch proved to be genre-defying. In the 1960s, he was responsible for the unexpected teen-pop success of Lesley Gore, with the smash hit It’s My Party. A few years later, he collaborated with one of the greatest voices of all time: Frank Sinatra. Jones arranged and conducted albums such as It Might As Well Be Swing and Sinatra at the Sands, further modernising Sinatra’s classic sound.

We Are the World

In the 1980s, Quincy Jones’ influence was so great that he could unite an entire industry. This was most evident with the charity project We Are the World in 1985. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the song was intended to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia. But it was Jones who took on the impossible task of directing a group of 45 superstars, from Bruce Springsteen to Stevie Wonder, in a single studio.

His legendary approach and leadership were essential. Since such a gathering of stars could easily have spiralled out of control, he hung a note on the studio door: “Check your ego at the door.” He ensured that, despite the scale of the project, the song was recorded in just one night. It went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, breaking all sales records and raising millions of dollars for charity.

Not the usual records

Although Quincy Jones is best known as the man behind the success of others, he was also a formidable artist in his own right. His “solo” albums were not your typical records with a single artist at the centre. While he assumed the role of conductor, composer and visionary, he mostly collaborated with other artists, blending jazz, funk, R&B, soul and pop.

One of his most successful and beloved projects as a solo artist is the 1981 album The Dude. This record, featuring the famous title track, is a masterclass in fusion and funky arrangements. But perhaps his true masterpiece in this category is Back on the Block from 1989. With this album, which won the prestigious Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Jones returned to his roots. He brought together an extraordinary cast of artists, from jazz legends such as Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie to hip-hop pioneers like Ice-T and Big Daddy Kane.

Films and series

But his influence was not confined to the recording studio. As a composer, he provided the music for more than 30 films, including classics such as In the Heat of the Night and The Color Purple. He also produced the legendary television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, leaving his mark on 1990s popular culture through television as well.