Blood on the Dance Floor
Blood on the Dance Floor is a song by Michael Jackson and the first single from his album Blood on the Dance Floor - HIStory in the Mix . Jackson and Teddy Riley created the track for the album Dangerous , released in late 1991 . However, this song didn't make it onto said album. It was not published commercially until April 1997, in a slightly modified form. The song is about a dangerous woman named Susie. She seduces Jackson before she tries to stab him with a knife. The composition spans many genres , from rock to funk.
The song has been compared by critics to the music of Dangerous . The aggressive tone and Jackson's singing style as well as the range of genres and the different ways of interpreting the text are striking. Reviews at the time of publication were mixed. Nowadays, however, they are mostly positive.
To Blood on the Dance Floor , there is a music video, which premiered at Top of the Pops celebrated. It focuses on "Susie", who tries to seduce Jackson in a dance before she opens a snap knife . The song was a number 1 hit in several countries including the UK .
Production and music
Teddy Riley contributed the name to this song while Michael Jackson wrote and recorded the title for Dangerous . However, it didn't make the leap onto the album. Riley was reportedly furious that Jackson hadn't contacted him to rework the song. Riley then found out that the track would appear on Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix . He revised the song before it was released on the remix album.
You can hear a guitar and a piano, the latter playing in the pitches of F2-Eb5. Jackson's vocals range from C4-C5 and parts of the song are played in A flat major . In addition to rock , pop , dance and funk , the title is also associated with New Jack Swing . Neil Strauss of the New York Times believes the dangerous woman described in the song is a metaphor for AIDS .
Reactions
The Dallas Morning News described Blood on the Dance Floor as "an angry story from a devious woman." Michael Saunders of the Boston Globe described it as a "mediocre dance-funk blend". Buffalo News' Anthony Violenti wrote that the song was "laced into Teddy Riley's new jack swing sound and a pounding techno beat". The Cincinnati Post characterized the song as a "bland, first release and an outdated dance track." The album, however, received a positive rating. Jim Farber of the New York Daily News described the singing and music as "a strangled murmur with dwarf-like hiccups instead of a chant," noting that "pseudo-industrial music is about as pleasant as a migraine."
Allmusic's William Ruhlman said Blood on the Dance Floor is a fast-paced Jackson song in the rising-hysterical tradition of Billie Jean and Smooth Criminal , while Jackson, puffing and panting, yaps through nonsense about a sting, accompanied by a generic electronic dance Track. " Stephen Thomas Erlewine , also from Allmusic , had a negative reaction to the song. He described it as" a dreary remake of Jam and Scream ".
Critic Nelson George compared the song to material from Dangerous , most notably the acclaimed Jam and Dangerous tracks . He described it as a "hammering song that literally explodes from the radio". J. Randy Taraborrelli , a longtime Jackson critic, gave a retrospective analysis of the album in the biography The Magic & the Madness . Taraborrelli thought Blood on the Dance Floor was "one of the best Jackson songs ever and a song that US fans wouldn't even know existed." In 2005, Allmusic's JT Griffith said that in hindsight Blood on the Dance Floor was actually a good song. He explained that it was a "second class mix of Beat It and Thriller ". However, Jackson's missteps are better than most other pop songs. The title shows all of Jackson's trademarks, such as that "oohing", the growling and the heavily funk-heavy bass line. It's hard to hear the song without going on a moonwalk or dancing like a ghoul .
live
Blood on the Dance Floor was the only track from the album that was played live on the HIStory World Tour .
Music video
The video clip for Blood on the Dance Floor was shot by Jackson and Vincent Paterson . The video premiered on Top of the Pops in Great Britain on March 28, 1997, several weeks before it was actually released. The clip begins with a thrown snap knife that gets stuck in a painted picture. It is a bloody love heart with the text "SUSIE + ME" written over it. Jackson and a group of dancers then enter the salsa club where he begins dancing with a woman. This woman is "Susie". Then Jackson can be seen sitting while the dancer is dancing on a table in front of him. During the video, Jackson shows an interest in the woman played by Sybil Azur . The video ends in the same style as it begins, with the knife stuck in the picture. The music video won the Brazilian TVZ Video Award for the best international music video of the year.
In an interview regarding the video, Azur said, “I was called by Vincent Paterson to be on the video for Blood on the Dance Floor . They wanted a Latin feeling, a kind of mambo . I appeared on the set with a salsa dress, stockings, high heels and my hair was pinned up with a flower in it. I was ready for the camera. I already appeared there with the whole outfit. It's not that producers can't see what they like or see the potential in someone, but I help them see their vision. "
A "Refugee Camp Mix" from Blood on the Dance Floor appeared on Jackson's video HIStory on Film, Volume II . The original of the song can be seen on the DVD Number Ones , which also contains unreleased scenes. Furthermore, Paterson recorded an unpublished, alternative version of the video. This version was filmed with an 8 mm camera. Writer Dabvid Noh described it as fuzzy, overexposed, and extremely sexy. According to Paterson, Michael Jackson was excited about the alternative video. However, Sony refused to publish it.
The New York Times described the effort put into promoting Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix in the US as subtle. The advertising was hardly noticed and also amazed many people from the industry. Jackson's record company Epic Records defended itself against these allegations, saying that the label was completely behind the album and Jackson was one of the superstars and was treated that way. The label would have simply focused on the international market. The New York Times admitted that promotion for the album was stronger internationally, as Jackson had more traction and popularity there.
Charts
After the song was released on April 13, 1997, it made it into the top ten in almost all of Europe. Blood on the Dancefloor reached number 1 in the UK , Spain and New Zealand . In the UK, the single sold 85,000 times in the first week. That was enough to take on the first position on R. Kelly's I Believe I Can Fly . The song was Jackson's seventh number 1 hit in the UK as a solo artist. In the second week, the title occupied position 8. The title in Europe was in Switzerland for the longest , namely 18 weeks. In contrast, in Italy it was only on the charts for a week.
In the USA he only reached position 42. This relatively low position was justified by J. Randy Taraborrelli and the all music writer William Ruhlman with the lack of advertising on the US market and the greater interest in Jackson's private life than in his music.
Blood on the Dance Floor was the 20th and final re-release of the Visionary campaign . In June 2006 it reached number 19 on the UK charts.
| Chart (1997) | highest position |
|---|---|
| Austria | 9 |
| Germany | 5 |
| Switzerland | 5 |
| Great Britain | 1 |
| USA / US Billboard Hot 100 | 42 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Craig Halstead: Michael Jackson: For the Record . Authors OnLine, 2007, pp. 46-48, ISBN 978-0-7552-0267-6 .
- ↑ Blood on the Dance Floor . www.musicnotes.com. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ↑ a b Michael Saunders. (June 05, 1997). "Blood on the Dance Floor Epic". The Boston Globe .
- ↑ a b Anthony Violanti. (May 23, 1997). "Lost Soul ....". The Buffalo News .
- ^ A b c William Ruhlmann: Blood On The Dance Floor Review . Allmusic. July 13, 2005. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ↑ a b Jim Farber: The 'Thriller' is gone ... . New York Daily News . May 19, 1997. Archived from the original on July 10, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ^ Neil Strauss: Stars Adrift: Further Out, Further In . The New York Times . May 20, 1997. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ↑ Thor Christensen. (May 20, 1997). "Jackson's new 'Blood' generally thin Singer's work best when fresh on remix release". The Dallas Morning News .
- ^ "Michael Jackson Still Relevant". (June 26, 1997). The Cincinnati Post .
- ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix . Allmusic. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
- ↑ a b c d e f George, pp. 48–50.
- ↑ a b Taraborrelli, pp. 610-611.
- ↑ JT Griffith: Blood On The Dance Floor Review . Allmusic. July 13, 2005. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ↑ Paul Martin. (July 13, 1997). "Rock On; Ulster pop fans go wacko over Jacko". Sunday Mirror .
- ↑ Sybil Azur . IMDb . Retrieved January 11, 2009.
- ↑ Grover Dale. (February 01, 2001). "If You Want to Be Like Britney ... - questions and answers about becoming a dancer, getting an agent". Dance Magazine .
- ↑ David Noh: Choreographer Supreme . Gay City News . January 26, 2006. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
- ^ Andrew Sorkin: King of Pop Faces US Market With Subdued Promotion Effort . The New York Times . June 23, 1997. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ↑ release date
- ↑ a b c M. Jackson - Blood on the Dance Floor (number) . www.ultratop.be. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
- ↑ Blood on the Dance Floor . www.charts-surfer.de. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
