Man in the Music by Joseph Vogel

Author:Joseph Vogel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2019-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

6. “CAN’T LET HER GET AWAY”

Written by Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley

Produced by Teddy Riley and Michael Jackson

One of Teddy Riley’s goals as producer was “bringing back Michael to his R&B roots….I didn’t just want to go the pop route because that’s not what he called me for. He called me for that New Jack Swing. That’s what he wanted and that’s what he got.” This is strikingly evident over the first six songs on the album. All are rhythm-oriented; they make you want to move. While the sound is clearly influenced by New Jack Swing and hip-hop, it also draws on some more retro sources. In the case of “Can’t Let Her Get Away,” one of the inspirations was Jackson’s longtime idol James Brown.

This was not by accident. Drawing from a CD of samples, the funky groove reminded Teddy Riley “of the James Brown sound. I could feel it. I thought I’d bring a shadow of some of the greatness of the James Brown production sound to this [song].”

That influence comes through, though Jackson adds some of his own signature elements, including his beatboxing. Music critic Chuck Eddy describes “Can’t Let Her Get Away” as a “nonstop, nonlinear barrage of bopgun pops and bumblebeed beats, vamps and squeaks and gurgles, Cupid’s arrows flying through space and what at one point could be a drippy faucet [with] as much disco momentum as anything Jackson’s waxed since Off the Wall.” Music critic Ben Beaumont-Thomas likewise praises it as “fiendishly intricate, loaded with scratching, multiple layers of drum programming, and shiny smashes of hyper-artificial brass. In its mechanic complexity and tautly funky precision, it mirrors and amplifies Jackson’s corporeal and vocal exactitude.”

When Jackson isn’t grunting and gasping, he is climbing up into a high falsetto. Perhaps the song’s best highlight, however, comes in the funky bridge, which first isolates the beat amid industrial-sounding synth washes, then features Jackson beatboxing with remarkable intricacy before he actually begins to rap. That’s right: listen at the 3:06 mark to the King of Pop trying his hand at rapping for the first time on record.

Once again, “Can’t Let Her Get Away” represents Jackson taking risks. It wasn’t intended to be a hit; it was intended to explore and experiment with a different sound and style. The song concludes the album’s New Jack Swing chamber—at least until the title track brings the album full circle.

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