Songoftheday 10/30/19 - Tired of injustice tired of the schemes, your lies are disgusting what does it mean...

"Scream" - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson/"Childhood" - Michael Jackson
from the album HIStory: Past, Present, Future, Book 1 (1995)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #5 (two weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 9

Today's song of the day comes from Michael Jackson, who started the 1990s out with his fourth massive solo album Dangerous, which had spun off seven top-40 pop hits in the U.S., the seventh being the ballad "Will You Be There" from the movie Free Willy that got into the top ten in the fall of 1993. But things would very soon get pretty dicey for the superstar, who would soon be accused of sexual abuse by one of the many many children that had stayed with their families at his Neverland Ranch home in California. That case was eventually settled for millions of dollars paid but all guilt not admitted, causing the rumor mill to go full force since there wasn't a real resolution and those questions of his impropriety were truly never answered. Along with the circus he created on his own by marrying Lisa Marie Presley in the spring of 1994 didn't help things much; in fact the odd pairing (with her Scientology beliefs) made them even stronger to those questioning his innocence.

A year from that marriage, Jackson released HIStory: Past, Present, Future, a multi-disc part greatest hits set and part new studio album that seemed like an odds and ends collection. While the first CD/record had 15 of his biggest singles from his last four albums (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous), the second contained originals as well as a few cover songs. Most of the new material was very "angry" and bitter about the world and especially the media and legal circus surrounding him. It was especially evident in the lead single "Scream", which was the first song that paired Michael with his equally popular sister Janet Jackson. Written and produced by the siblings with Janet's longtime producers and collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the record was clearly meant as an "event" more than a song, but still he got his point across how much what he felt was unfair was getting to him, even giving up his first "f" word on record. Add in what was at the time the most expensive music video ever made, with director Mark Romanek placing the pair in an alternate space universe, guaranteed MTV interest and both of their fans' involvement, for a moment overpowering any naysayers...

"Scream" would rocket on to the chart in the top five in June of 1995. But the song didn't rise any higher, and rather it fell out of the top-40 after a couple months or so and didn't even make the usual 20 week mark on the pop Hot 100 (where songs usually go to the "recurrent" chart). That fact alone from a record marking the return of two of the biggest acts in pop music shows how much effect the scandals have had on the general public. Sure, the fanbase was still there, but there's only so many records they can buy, and radio dropped out pretty quickly. The song spent a week at #2 on Billboard's R&B chart, and even rose to #32 on their Adult Contemporary (or "easy listening") format list. The remixes of the track helped it take two weeks at #1 on the Dance Club Play tally as well. Internationally, where the media circus wasn't as widespread, the song did much better, topping the singles charts in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and Finland. It also reached the top ten in Australia (#2), Denmark (#2), the UK (#3), Belgium (#3W/#5F), France (#4), the Netherlands (#4), Ireland (#6), Germany (#8), Sweden (#8), and Austria (#9). In Canada, the single just missed the top ten at #12. At the Grammy Awards in 1996, "Scream" was nominated for Best Pop Collaboration, which went to The Chieftains and Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately", but he did win the award for Best Music Video. The HIStory album was album nommed for Album of the Year (which in my mind was weird since it was half greatest hits), but lost to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill anyway.

And then there's the B-side. "Childhood", made for the Free Willy 2 movie sequel, just by title alone made a lot of people uncomfortable from the get go, and the ballad, surely meant to be a hit on easy listening stations, just didn't even come close to that. Written and produced by Michael with David Foster, the song dealt with his abuse from his father Joe as a child, and his lack of a true upbringing from his music career. It got enough airplay to be listed in Billboard with "Scream", while in Canada it charted on its own, peaking at #73...