Holding a record viewing audience, "Black or White" was also The debuting single off of Dangerous. Hitting the record stores on October of '91. Reaching #1 in over 20 countries. A milestone unsurpassed to this very day!
Reaching #1 on the Billboard Top 100 in just three weeks! The only other single to achieve such a feat was a single "Get Back" by The Beatles in 1969. Michael and Elvis are the only two Americans to top the U.K. Charts-"It's Now Or Never" & "Black Or White". And to date, no other artist in history has topped the charts from the 70's, 80's, or 90's!
Such a large viewing audience was obviously due in part to his charming charisma during the days of Thriller & Bad. We all couldn't get enough of The Gloved One. From his behind the curtain posture, thoroughly entertaining music videos to those gravity-defying dance steps, we were definitely hooked!
It's no different with this one. Michael shows he's relevance to a whole new generation. This time, teaching a thing or two about racial equality. Truly, the four-year hiatus was over. The king was back to reclaim his throne!
Remixes
1. Album version
2. Single version
3. Instrumental
4. Clivillés & Cole House/Club Mix
5. The Clivillés & Cole House/Dub Mix
6. House With Guitar Radio Mix
7. Underground Club Mix
Black Or White-The Short Film
It appears the opening has a personality clash. The father cannot stand his sons taste of music. So Macaulay Culkin blasts him away to Michael Jackson's music(something even he finds to enjoy). Where he teaches him a thing or two about unity in diversity.According to the pop star, your either "black or white or stuck between the beat." There ain't no politics about it. As Martin Luther King so eloquently put it "A man should judge another according to the contents of his character. Not the color of his skin."
The whole film went smoothly until the last four minutes. At first glance, he's busting the streets with breath-taking steps. Expressing outrage at a restaurants policy of discrimination. He further busts windows containing KKK and Panther racial slurs(We can understand the violence in that respect).
Yet suddenly, he gets the nerve to masturbate on top of hoods and zip up his fly to prove he was fondling his own crotch(now I understand he claimed to only imitate the instincts of a black panther, yet I don't see how it remotely relates to the films overall theme).
When all is said and done, the bigoted joint is in shambles and he morphs back into a panther and takes off down the dark alley.
:After all this time, we were watching Homer's Television Set. The films resolution exclaims "prejudice is ignorance" before Bart turns it off.
I'll try to give Michael at least some benefit of the doubt. Just maybe Jackson felt disgust over political airbag promises. Saying one thing and doing another. After all, he did offer a formal apology and mentioned getting being outraged at the thought of sexism and racism. But as much as I love this guy and his music, Michael Jackson has too much talent to resort to this kind of indecency.
John Landis(who also did "Thriller) is the one who directed the film. "Cut...What the heck was that?!" Super Model Tyre Banks is the last morphing head. "Cut!..That was great!..How did you do that?!"
Bill Bottrell wrote and performed a Rap segment for the songs climax(who also played as the kids father on the intro to the songs album version). It was Uncle Buck all over again. George Wendt and Macaulay Culkin played as father and son.
The Short Film
Lyrics
I Took My BabyOn A Saturday Bang
Boy Is That Girl With You
Yes We’re One And The Same
Now I Believe In Miracles
And A Miracle
Has Happened Tonight
But, If
You’re Thinkin’
About My Baby
It Don’t Matter If You’re
Black Or White
They Print My Message
In The Saturday Sun
I Had To Tell Them
I Ain’t Second To None
And I Told About Equality
An It’s True
Either You’re Wrong
Or You’re Right
But, If
You’re Thinkin’
About My Baby
It Don’t Matter If You’re
Black Or White
I Am Tired Of This Devil
I Am Tired Of This Stuff
I Am Tired Of This Business
Sew When The
Going Gets Rough
I Ain’t Scared Of
Your Brother
I Ain’t Scared Of No Sheets
I Ain’t Scare Of Nobody
Girl When The
Goin’ Gets Mean
(L. T. B. Rap Performance)
Protection
For Gangs, Clubs
And Nations
Causing Grief In
Human Relations
It’s A Turf War
On A Global Scale
I’d Rather Hear Both Sides
Of The Tale
See, It’s Not About Races
Just Places
Faces
Where Your Blood
Comes From
Is Where Your Space Is
I’ve Seen The Bright
Get Duller
I’m Not Going To Spend
My Life Being A Color
(Michael)
Don’t Tell Me You Agree With Me
When I Saw You Kicking Dirt In My Eye
But, If
You’re Thinkin’ About My Baby
It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White
I Said If
You’re Thinkin’ Of
Being My Baby
It Don’t Matter If You’re Black Or White
I Said If
You’re Thinkin’ Of
Being My Brother
It Don’t Matter If You’re
Black Or White
Ooh, Ooh
Yea, Yea, Yea Now
Ooh, Ooh
Yea, Yea, Yea Now
It’s Black, It’s White
It’s stuck between the beat
It’s Black , It’s White, Whoo
It’s Black, It’s White
It's stuck between the beat
It’s Black , It’s White, Whoo
Behind the scenes of "Black or White"
Next: "Who Is It"!
