Michael Jackson – Off the Wall (Mobile Fidelity, ONE-STEP recording)

Michael Jackson’s reign as King of Pop begins right here! “Off The Wall” visionarily combines funk, disco, soul, and R&B. At the beginning of the recording sessions, Michael Jackson was clear about only one thing: He didn’t want to sound like The Jacksons. The late legendary producer Quincy Jones did him this favor the beginning of a collaboration that would shape almost two highly creative decades in Jackson’s artistic discography. Jackson wasn’t the sole author of the furious tracklist: Stevie Wonder (“I Can’t Help It”), Rod Temperton (“Rock With You”), and Paul McCartney (“Girlfriend”), among others, participated in the songwriting. While “Girlfriend” only reached the top 50 of the singles charts in Europe, the other two singles, as well as “She’s Out Of My Life,” written by Tom Bahler, achieved high chart positions, particularly in the UK and the US. “Rock With You” and the song “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough,” written by Jackson himself, even topped the US singles charts. The album, however, broke all records: To date, it has been certified nine times (!) platinum in the US and sold over 20 million copies the most successful album by a Black artist worldwide to date. The numbered one-step 45 rpm double LP, limited to 6,000 copies, was created from the master tapes and presents this Grammy-winning milestone from 1979 in an audiophile sonic guise that brims with energy, clarity, detail, and dynamics!