The Girl Is Mine

FROM : Original track listing of the Thriller album (1982)

RELEASE DATE : October 18, 1982 (album version)

LENGHT : 3:42 (album version)

LABEL : Epic CBS Records (now Sony Music)

RECORDING DATES : April 14-16, 1982, 1982.

STUDIOS : Westlake Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California)

SONGWRITER(S) : Michael Jackson

PRODUCER(S) : Quincy Jones

RECORDING ENGINEER : Bruce Swedien

LEAD VOCALS : Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney

BACKING VOCALS : Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney

MUSICIANS :

Greg Phillinganes: Rhodes, synthesizer
David Foster, synthesizers
David Williams: guitar
Jerry Hey, Gary Grant: trumpets, flugelhorns
Louis Johnson, bass guitar
Dean Parks and Steve Lukather, guitar
Vocal arrangement by Rod Temperton
Jeff Porcaro, percussion
David Paich, piano

Rhythm arrangement by Quincy Jones and David Paich

ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS*

*Worked by MJ during his lifetime. Covers and remixes by other artists are not included.

The Girl Is Mine (tape recorder) : In 1981, MJ recorded the baseline of The Girl Is Mine on his tape recorder. This recording was played in public in December 1984 during a court hearing where musician Fred Sanford accused MJ of plagiarism. It remains unreleased.

The Girl Is Mine (demo) : solo demo recorded in 1982. It was released in 2008 on the third track of the maxi single “The Girl Is Mine (2008)”.

LIVE PERFORMANCES BY MICHAEL JACKSON :

The song was never performed live in public by Michael Jackson

SHORT FILM : No short film

PEAK ON HOT 100 BILLBOARD : 2

DID YOU KNOW THAT?

-“The Girl Is Mine” has been the subject of two plagiarism lawsuits. Both instances required Jackson to testify in court, and each lawsuit was decided in favor of the singer and his record label. The first legal trial occurred in 1984, with Fred Sanford claiming that Jackson had cut a tape of his song, “Please Love Me Now”. Jackson, however, insisted that he composed “The Girl Is Mine”. The $5 million copyright suit was closed after the jury of five men and a woman reached a verdict in favor of Jackson. Their verdict was reached after a three-day deliberation. Jackson was not a defendant in the trial but testified to maintain his credibility. James Klenk, Jackson’s attorney, praised the singer upon the jury’s verdict. “The man is a genius. He doesn’t need anyone else’s songs. His own words were the key.” During the court proceedings, Jackson revealed how he composes his songs. “I put them in a tape recorder and I orally sing them into the tape, and that’s how it happens.” One juror stated, “His presentation indicated that he was well able to develop his own songs.”

The song’s second plagiarism trial was in 1993. Reynaud Jones and Robert Smith alleged that “The Girl Is Mine”, along with “Thriller”—written by Rod Temperton—and “We Are the World”, resembled their musical works. The pair added that they had been childhood neighbors of the Jackson family when they had resided in Gary, Indiana. Jackson, Lionel Richie—co-writer of “We Are the World”—and Quincy Jones were named as the defendants. The plaintiffs asserted that Joseph Jackson had received a demo tape from them. From the tapes, the defendants were alleged to have stolen the three hit songs. Reynaud Jones also claimed that he had considered suing Jackson over “Billie Jean”. Jackson appeared in court via a taped testimony. Following the testimony, the nine-member jury found Jackson to be the writer and composer of “The Girl Is Mine” in early 1994. They also ruled that the defendants had not plagiarized “Thriller” or “We Are the World”.

-For Thriller 25, an album celebrating Thriller’s 25th anniversary, Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am remixed “The Girl Is Mine”. Entitled “The Girl Is Mine 2008”, the remix features an original solo demo of the song by Jackson without McCartney. will.i.am added his own vocals and new verse. The song reached number 12 in New Zealand, 22 in France, in the top 50 of Denmark and Sweden, and number 51 in Switzerland.