Jackson Picks Best for "Ones"

Perhaps Michael Jackson should have saved the title Invincible, because his upcoming collection packs more chart-muscle than his disappointing last studio album mustered. The November 18th release Number Ones pulls together sixteen biggest hits from the past three decades as Jackson positioned himself as the King of Pop. The set also includes the new song "One More Chance," written by R. Kelly.

The criteria for a song's inclusion weren't limited to U.S. charts, as the songs on Number Ones include a handful of U.K. chart-toppers like "Black or White" and "You Are Not Alone." Actually, some of the songs -- like "You Rock My World," "Thriller" and "Smooth Criminal" -- weren't Number Ones on either side of the Atlantic, but merely hits. And one Number One, "Say Say Say," Jackson's collaboration with Paul McCartney, was excluded from the record. But the collection spans Jackson's solo career, dating back to his 1972 ode to a mouse, "Ben," and running through "Break of Dawn," from last year's Invincible.

A fifteen-song DVD with the same title is also in the works for a November release, compiling the now-legendary videos for his hits like "Thriller," "Bad" and "Beat It."

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

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