'Man in the Mirror'

Jackson’s catalog is so deep that people tend to overlook this simple midtempo ballad from Bad. But beyond offering a fleeting glimpse of autobiography (“I’m starting with the man in the mirror/ I’m asking him to change his ways”), it’s one of Jackson’s most powerful vocals and accessible social statements, not to mention the best-ever use of a gospel choir in a pop song.
'I Want You Back'

Even with everything we know about Jackson as an adult, only a person with the hardest of hearts could hear the chord progression of the Jackson 5′s greatest song and not get up and dance. The effortlessness with which Jackson fuses the influence of Sly Stone and James Brown with his own innocent yelping is part of the appeal, but the whole song flies by with a whimsy and sweetness that was Jackson’s calling card well into his mid-20s.

























