“I Told Him No Way”: Quincy Jones Had To Put His Foot Down With Michael Jackson on This Iconic Hit

When you’re a musical producer, you have to know how to differentiate between what the client wants and what their songs actually need, which is why Quincy Jones once had to put his foot down with Michael Jackson while they were making what is now one of Jackson’s most iconic hits. Jones didn’t buy into the “customer is always right” mentality when it came to music.

Indeed, we have Jones’ willingness to stick to his guns to thank for some of the best music to come out of the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s.

Quincy Jones Put His Foot Down With Michael Jackson

Although he got his start in jazz and film score composition, Quincy Jones began dabbling in pop music. The transition was a natural one. He had previously worked with Michael Jackson while producing the soundtrack for The Wiz, a 1978 movie musical that featured stars like Jackson and Diana Ross. After Jackson asked Quincy for producer recommendations for his upcoming records, Jones offered to do it himself.

Jones produced some of Jackson’s most iconic records, including Off the Wall (1979), Thriller (1982), and Bad (1987). Clearly, the creative collaboration between Jones and Jackson paid off. But it wasn’t without conflict. In a 2018 interview with The National, Jones recalled a time when Jackson gave him an arrangement note for his 1979 track “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.”

According to Jones, Jackson wanted him to remove the violins in the introduction, saying it “messed up his groove.” Jones sang the riff back, calling it “the identifying line in the g****** song.” The producer said he told Jackson, “No way. You don’t tell me what to do. That’s one of the strongest parts of the introduction. Ben Wright wrote that, a Motown arranger.”

Jones’ decision to go against his client’s requests worked in Jackson’s favor. “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” garnered Jackson his first Grammy Award for Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1980. The song topped charts in countries across the globe and was certified platinum five times here in the States.

An Incomparable and, At Times, Tense Musical Collaboration

Despite the success of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson’s three collaborative albums, their relationship soured in the late 1980s. Jones once claimed it was due to Jackson’s insecurity about Jones’ creative contributions to his albums, but the legendary producer later gave a more neutral perspective on their falling out.

Speaking of his three albums with Jackson, Jones said in a 2012 interview with the New York Times, “That’s nothing to do with any one person. That’s the combination of the two of us. You’re looking at one of the most talented kids in the history of show business. Michael was very observant and detail-oriented. You put that together with my background of big-band arranging and composing, we had no limitations.”

Despite the varying accounts of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson’s feud, the music clearly spoke for itself. The pair’s collaboration helped shape pop music in the 1980s and beyond, serving as a testament to music’s ability to supersede time, genre, and, yes, even petty grievances and battling egos.

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