“Black or White”
Single by Michael Jackson from the album Dangerous
Released	November 11, 1991 (Europe)
Format	7" single 12" single CD single
Recorded	1989/90
Genre	Pop, Dance-pop, Hard rock[1]
Length	3:22 (radio edit) 4:16 (album version)
Label	Epic
Writer(s)	Michael Jackson
Producer	Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson singles chronology
"Liberian Girl" (1989) "Black or White" (1991) "Remember the Time" (1992)
Michael Jackson's Visionary chronology
"Leave Me Alone" (2006)	"Black or White" (2006)	"Remember the Time" (2006)
Dangerous track listing
"Heal the World" (7) "Black or White" (8) "Who Is It" (9)
HIStory track listing
"The Way You Make Me Feel" (2) "Black or White" (3) "Rock with You" (4)
Alternate cover
"Black or White (The Clivillés & Cole (C&C) Remixes)" cover.
Alternate cover
[[Image:|"Black or White (US Digipak)" cover.|200px]]
"Black or White (US Digipak)" cover.

"Black or White" was the first single taken from Michael Jackson's album Dangerous, released in November 1991. "Black or White" is a mix of hard rock, dance and rap. Image File history File links Black_or_White. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... Dangerous is an album released by singer-songwriter Michael Jackson in November 1991 which has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide. ... is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ... For the record label, see 12 Inch Records. ... A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the year. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the genre of popular music. ... Dance-pop is a subgenre of pop music that evolved from disco, circa the early 1980s, that combines dance beats with a pop song structure. ... Hard Rock redirects here. ... In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. ... Epic Records is an American record label, owned and operated by Sony BMG. // Epic was launched originally as a jazz and classical music label in 1953 by CBS. Its bright-yellow, black and blue logo became a familiar trademark for many jazz and classical releases. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... Liberian Girl was the ninth and final single to be released from Michael Jacksons 1987 album Bad. ... Michael Jacksons Visionary chronology Black or White (2006) Remember the Time (2006) In the Closet (2006) Dangerous track listing She Drives Me Wild (4) Remember the Time (5) Cant Let Her Get Away (6) HIStory track listing The Girl Is Mine (11) Remember the Time (12) Dont... Leave Me Alone was the eighth single to be released from Michael Jacksons Bad album (1987). ... Michael Jacksons Visionary chronology Black or White (2006) Remember the Time (2006) In the Closet (2006) Dangerous track listing She Drives Me Wild (4) Remember the Time (5) Cant Let Her Get Away (6) HIStory track listing The Girl Is Mine (11) Remember the Time (12) Dont... Dangerous is an album released by singer-songwriter Michael Jackson in November 1991 which has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide. ... Michael Jacksons Visionary chronology Jam (2006) Heal the World (2006) You Are Not Alone (2006) Dangerous track listing Cant Let Her Get Away (6) Heal the World (7) Black or White (8) HIStory track listing Wanna Be Startin Somethin (14) Heal the World (15) Heal the World is... For the Björk song, see Who Is It (Björk song). ... This article is about the study of the past in human terms. ... Michael Jacksons Visionary chronology Bad (2006) The Way You Make Me Feel (2006) Dirty Diana (2006) Bad track listing HIStory track listing The Way You Make Me Feel is a song written by American singer Michael Jackson and recorded for his ninth album Bad (1987). ... Michael Jacksons Visionary chronology Dont Stop Til You Get Enough (2006) Rock With You (2006) Billie Jean (2006) Off the Wall track listing Dont Stop Til You Get Enough (1) Rock with You (2) Working Day and Night (3) HIStory track listing Black or White (3) Rock... Image File history File links Blackorwhite-remixcd. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... Dangerous is an album released by singer-songwriter Michael Jackson in November 1991 which has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide. ... For other uses, see November (disambiguation). ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ...

Written, composed, and arranged by Jackson with the rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell, it is a song that promotes racial unity. The song's introduction and main riff is performed by guitarist Slash. Bill Bottrell is an American music producer, songwriter and musician, probably best known for his Grammy Award-winning collaboration with Sheryl Crow. ... Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English/American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver. ...

The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, as well as in 18 other countries. “Hot 100” redirects here. ... “British Hit Singles” redirects here. ...

Music video

Synopsis

The music video for "Black or White" was first broadcast on MTV, BET, VH1, and FOX (after the episode of The Simpsons) on November 14, 1991. Along with Jackson, it featured Macaulay Culkin, Peggy Lipton, and George Wendt. It helped usher in morphing as an important technology in music videos. The video was directed by John Landis, the same director as Thriller. A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a song. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... BET redirects here. ... VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994 and VH1: Music First until 2003) is an American digital television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently... This article is about the animal. ... Bart the Murderer is an episode of the The Simpsons third season. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... is the 318th day of the year (319th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. ... U.S. actress who was born on August 30, 1947, in New York City to a Jewish-American father and an Irish-born mother who was also Jewish. ... George Robert Wendt (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor best known for the role of Norm Peterson on the television show Cheers. ... 3 Frames from a morph from George W. Bush to Arnold Schwarzenegger showing the mid-point between the two extremes Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes (or morphs) one image into another through a seamless transition. ... John David Landis (born August 3, 1950) is an American movie actor, director, writer, and producer. ... Michael Jacksons Thriller is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis. ...

The first few minutes of the video featured an extended version of the song's intro, in which a young kid (Macaulay Culkin) is playing loud music in his bedroom at night, and is yelled at by his enraged father (George Wendt), who demands he stops playing the music and go to bed. Culkin decides to forego his father's request to go to sleep by setting up large speaker cabinets behind his father's reclining chair, donning leather gloves and sunglasses, and playing an extremely loud power chord on an electric guitar. The sound shatters the house's windows and sends his father (seated in his chair) halfway around the world, where the actual song starts. Culkin's mother declares that his father will be "very upset" upon his return. The song from the CD does not use Culkin's nor Wendt's voice, but uses unknown voice actors (with similar voices) and a different intro. Wendt winds up in Africa, and Michael Jackson begins to sing "Black or White", surrounded by various different cultures scene-by-scene. Macaulay Carson Culkin (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. ... George Robert Wendt (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor best known for the role of Norm Peterson on the television show Cheers. ... In music, a power chord is a bare fifth usually played on electric guitar with distortion. ...

This intro is reminiscent of the video for Twisted Sister's song "We're Not Gonna Take It", which also features a father-son conflict over rock music. Twisted Sister is an American hard rock band from New York City. ... Were Not Gonna Take It is a 1984 hit song by the band Twisted Sister from their album Stay Hungry. ...

Supermodel Tyra Banks is seen dancing to the song in the ending of the video.

Controversy

Controversy was generated concerning the last four minutes of the original music video. Jackson walks out of the studio as a black panther and then morphs into himself. Then he walks outside to dance in a similar way to "Billie Jean". This part contained sexually suggestive scenes when Jackson starts to grab his crotch, and then zips his pants up. In the original version, Jackson is seen smashing windows and destroying a car and causing an inn to explode. This destructive behaviour, however, was intended to imply a message of anti-racism and a later version had racist graffiti being destroyed to make the violence more understandable. Jackson later apologized saying that the violent and suggestive behaviour was an interpretation of the animal instinct of a black panther, and MTV and other music video networks removed the last four minutes from subsequent broadcasts. This article is about the Michael Jackson song. ...

To date, the uncut version has generally been seen in the United States on MTV2 only between the hours of 01:00 and 04:00, as part of their special uncensored airing of the "Most Controversial Music Videos" of all time. The extended version is also available on Jackson's DVDs. The original version (without graffiti) is available only on the VHS cassette HIStory - The Video Greatest Hits. The DVD with the same name contains only the "graffiti version". The video was parodied by the sketch comedy TV show In Living Color, and by the band Genesis in their video for "I Can't Dance" in which Phil Collins imitates Michael's 'panther' fit in front of a stark white background. It was still shown in its entirety for some years in Europe. Indeed, it was seen on VH1 in the UK as recently as 2004, though most recent airings have omitted the last portion of the video, which also included a brief cameo by Bart and Homer Simpson before the "prejudice is ignorance" image. The version available in the iTunes Music Store contains neither the panther scene nor the Simpsons cameo, and is cut after the morphing sequence. MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to basic cable lineups across the nation. ... In Living Color is a sketch comedy television series which ran on the FOX Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. ... Genesis is an English rock band formed in 1967. ... I Cant Dance, is the fouth track from the Genesis album We Cant Dance and was the second single from the album (No Son of Mine being the first). ... For other uses, see Phil Collins (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... VH1 (VH-1: Video Hits One until 1994 and VH1: Music First until 2003) is an American digital television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV. VH1 and sister channel MTV are currently... For the comic book series of the same name, see Bart Simpson comics. ... Homer Simpson is also a character in the book and film The Day of the Locust. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ITunes. ... Simpsons redirects here. ...

Starting in 1992, Nocturne Video Productions began playing the "Panther Segment" of the video as an interlude during Michael's Dangerous and HIStory World tours. The clip is 20 seconds shorter than the original with all the violence and the sexually suggestive scenes removed. However, the part where he re-zipped his pants was kept in.

The video today

The video proper, still shown regularly today, featured a montage of sequences in which Jackson is choreographed engaging in dances among people of different cultures of the world (African, South-East Asian (most likely Thailand), Native American, Culture of India, Russian). Jackson walks through visual collages of fire (defiantly declaring "I ain't scared of no sheets; I ain't scared of nobody"), referring to KKK torch ceremonies before a mock rap scene shared with Culkin and other children. The group collectively states, "I'm not gonna spend my life being a color." At the end of the song, different people (including Tyra Banks) dance as they morph into one another (shown as "talking heads"), which is reminiscent of the earlier music video for the Godley & Creme song "Cry". This technique, known as morphing, had been previously used only in films such as Willow and Terminator 2. The morphing visual effects were created by Pacific Data Images. The Culture of Africa encompasses and includes all cultures which were ever in the continent of Africa. ... The culture of Asia is the artificial aggregate of the cultural heritage of many nationalities, societies, religions, and ethnic groups in the region, traditionally called a continent from a Western-centric perspective, of Asia. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... The culture of India has been shaped by the long history of India, all the while absorbing customs, traditions and ideas from both immigrants and invaders, yet resiliently preserving the ancient Vedic culture derived from the Indus Valley Civilization. ... Members of the second Ku Klux Klan at a rally during the 1920s. ... Tyra Lynne Banks (born December 4, 1973) is an American supermodel, television personality, singer and talk show host [1][2][3] She first emerged to prominence on the catwalks of Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, and New York, but her work in the commercial world was her breakthrough. ... Godley & Creme was a duo of English pop musicians and music video directors, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. ... Cry is a single by Godley & Creme released in 1985. ... Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas. ... Terminator 2: Judgment Day (commonly abbreviated T2) is a 1991 movie directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, and Robert Patrick. ... Pacific Data Images was a computer animation production company that was bought by DreamWorks SKG. It is now known as PDI/DreamWorks and is half of DreamWorks Animation SKG, the public company formed by merging PDI and the feature animation division of DreamWorks SKG. // PDI was founded in 1980 by...

The short, censored version continues to air periodically to this day.

Clivillés & Cole Remixes

"Black or White (The Clivillés & Cole (C&C) Remixes)" (commonly titled "Black or White (Remix)") was the 1992 European hit sequel of Michael Jackson's smash single "Black or White". See also: 1992 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 1992 Record labels established in 1992 // 1992 was a pivotal year in the development of music. ...

The single was released in November 1991 in several European countries, charting in the UK, where it reached #14, and in Ireland, peaking at #11. The single also surprisingly peaked at #18 in Australia^[2]. The original version of the song was included in the multi-platinum mega-successful album Dangerous. Despite the favourable European response to this remix, it was never included on a Michael Jackson album or compilation. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Dangerous is an album released by singer-songwriter Michael Jackson in November 1991 which has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide. ...

Trivia

• MJ got the idea of wearing skateboarding knee pads in the video when he saw the assistant choreographer wearing them during rehearsal and thought they looked cool.

• The Indian dance segment alone took 5 days to rehearse.

• The video took six weeks to shoot and cost $4 million dollars.

Parodies

A version of the music video has aired on Al TV (hosted by "Weird Al" Yankovic), with footage from the music video of Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" spliced into the opening segment to make it look as though Mark Metcalf's character from the latter video is yelling at Macaulay Culkin's character. Michael Jackson's voice has been altered to sound like a high pitched version of Weird Al's voice, while Culkin's voice in his rap number has deepened. Finally, the people in the morphing sequence at the end are given individual voices. AL-TV is a show created by parody artist Weird Al Yankovic. ... This article is about the musician. ... Twisted Sister is an American hard rock band from New York City. ... Were Not Gonna Take It is a 1984 hit song by the band Twisted Sister. ... Mark Metcalf (born March 11, 1946 in Findlay, Ohio, USA) is an American actor in both television and film. ...

The sketch comedy television series, In Living Color recreated the postscript scene which ended with a police officer coming on to the scene. Michael Jackson (performed by Tommy Davidson) asks him, "Am I black or am I white?" When the officer responds, "You're under arrest," and handcuffs Michael, the rock star notes, "I guess I'm black." Sketch Show redirects here. ... A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ... In Living Color is a sketch comedy television series which ran on the FOX Network from April 15, 1990 to May 19, 1994. ... Police officers in South Australia A police officer (or policeman/policewoman) is a warranted worker of a police force. ... Tommy Davidson (born December 18, 1965 in Washington, D.C., USA) is an American film and television actor. ...

Track listing

Original release

1. "Black or White" – 3:22
2. "Black or White" (Instrumental) – 3:22
3. "Smooth Criminal" – 4:10

Black or White: The Remixes

1. The Clivillés & Cole House/Club Mix
2. The Clivillés & Cole House/Dub Mix
3. The Underground Club Mix
4. House With Guitar Radio Mix
5. Tribal Beats

Visionary single

CD side

1. "Black or White" (Single version) – 3:22
2. "Black or White" (Clivillés & Cole House Guitar Radio Mix) – 3:50

DVD side

1. "Black or White" (Music video)

Mixes

1. Album version – 4:17
2. Single version – 3:22
3. Instrumental – 3:22
4. Clivillés & Cole House/Club Mix
5. Clivillés & Cole Radio Mix – 3:33
6. Clivillés & Cole House w/Guitar Radio Mix – 3:50
7. Underground Club Mix

Charts

“Hot 100” redirects here. ... Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, formerly known by various names including Hot Soul Singles, Hot Black Singles, and Hot R&B Singles (before the hip-hop term was added in the late 1990s), is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States. ... Billboard magazines Hot Dance Club Play chart (also known as Club Play Singles, and formerly known as Hot Dance Music/Club Play and Hot Dance/Disco) is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs. ... The Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart (formerly known as Adult Contemporary Singles and only Adult Contemporary) lists the most popular songs weekly calculated by airplay and occasionally sales. ... The Hot 100 Airplay is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. ... The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. ... Recording Industry Association of New Zealand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Credits

• Written and composed by Michael Jackson
• Rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell
• Produced by Michael Jackson and Bill Bottrell
• Recorded and mixed by Bill Bottrell
• Solo and background vocals: Michael Jackson
• Drums: Bryan Loren
• Percussion: Brad Buxer and Bill Bottrell
• Bass: Bryan Loren (moog) and Terry Jackson (bass guitar)
• Keyboards: Brad Buxer, John Barnes and Jason Martz
• Guitar: Bill Bottrell
• Heavy metal guitar: Tim Pierce
• Speed sequencer: Michael Boddicker and Kevin Gilbert
• Morphing Sound Effect: Scott Frankfurt
• Rap performed by L.T.B.
• "Intro":
  • Special guitar performance by Slash
  • Directed by Michael Jackson
  • Composed by Bill Bottrell
  • Engineering and sound design: Matt Forger
  • Son played by Andres McKenzie
  • Father played by L.T.B.

Bill Bottrell is an American music producer, songwriter and musician, probably best known for his Grammy Award-winning collaboration with Sheryl Crow. ... Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), more widely known as Slash, is an English/American guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver. ...

Lyric uses

The song "D.A.N.C.E." by Justice contains the line "Under the spotlight, neither black nor/or white..." D.A.N.C.E.[1] is the second single by Justice, and the first from their album †. It includes an edit and extended versions of D.A.N.C.E, a rougher mix in the style of their earlier releases, B.E.A.T, and the track Phantom which... Justice is a French electronic music duo consisting of Gaspard Augé (b. ...

References

1. ^ "Black or White" (Hard rock song) at SonyMusic Store
2. ^ "Black or White (The Clivillés & Cole (C&C) Remixes" at australian-charts.com

External links

• Michael Jackson 'Black Or White' Collection
• Youtube video official