Michael Jackson: Girlfriend

Description: "Girlfriend" is a song written by Paul McCartney. McCartney thought of the song as one that Michael Jackson might like to record, and mentioned this to Jackson at a party in Hollywood. However, McCartney ended up recording it himself with his band Wings, and it was issued in 1978 on the album London Town. Subsequently, it was suggested by Quincy... ( +expand to view full text )

Description: "Girlfriend" is a song written by Paul McCartney. McCartney thought of the song as one that Michael Jackson might like to record, and mentioned this to Jackson at a party in Hollywood. However, McCartney ended up recording it himself with his band Wings, and it was issued in 1978 on the album London Town. Subsequently, it was suggested by Quincy Jones as a possible track for Jackson to record for his 1979 album Off the Wall. Jones was unaware that the song had been written for Jackson in the first place. Jackson's recording omitted the middle eight heard in McCartney's version. It was issued as a single in 1980, in the UK only, as the fifth and final single from the Off the Wall album. It performed rather poorly, just managing to enter the top 50 at #41 and falling out of the top 100 completely after five weeks.