Quiz question: what was the lead single from Michael Jackson’s Bad album? The title track? The Way You Make Me Feel? Man in the Mirror? Smooth Criminal? Dirty Diana?
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and wrong again, unfortunately: the answer, surprisingly, is I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, a duet with Siedah Garrett (the co-writer of Man in the Mirror, incidentally) that, on the vinyl, was tucked away in the middle of Side 2, but was released a month or so before the album, on 20 July 1987.
Which isn’t to diminish the song’s quality or commercial success. This is a big ballad that reached number one all over the world, and now Dann Huff - the man who played the beautifully considered guitar parts on the track - has been discussing how he came up with them.
Speaking to Vertex Effects, Huff says that he knew immediately that it was his job to play a supporting role in the arrangement.
“It’s more of a keyboard song. It’s not guitar music per se,” he explains. “It’s not about all these tone colours that you bring - fast and flashy licks - it’s about finding… I like to call them compositions as opposed to hooks, but it’s the same thing. You find these little earworms that you’re not aware of, but without it wouldn’t have the same bounce.”
This being the case, says Huff, he had to pick his moments.
“On the Michael Jackson session what I was listening for were little openings that I could insert some of these things,” he explains. “The synth sounds were so dense back then - they would come in with racks of those things.”
Despite not being front and centre, Huff still managed to come up with some magical licks - little phrases (including an instantly recognisable arpeggio in the chorus) that help to lift I Just Can’t Stop Loving You to another level. And while the guitarist is happy to admit that these aren’t the most difficult parts in the world, he does believe that he deserves some credit for coming up with them when the pressure was on.
“It’s not technically hard - a third-grader can play these bits,” he says. “But on the spot? That’s kind of the difference.”
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