Michael Jackson's «Can't get outta the rain»

[Pierre Declercq]

In 1982/83 I heard the song «Can't get outta the rain» by Michael Jackson on the radio and I could find it as the B-side of «The girl is mine» 7". Later I found out that this song was also the B-side of two more 7"s on some markets, «Billie Jean» and «Thriller». The song is written by Jackson and Quincy Jones and the label says it's a 1982 song. Oddly enough, this song wasn't on the albums «Thriller» or «Off the wall». When Epic released a special edition of «Thriller» on cd with bonuses, this song was still missing. I finally found out why: it's not really a Michael Jackson's song (he doesn't sing much on it) but the second part of a 12" from «The wiz», «You can't win». I knew the original version on the lp, a 3:14 song written by Charlie Smalls but I never heard the 12" remix (Michael Jackson Collectors,Jackson 5 Collectors,Jackson Collections MJCollectors.com). The last part of it (4 minutes more or less) is «Can't get outta the rain»! It's basically an instrumental with Jackson singing from time to time and background vocalist chanting, not «Can't get out of the rain» but «You can't get out of the game» (confirmed by the booklet in the two lp-set)! Mystery solved. Two remarks: 1-that's not very honest; 2-in 1983 Michael Jackson could still sell 100% disco songs.

[Videoskooter]

And too bad that this track is so obscure coz' it's a very good 1!