"Just Good Friends" is a song from American recording artist

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's 1987 album '' Bad''. The song is one of two duets on the album, the other being "

I Just Can't Stop Loving You "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a 1987 duet ballad by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett, and was the first single released from his seventh album, '' Bad''. The song was written by Jackson, and co-produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The pre ...

". The song features Jackson and Stevie Wonder quarrelling over a girl in a light, cheerful manner. "Just Good Friends" is the fifth track on ''Bad'' with a duration of 4:06. It is the only song from the album to have never been released as a single. "Just Good Friends" is one of only two songs on ''Bad'' which were not written by Jackson himself, the other being "

Man in the Mirror "Man in the Mirror" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett and produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. It was released on February 6, 1988, as the fourth single from Jackson ...

". The song was written and composed by the '80s song writing-partnership of

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

and

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entries, 4 US Country No ...

Reception

Richard Cromelin of ''The

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' liked what he called a relaxed and charming nature of Jackson and Wonder's vocal performances in the duet. He noted the song's "early

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

charge" and Motown links. He was impressed with both Just Good Friends and "

" and thought they stood out in comparison to other tracks from '' Bad''. On the other hand, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' criticized "Just Good Friends" as being "the only mediocrity" on ''Bad''. The reviewer attributed this to the fact that "Just Good Friends" is one of only two songs not actually written by Jackson on the album. ''Rolling Stone'' commented that the Stevie Wonder-duet starts well, but "devolves into a chin-bobbing cheerfulness that is unforced but also, sadly, unearned." Quincy Jones was also very critical of the song: “I made a mistake on the duet with him and Stevie ��Just Good Friends,” written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle That didn’t work.”

Credits

* Written and composed by

and

* Vocal duet with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder * Synthesizer solo: Stevie Wonder * Drums: Ollie E. Brown,

Humberto Gatica Humberto Gatica is a Chilean-born American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with Celine Dion, Chicago, Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Andrea Bocelli, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé. Gatica's inte ...

and

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien (; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedien fi ...

* Drum programming: Cornelius Mims * Rhythm guitar and wah-wah guitar solo: Michael Landau * Saxophones: Kim Hutchcroft and

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams ...

* Trumpets: Gary Grant and

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's ''Thriller'', '' Rock with You'' ...

* Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa * Synclavier: Christopher Currell * Synthesizers:

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthe ...

Rhett Lawrence James Everett "Rhett" Lawrence is an American record producer and songwriter. He has produced, mentored, and helped launch the career of 5 artists amongst the top 200 artists to be featured on Billboard magazine's top charts from 1955-2012, who ...

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

and Larry Williams * Rhythm, synthesizer and vocal arrangements by Terry Britten, Graham Lyle and

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

* Horn arrangement by

References

{{authority control 1987 songs Michael Jackson songs Stevie Wonder songs Songs written by Terry Britten Songs written by Graham Lyle Song recordings produced by Michael Jackson Song recordings produced by Quincy Jones Male vocal duets

Reception

Credits

See also

References