P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)

"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It is the sixth single from Jackson's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). The original demo version of the song was written by Jackson and Greg Phillinganes. Quincy Jones passed on the song itself but liked the title and, with James Ingram, fashioned a totally new song with that title.
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was released on September 19, 1983, as the penultimate single from Thriller. The single charted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 46 on the R&B singles chart, becoming the sixth Top 10 hit from the album. In the UK, the song reached a peak position of 11. The single was most successful in Belgium, charting within the Top 10 at number 6. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" has been covered and sampled by numerous artists, including Monica, Justin Guarini and Kanye West. The original demo was also remixed by The Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am for Thriller 25.
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was never performed live by Jackson.

Recording


James Ingram later described working with Jackson and Jones as being in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. "It's almost like I got the chance to go to Oz and Quincy was the Wizard of Oz and Michael Jackson was who he was dealing with in his world. Their work ethic is unbelievable."[1] He noted how Jones would fall asleep on the board, waking up to answer a question. "He works in the Alpha state a lot", Ingram added.[1] Two of Jackson's sisters, Janet and La Toya, provided backing vocals in the guise of the P.Y.T.s. The two sisters sang "na na na" back at their brother towards the end of the song.[2][3][4]

Release and Reception


"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was released on September 19, 1983, as the penultimate single from Thriller. The single charted at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 46 on the R&B singles chart, becoming the sixth Top 10 hit from Thriller.[3][5] In the United Kingdom, the song reached a peak position of 11.[2] The song was most successful in Belgium, charting within the Top 10 at number 6.[2] The single was placed at number 14 in the Netherlands.[2][6] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" charted at number 24 in Canada and peaked at number 51 in Germany.[2]
Response to the song was mixed. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic enjoyed the song, and thought that the song was "frizzy funk." [7] However, Rolling Stone reviewer Christopher Connelly, while discussing the album in a review, stated that the song "isn't up to the spunky character of the other tracks." Connelly mentioned that one of Jackson's weaknesses was "a tendency to go for the glitz," and cited the song as one example of this.[8] Davitt Sigerson, from the same magazine, also agreed with Connelly, calling the song one of Thriller's "forgettables".[9] Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the song "fluff", and believed that the other songs from the album were what made Thriller such a hit.[10] Tal Rosenberg of Stylus Magazine believed that the song was a "jazzy R&B number",[11] and Eric Henderson of the same magazine believed that the song was a "lush disco paradise."[12]

Cover Versions and References to the Song


2002: American Idol runner-up Justin Guarini sang "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" on the first season of the show.[13]
2007: A part of the lyrics to Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." refer to Jackson's song, and are said to be in homage to the singer.[14][15]
2008: Similar to "D.A.N.C.E", the song "New Classic", featured in Warner Brothers' film Another Cinderella Story, refers to the Jackson song (creating the backronym "paid, young, and taking on the world from the driver's seat/trying everything just to reach your dreams").
2010: R&B singers T-Pain and Robin Thicke covered the song for Quincy Jones' album, Q: Soul Bossa Nostra.
2011: A cover of the song is featured in the episode "Silly Love Songs" of the television series Glee, sung by the character Artie Abrams (played by Kevin McHale).

Sampling


Jackson's demo version of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was sampled on Monica's 2002 single "All Eyez on Me".[3][17] "We used vocals from the song that didn't make the Thriller album", stated producer Rodney Jerkins. "He [Jackson] had more vocals and ad-libs that were never heard, and we used the ones that were not heard."[3] Jackson hand delivered his original masters to Monica, who, as a longtime Jackson fan, was touched by the move.[16][18]
The chorus of "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was sampled by rapper Memphis Bleek on "I Wanna Love U". The song, sung by Donnell Jones, featured on Bleek's M.A.D.E. album, issued in 2003.[3][19]
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" was also sampled on rapper Kanye West's "Good Life", the third single from his 2007 Graduation album.[20]

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008


For Thriller 25, The Black Eyed Peas rapper will.i.am remixed "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)".[21] The singer commented on Jackson and the project, "You always just dream of meeting him, let alone working with him. I wouldn't have believed it. I grew up in the projects in East Los Angeles and Thriller was filmed about two blocks from my house, but my mother was really strict and she wouldn't let me go to the factories—she didn't care who was filming a video there; but I'm on the 25th anniversary, 25 years later—that's pretty awesome."[1] Entitled "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008", the remix was well received by Rolling Stone. The publication described the track, along with "The Girl Is Mine 2008", as being one of the best songs on the album.[22] They noted that will.i.am "updates the songs' original sound to make them dancefloor-worthy twenty-five years after their release".[22]

Personnel


Written, composed and arranged by James Ingram and Quincy Jones
Produced by Quincy Jones
Greg Phillinganes: Synthesizer, synthesizer programming
Michael Boddicker: Vocoder, emulator
James Ingram: Portasound Keyboard
Paul Jackson: Guitars
Louis Johnson: Electric bass
N'dugu Chancler: Drums
Michael Jackson, Louis Johnson, Greg Phillinganes, James Ingram, Steven Ray: Handclaps
P.Y.T.'s:
Janet Jackson
LaToya Jackson
Becky Lopez
Bunny Hull
Additional background vocals:
James Ingram
Howard Hewett

Track Listing


45 RPM
A-Side
P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing) - 3:58
B-Side
Workin' Day and Night (Live-Jacksons) - 4:26
[edit]Disco Single
A-Side
P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing) - 3:58
B-Side
This Place Hotel - 4:41
Thriller (Instrumental) - 5:56
[edit]Official Versions

Album Version - 3:58
Demo Version - 3:47
2008 Remix with will.i.am - 4:21
Instrumental Version (Unreleased) - 3:58

Charts


Chart (1983) Peak
position
Belgian Singles Chart 6[2]
Canadian Singles Chart 24[2]
Dutch Singles Chart 14[6]
German Singles Chart 51[2]
Holland Singles Chart 14[2]
UK Singles Chart 11[3]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 10[3]
U.S. R&B Singles Chart 46[3]
Chart (2009) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot Digital Songs 14[23]
UK Singles Chart 98[24]