Cusp Song of the Day: Just a Little Bit of You

At the same time the Jacksons moved from Motown to CBS Records, so did 16-year-old Michael Jackson as a solo artist. MJ already had garnered three top 10 hits between 1971 and '75. But the family, and especially Michael, had outgrown Berry Gordy's artistic and financial controls. Indeed, it's hard to imagine how different Michael Jackson's career would have been if he'd stayed at Motown. Consider this, his final charting Motown single.

"Just a Little Bit of You," which spent six weeks on the charts in the summer of 1975, is, shall we say, not his best work.Of course, considering that after leaving Motown MJ had 10 number 1 pop hits and countless other charting songs, that's not necessarily an insult. But an insult wouldn't be inappropriate for this song.

In Chapter 7 of Cusp, the song is playing when Karen and Mark visit Craig. They wait for him in the kitchen "since no one’s allowed in the living room." The song plays on a clock radio on the counter. Karen turns it down since it’s pretty bad. Luckily for the world, it's the last bad song Michael Jackson released for many years (no pun on the word "bad" intended).

Note: I apologize for the poor quality of the video, from American Bandstand, but included it because it shows that even in his awkward stage Michael Jackson was miles beyond the weak material he was saddled with.