"Just Good Friends" is a song from American recording artist Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad. The song is one of two duets on the album, the other being "I Just Can't Stop Loving You". 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". The song was written and composed by the '80s songwriting partnership of Terry Britten and Graham Lyle.
Contents
Reception
Richard Cromelin of the Los Angeles Times 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 charge" and Motown links. He was impressed with both "Just Good Friends" and "Man in the Mirror" and thought they stood out in comparison to other tracks from Bad. On the other hand, Rolling Stone 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 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."
Musicians often admire parts of the song, yet many critics feel it never quite fulfilled the potential suggested by the pairing of the two artists. Several other potential duets with Prince, Whitney Houston and Barbra Streisand all failed to materialize. Jackson and Wonder both contribute a song to each other’s albums, with Jackson singing "Get It" on Characters.
Personnel
Written and composed by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle
Vocal duet with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder
Synthesizer solo: Stevie Wonder
Drums: Ollie E. Brown, Humberto Gatica and Bruce Swedien
Drum programming: Cornelius Mims
Rhythm guitar and wah-wah guitar solo: Michael Landau
Saxophones: Kim Hutchcroft and Larry Williams
Trumpets: Gary Grant and Jerry Hey
Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
Synclavier: Christopher Currell
Synthesizers: Michael Boddicker, Rhett Lawrence, Greg Phillinganes and Larry Williams
Rhythm, synthesizer and vocal arrangements by Terry Britten, Graham Lyle and Quincy Jones
Horn arrangement by Jerry Hey