Thriller Producer Quincy discusses the recording of the song Someone In The Dark
From the E.T. Storybook
We got kinda trapped on-, on Thriller because, we had about four months to do it
Which isn't a long time on an album, when you're following ten million albums, you know
Because excuse me, that stuff does affect your head, you know
And there is no spiritual way to connect with and say
We're gonna make a bigger album than that, you can't
You have to do something that gives you goosebumps and says
"Yeah, man that really turns me on," because if you get turned on a lot
You got a chance of somebody else getting turned on
You just-, I still have to go with um, God's dividing rod
You know, which is a goosebumps and everything else, and-
And so, we had to do E.T. first, that's what we got in trouble with
Because we had to do the E.T. Storybook
'Cause I had just met Stephen and I introduced Michael to Stephen Spielberg
When I met Spielberg, he was doing E.T. at Laird
And I was doing Thriller with Michael
And so, we were really cross-pollinated everything, you know
He was coming over to the sessions, I was coming over to Laird
Michael was going over there and Michael loved what that was about
And um, it was a fever
And ironically, we were both making two huge pieces of stuff, you know, at the time
But did nobody knew, you know, you never know
Um, the song for E.T.? Peas, you gon' love it
That's why there's still that group of people writing
Some of them drop down, um, that-, that combination
I was gonna say one of the most rewarding parts of it is
After having worked with so many heavy people, you know
Is to put combi-, congress-combinations together
That really locks me up, you know, and put somebody
As-, as heavy as Alan and Marilyn and Rob together, it will spark
It's gonna fly, it's gonna happen
So, we were just gonna do the song first
This was this new love affair between Stephen and I
And so, we did the song, great, we're through, said
"I know, man, please do the whole album," and I said, "Stephen!"
And we had to take um, the biggest film in the history of the cinema
Successful and visual, and reduce it to an oral version
40 minute version for people that had never heard it before
That was still understandable, I said-