Billie Jean

Michael Jackson Year: 1983

Original Synth: CS-80 CM Plugin: DuneCM, ThornCM

30Not many songs are instantly recognisable just from a couple of synth chords, but Billie Jean is one. The song remains one of the biggest singles of all time with over 10 million copies sold to date.

Co-produced by the legendary Quincy Jones alongside the king of pop himself, the song is a masterpiece of music production thanks to its stripped-back grooves, unique drum sound, clever recording techniques (backing vocals sung through a cardboard tube, anyone?) and creative use of then pioneering music tech. Even the mix by Bruce Swedien, who normally nailed his mixes in one take, was done over 90 times.

The iconic, string-like chords in the intro were laid down by Jackson using a Yamaha CS-80 alongside a splash of reverb for effect, and we’ll be using DuneCM alongside ThornCM to create our own version.