So Far, No Radio Thriller

After years as a recluse and tabloid oddity, this was the week that Michael Jackson had circled on his calendar as the beginning of his return to pop music royalty. So far, though, there’s reason to wonder if he’s any closer to reclaiming his throne.

The surprise release Friday of “You Rock My World,” the lead single from Jackson’s first studio album in six years, has been met with tepid and skeptical responses from many of the nation’s leading pop and urban radio stations. Despite a predictable spike in airplay its first day, an informal survey Tuesday of some key programmers showed mostly listener apathy. “The response from our listeners has been, well, quiet,” said J.R. Ammons, music director of Atlanta’s leading pop station, WSTR-FM, known as Star 94. “All of us in the process have a question whether or not Michael Jackson is relevant to our audience anymore. I have no idea. I guess we’ll find out. So far it’s mostly silence.”

For Jackson, who celebrates his 43rd birthday today, that’s a dramatic change from the bombast that surrounded his singles in the 1980s and early 1990s.

The singer’s new album, “Invincible,” is due in stores on Oct. 30 and has been a topic of intense speculation in the music industry, which is divided on the singer’s relevance. To ramp up for the release, the singer will be feted next week at an all-star tribute at Madison Square Garden in New York. Though no one questions the historic weight of his music on “Thriller”--the 1982 album is the second-best-selling disc ever in the U.S.--his current commercial heft is less certain.At Epic Records, Jackson’s label, there are no signs of distress about any disdain in the radio community--in fact, just the opposite, said Hilary Shaev, executive vice president of promotions. She said that it’s not unusual to see a disconnect between the tastes of radio programmers and their fans, who are typically younger and less jaded.

“People who program radio stations reflect the media in their market, and all of them are entitled to their opinion and feel they should have an opinion,” Shaev said. “They all feel like they should be arbiters of pop culture. There are other examples: When the last ‘N Sync record came out, everybody deemed the boy-band thing over and said it would not do well. It sold incredibly well, and the fans can’t get enough of it.”

“You Rock My World” is an mid-tempo song featuring the slick, hit-making beats of Rodney Jerkins, one of the most celebrated pop producers of the day, and, on the album, will have a dash of extra celebrity with a silly intro dialogue with comedian Chris Tucker. It’s a freshened treatment of his signature sound, but it’s unclear if it will resonate with younger fans.

“At first, there was a lot of interest from people who hadn’t heard it,” said Dave Morales, music director for KHKS-FM (106.1) in Dallas. “The callers would say, ‘Is there really a new Michael song?’ But we’re not getting a lot of repeat requests for it.”

At Z100, the New York pop station that boasts the nation’s largest audience with 2.5 million listeners, the song is being treated like any other record and getting played once a day, said music director and DJ Paul “Cubby” Bryant.

“It’s a decent-sounding record, but I’m not sure fans of Eve and Gwen [Stefani of No Doubt] and Jagged Edge fans are foaming at the mouth for this,” Bryant said. “In the [radio] industry the reaction is lukewarm. Even though he’s Michael Jackson, probably the biggest star of our time, there’s a real question whether he matters to young people.” Still, Tony Novia, an editor for industry trade publication Radio & Records, said the first-day airplay of the song was impressive enough that it must be considered a potential hit and positive portent for the album. It would be wrong, Novia said, to label a song a hit or flop without waiting to see how extended airplay and the upcoming video (helmed by Paul Hunter) affect the public’s reception.

“It got impressive first-day airplay because it is an event, and it’s an event because Michael is a huge superstar,” Novia said. “And we need him badly now with record sales down, and radio stations could certainly use a goose in ratings .... He does have a challenge--he has a whole generation of kids who have no idea who he is or haven’t heard his music on the radio.”

At Power 106 in Los Angeles, for instance, the youthful audience hungers for hip-hop and R&B; that pushes the envelope and also reaches a massive audience. Against that backdrop, the new Jackson song was dead on arrival, said Damion Young, assistant program director

“As a personal fan, I was disappointed. After that long of a wait I was expecting an explosion.... There was nothing innovative about it,” Young said. “We played it a couple of times the first day and there was no reaction whatsoever, and we took it off.... I hope there’s something on the album that we can play, but not if the single reflects the album.”

Two radio stations are absolutely behind the song: WKTU-FM and WJTM-FM, a pair of New York stations programmed by Frankie Blue, well known as a confidant of Jackson. The stations, together, will have played the song about 100 times after one week, far more than any other outlets.

“It’s a masterpiece, a great collaboration between Rodney Jerkins’ grooves and Michael Jackson’s vocal performance; everybody’s excited about it,” Blue said. “I made a major commitment because I want our 2 million listeners to know that Michael is back.”

Is the intense airplay, bucking the rest of the radio community, wise for the stations? “I would never take a gamble or a risk for this radio station,” Blue said. “I just think this is an event. If you don’t make it an event, it won’t be one. We’ll play it until the tread on the tires wears down.”