Rod Temperton, the forgotten Michael Jackson man

Okay, let's get the Michael Jackson story out the way first thing. The guy died during the night aged 50, which is obviously sad no matter what feelings you have for him.

Myself? Well, I was/am much more a Prince fan if anything. A musician bordering on genius, a much under-rated guitarist and also a prolific songwriter; not to mention the full on sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle. Michael Jackson was none of these things. A superb, awesome performer with a great voice and an eye for the theatrical yes, but much more reliant on others.

This is why I just don't put him on the same level of the other two previous idols of their time: The Beatles and Elvis. The Beatles need no argument from me, but Elvis, although he didn't write songs as such, did play. He took himself and his guitar and cut that demo, won that deal, made that career.

I've always though of Jackson as more of a Sinatra in many ways, of his era of course. Someone who had it all, a burning charisma and a voice and presence that made people stand up and scream. But a performer all the same.

There is a man that is always forgotten. This morning, and in the coming weeks, one man's name will not be mentioned. Quincy Jones will get due credit for basically making Michael Jackson what he was, but someone else will be cast adrift.

That man is Rod Temperton.

Heard of him? Thought not.

Look at him, standing there with his stupid moustache and eighties hair. It could be the guy who invented the computer watch or the floppy disk. But he isn't. He's the bloke who wrote the songs.

This bloke is from Cleethorpes like some eighties film. In fact everything about him is straight from an eighties small town boy made good movie. And did he make it good. His songwriting credits are on another planet, there is some rubbish, but there are also some massive songs.

He wrote 'Boogie nights' and 'Always and forever' for his own band, but that isn't his greatest moment.

Oh no. Because it was him, Jones and Jackson that came up with 'Off the wall', which he also wrote the two biggest hits for, the title track and 'Rock with you'. They brought him back for 'Thriller' for which he wrote 'The lady in my life' and 'Baby be mine'. Then he wrote 'Thriller'.

And that's it really. He wrote the title track for the biggest selling album of all time, although not a number one it was the song (and video of course) that launched Michael Jackson into megastardom. And he never gets mentioned for it. He even picked Vincent Price for the speaking part, which he wrote in a cab on the way to the studio.

Any songwriter will tell you that without the performer the song is worthless. Michael Jackson made those songs what they were and they wouldn't have been what they are if done by someone else. But the performer, equally, needs the songs. Jackson did, of course, write some superb records, but it was 'Thriller' that turned him from a big selling world famous star into the biggest thing on the planet for the next ten years.

In years to come it will be the music that is remembered rather than the allegations and freak show lifestyle. And the people who made and wrote that music should be equally remembered. Rod Temperton from Cleethorpes should be near the top of that list.

"Even at home, I'm lonely. I sit in my room sometimes and cry. It's so hard to make friends ... I sometimes walk around the neighborhood at night, just hoping to find someone to talk to. But I just end up coming home."

Michael Jackson