Quincy Jones: Forty Thousand Years of Funk

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Celebrating Diana Ross at 80 with a series of special programmes.

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Celebrating Music's Greatest Stars: Quincy Jones: Forty Thousand Years of Funk - episode 2

Quincy Jones

Quincy Jones: Forty Thousand Years of Funk - episode 2

BBC Radio 2 - Celebrating Music's Greatest Stars, Quincy Jones: Forty Thousand Years of Funk - episode 2

DJ Spoony explore the origins and legacy of music industry heavyweight Quincy Jones.

DJ Spoony presents Forty Thousand Years of Funk, exploring the legacy of Quincy Jones and marking 40 years of Thriller.

This new two-part documentary explores the origins and legacy of music industry heavyweight Quincy Jones, narrated by renowned DJ and Radio 2 presenter DJ Spoony. Each episode delves into his ground-breaking work as a composer, conductor, best-selling author and producer, highlighting some of his greatest achievements.

This second episode looks back to when Quincy Jones met Michael Jackson whilst making the Wiz, which led to them making of the legendary Off the Wall album together, with Quincy producing it. We hear from Howard Hewett of Shalamar and pianist and arranger Greg Phillinganes about the making of Off the Wall and also Thriller. Created in November 1982, Thriller was produced entirely by Quincy and earned Jackson eight Grammy Awards and a Brit Award, and spent 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one and more than 500 weeks on the Billboard Album Chart. Selling 100 million copies since its release, Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time.

The 1980s had other highlights for Quincy including producing music for George Benson and Donna Summer as well as producing his own albums, including The Dude, which featured vocals from Patti Austin and James Ingram. Craig David and Dennis Seaton share their memories of meeting him, and we hear how Quincy moves into the world of hiphop. Featured artists include Claude McKnight of Take 6, Kym Mazelle, Craig David, and Vula Malinga.

Amazing music. Played by an amazing line up.

Radio 2: Amazing music. Played by an amazing line-up. The home of great music, entertainment and documentaries

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