The short film for Jackson's Billie Jean is considered the video that brought MTV, a relatively unknown music channel, into mainstream attention. It was the first video by a black artist to be aired by the channel, as they felt black music wasn't "rock" enough. Directed by Steve Barron, the video shows a paparazzo following Jackson. The paparazzo never catches the singer, and when photographed Jackson fails to materialise on the developed picture. Dancing his way to Billie Jean's hotel room, Jackson walks along a sidewalk, each tile lighting up at his touch. The short film earned Jackson the Billboard Video Award for Best Overall Video and he was inducted into the Music Video Producers Hall of Fame in 1992. In a 2005 poll, the music video was ranked as the fifth greatest music video ever.

Anyone who knows John Martyn only from the stylish, moody vocals of Solid Air will find this a surprising album. Recorded when he was just eighteen years old, the folksy vocal delivery on these songs demonstrates Martyn's solid inheritance from such folk stalwarts as Martyn Carthy, Davey Graham and Bert Jansch.

Recorded in the Bahamas with the help of Robert Palmer, Sapphire continues in the vein of the early-'80s slicker John Martyn sound. By now the guitar has sunk so far into the mix to where it's become virtually nonexistent, and keyboards and drum machines have taken over.

Following a short layoff, John Martyn returned with his 12th record (including two with wife Beverley and a best-of collection), Grace & Danger. The album, which finds Martyn fronting a tight quartet featuring Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals, paints a stark, painful portrait of Martyn and Beverley's crumbling marriage. Close friend and Island Records president Chris Blackwell reportedly found the songs so personal and unsettling that he delayed its release for a year.

Martyn began recording One World in summer 1977. Produced by Island boss Chris Blackwell and featuring Dave Pegg, Morris Pert, John Stevens, Danny Thompson, and Steve Winwood, among others, One World combines the experimental tendencies of 1973's Inside Out and the more conventional song structures of Sunday's Child.

Much denser than before, Solid Air was to reveal a new twist in Martyn's musical style. Slurring his words even more, songs like the title cut fairly ooze from the shadows, and the jazzy inclinations keep the listener spellbound. Solid Air (1973) which helped form the foundation of Martyn's fan base, featured some of his most mature and enduring songs: "Solid Air," written for close friend Nick Drake and "May You Never," a great folk tale familiar to those who own Eric Clapton's Slowhand - herein lies the original from the writer himself.