Okay, let's have a thread about the weird history of the song Behind The Mask, shall we?

Behind The Mask has its roots in an instrumental jingle Ryuichi Sakamoto composed for a Seiko commercial in 1978:

With added lyrics from Chris Mosdell, Behind The Mask was first recorded and released by Sakamoto's band Yellow Magic Orchestra in 1979. A chilly synth-pop gem:

At some point in the early 80s - reportedly via Quincy Jones - the track comes to Michael Jackson's attention, and he embellishes the song with a big new chorus and extra lyrics, intending to put it on Thriller. That doesn't quite work out, but we'll come back to MJ later...

Meanwhile, Behind The Mask has become one of YMO's signature songs. Here's a cracking live version from 1983:

Cut to 1985 and session musician, Michael Jackson band leader and keytar heavyweight Greg Phillinganes is looking for a single for his second solo album, and he picks... MJ's arrangement of Behind The Mask. It's a minor hit.

The same year, Phillinganes starts a stint as keyboardist for Eric Clapton during his 80s bid for MOR pop stardom. And what should pop up as a UK single in Jan 1987, but... Behind The Mask!

Here's the video, featuring excessive amounts of Jools Holland:

Scaling to #15 in the UK charts, Behind The Mask is Eric Clapton's biggest hit in years - the highest he's been since I Shot The Sheriff in 1974. Pilfering from POC musicians always worked for Eric. He even goes on TOTP for the first time since the 60s:

Then, later in 1987, something really weird happens. Ryuichi Sakamoto himself starts to perform the Jackson-Phillinganes-Clapton version of the song, with his Neo Geo touring band (feat. Bernard Fowler on vocals):

Thankfully... that's short-lived, and when YMO reform for gigs over the ensuing years, they return to the original arrangement of Behind The Mask. One of my favourites is this 2010 take with actual brass instruments thrown in the mix:

But! Also in 2010! The Michael Jackson vault-stripping exercise finally reaches his take on Behind The Mask. You'd think they'd just release the demo but, nope, it's heavily remixed and overdubbed for the posthumous comp Michael.

There isn't really a moral here - it's just a weird pop culture shaggy-dog story about a Japanese electro-pop song proving to be oddly flexible, adaptable, enduring.

I'll give Sakamoto the last word with this sublime 2013 version, arranged for orchestra:

Me whenever I hear the opening synth line to Behind The Mask