page_title: History of The Simpsons
section_title: Music release and "Do the Bartman"
hierarchical_section_title: History of The Simpsons / The Groening, Brooks, and Simon years (1989–1991) / Music release and "Do the Bartman"
caption_attribution_description: Michael Jackson
context_page_description: The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom starring the animated Simpson family, which was created by Matt Groening. He conceived of the characters in the lobby of James L. Brooks's office and named them after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted as shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show called The Simpsons, which debuted on December 17, 1989. The show was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the top 30 ratings in a season.
  The show was controversial from its beginning and has made the news several times. In the early seasons, some parents and conservatives characterized Bart as a poor role model for children and several United States public schools even banned The Simpsons merchandise and T-shirts. In January 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush made a speech during his re-election campaign in which he said: "We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."
context_section_description: David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records, had the idea to record the album The Simpsons Sing the Blues based on The Simpsons, to be released in time for Christmas 1990. The writers wrote humorous lyrics for the actors to perform over blues and hip hop. The album faced great publicity before its release. One particular element that was highly publicized was Michael Jackson's involvement, which was denied around the time of the album's release. Early published reports attributed Jackson as the composer of "Do the Bartman", which Groening denied in a press release. However, Groening revealed in 1998 that "Do the Bartman" was actually co-written and co-produced by Jackson, but he could not receive credit for it because he was under contract to another record label. Jackson was a fan of The Simpsons, especially Bart, and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show, which is how "Do the Bartman" came about. Jackson eventually guest-starred in the episode "Stark Raving Dad".
  The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over 3 million copies. The producers followed up on the album with The Yellow Album in 1998, which featured original recordings by Prince, Linda Ronstadt, C+C Music Factory, and George Clinton of Funkadelic as well as the cast of The Simpsons. The soundtrack albums Songs in the Key of Springfield (1997), Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons (1999), The Simpsons Movie: The Music (2007), and The Simpsons: Testify (2007) were also released.
caption: Michael Jackson co-wrote the single "Do the Bartman"
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