“Michael and Quincy tried to steal it”: Drummer John ‘JR’ Robinson on the Chaka Khan hit that could have ended up on Thriller

There are plenty of examples of famous songs that could easily have ended up being sung by a different artist, but in the case of Ain’t Nobody, a 1983 hit for Rufus and Chaka Khan, there’s a bit of a twist.

Drummer John ‘JR’ Robinson, who played on the record, has confirmed that Quincy Jones also had his eye on the song for Michael Jackson, but shares that, even if it had gone the way of the King of Pop, he may still have ended up being involved.

Ain’t Nobody was written by David ‘Hawk’ Wolinski, Rufus’s keyboard player. Asked about the origins of the song’s famous drum groove in a new interview with Jake Reed, JR says: “[Hawk} had it on a LinnDrum machine, similar [to how it ended up sounding], but it was really sterile, as LinnDrum machines are. Robotic.”

It was at this point, it seems, that the Ain’t Nobody bunfight began. “Hawk had written this cool song, and that song, Michael and Quincy tried to steal it, and ironically, I would have been on that version anyway, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as hip,” says JR.

Robinson is alluding to the fact that he already had a strong relationship with Jackson and Jones, having played on MJ’s Off The Wall album and The Dude’ Quincy’s solo record. It’s also been said elsewhere that, aware of Jones and Jackson’s desire to have Ain’t Nobody on Thriller, Wolinski threatened to give it to them if it wasn’t released as the first single from Rufus and Chaka Khan’s 1983 album, Stompin’ at the Savoy, which it eventually was.

As for how the drums were recorded, JR says that it was agreed that he would overdub over the top of the original LinnDrum part. “I didn’t study it,” he confirms, later adding that, “it was pretty much the same part, top to bottom”.

What a part, though: check out JR playing it at a drum clinic below.

John JR Robinson "Ain't Nobody" Clinic @ Thomann 7.10.2016 - YouTube

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