The Wiz (film) certain we didn't use anything from it. They made a brilliant movie, and even though our concept is different – they're Kansas, we're New York; they're white, we're black, and the score and the books are totally different – we wanted to make sure that we never overlapped in any area." Michael Jackson, a former Motown star and close friend of Diana Ross was cast as the Scarecrow. By the start of development on "The Wiz" in 1977, he and his brothers The Jacksons, had left Motown for Epic Records, though Jackson had yet to make a solo album since
The Wiz (soundtrack) film by Quincy Jones, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, and Anthony Jackson. This soundtrack marks Jones' first collaboration with Michael Jackson; Jones would go on to produce Jackson's hit solo albums "Off the Wall", "Thriller", and "Bad". The album, with its hit single "Ease on Down the Road", was more successful than the film itself, which was a commercial and critical failure. It was certified Gold in the US. It also did well in some European territories like the Netherlands, where "A Brand New Day" was a surprise number 1. In 2009, Diana Ross ended each of two sold-out performances