That day Dutch himself, RONALD REAGAN, the Great Communicator, left for a five-day trip to Latin America. The USSR, relations still strained with the US, performed a nuclear test. The New York Timescontinued to report on the dangers of Agent Orange. November 30, 1982 was when it happened. Best. Selling. Album. Of. All. Time.
On that day, Michael Jackson unleashed Thriller. Along with The White Album, Rumors, Pet Sounds and Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes, Thriller stands as one of the best pop albums of all time. Maybe the best pop album of time. Scratch that. Thriller is definitively the best pop album of all time. It’s one of those things like the Grand Canyon and your first great kiss – it stacks up to all the superlatives. The album produced seven singles - just two short of the album's full roster. It won a record breaking eight Grammys. Eight American Music Awards. Broke racial barriers for music videos. Was the number one Billboard album two years in a row. Certified 29x platinum. Best. Selling. Album. Of. All. Time.
For Thriller, Michael capitalized on the new medium of music videos. He evolved his sound to fit the new decade. And he got help from the best. Paul McCartney. Quincy Jones. Eddie Van Halen. Rod Temperton.
Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor arrive at the 14th American Music Awards. The two were close friends and Michael was a huge supporter of the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Michael would go on to win 26 AMAs during his career, including 8 for Thriller."You can't say that you are an artist in this century and [not be] influenced by Michael Jackson." - Usher
Usher wouldn't be fallin' in love again.
No “Happy.”
No Gaga.
Without Thrillerthere is no "SexyBack."
Along with The Beatles and Elvis Presley, no other musical artist has had such on impact on the music of today than Michael Jackson. Kanye West dedicated his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy to Michael Jackson. According to Bruno Mars, “[Michael] set the bar for artists. Any artist, I don’t care what genre you do, you should always aspire to be like Michael Jackson.” Alicia Keys called Michael "part of the fabric of our lives."
2001 Special Edition album cover
Rihanna took the hook from Thriller’s “Wanna be Startin’ Somethin” for her song “Don’t Stop the Music.”
Although an innovator in his own right, you can see Michael's shadow in Usher's moves. "I wouldn't be who I am today without Michael Jackson," said Usher. He's also said that, "I think Michael Jackson is by far one of the most impactful artist in music," adding that, "You can't say that you are an artist in this century and [not be] influenced by Michael Jackson."
Video Didn't Kill This Radio StarIn 1981, just a year before the release of Thriller, MTV debuted. Music Television. In the first music video they aired, The Buggles declared that “video killed the radio star.” They weren't talking about Michael.
In the video for “Vacation,” The Go-Go’s proved they knew how to look good on stage. In the video for “Rio,” Duran Duran proved they knew how to look good on a boat. And in the video for “Toto,” Africa proved they knew how to look strange standing on a pile of gigantic books about Africa. But could music videos be something more?
“Thriller” Short Version
Music videos were new. Were they commercials? Just another tool to sell albums? Art? Could they be movies? John Landis thought so. Same with Michael. The video for "Thriller" still stands as one of the most talked, written, and thought about videos of all time. The videos released alongside Thriller- "Billie Jean," "Thriller" and "Beat It" - did more than just bolster album sales. They showcased the full range of Michael's talents.
Michael, Quincy Jones and a lot of Grammys"Billie Jean"The hook. Oh, that hook. "Billie Jean" is one of those songs that takes two seconds to recognize. That's how strong the opening is. Quincy Jones thought the intro was too long and wanted to cut it. Michael held his ground. Written by Michael, he said, "I knew it was going to be big when I was writing it."
The second single from the album, the song's popularity was cemented when Michael performed the song during the TV special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever. Why? He debuted the Moonwalk.
Quincy Jones wanted to call the song "Not My Lover""Thriller""Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton, the same musician who had already composed "Off the Wall" and "Rock With You" for Michael.
In total, Temperton wrote three songs for Thriller, the title track, "Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady in My Life." The song was originally called "Starlight," but Quincy Jones hated the title. He asked Temperton to change it. After brainstorming hundreds of ideas, Temperton decided on "Midnight Man." But he wasn't done.
According to Temperton: "The next morning I woke up and I just said this word. Something in my head just said, 'This is the title'. You could visualise it at the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as 'Thriller.'"
25th anniversary edition album cover Despite being the title track, "Thriller" was actually the last single released from the album.
The song "Thriller" is impossible to separate from its video. In 2009, the Library of Congress included the music video for "Thriller" in the National Film Registry alongside movies like Casablanca, Citizen Kane, It's A Wonderful Life and The Godfather.
Directed by John Landis, it was the first music video to really tell a story. It's as much a movie as a music video. The full video is 13 minutes long. For the voice-over, Landis enlisted veteran horror movie actor Vincent Price who reportedly only used two takes to lay down his part.
"Thriller" audio-engineer Bruce Swedien, Vincent Price and Michael
Like Martin Scorsese, who would direct the video for Michael's "Bad," John Landis is a movie director. He made films like The Blues Brothers, National Lampoon's Animal House and Coming to America. The video begins with the story of your typical American couple going on a typical American date. Not only does their date take a dark and macabre turn, we find out it was only a movie. Next we see another couple, uncannily similar to the first. Their date soon takes a supernatural twist too.
Because of the dark and supernatural subject matter, Michael felt that the video needed some kind of warning. That is why the video begins with the text:
"Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult." - Michael JacksonWatch the complete version of "Thriller"
"Beat It""Beat It" was released on the heels of "Billie Jean." Both songs managed to be in the Top 5 at the same time. "Beat It" won the Grammy for Record of the Year and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance. The song is definitely more rock than the rest of the album which should come as no surprise - although he doesn't appear in the video, Eddie Van Halen played the song's guitar solo. For free.
Much of the impact of the videos for "Thriller" and "Beat It" relies on the detailed choreography of Michael dancing with a group of synchronized dancers. In addition to Michael, over 20 dancers are featured in the video. This mass choreography would become a Michael staple used in videos like "Remember the Time," "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal."
"Beat It" was filmed in the tough neighborhood of Los Angeles' Skid Row. In addition to the bevvy of dancers, the video also stars real gang members. In fact, the video shoot was almost shut down the very first night because of tensions between Crips and Bloods. The tension almost led to violence, despite the presence of the LAPD's gang squad - a precaution that Michael insisted upon.
Although often thought inspired by West Side Story, the director of "Beat It," Bob Giraldi, insists that's not true. "One of the things that is totally mistaken that I've read many times is the most people think 'Beat It' was inspired by West Side Story and that's absolutely not true at all." The director based the video's concept on his own experiences growing up in New Jersey.
Michael dancing with his gang in "Beat It"
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