Hey, quick post, and great opportunity to stop and take a moment to remember something great: Today is the 30th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. With all the scandal and weirdness that became the Jackson carnival of schadenfreude, it can be easy to forget that Thriller is just a jaw-dropping, rock-solid brilliant pop album with, basically, no weak spots (well, the Paul McCartney duet is kind of awful, but other than that…!)
“Beat It”? “Pretty Young Thing”? “Human Nature”? “Billie Jean”? All classics, all brilliant, incredibly enjoyable songs, I don’t care who you are.
And, of course, still the single greatest music video ever created. Take ten minutes to remember this:
**
Okay, fine, you don’t have 10 minutes to revisit a great song and a great short film. Can you spare 4 minutes to remember “Billie Jean”? (Well, 4 minutes and 17 seconds… sorry about the ad)
The Byronic Man 
November 30, 2012 at 12:14 pm
I completely agree. He rocked back then.
November 30, 2012 at 1:44 pm
It’s hard to remember how genuinely good he was, between the grossness and hype and cartoonishness.
November 30, 2012 at 3:39 pm
Not if you grew up with him. He was big when I was in college and just afterward. Thriller came out during my last year in college. The end of college was also pretty much the end of my discovery of completely awesome music. So I didn’t follow Michael Jackson that much after Thriller, except for seeing the freaky photos on the fronts of tabloids at the supermarket. It’s sad how it all ended. He was a musical genius, right up there with Freddy Mercury.
November 30, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Great post! There will never be another like him. Thanks for pointing out the anniversary.
November 30, 2012 at 1:46 pm
Seemed like a nice thing to stop and say, “Oh yeah. There was something pretty cool.”
November 30, 2012 at 12:26 pm
I wanted that recording so bad. On tape. I got the record. It’s hard to bop down the street to the beat with a record player strapped to your back.
November 30, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Of course, now you can be a retro-active music snob. “I had it on vinyl – tape? With the hiss? How pedestrian. Howbourgeois…”
November 30, 2012 at 12:30 pm
I had it on vinyl. And that is indeed a true classic in cinematography and dance. Especially for the times.
And I don’t know WHAT you are talking about, Willis! That Paul McCartney duet it genius!! My 7 year old self thought that was the very best song on the album. So :p
November 30, 2012 at 1:43 pm
It’s the line “The dog-gone girl is mine” that seals the deal.
November 30, 2012 at 12:33 pm
“I think I told you, Paul. . .I’m a lover, not a fighter.” Nah, you’re right. That song sucked worse than an Amish whore. But I STILL bust out the dance movies when I hear “Thriller”. Next time you’re in Portland you’ll have to join us for the annual maa “Thriller” dance in Pioneer Courthouse Square on Halloween. It truly is a thing of beauty.
November 30, 2012 at 1:42 pm
Hey, some of my best friends are Amish whores! Ah, it’s okay. They’re terrible prostitutes.
As for the Pioneer Square Thriller dance? Hold me a spot. I’ll start warming up now.
November 30, 2012 at 12:46 pm
-the only thing that spoiled Michael Jackson for me is that they played him in the aerobics class I took–went twice–back in 1983–other than that agree with you totally
-by the way, today, I took a cue from you and developed three 100 word stories and mentioned you as my inspiration–thanks for the idea–
December 1, 2012 at 8:44 am
(As much as I love being thanked and credited… I think you may be thinking of someone else with the 100 word fiction… I’m way too verbose for 100 word entries. Susie Lindau does that every Friday, I know. Not that it probably matters, but I hate for the true source not to get props. Thanks for thinking of me, though.)
December 1, 2012 at 9:19 am
so much for my addled brain–thanks for being so honest
November 30, 2012 at 1:21 pm
Now I have Thriller stuck in my head lol Nice post 😉
November 30, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Well, could be worse…
November 30, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Right you are!
November 30, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Never heard of him. I think he stole these songs from Glee.
November 30, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Possible. It is amazing how many songs they write for that show, isn’t it?
Is it still on?
November 30, 2012 at 1:39 pm
Absolutely classic.
December 1, 2012 at 8:42 am
Definitely.
November 30, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Ok, you summed it up here — all of it: It’s hard to remember how genuinely good he was, between the grossness and hype and cartoonishness.
December 1, 2012 at 8:41 am
Even without Thriller, if you just listen to Off The Wall, he’s a pretty great pop singer.
November 30, 2012 at 2:41 pm
It’s easy to forget he created something this amazing.
December 1, 2012 at 8:40 am
Which is, in some ways, the mark of how tragic his life became. He was, apparently, obsessed with recreating this magic, to show he could make an even bigger album. And parts (parts) of that obsession are probably what fueled his implosion.
November 30, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Thriller is my all time favorite!
November 30, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Mine too 🙂
November 30, 2012 at 2:59 pm
I was obsessed with this album and these videos even at a young age. My best friend had The Making of Thriller on Beta and we watched it just about every week for a year. I loved the scene where John Landis tickles Michael Jackson’s feet. Ick. My friend and I even bought the same vinyl teal-colored purses with the Thriller album cover printed on them. I loved that damn purse.
I was apparently too innocent because it took me a decade to figure out what the hell Billie Jean was even about.
November 30, 2012 at 3:11 pm
“The kid is not my son?” What kid? Is Billie Jean a kid? Of course “she” isn’t my son! Silly Michael! Girls are daughters!
November 30, 2012 at 3:29 pm
Wait…Billie Jean is a girl? How can that be if she’s Michael’s lover? Wait, he says she’s not his lover. Oh.
November 30, 2012 at 3:35 pm
And not to embarrass you but, according to 1982-Angie, the line is actually “the kiss is not that strong”. I know! It’s like you were blind and now you see, am I right?
November 30, 2012 at 10:12 pm
We recorded the hour-long documentary on the making of the “Thriller” video from cable and watched it over and over also. I think that might have been the last time I could watch a zombie movie of any length without having nightmares.
Which, by the way, really eats into my enjoyment of watching “The Walking Dead.”
December 1, 2012 at 8:25 am
Season 2 of Walking Dead really cut in to my enjoyment of Walking Dead. Glad I kept with it, though, because season 3 really resurrected it (ha! See what I did?) for me.
December 2, 2012 at 8:23 am
Ha, very nice. 🙂 My husband really enjoys it, but I prefer his funny recaps afterward to actually viewing the episodes. I think the writing and acting are generally good; I just don’t dig on zombies.
November 30, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Thirty years?! Really?! I feel a little old all of sudden. Agreed. It is a brilliant album. I always liked “Pretty Young Thing…PYT.”
December 1, 2012 at 8:38 am
With the titans of “Billie Jean” “Beat It” and “Thriller” it’s easy to forget the existence of mere big hits like “PYT.”
November 30, 2012 at 4:12 pm
I think I played that album until it became one with the turntable. Wow, 2 extinct words in one sentence…yikes! MJ was the real deal…a true entertainer!
December 1, 2012 at 8:30 am
The only thing that always drove me nuts is people saying he “invented” the moonwalk. “Popularized it,” sure. I remember watching something on this ‘crazy new dance style’ emerging out of New York in about 1981. There were a bunch of kids breakdancing and one of them moonwalked and I nearly peed myself. I couldn’t believe it. I spent the next 2 months trying to figure out how he did it. So, technically, I was even moonwalking before MJ.
November 30, 2012 at 5:06 pm
So true. Those songs were pretty damn AWESOME.
December 1, 2012 at 8:31 am
How can you go wrong with Vincent Price narrating?
November 30, 2012 at 9:43 pm
That gas-passer took our legend. Too soon. Too soon. Still, he was a freak show. Who names his kid “Blanket “? 😉
December 1, 2012 at 8:26 am
Someone with just jaw-dropping issues about his lost childhood. Really, the only more blatant thing would be to name the child “Issues.”
December 1, 2012 at 6:07 am
Can it be 30 years? I agree, though. Thriller was a killer…
December 1, 2012 at 8:23 am
I know. It reminds me of when I did a post on “20 Years After The Eruption Of Mt. St. Helens,” and someone had to put in the comments, “Uh, it’s been 30 years, there, old man…” Wha? That can’t be right!
December 1, 2012 at 6:16 am
I agree that MJ was a great artist. When I say this I am just focusing on the music. 🙂
December 1, 2012 at 8:22 am
You kind of have to. I was never a fan of his in any long term sense (after Off The Wall and this one I’m not so engaged), so I never had to struggle with the whole art vs. artist thing with him.
December 1, 2012 at 8:46 am
Oh, and p.s. – I’ve been enjoying your blog. Not being on WP, I have to fill out a giant form to leave a comment, and then entropy kicks in. Also, I had a scarring experience trying to leave comments on someone’s blog and they would just never show up… So, sorry to not comment, but it’s really interesting!
December 1, 2012 at 8:52 am
I’m glad you told me. I’m going to check the settings. I don’t want it to be hard to comment. 🙂
December 1, 2012 at 9:19 am
If you don’t mind me asking, are you using a plugin for your comments. Also, I don’t know if I said thank you the comment on my site. Thank you. 🙂
December 1, 2012 at 9:11 am
Totally agree. Thriller will always be one of the best pieces of work both musically and video wise. It is how I choose to remember this remarkable talent.
December 1, 2012 at 11:51 am
Never been a big MJ fan, but gotta agree with Thriller, a great piece of music.
December 1, 2012 at 1:04 pm
Oh, yeah, this takes me back. I remember how excited we’d get, waiting for the thriller video to come on MTV. And when they showed the ENTIRE thing?! We were ecstatic! They just don’t make videos now like they used to…do they even make videos anymore?
December 1, 2012 at 8:00 pm
It funny. I still remember where I was when I first saw Thriller. Along with the song and video, this is also one of the best group dances ever.
December 1, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Loved Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” (Also “Beat It,” and Weird Al Yankovic’s parody of it, “Eat it.” – hysterical)
December 2, 2012 at 6:56 am
Michael was genius in part because he really didn’t have ego. My favorites were always Smooth Criminal and The Way You Make Me Feel, don’t know why I loved these two but I always did.