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== ''Thriller 25'' ==
== ''Thriller 25'' ==
{{main article|Thriller 25}}
{{main article|Thriller 25}}
Jackson released a special 25th anniversary edition of ''Thriller'', ''[[Thriller 25]]'' in [[2008 in music|2008]], featuring a music video DVD and bonus remixes by contemporary artists such as [[will.i.am]] and [[Kanye West]].
Jackson released a special 25th anniversary edition of ''Thriller'', ''[[Thriller 25]]'' in [[2008 in music|2008]], featuring a music video DVD and bonus remixes by contemporary artists such as [[will.i.am]], [[Kanye West]], [[Akon]], and [[Fergie]].


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 21:16, 1 March 2008

Untitled

Thriller is the sixth solo album by American pop singer Michael Jackson, released on November 30, 1982 on Epic Records and the second of his three albums with producer Quincy Jones. With sales of approximately 104 million, it is the best-selling album ever[3][4] and made Jackson's fame global. In 2007, NARM/The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranked Thriller third on their "Definitive 200" albums list.[5]

Thriller is one of only three albums to remain in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for a full year, spending 80 consecutive weeks there, 37 at #1. It was the first of three albums to have seven Billboard Hot 100 top-ten singles and the only album to date to be the best-seller of two years (1983-1984) in the USA[6]. It still sells an estimated 130,000 units in the USA per year. [7] In 2008, the Thriller album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[8]

Recording and release

Recorded between April and November 1982, with several members of Toto, Thriller was the second of Jackson albums Quincy Jones produced. Showing growing creativity, Jackson wrote four of Thriller's songs. Following the hit with "The Girl is Mine", a pop duet with then-friend Paul McCartney, the single "Billie Jean" made Thriller a chart topper. Jackson performed the hit on Motown 25, showing off his signature "moonwalk" dance move to an enormous audience. Success expanded with crossover rock hit "Beat It" featuring guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

Jackson was nominated for twelve Grammy Awards in 1984, winning a record breaking eight in a year.[9] Seven were for Thriller (including the award for "Album of the Year") and the other for the E.T. storybook track "Someone In The Dark". That same year, Jackson also won eight American Music Awards and the "Special Award of Merit" and three MTV Video Music Awards. At 25, The New York Times called Jackson a "musical phenomenon", commenting that "in the world of pop music, there is Michael Jackson and there is everybody else."[10] Time magazine explained that "the fallout from Thriller has given the [music] business its best years since the heady days of 1978, when it had an estimated total domestic revenue of $4.1 billion."[11] Thriller also helped bring African-American music back into mainstream radio for the first time since the mid-1970s.[11]

Still popular, Thriller reached #2 in the US Catalog charts in February 2003, and #39 in the UK in March[12]. Recently, it charted in the Catalogue charts in May 2007 and the UK charts and in November 2007 "Thriller" re-charted in the UK at #57.[13]

Track list

# Song U.S U.K
1 "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson) - 6:02 5 8
2 "Baby Be Mine" (Temperton) - 4:20
3 "The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)" (Jackson) - 3:42 2 8
4 "Thriller" (Temperton) - 5:57 4 10
5 "Beat It" (Jackson) - 4:17 1 3
6 "Billie Jean" (Jackson) - 4:57 1 1
7 "Human Nature" (Bettis/Porcaro) - 4:05 7
8 "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Ingram/Jones) - 3:58 10 11
9 "The Lady in My Life" (Temperton) - 4:12

[14]

Influence and legacy

"Thriller" influenced numerous artists, including Mariah Carey,[15] Usher,[16] Britney Spears,[15] Janet Jackson (his sister)[17] , Beyonce, Missy Elliott, Justin Timberlake,[18] Kanye West[19] , Rihanna[20] and Chris Brown[21]. Crossing genres, rap artists too praise and sample "Thriller". For Thriller, Blender called Jackson the "late 20th century's pre-eminent pop icon"[22] It retains a position in American culture and TIME claimed "How many Beatles were there? How many home runs did Babe Ruth hit? How many Grammy Awards did Michael Jackson win on Feb. 28? How many copies of Thriller have been sold? Well, the Grammys are easy".[11] "Billie Jean" became Jackson's best selling single, described as "one of the most sonically eccentric, psychologically fraught, downright bizarre things ever to land on Top 40 radio" by Blender.[22] "Beat It" was a crossover hit due in part to Eddie Van Halen's contributions.

Thriller revolutionized the music industry, breaking numerous records. Gil Friesen, President of A&M Records, said "the whole industry has a stake in this success".[11] Even The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller sold 350,000 copies in a few months of sales.[11] Thriller raised the importance of albums but the seven top ten hits also changed notions of how many singles an album should release[23]. Although singles had already begun to fall in importance, Thriller's release firmly established the album as the dominant force in the music industry.

Jackson's success was unusual for a black artist in the 1980s, being one of the first on a Rolling Stone cover and one of the first singers to have a replica doll retailed and was rarely referred to as a "black singer" as was the norm.[24] Time summed up the impact of Thriller as a "restoration of confidence" for an industry "on the border between the ruins of punk and the chic regions of synthesizer pop"[11]. Also, Thriller put black music onto US radios for the first time in years, paving the way for other 1980s acts like Prince[25].

High profile samples/covers

Music videos and MTV

It is often claimed Jackson was the first person to make an art out of music videos,[32] with story-telling and choreography styles that continue to influence. Short films like "Thriller" largely remained unique to Jackson, but the group dance sequence in "Beat It" has been frequently imitated and the group dance in "Thriller" became part of global pop culture, being replicated everywhere from Bollywood to South American prisons.[33]

Central to Michael Jackson’s success with music videos was new channel MTV, which put his videos in heavy rotation throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Before then, Jackson struggled to get MTV to air his videos because he was black.[22] To change this, CBS Records President Walter Yetnikoff denounced MTV, warning, "I’m pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I’m not going to give you any more videos. And I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy".[22] This harsh, rhetoric stance worked; MTV started showing "Billie Jean", forming a partnership with Jackson to last decades, helping future black artists.

When the 14-minute-long "Thriller" video aired in December 1983, MTV ran it up to twice an hour to meet demand. The horror theme reportedly scared many viewers, especially children. It marked an increase in scale for music videos and is often claimed as the best-ever music video.[23] MTV, a struggling cable channel, became huge. Jackson's videos were credited to this success[34] and MTV's focus switched from rock music to more and pop and R&B.[35]

Certifications/chart history

Country Certification Sales Country Certification Sales Country Certification Sales
Argentina 10x Platinum 500,000 Australia 12x Platinum 850,000 Brazil 6x Diamond 2,000,000
Belgium 11x Platinum 550,000 Canada 2x Diamond 2,000,000 Finland 3x Platinum 90,000
France 3x Diamond 3,000,000 Germany 3x Platinum 1,500,000 Japan 2x Diamond 2,500,000
Mexico Diamond 500,000 Netherlands 11x Platinum 880,000 New Zealand Diamond 150,000
Portugal 3x Platinum 140,000 Spain 8x Platinum 640,000 Switzerland 6x Platinum 240,000
UK 11x Platinum 3,570,000 USA 27x Platinum 27,000,000

Thriller spent 37 weeks (26 February, 1983-20 April, 1984) at #1 in the US, 144 days in 1983 and 111 days in 1984, before remaining in the charts for a further 85 weeks.

Thriller credits

  • Producer: Quincy Jones
  • Co-producer, lead and backup vocals: Michael Jackson
  • Guitar: David Williams, Dean Parks, Steve Lukather, Paul Jackson
  • Bass: Louis Johnson, Steve Lukather
  • Saxophone and flute: Larry Williams
  • Trumpet and flügelhorn: Jerry Hey, Gary Grant
  • Trombone: Bill Reichenbach
  • Drums: Jeff Porcaro and N'dugu Chancler
  • Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
  • Keyboards/synthesizers/programming: Greg Phillinganes, Steve Porcaro, David Paich, Brian Banks
  • Keyboards/synthesizers: Michael Boddicker, David Foster, Bill Wolfer, Rod Temperton
  • Synthesizer programming: Anthony Marinelli
  • Horn and string arrangements: Jerry Hey
  • Backup vocals: James Ingram, Bunny Hull and Becky Lopez
  • Recording engineer/mixer: Bruce Swedien
  • Technical engineer: Matt Forger

Additional credits

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" - vocal/horn arrangement: Jackson, rhythm arrangement: Jackson /Jones

  • Backup vocals: Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters,

"Baby Be Mine" - arrangement: Temperton

  • Keyboards: Greg Phillinganes

"The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) - vocal arrangement: Jackson/Jones, rhythm arrangement: Jones/Glately

  • String conductor: Jerry Hey
  • Concertmaster: Jerry Vinci

"Thriller" - arrangement: Temperton

"Beat It" - vocal arrangement: Jackson, rhythm arrangement: Jackson/Jones

"Billie Jean" - arrangement: Jackson

  • String conductor: Jeremy Lubbock

"Human Nature" - arrangement: Paich/Porcaro/Lukather
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" - arrangement: Ingram/Jones

"The Lady in My Life" - arrangement: Temperton

Thriller Special Edition

Untitled

In 2001, Thriller Special Edition was released as part of a "Special Edition" reissue series for Jackson's solo albums with Epic, coinciding with promotion for Invincible. Released simultaneously, the reissues featured expanded booklets featuring photographs from the album's era, digital remastering, and (with the exception of Dangerous) bonus tracks and new interviews. Initial runs of Thriller Special Edition also had a slipcase with a photo of Jackson with a tiger cub.

The bonus tracks were "Someone in the Dark" (from the E.T. storybook) and previously unreleased out-take "Carousel". It also included a Vincent Price voice-over recording, a 1981 "Billie Jean" demo and interviews with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton. Jones talks about his involvement in Thriller and Temperton discusses the title track. Both talk about guest artists and song meanings including the bonus tracks.[36]

Runtime went up by nearly 30 minutes - the longest in the "Special Edition" series. However, a "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" demo later released on The Ultimate Collection, was absent, as was "For All Time" which was finished for Thriller 25.

Thriller Special Edition bonus tracks

Tracks 1-9 are the original tracks from "Thriller".

  2. Interview with Quincy Jones #1 – 2:18
  4. "Someone in the Dark" (Bergman/Bergman/Temperton) – 4:48
  6. Interview with Quincy Jones #2 – 2:04
  8. "Billie Jean" (Home Demo from 1981) (Jackson) – 2:20
  10. Interview with Quincy Jones #3 – 3:10
  12. Interview with Rod Temperton #1 – 4:02
  14. Interview with Quincy Jones #4 – 1:32
  16. "Voice-Over Session from "Thriller"" (Temperton) – 2:52
  18. Interview with Rod Temperton #2 – 1:56
  20. Interview with Quincy Jones #5 – 2:01
  22. "Carousel" (Sembello/Freeman) – 1:49
  24. Interview with Quincy Jones #6 – 1:17

Thriller Special Edition credits

Thriller 25

Main article: Thriller 25

Jackson released a special 25th anniversary edition of Thriller, Thriller 25 in 2008, featuring a music video DVD and bonus remixes by contemporary artists such as will.i.am, Kanye West, Akon, and Fergie.

References

  1. ^ Thriller Special Edition booklet
  2. ^ Album Credits for Thriller, from Artist Direct retrieved on February 3, 2006
  3. ^ CBS: Pop Icon Looks Back At A "Thriller" Of A Career In New Interview
  4. ^ "Jacko's Back!". MTV UK. November 16 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "200 list". definitive200.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  6. ^ Billboard
  7. ^ 130,000 copies a year in US
  8. ^ 2008 Grammy Hall of Fame List
  9. ^ Guinness World Records (2006). Guinness World Records 2007. Guinness. ISBN 1-904994-12-1. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ "MICHAEL JACKSON AT 25: A MUSICAL PHENOMENON". New York Times. January 1984. Retrieved 2007-05-15. {{cite news}}: line feed character in |publisher= at position 10 (help)
  11. ^ a b c d e f Cocks, Jay (March 1984). "Why He's a Thriller". Time Magazine. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  12. ^ Michael Jackson,The Ultimate Collection,Booklet
  13. ^ Resent Thriller re - entries
  14. ^ Michael Jackson,The Ultimate Collection, booklet
  15. ^ a b "Michael Jackson". rollingstone.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  16. ^ "Usher, Usher, Usher: The new 'King of Pop'?". cnn.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  17. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  18. ^ "Man in the Mirror". citypages.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  19. ^ Kanye West influenced by Jackson
  20. ^ Good Girl Gone Bad , album booklet
  21. ^ "Michael Jackson Thriller". 987kissfm.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  22. ^ a b c d "Michael Jackson, "Billy Jean:". blender.com. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  23. ^ a b "Michael Jackson". vh1.com. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  24. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  25. ^ Harrington, Richard (October 1988). "Prince & Michael Jackson: Two Paths to the Top of Pop". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
  26. ^ Church and Winehouse cover Jackson
  27. ^ Alicia Keys performs "Human Nature"
  28. ^ West samples Jackson
  29. ^ Good Girl Gone Bad , album booklet
  30. ^ SWV sample Jackson
  31. ^ Prodigy sample Jackson
  32. ^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2004). The Magic and the Madness. Headline. ISBN 0-330-42005-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  33. ^ Prisoners do Thriller dance
  34. ^ "Why Are Michael Jackson's Fans So Devoted?". abcnews.com. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  35. ^ "Music videos changing places". abcnews.com. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
  36. ^ Thriller Special Edition booklet

See also

External links


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