Michael Jackson Thriller: The best-selling album in history is 40 years old
Michael Jackson Thriller
If we say Thriller and Michael Jackson, the mind immediately goes to Billie Jean's swirling and hypnotic bass line, Eddie Van Halen's irresistible guitar in Beat It. To the afro choirs of Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' . To the lulling melody of Human Nature. At Thriller movie keyboards. And then to the unmistakable voice of the King of Pop. Each of us has a "hook", a hook thanks to which we were pulled into the world of Michael Jackson's iconic album which has exceeded 100 million copies sold worldwide. Thriller turns 40 today. It was in fact published on November 30, 1982 in the United States and in the United Kingdom, and on December 2 in the rest of the world. To celebrate the best-selling album in music history, Sony Music and the Estate of Michael Jackson have released Michael Jackson Thriller 40, a double disc consisting of Thriller and a second album with a few surprises including the songs written during the making of Thriller and never published. Thriller is also available in the LP UltraDisc One-Step 180g 33RPM version made by Mobile Fidelity. Mastered from the original analog master tapes, pressed by RTI, and strictly limited to 40,000 numbered copies, Thriller's hybrid SACD presents the album in lifelike fashion (a Thriller 40 180g 45RPM 2LP UltraDisc One-Step set of Thriller 40 will be released soon). Thriller is one of those records that are born from enormous talent and perfect astral conjunctions. Let's see how it was born.Michael Jackson: Thriller 40 is the edition that celebrates the anniversary of the historic album
€18.81 - buy on amazon
In the name of Quincy Jones
Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.Thriller was born in the sign of Quincy Jones , who had already produced Michael Jackson's first solo album, Off the Wall , from 1979, which saw the contribution of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder ( Don't Stop ' Til You Get Enough was the most famous song from that album). The team that wins does not change, and so the recordings begin, on April 14, 1982 at the Westlake Recording Studios in studios A and B in Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, with Quincy Jones at the director's desk, and again with a piece with Paul McCartney scheduled. And with a budget of $750,000. But Thriller is the album in which Michael Jackson can finally bring out all his musical knowledge, all the facets of him, becoming co-producer with Quincy Jones, and also writing many songs, five out of nine. And choosing which ones to launch as singles, with the related videos that have left their mark. In the sessions, 30 songs were recorded or rehearsed but 9 were chosen. Nine killer pieces: Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', The Girl Is Mine , with Paul McCartney, Billie Jean and Beat It are those written by Michael Jackson; Human Nature, written by Steve Porcaro of Toto, P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing), written by Jackson and Greg Phillinganes; Baby Be Mine, The Lady in My Life and Thriller written by Rod Temperton.
Demolishing segregation
Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.But Thriller was above all the album with which Michael Jackson, whose training was that of Motown soul, breaking down every musical genre: Thriller's music was unique, and broke down the walls between rock, pop, soul, funky and dance, between black and white music. Beat It was a pop-rock hybrid that demolished the long-standing segregation between black and white music, thanks in part to Eddie Van Halen's incendiary guitar playing. In The Girl Is Mine two men, one black and one white, joke about the same girl. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' winked at African music and Billie Jean at rhythm and blues. It's one of those absolute records that have influenced the music of the last 40 years. But in turn he had some important influences. The first is Queen: their album Hot Space, from 1982, was an inspiration – declared – for Thriller. “ Without Hot Space there would have been no Thriller ”, Jacko is said to have declared. In turn, he was the one who convinced Queen to release Another One Bites The Dust as a single, which became a huge success, and strikes some of the chords of Jackson's songs. But one of the main inspirations was also Saturday Night Fever (1977) by the Bee Gees .
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' : a percussion carnival
Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.The album opens with Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' : it's a joyfully funky song close to disco music: in fact it was supposed to be part of the previous album, Off The Wall , which was close to that type of music. And in fact it is the perfect bridge between that Michael Jackson and that of Thriller. It's a disco, funk piece with African and Caribbean influences. Trumpets, synths, hand claps, percussion and electric guitars: that piece was “the eruption of a carnival of percussion, six minutes of musical frenzy”, as Newsweek wrote at the time. “ It wasn't disco. It wasn't funk. It wasn't R&B. It wasn't new wave. It was something new: a song that contained the strains of each of these styles and more; such a wild and energetic song unpredictably culminating in a triumphant Swahili chant ” the critic Joseph Vogel would write 25 years later. That Swahili chant was inspired by a 1972 African song, Soul Makossa by Manu Dibango. Years later Dibango would sue the record company and Jackson..
The Girl Is Mine : His Majesty Paul McCartney
br>Michael Jackson also wanted to put a duet on his album. And he thought of Paul McCartney, with whom he had already duetted on Say Say Say and The Man, which would end up on Macca's 1983 album, Pipes of Peace. Jackson went to his farm in southern Scotland. The song is about two men fighting over a girl. Inspiration probably came to Michael Jackson in a dream, as he woke up in the middle of the night with the whole song in his head and ran to the studio to record the demo. And then he completed it by watching cartoons on TV at McCartney's house. With which he then recorded the duet in Los Angeles. For Jacko it was the funniest song to record in his entire career.
Thriller: gothic-pop with a video that made history Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
But many identify that album with the title track, the fourth track, Thriller: an enthralling song, an irresistible funk that was defined " gothic-pop ”, with lyrics that speak of the paranormal, and with a sexual background. A cinematic song from its birth, which was accompanied by a historical video. Originally Thriller, written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones, was called Starlight (in the special edition you will finally be able to listen to this song) and it was supposed to give the title to the album Give Me Starlight . But it was decided to change the atmosphere and so it became Thriller . In the song there are already all the sound effects of a horror film. There is the howl, made by Jackson do himself few that Temperton had thought of using his dog, with results not up to par. There are the doors that creaked: for this effect Temperton took three doors from Universal Studios in Hollywood used specifically for the sound effects. The steps that are heard are those of Jackson, made walking on a wooden platform. The voice acting at the end of the song, and the famous laugh, are by Vincent Price. The song later became a historic video, inspired by An American Wolf in London and directed by John Landis.
Beat It : hard rock breaks into Jackson's music
Content This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
But many identify that album with the title track, the fourth track, Thriller: an enthralling song, an irresistible funk that was defined " gothic-pop ”, with lyrics that speak of the paranormal, and with a sexual background. A cinematic song from its birth, which was accompanied by a historical video. Originally Thriller, written by Rod Temperton and produced by Quincy Jones, was called Starlight (in the special edition you will finally be able to listen to this song) and it was supposed to give the title to the album Give Me Starlight . But it was decided to change the atmosphere and so it became Thriller . In the song there are already all the sound effects of a horror film. There is the howl, made by Jackson do himself few that Temperton had thought of using his dog, with results not up to par. There are the doors that creaked: for this effect Temperton took three doors from Universal Studios in Hollywood used specifically for the sound effects. The steps that are heard are those of Jackson, made walking on a wooden platform. The voice acting at the end of the song, and the famous laugh, are by Vincent Price. The song later became a historic video, inspired by An American Wolf in London and directed by John Landis.
