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Thriller 40th Anniversary

www.classicpopmag.com

Making Michael Jackson: Thriller - Classic Pop Magazine

Thriller by Michael Jackson is one of the biggest albums of all time and for good reason. A masterclass in execution from the King of Pop that set an impossibly high bar for what an album and music video could be.
www.classicpopmag.com www.classicpopmag.com

Dang it! Just found this. This is one of the mags I've been checking just recently. Didn't occur to me back in March to be looking for stuff.

I really liked this article, lots of good stuff here including this:

"Thriller is not just a classic album; it is the classic album. The archetype by which all else is measured. Totally fresh but absolutely timeless, its release was a cultural event that captured the world’s collective imagination in much the same way that the moon landings did. That might sound a stretch, but just think about it."

Felix Rowe / Classic Pop / March 2022 (emphasis added)

@staywild23 - you might enjoy this. I think he does a great job of helping people to understand *some* of what it was like when Thriller was smashing it back in the day.
 
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zinniabooklover said:
@Hiker - not sure where to put this. I guess here is OK. This dates from 2008 but there are a few bits I didn't know. It might be useful for newer fans to look at.
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yeah, hard to pick a place. Probably also new threads, michael in media if it was newer. Makes sense here also.
 
Zack44 said:
On a serious note, aside from these MJ-related websites and social media accounts, I haven't seen any ads or marketing for Thriller 40 recently. Meanwhile, the new Queen album re-release is already getting a bunch of publicity thanks to "Face It Alone".

Also, this is kind of off-topic, but I would argue that Queen is more popular now than when Freddie was alive. In the late 80's (especially in America) their albums didn't sell as well as their earlier material, not unlike MJ's sales in the late 90's til 2009.

As morbid as it sounds, when both Freddie and MJ died, they both became modern myths: like, it's impossible for younger people to understand how talented both men were since they can only hear stories from older generations or watch decades-old footage.
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Queen and Freddie's popularity has been boosted with the BohRhap film. They were always huge in EU, especially in the UK, but Freddie started being botched in the US around 1984 when the I Want To Break Free music video premiered on MTV there since there were claims he was gay (US and their conservative nonsense).

Back to the topic, we're about a month away from the release date of T40 and the Estate should start promoting it right now. Don't expect it to sell well or even achieve satisfying numbers if they're only creating hype for the fanbase. There's no action to reach to the wider audience.
 
mjfp said:
idk if they still have the original but since Baby Be Mine is in the Thriller Megamix, I think they've digitized it
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Baby Be Mine is not in Thriller Megamix, only Billie Jean, Thriller, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Beat It
 
mjjcn1432 said:
Baby Be Mine is not in Thriller Megamix, only Billie Jean, Thriller, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) and Beat It
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oh... thought it was included. nevermind
 
New, interesting interview with John Bettis


bricenajar.com

John Bettis - BRICE NAJAR

The name of John Bettis can’t be unknown to you if you are interested in Michael Jackson’s discography. Indeed, co-credited with Steve Porcaro on the song “Human Nature” as its lyricist, he knew how to leave his print on this legendary track. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to...
bricenajar.com
 
Whether what will become of the 4k thing would also be the right time to put making of thriller on dvd I no longer trust the estate
 
Fuzball said:
New, interesting interview with John Bettis


bricenajar.com

John Bettis - BRICE NAJAR

The name of John Bettis can’t be unknown to you if you are interested in Michael Jackson’s discography. Indeed, co-credited with Steve Porcaro on the song “Human Nature” as its lyricist, he knew how to leave his print on this legendary track. I never imagined I would have the opportunity to...
bricenajar.com
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Thank you so, so much for posting this. It was awesome. I love these interviews that Brice Najar does. I haven't read an interview of his that I didn't love but this exceeded any that I've seen before. It's an astonishing piece of work.

I especially loved these quotes:

"Then, the Thriller album happened and I went: « Good God ! » I mean, there isn’t anything else like that. There’s the Thriller album and there’s everything else. It was global history all at once. I’ve had a lot of good experiences with a lot of great artists but I don‘t think anything could ever match what, first of all, Michael was like. I mean, I have only met whom I have met, but he’s certainly the most completely talented person that I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen anyone that could literally do EVERYTHING and do it well! He really could – he was as complete a showman as we’ve ever had ... Nobody covered all the bases on a genius level but Michael Jackson. Nobody. Not even close."

"Michael was a rhythmic singer, and his sense of inner clock and inner rhythm was so impeccable that I wanted to do my level best to give him a chance to use that talent of his to the extreme."

"It took a little while before the recording was released, and then Thriller became Thriller. Thriller wasn’t really Thriller the way we think of it now until after the Motown 25 television show. I remember watching that on tv and thinking: « Ok, now, all bets are off. » I’m a show business junkie and with the electronic delivery of television, you can feel it when those rare events happen that are an earthquake to the culture. When he moonwalked on that thing, I looked at my then wife and I said: « This is going to get crazy! THAT is changing everything. » And it did."


Fabulous quotes but the whole interview is a beautiful thing. It was SO exciting to read that. I had no idea he worked with The Carpenters. I love their music but have never really bothered to find out a great deal about them. I only really know the hit singles although I always loved Karen Carpenter as a drummer as much as I loved her voice and the songs.

This interview with John Bettis is a real treasure. 🥰
 
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One month to go so the promo really should be starting to happen. The estate said activations would happen. I am sure they don't just mean the release every week up till the album release of new or rare demos.
Come on estate/Sony what have you got planned.
Good to see that MJ Musical is making it out of USA to appear here in London in 2024.
 
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filmandmusic said:
Somehow it appears to work because the thriller album is rising steadily on the billboard hot 200 album chart. Don’t ask me how but it is happening.
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Halloween effect? Or maybe they are doing something in US
 
filmandmusic said:
Somehow it appears to work because the thriller album is rising steadily on the billboard hot 200 album chart. Don’t ask me how but it is happening.
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Thriller has been on the charts this time of year since 1983. That's just a coincidence I think. But they need to release SOMETHING...a commercial, the new 4k clips or something
 
Give the Estate a chance. So far they seem to be doing better than expectations on T40. ok, sure, the expectations were really really low, but still lets be happy we are getting some good songs. I like the way they are revealing song by song per week. Lets not write them off just yet!
 
zinniabooklover said:
Thank you so, so much for posting this. It was awesome. I love these interviews that Brice Najar does. I haven't read an interview of his that I didn't love but this exceeded any that I've seen before. It's an astonishing piece of work.

I especially loved these quotes:

"Then, the Thriller album happened and I went: « Good God ! » I mean, there isn’t anything else like that. There’s the Thriller album and there’s everything else. It was global history all at once. I’ve had a lot of good experiences with a lot of great artists but I don‘t think anything could ever match what, first of all, Michael was like. I mean, I have only met whom I have met, but he’s certainly the most completely talented person that I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen anyone that could literally do EVERYTHING and do it well! He really could – he was as complete a showman as we’ve ever had ... Nobody covered all the bases on a genius level but Michael Jackson. Nobody. Not even close."

"Michael was a rhythmic singer, and his sense of inner clock and inner rhythm was so impeccable that I wanted to do my level best to give him a chance to use that talent of his to the extreme."

"It took a little while before the recording was released, and then Thriller became Thriller. Thriller wasn’t really Thriller the way we think of it now until after the Motown 25 television show. I remember watching that on tv and thinking: « Ok, now, all bets are off. » I’m a show business junkie and with the electronic delivery of television, you can feel it when those rare events happen that are an earthquake to the culture. When he moonwalked on that thing, I looked at my then wife and I said: « This is going to get crazy! THAT is changing everything. » And it did."


Fabulous quotes but the whole interview is a beautiful thing. It was SO exciting to read that. I had no idea he worked with The Carpenters. I love their music but have never really bothered to find out a great deal about them. I only really know the hit singles although I always loved Karen Carpenter as a drummer as much as I loved her voice and the songs.

This interview with John Bettis is a real treasure. 🥰
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I loved the article. this is the kind of insight into the lyrics of ‘human nature’, that I have craved for years. it confirmed a few things for me. along with the innocence and wide eyed wonder, there was also a sense of isolation and feeling trapped. I never knew the origins were so tragic regarding Karen carpenter though 😥 I can see how it relates to Michael, and I’m glad the two (Michael and John) had a chance to discuss it. hopefully John Bettis can be featured in the upcoming documentary.
 
Yeah, thus far the promo has been fine. Not anything expansive, but it’s decent enough for a project apparently aimed at the hardcore fans (even if the blurbs have been absolute trash). I think song teasers would be a great addition in the lead up.
 
I still don't understand why Thriller 40th is having so little promotion . We're talking about the 40th anniversary of the best-selling album in music history and all you're doing is putting a crappy drawing of the "unreleased" songs on Michael's official account. Even with Scream, a simple compilation album, we had teasers all over social media, media ads, posters around the world, etc. Sony is not getting involved in that this new edition of Thriller is known and people listen to it. There is something that still doesn't add up, I don't know if the strategy is to advertise the album a few weeks after it goes on sale or what.

In turn, if the remastered Thriller video is not released shortly before Halloween (that is, in a week), it would seem to me a very serious marketing error. It is the perfect time to release it and have the attention of many people and media.

Anyway, I don't know why but I find everything a bit strange, with this accusation in recent years it will be necessary to see if Sony wants to put its brand excessively or not in MJ projects, hopefully I'm wrong.
 
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I don't expect a huge Sony deal like Xscape had, but not even the fans know what's happening. We've had some brief mention of 4K short films, 'installations' etc..
 
Oh God! It's going to be such a nightmare if they are having hard time finding a promoter / distributor. I hope that's not the case and there is really some strategy behind this.
 
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