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all things 1983💜

filmandmusic said:
Great mini documentaries, very informative. Is there one for the Thriller video as well?
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it’s an ongoing series. they’ll probably get around to it later on. they have an entire playlist dedicated to the ‘thriller’ era that I have saved💜
 
I would love a video of interviews of cops who had the duty to keep the fans in check when MJ visited a country or city. In some video you can see how on edge they are trying to keep fans from running towards Michael. Some clearly didn't anticipate how loud and wild it would get. It must have left an impression on them. I think some fun stories and quotes could come from that.
 
83magic said:
thanks for this. I thought it would be the guy in the cap who did that vibrating move. I wonder what happened to him?
Click to expand...
I thought the exact same thing!

Ngl, I don't actually like that bit of the video. It's the only bit I'm not keen on.

83magic said:
popin’ pete talks about his time on set of ‘beat it’
Click to expand...
Gonna check this out later. :)
 
haven’t had a chance to watch this yet. the video was only uploaded 7 hours ago. I have seen other content from this person, so I can safely expect great things 🙂
 
I bought the Thriller cassette as a kid in 1983 but other than that I have no memory of Michael and that year.
To me It all started on august 30 1987 when I rushed to the record store to buy BAD on CD……remember everything about that great day,the weather,the CD price +++……….I still have the CD in mint condition but not the Thriller cassette :(
A little off topic but oh well :)
 
RIP_2009 said:
I bought the Thriller cassette as a kid in 1983 but other than that I have no memory of Michael and that year.
To me It all started on august 30 1987 when I rushed to the record store to buy BAD on CD……remember everything about that great day,the weather,the CD price +++……….I still have the CD in mint condition but not the Thriller cassette :(
A little off topic but oh well :)
Click to expand...
this is not the thread to discuss that album. could you please either delete your post, or edit it? thank you.
 
zinniabooklover said:
@83magic

Not sure if you want this over here. :unsure:

bloody-disgusting.com

Writer of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ Wanted Elvira to Voice the Narrator

“Darkness falls across the land. The midnight hour is close at hand.” It’s always been kind of a bummer to me that writers often get left out in the cold, and the iconic song Thriller is a great example of what I mean. You know that it’s a Michael Jackson song, you know that John […]
bloody-disgusting.com bloody-disgusting.com
Click to expand...
I’m thankful that you posted the article on this site, on the other thread. I clicked on the link, and was afraid to progress any further 🫣
 
a great brief analysis of the meaning behind ‘human nature’, released as a single in 1983💜
 
this video was uploaded yesterday. I thought about posting it in the chart thread, but it’s not current.

this is the 50 best selling uk 🇬🇧 singles of 1983💜michael has 3 entries;

‘beat it’ at 39. peak position 3
‘say say say’ (with paul mccartney) at 22. peak position 2
‘billie jean’ at 8. peak position 1🥇
 
www.billboard.com

Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of 1983: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is Billboard's Greatest Pop Star of 1983 for how he set the standard for everything we think about with modenr pop stardom.
www.billboard.com www.billboard.com


Pop
11/26/2024
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of 1983: Michael Jackson
With his game-changing Thriller album, its peerless run of singles and videos and a performance style never seen before, Michael Jackson set the MTV-era standard for pop stardom in 1983.


By Andrew Unterberger
Illustration by Heston Godby; Getty Images
(In 2018, the Billboard staff released a list project of its choices for the Greatest Pop Star of every year, going back to 1981. Read our entry below on why Michael Jackson was our Greatest Pop Star of 1983 — with our ’83 Honorable Mention runner-ups, Rookie of the Year and Comeback of the Year pop stars at the bottom — and find the rest of our picks for every year up to present day here.)



Michael Jackson
See latest videos, charts and news

Simply put: There’s pop stardom, and then there’s 1983 Michael Jackson. The King of Pop’s greatest year is the yardstick against which all other years of musical mainstream supremacy will forever be measured, unprecedented in its LP sales, hit singles, iconic music videos and generally incalculable cultural impact. No solo pop star since Elvis Presley had been so ubiquitous before, and none — with one possible exception in 2023 — has been since.

But what’s forgotten to time 37 years later is that Michael Jackson didn’t exactly start the year on top. In fact, the buzz preceding Thriller, released in late November 1982, was largely anxious, thanks to the set’s questionable choice of lead single: “The Girl Is Mine,” a soft-rock duet with Paul McCartney that reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but generally left fans and critics underwhelmed. The disco sound that had propelled Jackson to stardom on 1979’s Off the Wall had faded from the mainstream, and as 1982 turned to 1983, it was not Thriller that was unmoveable from the top of the Billboard 200 — the set debuted at No. 11 that December — but Australian new wave band Men at Work’s Business as Usual, an improbable 15-week No. 1.

However, in January of 1983, a second Thriller single would arrive to establish Jackson as a defining artist of the ‘80s: “Billie Jean.” Rooted in disco’s pulse but given a spooky synth-pop sheen by producer Quincy Jones and a vocal of unrecognizable paranoia and urgency from Jackson, the song raced to No. 1 on the Hot 100 that March. Just two frames after that song’s seven-week reign ended, it was succeeded by “Beat It,” a hard-rocking crossover cut that featured a searing guitar solo from preeminent early-’80s shredder Eddie Van Halen. By year’s end, MJ had notched three more spellbinding Hot 100 top 10s off the all-killer Thriller (“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” No. 5, “Human Nature,” No. 7 and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” No. 10), on his way to scoring seven total top 10 hits off Thriller — three more than the previous record for a single LP, a mark since tied but not yet bested.

Meanwhile, following the breakthrough of “Billie Jean,” Thriller continued to rise on the Billboard 200, hitting No. 1 on the chart dated Feb. 26. And there it would stay for a record 37 non-consecutive weeks, ruling well into 1984, and quickly becoming the best-selling studio album of all time. The magic of Thriller changed the standards for the entire music industry: Where albums used to spin off a maximum of three or four singles over the course of an eight-month promo cycle, LPs could now produce as many as six or seven hits and exist at the mainstream’s center for as long as two years — as blockbusters by Bruce Springsteen, Def Leppard and Michael’s sister Janet would confirm later that decade.

But it wasn’t even on the charts that Jackson’s impact was most deeply felt in 1983. MTV had debuted two years earlier as a haven for aging rock stars and ascendant new wave breakouts, but in MJ, the channel found the star to take its burgeoning platform to the next level. “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” were both paired with captivating and instantly unforgettable visuals, based on Jackson’s singular stage presence, dancing ability and on-camera charisma, which were replayed relentlessly. Then, in December came “Thriller,” the larger-than-life 13-minute John Landis mini-movie shot for the album’s Halloween-ish title track, whose premiere instantly became the biggest event in MTV history. The short’s game-changing popularity cemented both “Thriller” and the music video in general as crucial elements of 20th century pop culture.

All these stats and superlatives — greatest, biggest, longest — about MJ’s music and videos barely scratch the surface of just how inextricable he was to American life in 1983. In one TV appearance alone, on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special that May, Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean” rocked the worlds of fashion and dance, thanks to his soon-to-be-signature white glove and jaw-dropping moonwalk maneuver. His multi-million-dollar promotional deal with Pepsi, signed that December, set the bar for celebrity endorsements. And by becoming too big for anyone to ignore, Jackson broke down color lines all across the industry — particularly at MTV, which previously focused solely on rock-based videos from white artists.

Historic and peerless as Michael Jackson’s 1983 was, it’s impossible to deny in 2020 that its memory has been tainted by the revelations and allegations that have come out about the artist’s alleged abusive, scarring relationships with several of the millions of children he enraptured with his blinding star power. They reveal the potentially horrific downside of the unanimous acclaim he received, and arguably cast both the private-life defensiveness of “Billie Jean” and the sympathetic dewiness of “Human Nature” in an insidious light. But it’s because of 1983, when he set the all-time gold standard for pop stardom, that we can never excise Jackson from our memory entirely: Merely by using the term “pop star,” we’re evoking peak MJ, whether we mean to or not.
 
Bogdan said:
www.billboard.com

Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of 1983: Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson is Billboard's Greatest Pop Star of 1983 for how he set the standard for everything we think about with modenr pop stardom.
www.billboard.com www.billboard.com


Pop
11/26/2024
Billboard’s Greatest Pop Star of 1983: Michael Jackson
With his game-changing Thriller album, its peerless run of singles and videos and a performance style never seen before, Michael Jackson set the MTV-era standard for pop stardom in 1983.


By Andrew Unterberger
Illustration by Heston Godby; Getty Images
(In 2018, the Billboard staff released a list project of its choices for the Greatest Pop Star of every year, going back to 1981. Read our entry below on why Michael Jackson was our Greatest Pop Star of 1983 — with our ’83 Honorable Mention runner-ups, Rookie of the Year and Comeback of the Year pop stars at the bottom — and find the rest of our picks for every year up to present day here.)



Michael Jackson
See latest videos, charts and news

Simply put: There’s pop stardom, and then there’s 1983 Michael Jackson. The King of Pop’s greatest year is the yardstick against which all other years of musical mainstream supremacy will forever be measured, unprecedented in its LP sales, hit singles, iconic music videos and generally incalculable cultural impact. No solo pop star since Elvis Presley had been so ubiquitous before, and none — with one possible exception in 2023 — has been since.

But what’s forgotten to time 37 years later is that Michael Jackson didn’t exactly start the year on top. In fact, the buzz preceding Thriller, released in late November 1982, was largely anxious, thanks to the set’s questionable choice of lead single: “The Girl Is Mine,” a soft-rock duet with Paul McCartney that reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 but generally left fans and critics underwhelmed. The disco sound that had propelled Jackson to stardom on 1979’s Off the Wall had faded from the mainstream, and as 1982 turned to 1983, it was not Thriller that was unmoveable from the top of the Billboard 200 — the set debuted at No. 11 that December — but Australian new wave band Men at Work’s Business as Usual, an improbable 15-week No. 1.

However, in January of 1983, a second Thriller single would arrive to establish Jackson as a defining artist of the ‘80s: “Billie Jean.” Rooted in disco’s pulse but given a spooky synth-pop sheen by producer Quincy Jones and a vocal of unrecognizable paranoia and urgency from Jackson, the song raced to No. 1 on the Hot 100 that March. Just two frames after that song’s seven-week reign ended, it was succeeded by “Beat It,” a hard-rocking crossover cut that featured a searing guitar solo from preeminent early-’80s shredder Eddie Van Halen. By year’s end, MJ had notched three more spellbinding Hot 100 top 10s off the all-killer Thriller (“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” No. 5, “Human Nature,” No. 7 and “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” No. 10), on his way to scoring seven total top 10 hits off Thriller — three more than the previous record for a single LP, a mark since tied but not yet bested.

Meanwhile, following the breakthrough of “Billie Jean,” Thriller continued to rise on the Billboard 200, hitting No. 1 on the chart dated Feb. 26. And there it would stay for a record 37 non-consecutive weeks, ruling well into 1984, and quickly becoming the best-selling studio album of all time. The magic of Thriller changed the standards for the entire music industry: Where albums used to spin off a maximum of three or four singles over the course of an eight-month promo cycle, LPs could now produce as many as six or seven hits and exist at the mainstream’s center for as long as two years — as blockbusters by Bruce Springsteen, Def Leppard and Michael’s sister Janet would confirm later that decade.

But it wasn’t even on the charts that Jackson’s impact was most deeply felt in 1983. MTV had debuted two years earlier as a haven for aging rock stars and ascendant new wave breakouts, but in MJ, the channel found the star to take its burgeoning platform to the next level. “Billie Jean” and “Beat It” were both paired with captivating and instantly unforgettable visuals, based on Jackson’s singular stage presence, dancing ability and on-camera charisma, which were replayed relentlessly. Then, in December came “Thriller,” the larger-than-life 13-minute John Landis mini-movie shot for the album’s Halloween-ish title track, whose premiere instantly became the biggest event in MTV history. The short’s game-changing popularity cemented both “Thriller” and the music video in general as crucial elements of 20th century pop culture.

All these stats and superlatives — greatest, biggest, longest — about MJ’s music and videos barely scratch the surface of just how inextricable he was to American life in 1983. In one TV appearance alone, on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special that May, Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean” rocked the worlds of fashion and dance, thanks to his soon-to-be-signature white glove and jaw-dropping moonwalk maneuver. His multi-million-dollar promotional deal with Pepsi, signed that December, set the bar for celebrity endorsements. And by becoming too big for anyone to ignore, Jackson broke down color lines all across the industry — particularly at MTV, which previously focused solely on rock-based videos from white artists.

Historic and peerless as Michael Jackson’s 1983 was, it’s impossible to deny in 2020 that its memory has been tainted by the revelations and allegations that have come out about the artist’s alleged abusive, scarring relationships with several of the millions of children he enraptured with his blinding star power. They reveal the potentially horrific downside of the unanimous acclaim he received, and arguably cast both the private-life defensiveness of “Billie Jean” and the sympathetic dewiness of “Human Nature” in an insidious light. But it’s because of 1983, when he set the all-time gold standard for pop stardom, that we can never excise Jackson from our memory entirely: Merely by using the term “pop star,” we’re evoking peak MJ, whether we mean to or not.
Click to expand...
this was so nice to read💜thanks for sharing, and for keeping this thread alive🙏I will never forget the magic ✨ of mj83. it will always be there for future generations to experience💜
 
I came across this 1983 timeline from a blog. I knew most of this information, except for michael being baptised as a Jehovah’s Witness at the beginning of the year. there have been other accounts of this happening when he was 7 years old. another claimed that he and his brothers had a ceremony in 1973🤔
it’s also confirmed that the hayvenhurst interview took place at the end of the year. it was such an interesting moment right after the release of the ‘thriller’ short film, and before the pepsi accident. if only time stood still in that moment..😔
did you learn anything new from this?
jacksondynasty.net

Michael’s timeline : 1983

Michael is baptized a Jeovah’s Witness at the Kingdom Hall of Los Angeles. Michael hires Marlon Brando’s son, Miko Bando. January : Katherine, LaToya, Michael & Janet move back to Hayvenhu…
jacksondynasty.net jacksondynasty.net
 
83magic said:
[...] did you learn anything new from this? [...]
Click to expand...
I didn't know the Dianne Collins interview was done so late in the year. And I'd forgotten about the Michael / Paul RS cover thing. Ngl, I never liked that piece of artwork.

I feel like decorating the thread with this magazine cover, mentioned in the timeline. It's one of my faves. His lovely smile! 🥰

ga3cw9fbnoa91.jpg
 
the legendary ‘thriller’ short film was released on this day in 1983💜
www.facebook.com

Michael Jackson

On this date in 1983, the 14-minute short film for “Thriller” premiered on MTV. If you were lucky enough to live in Los Angeles at the time, you could see it on the big screen at the AVCO Theater,...
www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
 
I don't think that have been posted yet, but there are the surprise song with The Jacksons, released in 83:


the full album;):


It's amazing how simple Michael was during this time, I think if the Jacksons album was released late 83, the things could have been different, yes Thriller music video would have been released in the same time, but I think that could have worked.

There are this video of The Jacksons recorded their vocals for Motown 25, they probably didn't have the right to film them, so it' for that the camera was just with Smokey Robinson, their multiples takes are amazing.

 
this was shared to the socials today

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The famous unhauthorized interview in late 1983 (maybe early 84, but that look like more late 83), I really like this interview, I really like the dance in the beginning, a more fluid version of smooth criminal, I really like how candid he was, he seemed cool and pretty confident for the future, and I really like this song "Peter Pan", I wonder if this song could have been in Victory:

 
blair said:
The famous unhauthorized interview in late 1983 (maybe early 84, but that look like more late 83), I really like this interview, I really like the dance in the beginning, a more fluid version of smooth criminal, I really like how candid he was, he seemed cool and pretty confident for the future, and I really like this song "Peter Pan", I wonder if this song could have been in Victory:

Click to expand...
This interview is from December 1983 I believe.

Peter Pan was recorded for the Peter Pan movie Steven Spielberg was working on that was to be released in 1984 and starring Michael. The movie was canned and later became Hook with Robin Williams.
 
Yes that seem logical that it was for this project, with the success of Thriller, they should really put the project in priority, Michael couldn't have been younger so it was the moment or never, he has the good look, the good reputation, his popularity was awesome, I think Dream Away was probably also for this project, the lyrics seem very close to a Peter Pan world, the soundtrack would have been awesome.

That interesting that in 84, Captain Eo was close to be Peter Pan story, but changed to the short movie we know, he wanted Spielberg or Lucas in the short movie too, I wonder if the story of the movie would have been close to that:

mouseplanet.com

The Misadventures of Captain EO – Part One

mouseplanet.com mouseplanet.com

"There were also discussions about a 3-D film that might be housed in the Carousel of Progress building. That caught Jackson's interest. but he insisted that either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg be a part of the project to guarantee its quality and credibility and to “protect” him as he started to explore acting.


Imagineer Rick Rothschild drew up three different storylines. The first had Jackson as a Peter Pan-like character in a magical forest with mythological beasts and fairies. The forest would be threatened by an Ice Queen and Jackson would eventually melt her cold heart with the power of music."

According to John Barnes, Another part of me and We are here to change the world were already composed during the Pepsi commercial, 1983 should have been the beginning of his movies career, have you more info about Street Dandy or others projects in early 80's ?
 
blair said:
The famous unhauthorized interview in late 1983 (maybe early 84, but that look like more late 83), I really like this interview, I really like the dance in the beginning, a more fluid version of smooth criminal, I really like how candid he was, he seemed cool and pretty confident for the future, and I really like this song "Peter Pan", I wonder if this song could have been in Victory:

Click to expand...
most of the information I’ve found states that this interview took place in late ‘83. december to be precise. it was the perfect time because it was right after the ‘thriller’ short film, and before the tragic burn accident/‘victory’ drama.

you can see how happy he is 💜his dreams had become reality, and he’s full of hope💜his guard is down, and he’s free to be himself in his own environment💜this is how I choose to remember him. in my mind he still exists in this exact space.💜

I also love the dancing at the beginning. there’s intricacy and speed along with the smooth fluidity. this was common for that era. he didn’t need a reason to dance. it was his expression. I wonder if that footage was taken during one of his sunday fasts?

I wrote an entire fanfic over a decade ago, inspired by this interview (and dancing at the beginning). that’s how much I love it💜
 
blair said:
Yes that seem logical that it was for this project, with the success of Thriller, they should really put the project in priority, Michael couldn't have been younger so it was the moment or never, he has the good look, the good reputation, his popularity was awesome, I think Dream Away was probably also for this project, the lyrics seem very close to a Peter Pan world, the soundtrack would have been awesome.

That interesting that in 84, Captain Eo was close to be Peter Pan story, but changed to the short movie we know, he wanted Spielberg or Lucas in the short movie too, I wonder if the story of the movie would have been close to that:

mouseplanet.com

The Misadventures of Captain EO – Part One

mouseplanet.com mouseplanet.com

"There were also discussions about a 3-D film that might be housed in the Carousel of Progress building. That caught Jackson's interest. but he insisted that either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg be a part of the project to guarantee its quality and credibility and to “protect” him as he started to explore acting.


Imagineer Rick Rothschild drew up three different storylines. The first had Jackson as a Peter Pan-like character in a magical forest with mythological beasts and fairies. The forest would be threatened by an Ice Queen and Jackson would eventually melt her cold heart with the power of music."

According to John Barnes, Another part of me and We are here to change the world were already composed during the Pepsi commercial, 1983 should have been the beginning of his movies career, have you more info about Street Dandy or others projects in early 80's ?
Click to expand...
Only thing I know on Streetdandy is it was to be directed by Spielberg, produced by Geffen and feature Michael as the lead with full control over the soundtrack. Michael was on fire during this time and just didn't have the schedule to film

There was another movie he was reading for called "A Chorus Line" but he said it's a sensitive and emotional story and he didn't know if he wanted to do it....but that was in 1981.
 
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