Themidwestcowboy
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So I was watching the show ‘Stranger Things’ and the finale, (minor spoiler) and Purple Rain starts playing and it got me thinking. The scene works so well not just because the song is iconic, but because it instantly places you in the emotional and sonic memory of the 1980s. The show relies heavily on that kind of musical shorthand, and it’s used plenty of era defining songs to do it. It’s even used Thriller in trailers before. But that raised an interesting question for me. Why don’t we really hear Michael Jackson’s music used in the show, or any other show that heavily relies on 80s nostalgia, itself as an emotional narrative tool, the way Prince, Kate Bush, or others have been? The answer I landed on is that, Michael Jackson defined the 1980s culturally, but his music doesn’t sonically belong to the 1980s in the way we usually think of “80s music,” and that was intentional.
Most 80s nostalgia is built on sound. Songs like Purple Rain, Radio Ga Ga, Take On Me, Video Killed the Radio Star, Heaven Is a Place on Earth, Every Step You Take, Don’t You Forget About Me, and even some of Whitney big 80s hits (to name a few) instantly signal the decade through synth textures, reverb heavy vocals, and period specific production. But when you put those next to Billie Jean, Beat It, or Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, something changes. Michael’s songs don’t trigger the same nostalgic response. They don’t feel tied to a specific year or trend. They feel timeless for the lack of a better word. That’s one of the most overlooked aspects of his artistry.
What makes this even more impressive is the context. Michael was competing at the height of the 80s with brilliant artists whose music was deeply rooted in the sound of the moment and the music is undoubtedly brilliant but unmistakably of their era. Choosing a “different” path was an enormous risk in the most trend driven decade pop music has ever seen, and yet it worked. Bad is probably the closest Michael ever came to engaging with the 80s sound, but even then, songs like Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, Liberian Girl, or Speed Demon, don’t feel like typical 80s tracks. They don’t rely on era clichés. Even at his most “80s,” Michael still sounded like MJ, not like the decade.
What really sealed this realization for me was hearing the Thriller outtakes. Songs like She’s Trouble, Hot Street, Got the Hots, and even early versions of Billie Jean, sound extremely 80s, with synth bass, programmed drums, and obvious period fingerprints. The key point is that Michael left all of that off the album. Those weren’t bad songs. They were good, even hit material in my opinion, but they were time stamped. Michael clearly understood the 80s sound perfectly well. He just chose not to let it define his work. That level of judgment is extraordinary. Most artists chase what works now. Michael curated what would last later.
That’s why Michael is such a rare case. An artist of unprecedented magnitude who maintained a fully formed identity independent of era. And it’s why his music often feels too “present” to function as background nostalgia. When a MJ song plays, it doesn’t say “remember the 80s.” It says, “This is Michael Jackson.”
Most 80s nostalgia is built on sound. Songs like Purple Rain, Radio Ga Ga, Take On Me, Video Killed the Radio Star, Heaven Is a Place on Earth, Every Step You Take, Don’t You Forget About Me, and even some of Whitney big 80s hits (to name a few) instantly signal the decade through synth textures, reverb heavy vocals, and period specific production. But when you put those next to Billie Jean, Beat It, or Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, something changes. Michael’s songs don’t trigger the same nostalgic response. They don’t feel tied to a specific year or trend. They feel timeless for the lack of a better word. That’s one of the most overlooked aspects of his artistry.
What makes this even more impressive is the context. Michael was competing at the height of the 80s with brilliant artists whose music was deeply rooted in the sound of the moment and the music is undoubtedly brilliant but unmistakably of their era. Choosing a “different” path was an enormous risk in the most trend driven decade pop music has ever seen, and yet it worked. Bad is probably the closest Michael ever came to engaging with the 80s sound, but even then, songs like Smooth Criminal, The Way You Make Me Feel, Liberian Girl, or Speed Demon, don’t feel like typical 80s tracks. They don’t rely on era clichés. Even at his most “80s,” Michael still sounded like MJ, not like the decade.
What really sealed this realization for me was hearing the Thriller outtakes. Songs like She’s Trouble, Hot Street, Got the Hots, and even early versions of Billie Jean, sound extremely 80s, with synth bass, programmed drums, and obvious period fingerprints. The key point is that Michael left all of that off the album. Those weren’t bad songs. They were good, even hit material in my opinion, but they were time stamped. Michael clearly understood the 80s sound perfectly well. He just chose not to let it define his work. That level of judgment is extraordinary. Most artists chase what works now. Michael curated what would last later.
That’s why Michael is such a rare case. An artist of unprecedented magnitude who maintained a fully formed identity independent of era. And it’s why his music often feels too “present” to function as background nostalgia. When a MJ song plays, it doesn’t say “remember the 80s.” It says, “This is Michael Jackson.”
