Thanks for the Thrills
Ben Carrozza
In the world of popular music, nothing is bigger than Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Released in November 1982, the album is the highest-selling record of all time, with 104 million copies sold. It spent 37 weeks on top of the Billboard charts, and the singles Billie Jean and Beat It also went to No. 1.
With the release of Thriller 25 this week -- the 25th anniversary re-release/re-imagining of the album, featuring will.i.am, Akon and Kanye West -- we look at four things that would not have existed without Michael Jackson's Thriller.
1. MTV
Yes, MTV and music videos were around before Thriller, but the channel and the art form weren't taken seriously until the arrival of Jackson's stunning videos for Billie Jean and Beat It. Until then, videos were poorly-made novelties. Other artists responded with their own high-quality productions, and MTV exploded as a source of popular culture content, becoming a major influence on the entertainment industry.
Jackson also broke the race barrier on MTV, kicking the door open for African-American artists on the channel. Jackson told Ebony magazine recently that MTV's rejection of his music videos inspired him to make Thriller even stronger.
"They said they don't play (black artists)," Jackson said. "It broke my heart, but at the same time it lit something. I was saying to myself, 'I have to do something where they ... I just refuse to be ignored. So yeah, Billie Jean,' they said, 'We won't play it.' But when they played it, it set the all-time record. Then they were asking me for everything we had. They were knocking our door down."
2. Celebrity Endorsements
Before Michael Jackson became the biggest thing on the planet, many celebrities (especially musicians) turned up their noses at product endorsements. It was seen as tacky, bad for the career and, as the rock 'n' rollers put it, "selling out, man." Then in 1983, MJ appeared in a Pepsi commercial. Despite suffering third-degree burns during filming when a fireworks display malfunctioned and set his hair on fire, Jackson won praise, a huge paycheque and lots of exposure for the soft drink.
Since then, the entertainment industry's outlook on endorsements has shifted. Now it's common for bands to break out thanks to commercials, and actors, not models, to carry fashion campaigns.
3. Justin Timberlake: solo star
As a part of a label-manufactured candy-pop boy band, 'N Sync, Timberlake parlayed his harmless good looks, slick dance moves and high voice to huge success. Sound familiar? He awakened the sexuality of North American preteens, single-handedly won the boy-band wars of the late 1990s, then quit his band to strike out on his own, making more serious, song-driven dance pop.
Sound familiar? If that wasn't enough, Timberlake even took to emulating the white suits and fedora, à la Jackson's Thriller-era look, although he didn't wear the single, sequined glove.
4. Weird Al Yankovic: platinum selling artist
Before the release of Thriller, the affable accordionist parodied hit songs by Queen, Joan Jett and the Knack to cult popularity. But it was the song Eat it -- Yankovic's send-up of Jackson's Beat it -- and its remake of the song's video that catapulted Weird Al to the forefront of popular culture, leading to TV specials, films and more parody albums.
Yankovic is still recording, still touring and still popular, with career record sales at 12 million, making him the highest-selling comedy act in history.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen...=8a590d3e-31fe-4e3a-9365-a0b9bc9a49c2&k=58257
----
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi
JACKSON STEPS OUT:
Early reports show Sony Legacy's 25th anniversary re-release of Michael Jackson's deluxe Thriller package is overperforming, with a first-week sales prognosis that could put it in the 80-90k range, which would seemingly be good enough for a Top 5 bow. Props to John Ingrassia and his Commercial Music Group for a job well-done. (2/12p)
----
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/StillaThrillerat25
Musical masterpiece still a "Thriller" at 25
B.Campbell
Maria used to be scared at the sound of Vincent Price's voice, though she and many other WWE Superstars found inspiration to the beat of "Thriller," which turns 25 this week.
“The funk of 40,000 years/And grizzly ghouls from every tomb/Are closing in to seal your doom....” raps legendary actor Vincent Price, who first uttered those scarifying words 25 years ago, at the end of the title track on Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
“I would play the entire song up until that point. Then I would turn it off, because that guy scared me,” admitted Maria.
That’s not the only influence the song – or the album – had on Raw’s beautiful Diva, or several other WWE Superstars. From Michael “P.S.” Hayes’ in-ring moonwalk, to WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz’s fedora, to Maria oftentimes sporting a single glove, Jackson’s Thriller has held a place in sports-entertainment lore for the past quarter-century – a milestone which the greatest selling album in music history celebrates this week with the release of Thriller 25.
“The fans didn’t quite know what to do. They despised me as it was, but they were impressed that I could do that – kind of like, ‘Hum, I hate him, but I like what he did,’” recalled Hayes while describing the first time he moonwalked in front of an arena audience. “Then of course, over the years – depending upon geographically where we were wrestling at the time, whether we were loved or hated – pretty much over the course of time, fans wanted to see it anyway.”
Moonwalks and Fabulous Freebirds notwithstanding, Thriller’s mass appeal extended to those who weren’t even born upon the album’s release – among them, SmackDown’s newest Diva, Eve. “It's definitely one of those albums that I look back at and say that it made me want to dance and perform and have fun,” she said.
“It’s all about being original,” explained Tommy Dreamer, who at ECW knows what being an “original” is all about. “We do a lot of driving in the car, and when we hear a song from Thriller, we’ll just stop and listen to it. A lot of those songs are timeless. They have proven to continue to be really good.”
In addition to more than 100 million copies sold, seven Top Ten singles, seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards, Thriller revolutionized the way music videos were made through storytelling. Furthermore, the album enabled Jackson to tear down racial barriers; his music videos were among the very first starring a black artist to air in heavy rotation on MTV. And those aren't the only reasons why Thriller is credited with transforming Jackson from a perceived bubble-gum pop singer to a musical genius.
“I remember my neighbor choreographing a dance routine for the kids in the neighborhood to ‘Beat It,’” recounted SmackDown Diva Torrie Wilson. “We did it for our parents, and I’ll always remember that fondly. I think it was the first dance routine I ever learned.”
“I think Michael Jackson tops Madonna and just about every entertainer I’ve ever seen,” two-time WWE Women’s Champion Melina asserted. “He always thinks outside the box. I don’t know if he intentionally does that or just has a unique mind, but he just did…whatever. He’s so damn creative. When it came to costume and clothing [on ‘Thriller’], he wasn’t afraid, didn’t care what people thought. He just did it.”
Arguably, it was that creative brilliance throughout all of Thriller which helped fashion an image for the “King of Pop” and sent women into euphoria. With one twist of the knee and a 360-degree spin, Jackson could make even the most beautiful woman cry hysterically and faint.
“Back in the day, he probably could get a lot of women,” Miz observed. “A lot of people idolized him – kind of like how the women and everyone idolize The Miz. But I just don’t picture him as a chick magnet anymore. If you look at me 25 years from now, I’m still going to be a chick magnet. I can’t help it. It’s just great genes and great genetics that I’ve been given what most people don’t get to have. I’m the real deal sex appeal.”
Even Miz would have to admit that Thriller 25 offers quite the collection of sex appeal in its own right, featuring the biggest acts in popular music today. The anniversary album includes Black Eyed Peas band mates will. i. am and Fergie, who contribute vocally to “The Girl is Mine” and “Beat It,” respectively. Akon lends his voice on “Wannabe Startin’ Something,” while super-producer Kanye West remixed what is considered by many to be the greatest song of all time, “Billie Jean.” Yet while reviews for the album have been positive, some Superstars believe that the historical compilation could have been perfected.
“Big mistake on his end for not putting me on the album,” insisted Jillian, Raw’s resident songstress (more “stress” than “song”). “Obviously, I proved with my Christmas album, A Jingle With Jillian, that I sell records. If Thriller 25 fails, we’ll all know why.”
It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since Vincent Price uttered those haunting lines in “Thriller.” Although Michael Jackson’s achievements have since been marred by controversy, his musical masterpiece will live on and continue to influence WWE Superstars like The Miz.
“You never know. I might break out into doing the whole ’Thriller’ theme right after winning another championship. Hey, you just never know.”
----
'Thriller' at 25: Still Can't Beat It
Though a flawed masterwork, a new anniversary edition reminds us how well the best of Michael Jackson's seminal album holds up a quarter century later (even if the bonus tracks are mostly Bad)
MICHAEL JACKSON Thriller was a collection of songs that cohered as the statement of a young artist proclaiming his freedom, writes Ken Tucker
By now, it's simply assumed that Michael Jackson's Thriller is some kind of masterpiece, its legacy sullied only by the private-life shenanigans-or-worse of its principal creator. But Epic/Legacy's release of a 25th-anniversary edition of Thriller — tricked out with five remixes, an unreleased track, and a DVD — is a good time to place this creation in its proper art-historical context. When it was released in November 1982, Thriller initially seemed an extension of 1979's Off the Wall. Here was another solo album from a young man trying to gracefully separate himself from the family act that made him a star, produced once again by Quincy Jones, as a mixture of hits-plus-filler that characterized the then-dominant pop-music delivery system: the LP.
It soon became apparent, however, that Thriller was something unique. Its first single, the goofy-sweet Paul McCartney duet ''The Girl Is Mine,'' was a safe choice, but the second single, ''Billie Jean,'' exploded everything around it. Its driving funk beat and atypically aggressive, fascinatingly obscure lyrics — which found Michael vehemently denying some woman was his lover — lent ''Billie Jean'' an urgency that only became more intense when Jackson used it on the March 1983 TV special Motown 25 to unveil his signature dance moves, including the moonwalk.
That performance is included here on DVD, plus the three long-form music videos for ''Billie Jean,'' ''Beat It,'' and ''Thriller.'' The shock and awe that a human being could inspire navigating a stage with such effortless yet almost supernatural command (not for nothing did legends Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly congratulate Michael on his dancing) vaulted Jackson and Thriller to a new level of prominence. Songs such as ''Beat It,'' with its stinging hard-rock guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen, and ''Wanna Be Startin' Somethin','' instantly one of the greatest party songs ever, were no-brainer hits, but Michael's sudden pop culture pervasiveness carried even a weaker song like ''P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)'' into the top 10.
Here's the thing: Thriller isn't a perfect creation. Quick, can you hum ''The Lady in My Life,'' the album's hookless closer? Didn't think so. The core of Thriller's music was executed by members of Toto, the ultimate L.A. session-hack band (remember their hits ''Hold the Line'' and ''Africa''?), in arrangements that sometimes required Michael's masterfully expressive vocals to mask their mere slickness. And if you ignore the hype and look around at other 1982 releases, Thriller is arguably not even the most-sustained quality album of that year: I could make strong arguments for George Clinton's Computer Games (come on, ''Atomic Dog'' alone influenced more hip-hop than any Michael song ever did), Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, and, yes, Marshall Crenshaw.
Largely due to its staggering business figures — more than 100 million copies sold — its longtime ''world's best-selling album'' tag, and media domination, Thriller transcended mere musical achievement. In a way that is unthinkable now in a landscape that doesn't view the album as its primary medium of expression, Thriller was a collection of songs that cohered as the statement of a young artist proclaiming his freedom, a boy grown into manhood as a compleat entertainer — singer, songwriter, performer. (Director John Landis brought out the best in Michael's rebellious, angry side in the ''Thriller'' video.)
The thing to celebrate about Thriller's 25th-anniversary release is the pleasure still to be taken from its best songs, and the opportunity to, for at least a few moments, put aside all the tabloid controversy that has since engulfed an undeniably gifted artist. Because, to paraphrase one of the album's lyrics, when it comes to Jackson's Thriller phenomenon, tenderoni you've got to be.
...AND THE 25TH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THRILLER'S NOT-SO-THRILLING EXTRAS, TRACK BY TRACK
''The Girl Is Mine 2008'' A remix with will.i.am, who raps, ''She like the way I rock.'' Over and over. D+
''P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008'' Will.i.am again, remixing the drum parts to update yet dilute the original's already-slim charms. D
''Wanna Be Startin 'Somethin' 2008'' Akon doing his best to complement Jackson's vocal, and as such, a bit of unexpectedly charming modesty sells this remix. B
''Beat It 2008'' Oh, good Lord — few things suggest how out of touch Michael and his advisers have become than enlisting Fergie to caterwaul in the background. Still upstaged by Eddie Van Halen's for-the-ages guitar solo. D
''Billie Jean 2008'' Did guest Kanye West think Jackson's greatest Thriller achievement would be helped by remixing some leftover ''Golddigger'' stutter-beats and sluggishly rapping ''Yeah, unh, unh'' a few times? Really, Kanye... D
''For All Time'' A previously unreleased Thriller-session song, this pretty ballad is sung in Jackson's pensive ''Ben''-era tenor. B
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20177107,00.html?print
----
KISS FM Michael Jackson Mega Mix
Listen again to the very sepcial Michael Jackson mix from Tuesday's MJ Day...
Listen:
http://www.whatson.com/goto/?type=radio&station=kiss100&show=a_michael_jackson___special_mix
Comment:
http://blog.totalkiss.com/2008/02/mi...ckson_day.html
Email:
jez.welham@totalkiss.com
----
Sony BMG and a Switzerland based company called 234 AG have joined forces in a joint venture. The two firms have come up with the idea of so-called prepaid-CDs.
The idea is, that a customer can buy an album on a so-called musicbon. The musicbon is a card which has the size of a credit card and contains a download code for the album the customer wants to buy. Also it has the album’s art-work on it, making it a potentially collectable item for fans. Once you’ve paid for the musicbon, you can go home and download the album without having to register or enter any personal information anywhere. A regular album will cost 9.99€ and an album containing bonus material will cost 12.99€. So far the only retail partner this venture has is Saturn, one of the biggest European multimedia store chains.
The 25th anniversary re-release of Thriller will be available for 12.99€ at all participating outlets starting February 8th.
http://www.musicbon.de
----
From MichaelJackson.com
Yahoo wants to know "Is Thriller Still A Thrill?" Here is your chance to voice your opinion to the world. Visit Yahoo! Music at: new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/hiphopmediatraining
Poll The People wants to hear what your favorite songs from the Original Thriller release was. Simply go to: http://www.pollthepeople.com/polls/michaeljackson.php to cast your vote.
----
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on PopMatters.com Popmatters.com has a great piece on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" reissue with track-by-track insight on the album's success. Read the article on the PopMatters website.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/54760/michael-jacksons-thriller-turns-25/
----
Learn The Thriller Dance With CW11 Check out a video from CW11's Morning News as choreographer/dancer Giovanni Perez teaches everyone Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance moves.
http://weblogs.cw11.com/news/local/morningnews/blogs/2008/02/wakeup_workout_thriller_dance.html
----
Thank you to all of today's News contributors !!
Ben Carrozza
In the world of popular music, nothing is bigger than Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Released in November 1982, the album is the highest-selling record of all time, with 104 million copies sold. It spent 37 weeks on top of the Billboard charts, and the singles Billie Jean and Beat It also went to No. 1.
With the release of Thriller 25 this week -- the 25th anniversary re-release/re-imagining of the album, featuring will.i.am, Akon and Kanye West -- we look at four things that would not have existed without Michael Jackson's Thriller.
1. MTV
Yes, MTV and music videos were around before Thriller, but the channel and the art form weren't taken seriously until the arrival of Jackson's stunning videos for Billie Jean and Beat It. Until then, videos were poorly-made novelties. Other artists responded with their own high-quality productions, and MTV exploded as a source of popular culture content, becoming a major influence on the entertainment industry.
Jackson also broke the race barrier on MTV, kicking the door open for African-American artists on the channel. Jackson told Ebony magazine recently that MTV's rejection of his music videos inspired him to make Thriller even stronger.
"They said they don't play (black artists)," Jackson said. "It broke my heart, but at the same time it lit something. I was saying to myself, 'I have to do something where they ... I just refuse to be ignored. So yeah, Billie Jean,' they said, 'We won't play it.' But when they played it, it set the all-time record. Then they were asking me for everything we had. They were knocking our door down."
2. Celebrity Endorsements
Before Michael Jackson became the biggest thing on the planet, many celebrities (especially musicians) turned up their noses at product endorsements. It was seen as tacky, bad for the career and, as the rock 'n' rollers put it, "selling out, man." Then in 1983, MJ appeared in a Pepsi commercial. Despite suffering third-degree burns during filming when a fireworks display malfunctioned and set his hair on fire, Jackson won praise, a huge paycheque and lots of exposure for the soft drink.
Since then, the entertainment industry's outlook on endorsements has shifted. Now it's common for bands to break out thanks to commercials, and actors, not models, to carry fashion campaigns.
3. Justin Timberlake: solo star
As a part of a label-manufactured candy-pop boy band, 'N Sync, Timberlake parlayed his harmless good looks, slick dance moves and high voice to huge success. Sound familiar? He awakened the sexuality of North American preteens, single-handedly won the boy-band wars of the late 1990s, then quit his band to strike out on his own, making more serious, song-driven dance pop.
Sound familiar? If that wasn't enough, Timberlake even took to emulating the white suits and fedora, à la Jackson's Thriller-era look, although he didn't wear the single, sequined glove.
4. Weird Al Yankovic: platinum selling artist
Before the release of Thriller, the affable accordionist parodied hit songs by Queen, Joan Jett and the Knack to cult popularity. But it was the song Eat it -- Yankovic's send-up of Jackson's Beat it -- and its remake of the song's video that catapulted Weird Al to the forefront of popular culture, leading to TV specials, films and more parody albums.
Yankovic is still recording, still touring and still popular, with career record sales at 12 million, making him the highest-selling comedy act in history.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen...=8a590d3e-31fe-4e3a-9365-a0b9bc9a49c2&k=58257
----
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi
JACKSON STEPS OUT:
Early reports show Sony Legacy's 25th anniversary re-release of Michael Jackson's deluxe Thriller package is overperforming, with a first-week sales prognosis that could put it in the 80-90k range, which would seemingly be good enough for a Top 5 bow. Props to John Ingrassia and his Commercial Music Group for a job well-done. (2/12p)
----
http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/StillaThrillerat25
Musical masterpiece still a "Thriller" at 25
B.Campbell
“The funk of 40,000 years/And grizzly ghouls from every tomb/Are closing in to seal your doom....” raps legendary actor Vincent Price, who first uttered those scarifying words 25 years ago, at the end of the title track on Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
“I would play the entire song up until that point. Then I would turn it off, because that guy scared me,” admitted Maria.
That’s not the only influence the song – or the album – had on Raw’s beautiful Diva, or several other WWE Superstars. From Michael “P.S.” Hayes’ in-ring moonwalk, to WWE Tag Team Champion The Miz’s fedora, to Maria oftentimes sporting a single glove, Jackson’s Thriller has held a place in sports-entertainment lore for the past quarter-century – a milestone which the greatest selling album in music history celebrates this week with the release of Thriller 25.
“The fans didn’t quite know what to do. They despised me as it was, but they were impressed that I could do that – kind of like, ‘Hum, I hate him, but I like what he did,’” recalled Hayes while describing the first time he moonwalked in front of an arena audience. “Then of course, over the years – depending upon geographically where we were wrestling at the time, whether we were loved or hated – pretty much over the course of time, fans wanted to see it anyway.”
Moonwalks and Fabulous Freebirds notwithstanding, Thriller’s mass appeal extended to those who weren’t even born upon the album’s release – among them, SmackDown’s newest Diva, Eve. “It's definitely one of those albums that I look back at and say that it made me want to dance and perform and have fun,” she said.
“It’s all about being original,” explained Tommy Dreamer, who at ECW knows what being an “original” is all about. “We do a lot of driving in the car, and when we hear a song from Thriller, we’ll just stop and listen to it. A lot of those songs are timeless. They have proven to continue to be really good.”
In addition to more than 100 million copies sold, seven Top Ten singles, seven Grammys and eight American Music Awards, Thriller revolutionized the way music videos were made through storytelling. Furthermore, the album enabled Jackson to tear down racial barriers; his music videos were among the very first starring a black artist to air in heavy rotation on MTV. And those aren't the only reasons why Thriller is credited with transforming Jackson from a perceived bubble-gum pop singer to a musical genius.
“I remember my neighbor choreographing a dance routine for the kids in the neighborhood to ‘Beat It,’” recounted SmackDown Diva Torrie Wilson. “We did it for our parents, and I’ll always remember that fondly. I think it was the first dance routine I ever learned.”
“I think Michael Jackson tops Madonna and just about every entertainer I’ve ever seen,” two-time WWE Women’s Champion Melina asserted. “He always thinks outside the box. I don’t know if he intentionally does that or just has a unique mind, but he just did…whatever. He’s so damn creative. When it came to costume and clothing [on ‘Thriller’], he wasn’t afraid, didn’t care what people thought. He just did it.”
Arguably, it was that creative brilliance throughout all of Thriller which helped fashion an image for the “King of Pop” and sent women into euphoria. With one twist of the knee and a 360-degree spin, Jackson could make even the most beautiful woman cry hysterically and faint.
“Back in the day, he probably could get a lot of women,” Miz observed. “A lot of people idolized him – kind of like how the women and everyone idolize The Miz. But I just don’t picture him as a chick magnet anymore. If you look at me 25 years from now, I’m still going to be a chick magnet. I can’t help it. It’s just great genes and great genetics that I’ve been given what most people don’t get to have. I’m the real deal sex appeal.”
Even Miz would have to admit that Thriller 25 offers quite the collection of sex appeal in its own right, featuring the biggest acts in popular music today. The anniversary album includes Black Eyed Peas band mates will. i. am and Fergie, who contribute vocally to “The Girl is Mine” and “Beat It,” respectively. Akon lends his voice on “Wannabe Startin’ Something,” while super-producer Kanye West remixed what is considered by many to be the greatest song of all time, “Billie Jean.” Yet while reviews for the album have been positive, some Superstars believe that the historical compilation could have been perfected.
“Big mistake on his end for not putting me on the album,” insisted Jillian, Raw’s resident songstress (more “stress” than “song”). “Obviously, I proved with my Christmas album, A Jingle With Jillian, that I sell records. If Thriller 25 fails, we’ll all know why.”
It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since Vincent Price uttered those haunting lines in “Thriller.” Although Michael Jackson’s achievements have since been marred by controversy, his musical masterpiece will live on and continue to influence WWE Superstars like The Miz.
“You never know. I might break out into doing the whole ’Thriller’ theme right after winning another championship. Hey, you just never know.”
----
'Thriller' at 25: Still Can't Beat It
Though a flawed masterwork, a new anniversary edition reminds us how well the best of Michael Jackson's seminal album holds up a quarter century later (even if the bonus tracks are mostly Bad)
MICHAEL JACKSON Thriller was a collection of songs that cohered as the statement of a young artist proclaiming his freedom, writes Ken Tucker
By now, it's simply assumed that Michael Jackson's Thriller is some kind of masterpiece, its legacy sullied only by the private-life shenanigans-or-worse of its principal creator. But Epic/Legacy's release of a 25th-anniversary edition of Thriller — tricked out with five remixes, an unreleased track, and a DVD — is a good time to place this creation in its proper art-historical context. When it was released in November 1982, Thriller initially seemed an extension of 1979's Off the Wall. Here was another solo album from a young man trying to gracefully separate himself from the family act that made him a star, produced once again by Quincy Jones, as a mixture of hits-plus-filler that characterized the then-dominant pop-music delivery system: the LP.
It soon became apparent, however, that Thriller was something unique. Its first single, the goofy-sweet Paul McCartney duet ''The Girl Is Mine,'' was a safe choice, but the second single, ''Billie Jean,'' exploded everything around it. Its driving funk beat and atypically aggressive, fascinatingly obscure lyrics — which found Michael vehemently denying some woman was his lover — lent ''Billie Jean'' an urgency that only became more intense when Jackson used it on the March 1983 TV special Motown 25 to unveil his signature dance moves, including the moonwalk.
That performance is included here on DVD, plus the three long-form music videos for ''Billie Jean,'' ''Beat It,'' and ''Thriller.'' The shock and awe that a human being could inspire navigating a stage with such effortless yet almost supernatural command (not for nothing did legends Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly congratulate Michael on his dancing) vaulted Jackson and Thriller to a new level of prominence. Songs such as ''Beat It,'' with its stinging hard-rock guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen, and ''Wanna Be Startin' Somethin','' instantly one of the greatest party songs ever, were no-brainer hits, but Michael's sudden pop culture pervasiveness carried even a weaker song like ''P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)'' into the top 10.
Here's the thing: Thriller isn't a perfect creation. Quick, can you hum ''The Lady in My Life,'' the album's hookless closer? Didn't think so. The core of Thriller's music was executed by members of Toto, the ultimate L.A. session-hack band (remember their hits ''Hold the Line'' and ''Africa''?), in arrangements that sometimes required Michael's masterfully expressive vocals to mask their mere slickness. And if you ignore the hype and look around at other 1982 releases, Thriller is arguably not even the most-sustained quality album of that year: I could make strong arguments for George Clinton's Computer Games (come on, ''Atomic Dog'' alone influenced more hip-hop than any Michael song ever did), Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, and, yes, Marshall Crenshaw.
Largely due to its staggering business figures — more than 100 million copies sold — its longtime ''world's best-selling album'' tag, and media domination, Thriller transcended mere musical achievement. In a way that is unthinkable now in a landscape that doesn't view the album as its primary medium of expression, Thriller was a collection of songs that cohered as the statement of a young artist proclaiming his freedom, a boy grown into manhood as a compleat entertainer — singer, songwriter, performer. (Director John Landis brought out the best in Michael's rebellious, angry side in the ''Thriller'' video.)
The thing to celebrate about Thriller's 25th-anniversary release is the pleasure still to be taken from its best songs, and the opportunity to, for at least a few moments, put aside all the tabloid controversy that has since engulfed an undeniably gifted artist. Because, to paraphrase one of the album's lyrics, when it comes to Jackson's Thriller phenomenon, tenderoni you've got to be.
...AND THE 25TH-ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THRILLER'S NOT-SO-THRILLING EXTRAS, TRACK BY TRACK
''The Girl Is Mine 2008'' A remix with will.i.am, who raps, ''She like the way I rock.'' Over and over. D+
''P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) 2008'' Will.i.am again, remixing the drum parts to update yet dilute the original's already-slim charms. D
''Wanna Be Startin 'Somethin' 2008'' Akon doing his best to complement Jackson's vocal, and as such, a bit of unexpectedly charming modesty sells this remix. B
''Beat It 2008'' Oh, good Lord — few things suggest how out of touch Michael and his advisers have become than enlisting Fergie to caterwaul in the background. Still upstaged by Eddie Van Halen's for-the-ages guitar solo. D
''Billie Jean 2008'' Did guest Kanye West think Jackson's greatest Thriller achievement would be helped by remixing some leftover ''Golddigger'' stutter-beats and sluggishly rapping ''Yeah, unh, unh'' a few times? Really, Kanye... D
''For All Time'' A previously unreleased Thriller-session song, this pretty ballad is sung in Jackson's pensive ''Ben''-era tenor. B
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20177107,00.html?print
----
KISS FM Michael Jackson Mega Mix
Listen again to the very sepcial Michael Jackson mix from Tuesday's MJ Day...
Listen:
http://www.whatson.com/goto/?type=radio&station=kiss100&show=a_michael_jackson___special_mix
Comment:
http://blog.totalkiss.com/2008/02/mi...ckson_day.html
Email:
jez.welham@totalkiss.com
----
Sony BMG and a Switzerland based company called 234 AG have joined forces in a joint venture. The two firms have come up with the idea of so-called prepaid-CDs.
The idea is, that a customer can buy an album on a so-called musicbon. The musicbon is a card which has the size of a credit card and contains a download code for the album the customer wants to buy. Also it has the album’s art-work on it, making it a potentially collectable item for fans. Once you’ve paid for the musicbon, you can go home and download the album without having to register or enter any personal information anywhere. A regular album will cost 9.99€ and an album containing bonus material will cost 12.99€. So far the only retail partner this venture has is Saturn, one of the biggest European multimedia store chains.
The 25th anniversary re-release of Thriller will be available for 12.99€ at all participating outlets starting February 8th.
http://www.musicbon.de
----
From MichaelJackson.com
Yahoo wants to know "Is Thriller Still A Thrill?" Here is your chance to voice your opinion to the world. Visit Yahoo! Music at: new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/hiphopmediatraining
Poll The People wants to hear what your favorite songs from the Original Thriller release was. Simply go to: http://www.pollthepeople.com/polls/michaeljackson.php to cast your vote.
----
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on PopMatters.com Popmatters.com has a great piece on Michael Jackson's "Thriller" reissue with track-by-track insight on the album's success. Read the article on the PopMatters website.
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/news/article/54760/michael-jacksons-thriller-turns-25/
----
Learn The Thriller Dance With CW11 Check out a video from CW11's Morning News as choreographer/dancer Giovanni Perez teaches everyone Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance moves.
http://weblogs.cw11.com/news/local/morningnews/blogs/2008/02/wakeup_workout_thriller_dance.html
----
Thank you to all of today's News contributors !!
Last edited:
:flowers:
