Latest on MJJC

How was it when the Thriller music video came out?

woooow.. amazing to hear all these stories..
i doubt that my generation will ever experience something like this....
 
wasnt even born when the video first premiered...I was born in 87 so the only MJ I saw at the time was the moonwalker video...and the only time i watched Thriller was during the retrospective segment when it showed that lil 20 sec clip. So that is all I seen from it from what I remember.

I remember when it the Making of Thriller came out in VHS. My mom rented it for me cuz she wanted me to see it. SOoOooOo I watched it once! and then NEVER watched it again.

Yea it messed me up PREEETY bad! I was literally TERRIFIED of that video!

Took me a few years but i got over it..and it is the G.O.A.T. video
 
My friend Ann (who wan't a fan) saw the video before I did and I made her recite every word and describe every action for me. I wanted every scrap of information I could get.

I also remember that at one time they started to play music videos by the side of the US motorways but they had to stop playing Michael's as people were pulling over and watching the screens or having accidents.
 
*~MJ Loves MJ~* said:
OMG YES!! It was a time in my life I'll never forget. Amazing! Nothing...NOTHING I will ever do in my life will compare to the overwhelming joy and inspiration I had back then.

Let's see, in 1983...I was 11..1984 12...I remember when it first came out, we used to rush home every night after school to watch it. They had a variety of 'video' shows, MTV, Much Music, Friday Night Videos etc.. They also used to play 'Thrilller' multiple times during the day, so if you missed it at 4:00 p.m., Much Music would play it at 5:00 p.m....then 6:00...I mean, NOONE could get enough of Michael.

You couldn't go anywhere without seeing guys wearing 'Beat It' and 'Thriller Jackets,' the hair and those 'Ray Bans'...God, I miss those days soooo much. *sigh* And the posters of Michael....they'd sell them everywhere...even in the supermarkets near the milk..lol.

That whole era was truly amazing. :wub:

1983-84...will always be the best years of my life.
Click to expand...

Yes. I love this thread. It's so cool to see others here that remember that time like I do.
Not dissing this site, it's just that there seems to be a lot of young folks here (which is cool, but I wish there were more here that remember what an incredible time it was back in the early 80's).

When the Thriller video finally came out, Mike was already red-hot. Thriller, believe it or not, was simply icing on the cake. The videos for Beat It and Billie Jean and the Motown 25 performances (thank God I got to see that when it aired), in addition to the radio airplay of all those songs AND The Girl Is Mine, Human Nature, and sometimes Wanna Be Startin Somethin and PYT.....had already boosted Michael into super-stardom.

Way before the video for Thriller came out, I had a Beat It t-shirt, I had a brown jacket with tons of zippers I called my "beat-it jacket", and I begged my mom to buy me a poster I saw in a huge display in a tiny mom and pop drug store! I mean....like you said....Michael Jackson mania was in FULL EFFECT.

I wish everybody here could have lived through the Thriller era. As cool as the Bad and Dangerous eras were....man.....I'm telling you....the early 80's were almost indescribable.

In early 1983, I was just a little kid. Billie Jean and Beat It (and the videos) had me entranced. I thought Michael Jackson was magic. Then when I watched him perform Billie Jean at Motown 25, I was HOOKED. All the things you read about him making a huge impact that night are completely true. My parents told me that he was going to be on with the Jackson 5 that night. Later that evening I was playing in my room when I heard them shout down the hallway, "David! Michael Jackson's coming on now!" So I ran as fast as my little feet would take me and watched the whole thing in complete amazement. Little did I know I was witness to a history changing event. I just thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen.

Now, back in 1983 and 1984 (the heights of the Thriller era) we didn't have cable yet. We got that in late '84. So my only way to watch these videos was on Saturday mornings/early afternoon on Dick Clark's American Top 10 Video show. Every single Saturday morning I'd sit there watching and waiting for Beat It and Billie Jean to come on.

By the time the Thriller video came out, I remember my parents were thinking it was satanic and evil lol....So they didn't want me watching the whole video or listening to the whole song (esp. the Vincent Price rap). But I remember watching parts of the video on Saturday mornings. I don't think they played the whole video though because it was too long for the top 10 video show. I don't think I saw the video in it's entirety until we got MTV in late '84.

The Thriller era was unbelievable. I'm so glad I was blessed to live during that time. It was AMAZING.
 
Last edited:
Can you imagine life with no internet, email, mobile or dvd. Yes, I was sixteen when Thriller was first broadcast, it was a magical time in 1983 and especially as it was shown near Christmas. After the video's for Billie Jean and Beat It was released we all knew that Thriller video was gonna be very special. I'll never forget, me and the family sat around to watch it on Channel 4, and we taped it and watched it again and again and again. The follwing day at school everybody was Thriller mad, can you imagine every kid was talking about it and doing the moves, it was a time I'll never forget as a Michael Jackson fan.
 
Seven said:
My friend Ann (who wan't a fan) saw the video before I did and I made her recite every word and describe every action for me. I wanted every scrap of information I could get.

I also remember that at one time they started to play music videos by the side of the US motorways but they had to stop playing Michael's as people were pulling over and watching the screens or having accidents.
Click to expand...
Bizarre! Is this true? Surely not. Music videos at the side of a motorway? That's insane.

@staywild23 @MacMandy90 - you're both too young for this but do you know anything about it?

defdave said:
Yes. I love this thread. It's so cool to see others here that remember that time like I do.
Not dissing this site, it's just that there seems to be a lot of young folks here (which is cool, but I wish there were more here that remember what an incredible time it was back in the early 80's).

When the Thriller video finally came out, Mike was already red-hot. Thriller, believe it or not, was simply icing on the cake. The videos for Beat It and Billie Jean and the Motown 25 performances (thank God I got to see that when it aired), in addition to the radio airplay of all those songs AND The Girl Is Mine, Human Nature, and sometimes Wanna Be Startin Somethin and PYT.....had already boosted Michael into super-stardom.

Way before the video for Thriller came out, I had a Beat It t-shirt, I had a brown jacket with tons of zippers I called my "beat-it jacket", and I begged my mom to buy me a poster I saw in a huge display in a tiny mom and pop drug store! I mean....like you said....Michael Jackson mania was in FULL EFFECT.

I wish everybody here could have lived through the Thriller era. As cool as the Bad and Dangerous eras were....man.....I'm telling you....the early 80's were almost indescribable.

In early 1983, I was just a little kid. Billie Jean and Beat It (and the videos) had me entranced. I thought Michael Jackson was magic. Then when I watched him perform Billie Jean at Motown 25, I was HOOKED. All the things you read about him making a huge impact that night are completely true. My parents told me that he was going to be on with the Jackson 5 that night. Later that evening I was playing in my room when I heard them shout down the hallway, "David! Michael Jackson's coming on now!" So I ran as fast as my little feet would take me and watched the whole thing in complete amazement. Little did I know I was witness to a history changing event. I just thought it was one of the coolest things I'd ever seen.

Now, back in 1983 and 1984 (the heights of the Thriller era) we didn't have cable yet. We got that in late '84. So my only way to watch these videos was on Saturday mornings/early afternoon on Dick Clark's American Top 10 Video show. Every single Saturday morning I'd sit there watching and waiting for Beat It and Billie Jean to come on.

By the time the Thriller video came out, I remember my parents were thinking it was satanic and evil lol....So they didn't want me watching the whole video or listening to the whole song (esp. the Vincent Price rap). But I remember watching parts of the video on Saturday mornings. I don't think they played the whole video though because it was too long for the top 10 video show. I don't think I saw the video in it's entirety until we got MTV in late '84.

The Thriller era was unbelievable. I'm so glad I was blessed to live during that time. It was AMAZING.
Click to expand...

Good account. 🙂
 
I was too young to witness the thriller era but in my head it really lasted the entire 80s. In my childhood (late 80s/early 90s) Thriller was still a huge thing that brought people together. People just kept being amazed by it.
 
filmandmusic said:
I was too young to witness the thriller era but in my head it really lasted the entire 80s.
Click to expand...
omg, yes! Yesss!!!!!!

That's how I remember it even though I know that isn't accurate. In my head, it's as if Thriller just washes right over Bad. Obvs, the Bad era is huge in my mind bc of Smooth Criminal video. But somehow, can't explain it, Thriller (and Motown 25 also, tbh) just seems to be the dominant image or memory or feeling or even sounds in my head. For the whole decade not just 1983.

I really can't explain it properly. Glad it's not just me, though! :D

filmandmusic said:
In my childhood (late 80s/early 90s) Thriller was still a huge thing that brought people together. People just kept being amazed by it.
Click to expand...
They really did. Ngl, Beat It was more of a thing for me. From the artistic point of view, being so ground-breaking. But from the cultural point of view, as a phenomenon, Thriller just crushed everything. You are so right. People DID keep on being amazed by it, even years down the line.
 
CysCUhDUkAA1pmy
 
I remember those times. I know I did my preperations, buy a empty video, check the vcr recorder, set it on the right tv channel and sit nervously for the tv to hit the recorder on the right time LOL. It was amazing, thriller. I loved it. And after be in my room to practice the choreo ha ha.
Also with Bad and all the other clips, I still have those tapes. Such a great time. People were crazy about him here, specially the thriller movie, it was michael everywere.
 
LinLoveMJ said:
I remember those times. I know I did my preperations, buy a empty video, check the vcr recorder, set it on the right tv channel and sit nervously for the tv to hit the recorder on the right time LOL. It was amazing, thriller. I loved it. And after be in my room to practice the choreo ha ha.
Also with Bad and all the other clips, I still have those tapes. Such a great time. People were crazy about him here, specially the thriller movie, it was michael everywere.
Click to expand...
Yeah I used to sit ready to hit “record” on the video recorder while watching MTV. I had a VHS tape full of MJ that way which I then wore out of course.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top