October 30, 2024 • 7 mins
Today on The Story Behind The Album we take a deep dive into the best-selling album of all time: the making, release and stories behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' (1982).
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Crazy and LEAs. It's the story behind the album.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, I think that's the first thing that set Thriller apart,
wasn't it the Vincent Price Medge?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thriller is the sixth studio album by Michael Jackson, released
on November twenty nine, so just a a couple of
days ago, back in nineteen eighty two, by Epic Records.
It was produced by Quincy Jones, who'd previously worked with
Jackson on his nineteen seventy nine album Off the Wall.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
When you were in the studio doing it, were there
any moments where you thought, here, since you have any
idea what impact that album was going to have.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't think of it like that. I think about
what touches me. You know. I've never in my life
ever done music for money or fame, never and never
will because God walks out of the room now and
it's not secret anymore, and it is sacred, you know,
because to me, melody is God's voice. Is clothed by lyrics,
(01:03):
but melody is God's voice. That's the power.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
But I always wonder, so when you did the playback
for Billy Jean, or for any of the songs on
there was there a moment where you said to yourself,
we've done something different special.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
No, but that was the whole plan in the beginning. Man,
when you go through eight hundred songs to get nine,
that's not casual. You know, I'm actually aiming for.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's so cool? Is a Quincy the que love him.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
We often talk about entertainment, and especially we talked about
movies and stuff and someone missed out on a role
and whatever. I found that. We found that stuff quite fascinating.
It happens with songs on albums as well. He's Quincy
Giants talking to David Letterman.
Speaker 6 (01:43):
When you get down to the final cut, do you
ever take a song off and replace it with another
one and then save that song and then later give
it to somebody else and it does well.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That's happened on my thriller.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
We had four songs on there and had all the songs.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Finish, took four off and replaced it with pyt and
beat it and uh, human nature.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
What became of the four he took off? Some other
people require it. And what happened was it was it
was okay. You know, it wasn't so you knew what
you were doing, and we just got lucky.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
No no, no, no no no.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
May I think those hits, they were all hit singles.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Wouldn't be drawn on who he gave it to him?
Speaker 5 (02:16):
What I was, that's right, obviously El de Barge or
someone maybe.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Thriller spent a record thirty seven non consecutive weeks at
number one on Billboard. Seven singles were released, The Girl
is Mine, Billy Jean, Beat It, Want to Be, Starting
Something two, Quincy just mentioned Human Nature and PYT Pretty
Young Thing, and of course Thriller. They all reached the
top ten, with beat It and Billy Jean reaching number one.
(02:40):
Following Jackson's performance of Billy Jean in the Motown twenty
five television special where he debuted his signature Moonwalk Dance,
the album began selling one million copies per week. And
after he debuted that said signature moonwalk dance, you know who.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Called him someone pretty famous, Fred Asta Unreal.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
The next day after the show, when Fred Astaire car
in my house, he said, if I saw the show
last night, I taped it, I wastted it twice this morning,
and he said, you were incredible. You're a hell of
a mover and you really put them on there. He said,
and I said, God, thank you, so wonderful for you
to say it, because I think you're the best. And
that was my real reward because I think he's brilliant.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Imagine having as a d having fred A Stair ring you,
fred A.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Staire who Dad's Wow heat wave things like that, called
you to tell you you went or right with your moves.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, Fred Astaire.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
If you google fred to Stare dancing in nineteen seventy one,
ninety seventy I think was the Oscars.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
He's still great, but it still had it.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Amazing and we talk about the actual movie they made,
because it wasn't just a video for Thriller was at.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Least no and I remember I remember watching it when
it was released and it was a.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Huge lead up the beginning.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
It was a big deal. Nothing like this had ever
been done before.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
I remember being at Eagle One nightclub the night they played,
my first time in Northbridge and just looking at people's
vi just with him mouths up into watching this incredible thing.
And he's MTV's Matt Goodman talking about how big Thriller
was at the time.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
What a piece of work, Thriller A long time coming.
Michael Jackson's Thriller, the piece written by John Landis, the director,
and also by Michael Jackson. Now John Landis, she probably
remembers the guy who directed things like Animal House, who
was also responsible for An American Werewolf in London. Landis,
Michael and George Fawlsey Junior produced the short music film.
(04:31):
It's being shown in selected movie theaters. It was shown
last week so that it'll be eligible for this year's
Academy Awards. Hey, we might have an Academy Award winner
on our show. The makeup effects which were substantial. I've
been watching those effects just over and over. The makeup
effects created by Rick Baker. He was the guy who
won on Oscar for an American Werewolf. Choreography designed by
(04:52):
Michael Jackson and Michael Peters, the Tony Award winning choreographer
of dream Girls. Michael Peters also the guy who did
the dance sequences for Beat It, Michael Jackson's Beat It.
The only place on TV you can see Thriller is
here on MTV, and we are proud of it. It
is more than just a video with the short film
(05:13):
and quite a piece of our Michael Jackson and John Landers.
We're real happy to have it here.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Well, I loved American Werewolf in London and the Landers
connection was clear, wasn't it?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Scrimp and Bell?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
His face in American Rewolf deteriorated throughout the movie.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was very similar.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Thriller remains the best selling album of all time, having
sold an estimated seventy million copies worldwide, won a record
breaking eight Grammy Awards the nineteen eighty four Grammy Awards,
including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Beat.
It won two Grammys for Record of the Year and
Best Rock Vocal Performance, and Billy Jean won two Grammys
(05:52):
for Best R and B Vocal Performance. He touched all
the categories. Take that bet. Best Rhythm and Blues Song
was the other one. Thriller is frequently included in lists
of the greatest albums of all time. In two thousand
and eight, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of
Fame and the Library of Congress in the US additor
(06:14):
to the National Recording Registry of Culturally, historically or Aesthetically
Significant Recordings. And this is my call again talking about
how talking about the continued success of Thriller.
Speaker 8 (06:27):
Then till I get a platinum album. It's never been
taken lately on my VF. I'm always honored and it's
great thanks. You know, I'm very happy that the public
enjoy what I do and I'll continue to put my
heart into my work.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Really did go to the stratosphere, didn't it, Because off
the what was a big album for him?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It was next level.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
But as you know, as we just touched on then,
it was so much bigger than just a Hesma new album.
It was a moment and those of us that do
remember watching that Thriller, it was a bit like when
Live Aid was on.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
Yeah, it was the time in the world, point in
time when there was no doubt he was the biggest
star in music on the planet.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Was that absolutely.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
And the freaky thing that Quincy said earlier, that bit
we heard where he said, you know, p y t
in Human Nature and beat It were not originally on
the album.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Replaced imagine beat It being on the album.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Credible. Well, let's get beaten. The story behind the album.
Michael Jackson Thriller
Crazy and LEAs. It's the story behind the album.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Well, I think that's the first thing that set Thriller apart,
wasn't it the Vincent Price Medge?
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Definitely.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thriller is the sixth studio album by Michael Jackson, released
on November twenty nine, so just a a couple of
days ago, back in nineteen eighty two, by Epic Records.
It was produced by Quincy Jones, who'd previously worked with
Jackson on his nineteen seventy nine album Off the Wall.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
When you were in the studio doing it, were there
any moments where you thought, here, since you have any
idea what impact that album was going to have.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
I don't think of it like that. I think about
what touches me. You know. I've never in my life
ever done music for money or fame, never and never
will because God walks out of the room now and
it's not secret anymore, and it is sacred, you know,
because to me, melody is God's voice. Is clothed by lyrics,
(01:03):
but melody is God's voice. That's the power.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
But I always wonder, so when you did the playback
for Billy Jean, or for any of the songs on
there was there a moment where you said to yourself,
we've done something different special.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
No, but that was the whole plan in the beginning. Man,
when you go through eight hundred songs to get nine,
that's not casual. You know, I'm actually aiming for.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
It's so cool? Is a Quincy the que love him.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
We often talk about entertainment, and especially we talked about
movies and stuff and someone missed out on a role
and whatever. I found that. We found that stuff quite fascinating.
It happens with songs on albums as well. He's Quincy
Giants talking to David Letterman.
Speaker 6 (01:43):
When you get down to the final cut, do you
ever take a song off and replace it with another
one and then save that song and then later give
it to somebody else and it does well.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
That's happened on my thriller.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
We had four songs on there and had all the songs.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Finish, took four off and replaced it with pyt and
beat it and uh, human nature.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
What became of the four he took off? Some other
people require it. And what happened was it was it
was okay. You know, it wasn't so you knew what
you were doing, and we just got lucky.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
No no, no, no no no.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
May I think those hits, they were all hit singles.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Wouldn't be drawn on who he gave it to him?
Speaker 5 (02:16):
What I was, that's right, obviously El de Barge or
someone maybe.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Thriller spent a record thirty seven non consecutive weeks at
number one on Billboard. Seven singles were released, The Girl
is Mine, Billy Jean, Beat It, Want to Be, Starting
Something two, Quincy just mentioned Human Nature and PYT Pretty
Young Thing, and of course Thriller. They all reached the
top ten, with beat It and Billy Jean reaching number one.
(02:40):
Following Jackson's performance of Billy Jean in the Motown twenty
five television special where he debuted his signature Moonwalk Dance,
the album began selling one million copies per week. And
after he debuted that said signature moonwalk dance, you know who.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Called him someone pretty famous, Fred Asta Unreal.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
The next day after the show, when Fred Astaire car
in my house, he said, if I saw the show
last night, I taped it, I wastted it twice this morning,
and he said, you were incredible. You're a hell of
a mover and you really put them on there. He said,
and I said, God, thank you, so wonderful for you
to say it, because I think you're the best. And
that was my real reward because I think he's brilliant.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Imagine having as a d having fred A Stair ring you,
fred A.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Staire who Dad's Wow heat wave things like that, called
you to tell you you went or right with your moves.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, Fred Astaire.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
If you google fred to Stare dancing in nineteen seventy one,
ninety seventy I think was the Oscars.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
He's still great, but it still had it.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
Amazing and we talk about the actual movie they made,
because it wasn't just a video for Thriller was at.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Least no and I remember I remember watching it when
it was released and it was a.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Huge lead up the beginning.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
It was a big deal. Nothing like this had ever
been done before.
Speaker 5 (03:54):
I remember being at Eagle One nightclub the night they played,
my first time in Northbridge and just looking at people's
vi just with him mouths up into watching this incredible thing.
And he's MTV's Matt Goodman talking about how big Thriller
was at the time.
Speaker 6 (04:07):
What a piece of work, Thriller A long time coming.
Michael Jackson's Thriller, the piece written by John Landis, the director,
and also by Michael Jackson. Now John Landis, she probably
remembers the guy who directed things like Animal House, who
was also responsible for An American Werewolf in London. Landis,
Michael and George Fawlsey Junior produced the short music film.
(04:31):
It's being shown in selected movie theaters. It was shown
last week so that it'll be eligible for this year's
Academy Awards. Hey, we might have an Academy Award winner
on our show. The makeup effects which were substantial. I've
been watching those effects just over and over. The makeup
effects created by Rick Baker. He was the guy who
won on Oscar for an American Werewolf. Choreography designed by
(04:52):
Michael Jackson and Michael Peters, the Tony Award winning choreographer
of dream Girls. Michael Peters also the guy who did
the dance sequences for Beat It, Michael Jackson's Beat It.
The only place on TV you can see Thriller is
here on MTV, and we are proud of it. It
is more than just a video with the short film
(05:13):
and quite a piece of our Michael Jackson and John Landers.
We're real happy to have it here.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Well, I loved American Werewolf in London and the Landers
connection was clear, wasn't it?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Scrimp and Bell?
Speaker 2 (05:25):
His face in American Rewolf deteriorated throughout the movie.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
It was very similar.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Thriller remains the best selling album of all time, having
sold an estimated seventy million copies worldwide, won a record
breaking eight Grammy Awards the nineteen eighty four Grammy Awards,
including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Beat.
It won two Grammys for Record of the Year and
Best Rock Vocal Performance, and Billy Jean won two Grammys
(05:52):
for Best R and B Vocal Performance. He touched all
the categories. Take that bet. Best Rhythm and Blues Song
was the other one. Thriller is frequently included in lists
of the greatest albums of all time. In two thousand
and eight, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of
Fame and the Library of Congress in the US additor
(06:14):
to the National Recording Registry of Culturally, historically or Aesthetically
Significant Recordings. And this is my call again talking about
how talking about the continued success of Thriller.
Speaker 8 (06:27):
Then till I get a platinum album. It's never been
taken lately on my VF. I'm always honored and it's
great thanks. You know, I'm very happy that the public
enjoy what I do and I'll continue to put my
heart into my work.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Really did go to the stratosphere, didn't it, Because off
the what was a big album for him?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
It was next level.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
But as you know, as we just touched on then,
it was so much bigger than just a Hesma new album.
It was a moment and those of us that do
remember watching that Thriller, it was a bit like when
Live Aid was on.
Speaker 5 (07:02):
Yeah, it was the time in the world, point in
time when there was no doubt he was the biggest
star in music on the planet.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Was that absolutely.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
And the freaky thing that Quincy said earlier, that bit
we heard where he said, you know, p y t
in Human Nature and beat It were not originally on
the album.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Replaced imagine beat It being on the album.
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Credible. Well, let's get beaten. The story behind the album.
Michael Jackson Thriller
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