{"id":13844,"date":"2017-11-30T09:15:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=13844"},"modified":"2017-11-30T09:16:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-30T15:16:30","slug":"michael-jacksons-thriller-at-35-a-look-back-at-the-groundbreaking-album-three-things-musicians-can-learn-from-michael-jacksons-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=13844","title":{"rendered":"Michael Jackson\u2019s \u2018Thriller\u2019 at 35: A Look Back at the Groundbreaking Album, Three Things Musicians Can Learn From Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"35 years ago, Michael Jackson released what would become the world\u2019s best-selling album. With over 60 million units sold worldwide,\u00a0it wouldn’t be surprising to see colleges and universities implement a course about the global impact of\u00a0T<\/em>hriller.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you’re a musician, even aspiring to attain half of the amount of acclaim, fame and fortune\u00a0as Michael Jackson is a long shot at best. Still, there are some fundamental principles about showmanship, marketing and promotion that can\u2019t be simplified with the internet or a social media campaign.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Embrace The Slow Burn<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thriller\u2019s tracklist holds a handful of Jackson\u2019s most popular songs. Cuts such as \u201cBillie Jean,\u201d \u201cThriller,\u201d \u201cBeat It\u201d and \u201cP.Y.T.\u201d have become required listening\u00a0when it comes to R&B and pop music – if you don\u2019t know them lyric for lyric, some may question the rock you\u2019ve lived under.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n

But none of those songs was the lead single for the album. Instead, \u201cThe Girl Is Mine,\u201d featuring Paul McCartney, was the chosen cut to ignite the promotion of Jackson\u2019s sixth album in 1982. The song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but received heavy criticism from\u00a0Rolling Stone<\/i><\/a>, who labeled the song to be a \u201cwimpoid MOR ballad\u201d and Paul McCartney\u2019s efforts \u201ctame.\u201d It wasn\u2019t until after the album was released that the aforementioned songs began to find their way onto the charts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Invest In Your Live Show<\/strong><\/p>\n

During the television special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever<\/i>, in 1983, Jackson debuted a dance move that validated his superhuman image: the moonwalk.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Michael Jackson\u2019s \u2018Thriller\u2019 at 35: A Look Back at the Groundbreaking Album<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\n

\"\"Michael Jackson\u2019s sixth studio album, \u201cThriller,\u201d was released 35 years ago, on Nov. 30, 1982.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The critically acclaimed album sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards and broke down racial barriers<\/a> on radio and television networks like MTV. The global impact of the \u201cKing of Pop\u201d could be measured in album sales (close to <\/a>1 billion<\/a>) but is also evident in the statues of Mr. Jackson that have been erected in countries like Australia, Brazil, China and Italy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the album was released more than three decades ago, songs from it, including \u201cThriller,\u201d \u201cBillie Jean\u201d and \u201cBeat It\u201d still play regularly on the radio and in nightclubs. The YouTube uploads of some of those songs have hundreds of millions of views: One link for \u201cBeat It<\/a>\u201d<\/a> has 300 million<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBeat It\u201d was the third single from \u201cThriller\u201d to be released after hits like \u201cThe Girl is Mine\u201d and \u201cBillie Jean,\u201d and features a dance routine that brings two rival gangs together. Over the years, the song has been sampled by Justin Bieber, Fergie and Eminem to name a few.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Dec. 19, 1982, the Times music critic John Rockwell reviewed Mr. Jackson\u2019s album in glowing terms<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThriller\u201d is a wonderful pop record, the latest statement by one of the great singers in popular music today. But it is more than that. It is as hopeful a sign as we have had yet that the destructive barriers that spring up regularly between white and black music \u2014 and between whites and blacks \u2014 in this culture may be breached once again. Most important of all, it is another signpost on the road to Michael Jackson\u2019s own artistic fulfillment.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While a different album, \u201cOff The Wall,\u201d earned Mr. Jackson recognition as one of the era\u2019s great artists, it was \u201cThriller\u201d that transformed him into a global star. He went on to release four more albums, including \u201cBad,\u201d \u201cDangerous,\u201d \u201cHIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I\u201d and \u201cInvincible\u201d before his death <\/a>at age 50 in 2009<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"The cultural presence of the album was such that in January 1984, Mr. Jackson was called \u201ca pioneering entertainer<\/a>\u201d by The Times\u2019s pop music critic John Pareles:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the last year, Mr. Jackson\u2019s songs have defined dance music. The arrangements on the \u201cThriller\u201d album mesh his piping voice with a muscular blend of real and electronic sounds, in rhythms that can\u2019t be categorized as rock or funk or disco.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThriller\u201d is now played on rock radio stations that cater largely to young white listeners as well as on urban dance-music stations that appeal largely to blacks. Before \u201cThriller,\u201d few entertainers were able to cross that subtle color line. A similar crossover has taken place on cable television, where Mr. Jackson\u2019s video clips are shown on programs that rarely offer black performers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thriller<\/i> is the sixth studio album<\/a> by American singer Michael Jackson<\/a>, released on November 30, 1982, in the United States by Epic Records<\/a> and internationally by CBS Records<\/a>.\u00a0It explores genres similar to Jackson’s previous album,\u00a0Off the Wall<\/a>,<\/i> including pop<\/a>, post-disco<\/a>, rock<\/a> and funk<\/a>. Recording sessions took place from April to November 1982 at\u00a0Westlake Recording Studios<\/a> in Los Angeles<\/a>, with a production budget of $750,000. Quincy Jones<\/a> produced the album and Jackson wrote four of its nine songs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In just over a year, Thriller<\/i> became\u2014and currently remains\u2014the world’s best-selling album<\/a>, with estimated sales of 66 million copies.\u00a0It is the best-selling album in the United States and the first album to be certified 33\u00d7 multi-platinum<\/a>, having shipped 33 million album-equivalent units<\/a>.[9]<\/a><\/sup> The album won a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards<\/a>in 1984, including Album of the Year<\/a>. It produced seven singles<\/a>\u2014”The Girl Is Mine<\/a>“, “Billie Jean<\/a>“, “Beat It<\/a>“, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’<\/a>“, “Human Nature<\/a>“, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)<\/a>“, and “Thriller<\/a>“\u2014all of which reached the top 10 on theUS Billboard<\/i> Hot 100<\/a> chart. Thriller<\/i> broke racial barriers in pop music, enabling Jackson’s appearances on MTV<\/a> and meeting with President<\/a> Ronald Reagan<\/a> at the White House<\/a>. The album was one of the first to use music videos<\/a> as successful promotional tools, and the videos for the songs “Thriller”, “Billie Jean”, and “Beat It” all received regular rotation on MTV.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2001, a special edition reissue was released, which contains additional audio interviews, demo recordings and the song “Someone in the Dark”, a Grammy-winning track from the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial<\/a><\/i> storybook<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>In 2008, Thriller<\/i>was reissued again as Thriller 25<\/a><\/i>, containing remixes<\/a> with contemporary artists, previously unreleased songs, and a\u00a0DVD<\/a> with three music videos and Jackson’s performance of “Billie Jean” from the 1983 television special Motown 25<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the same year, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame<\/a> along with Off the Wall<\/i>. In 2012, Slant Magazine<\/a><\/i> named Thriller<\/i> the best album of the 1980s”.\u00a0\u00a0In 2003, Rolling Stone<\/a><\/i> placed the album at number 20 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time<\/a>“.<\/sup> The album was listed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers<\/a> at number three on its “Definitive 200” album list. Thriller<\/i> was also included in the Library of Congress<\/a>‘National Recording Registry<\/a> of culturally significant recordings, and the Thriller<\/i> music video was included in the National Film Preservation Board<\/a>‘s National Film Registry<\/a> of “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant films”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

35 years ago, Michael Jackson released what would become the world\u2019s best-selling album. With over 60 million units sold worldwide,\u00a0it wouldn’t be surprising to see colleges and universities implement a course about the global impact of\u00a0Thriller.\u00a0 If you’re a musician, even aspiring to attain half of the amount of acclaim, fame and fortune\u00a0as Michael Jackson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,8,1314,1456,13,14,1,7,9,10],"tags":[1469,2157,2158,2160,2161,2162,2159,2163,2165,40,2164,2156,2166],"class_list":["post-13844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-entertainment","category-global-business-entrepreneurs","category-global-news-updates-and-more","category-health","category-most-commented","category-news","category-sports","category-us","category-world","tag-1469","tag-1982-billie-jean-released-january-2","tag-1983-beat-it-released-february-14","tag-1983-human-nature-released-july-3","tag-1983-p-y-t-pretty-young-thing-released-september-19","tag-1983-thriller-released-january-23","tag-1983-wanna-be-startin-somethin-released-may-8","tag-1984-thriller-is-the-sixth-studio-album-by-american-singer-michael-jackson","tag-in-the-united","tag-michael-jackson","tag-released-on-november-30","tag-singles-from-thriller-the-girl-is-mine-released-october-18","tag-the-goat","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}