Michael Jackson - Thriller released - TIMH

The biggest album in history was released 33 years ago today. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was a perfect album released at a perfect time. MTV launched a year prior and nobody had yet to fully utilize the new medium’s power. Jackson revolutionized the art of the music video through a blending of music, dance and storytelling and in the process became the brightest star in all of popular music.

“Thriller” was the follow up to Jackson’s 1979 album “Off the Wall”, which itself was a hit record that spawned four Top 10 singles and two number one singles. “Thriller” was a deft mix of pop, R&B, funk, and rock (with a guest appearance from Eddie Van Halen and a duet with Paul McCartney). It contained nine songs and seven were released as singles and all seven reached the Top 10 while two songs reached number one. The album itself won eight Grammys and is the highest selling album in music history with over 65 million copies sold.

The music could obviously stand on its own merits but Jackson’s groundbreaking videos helped propel him to heights unseen since the days of the Beatles and Elvis Presley. To this point in MTV’s history, bands largely treated videos as afterthoughts or necessary evils. While some bands made an effort, the general production values and quality were low.

Jackson forever changed that with the release of the video for the song “Billie Jean”. The video used high tech set pieces and relatively competent acting to allow the song’s story to unfold. Jackson was imbued with almost magical powers as the street he walked on and the objects he handled light up a brilliant white under his touch. The public ate it up and clamored for more.

Two other elaborate videos followed for the songs “Beat It” and “Thriller”. While all three became videos that people would stop and watch again and again, “Thriller” took it to an entirely new level. The video was over 13 minutes long and was directed by John Landis (Blues Brothers, Animal House) and included an appearance by famed horror actor Vincent Price. The video tells a story within a story featuring Jackson and his girlfriend at a movie theater while they also appear in the movie shown in the theater. Jackson not only portrays himself but also a werewolf and a zombie in this Hollywood-caliber production. The stand-alone video sold over nine million copies, independent of the single or the album.

While MTV was integral to the spread of Thriller-mania, Jackson also took advantage of television appearances. On May 18, 1983 the Motown Records 25th anniversary special was aired and it introduced a wider audience to Jackson and his electrifying dance moves. His live performance of “Billie Jean” became the talk around the water cooler when he gave the nation its first glimpse of his signature moonwalk dance. It was a moment which was for many people equivalent to Elvis' or the Beatle’s performances on the Ed Sullivan Show.

The “Thriller” album established Michael Jackson as the King of Pop. By the time the hoopla surrounding the album died down there was a clear dichotomy in the music industry – there was Michael Jackson and there was everyone else – and that included Hollywood stars, politicians or athletes. Nobody had the star power that Jackson did.

“Billie Jean” video: