[40 Years of THRILLER] -- November 30, 1982 – forty years ago this week – Michael Jackson (8/29/1958 - 6/25/2009) released his sixth studio album, Thriller. It was Jackson's first #1 album, and it spent a whopping 37 non-consecutive weeks in that top slot. Thriller was not only Jackson's most successful record, but also remains the best-selling album of all time worldwide and the second-best-selling album overall in the United States -- as of this writing, The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) edged Thriller out of the top US spot in 2018.
Seven of the nine tracks on Thriller were released as singles. Only one, the duet with Paul McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," was released in 1982. The rest were released across 1983, culminating with the title track being released on November 5, 1983. And all seven singles reached the top ten. Two of the singles, "Beat It" and "Billie Jean," peaked at the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Thriller even set a record, at the time, for the most top ten singles from an album.
Thriller also set a benchmark for music videos. Remember that epic 14-minute short film that premiered in December 1983. It became a mainstay in MTV rotation and kind of became synonymous with Halloween. Speaking of music videos, MJ's vids are credited for boosting music videos as a serious art form.
All of this success gave Jackson serious musical and cultural clout. With Thriller setting multiple industry standards, this was the beginning of MJ's reign as the King of Pop.
There's plenty of celebrating and bloviating about this record on its 40th anniversary. Billboard spent time to rank the songs from best to worst. An immersive event was scheduled. And there's a website dedicated to Thriller's 40th anniversary, particularly the special anniversary edition release.
What's your fave track from this album?
Flashback: Thriller (November 30, 1982)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
I'll see you in seven!
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