Michael Jackson – Thriller

“Thriller” – Single by Michael Jackson from the album Thriller.
B-side “Things I Do for You”
Recorded: 1982
Songwriter: Rod Temperton
Producer: Quincy Jones

This is a rare pop song with a horror theme. Halloween novelty songs like “Monster Mash” had been around for a while, but this was the first hit song with year-round appeal containing lyrics about creatures of the night who terrify their victim. At the time, Michael Jackson was one of the least frightening people on Earth, so the video had to sell it. John Landis, who worked on the 1981 movie An American Werewolf In London, was brought in to direct. Landis had Jackson turn into a Werewolf in the video.

Price recorded the central spoken section in this song on his second take, after it had been written by Rod Temperton in the taxi on the way to the studio for the recording session.

The music video is considered the most famous music video of all time, at least by the Library of Congress, which added it to its National Film Registry in 2009, the first music video in their registry.

The video was a cultural milestone, introducing elaborate choreography, costumes and dialogue into the format. It also introduced the concept of the long-form music video, where a mini-movie was made for a song, then edited down for the short version. The long version of “Thriller” runs nearly 14 minutes, but had remarkable longevity, easily racking up over 100 million views when it showed up on YouTube. MTV usually ran the short version, which ran a little under five minutes but still contained about a minute of non-song content in a storyline that omits most of the movie the couple is watching at the beginning.

Most homes had VCRs in 1983 and sales of videos were big business. Along with the Jane Fonda workout tapes, you could buy a VHS or Beta copy of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, which included the full video and also “The Making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller,” a behind the scenes documentary. This tape became the best selling music video at the time, and was later certified by Guinness World Records as the top selling music video of all time, moving nine million units. Part of its appeal was the price, a mere $24.95 at a time when movies on tape cost much more.

The video distribution deal was through a company called Vestron, which approached John Landis about selling the film directly to consumers, a move that turned out to be very profitable. The timing helped, as the video was released a few weeks before Christmas.

The video won for Best Performance Video, Best Choreography, and Viewers Choice at the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. The show was hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler.

Thriller is by far the best selling album in the world. In the United States, it was overtaken by The Eagles Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, but reclaimed the title after Jackson’s death.

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Albumul “Thriller” a fost lansat la 30 Noiembrie 1982.

Aceasta este o melodie pop rară, cu o temă horror. Piese inedite de Halloween, precum „Monster Mash”, au fost în jur de ceva vreme, dar aceasta a fost prima melodie de succes cu apel pe tot parcursul anului, care conține versuri despre creaturi ale nopții care își îngrozesc victima. La vremea respectivă, Michael Jackson era unul dintre cei mai puțin înspăimântători oameni de pe Pământ, așa că videoclipul a trebuit să-l vândă. John Landis, care a lucrat la filmul din 1981 An American Werewolf In London, a fost adus pentru regie. Landis a făcut ca Jackson să se transforme într-un werewolf în videoclip.

Vincent Price, un actor cunoscut pentru colaborarea sa la filmele de groază, a făcut narațiunea la finalul piesei, inclusiv râsul rău. Rap-ul lui Price include linia „Trebuie să stai și să înfrunți cârnii iadului” (“Must stand and face the hounds of hell”). Aceasta s-a inspirat din cel mai popular roman Sherlock Holmes de până acum, The Hound of the Baskervilles de Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, în care familia lui Sir Henry Baskerville este blestemată de un hound sangeros, demonic. Prietenii personali ai lui Price, Peter Cushing și Christopher Lee (care au apărut în mai multe filme de groază cu el), au jucat într-o adaptare liberă din 1959 a filmului. A fost primul film Sherlock Holmes filmat în culori.

Videoclipul este considerat cel mai cunoscut videoclip muzical din toate timpurile, cel puțin de la Biblioteca Congresului, care l-a adăugat la Registrul National de Film în 2009, primul videoclip muzical din registrul lor.

Videoclipul a fost o etapă culturală, introducând coregrafii elaborate, costume și dialog în format. Acesta a introdus, de asemenea, conceptul videoclipului format de muzică lungă, unde a fost realizat un mini-film pentru o melodie, după care a fost editat pentru versiunea scurtă. Versiunea lungă a „Thriller” durează aproape 14 minute, dar a avut o longevitate remarcabilă, acumulând cu ușurință peste 100 de milioane de vizualizări când a apărut pe YouTube. MTV a rulat, de obicei, versiunea scurtă, care a rulat puțin sub cinci minute, dar totuși conținea aproximativ un minut de conținut non-cântec într-o poveste care omite cea mai mare parte a filmului pe care îl urmărește cuplul la început.

Director: John Landis
Writers: John Landis, Michael Jackson
Short version video.

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