What if 'Thriller' was never released?

[JM77]

What if 'Thriller' was never released! No Thriller Short Film, no biggest selling album, no arm full of Grammys, no breaking racial barriers on MTV, no Thriller, Beat It jackets, no moonwalk to 'Billie Jean' whilst wearing the black sequinned jacket during Motown 25, etc. Imagine THAT! Would Michael have been treated better if he wasn't No.1 at the time or wasn't so successful? Would he have won more Grammys in 1988 for the 'Bad' album if it was really 'rigged' that he didn't win as some people say? Would people's jobs still have been 'saved' if it wasn't for 'Thriller' in 1982 (Frank DiLeo said that Thriller saved many jobs)? Also, since 'Thriller' is Michael's most well known album to people around the world, do you think Michael would still have the amount of recognition/as much success that Thriller I guess helped him to have?

So MANY questions!

I created this discussion because Michael was initially displeased with Thriller as Quincey Jones didn't believe in it and Quincey said that it wouldn't sell as many records as Michael wanted. Michael even said that Thriller was a piece of 'crap' until he went back into the studio and I guess 'reshaped' Thriller to what it is now. Also, according to J. Randy Taraborrelli, it was only until Michael spoke with Walter Yetnikoff in which Walter said to let Thriller come out and that it doesn't matter what others said. So Thriller was released... But what if Michael had never spoken with Walter? Did Walter save Thriller?!

I know that Michael was gifted enough to do something better/as good as Thriller, but did the release of Thriller cause Michael to have been unable to achieve that amount of success again? Hmmm....

 

[Daryll748]

Simply, if it wasn't for Thriller I prolly wouldn't be here as "The girl is mine" , the 1st single on Thriller, was the beginning of my MJ journey back in 1982.

I do understand the 'hesitation' to bring out stuff. I am that way too. Perfectionist to the point that you 'doubt' yourself. :blush:
So, it's nice to have that 'kick in the back'

Anyway, I'm HAPPY Michael did have the courage to release Thriller and it surely changed my life for the better!

I heard "The girl is mine" on the radio and that voice struck a chord in my heart. I looked up his name and felt like a connection already.

Suddenly, I was more interested in Music and Music programs to see that 'wonder boy' on my tele.

As for sales, the emotion and the opportunities it brought me and many people that 'discovered' Michael that way is FAR MORE important than how many copies it selled or how many awards it won. It's nice in 'appreciation' but it brought a lot of creativity and pioneership with it.

Michael 1st 'Black' artist on MTV with "Billie Jean" :clap:

All the visual effects in "Thriller"

All the directors, musicians and so on that began or boosted their career with the success of Thriller.

of course, to everything there is dark side of the coin. Thriller brought Michael's stardom into orbit around the Moon as they say and yet Fame has a high price and I'm still grateful that Michael did pay that price so that many people like me could change their lives for the better. :blush:

COOL Thread :agree:

 

[mj_frenzy]

What if 'Thriller' was never released! No Thriller Short Film, no biggest selling album, no arm full of Grammys, no breaking racial barriers on MTV, no Thriller, Beat It jackets, no moonwalk to 'Billie Jean' whilst wearing the black sequinned jacket during Motown 25, etc. Imagine THAT! Would Michael have been treated better if he wasn't No.1 at the time or wasn't so successful? Would he have won more Grammys in 1988 for the 'Bad' album if it was really 'rigged' that he didn't win as some people say? Would people's jobs still have been 'saved' if it wasn't for 'Thriller' in 1982 (Frank DiLeo said that Thriller saved many jobs)? Also, since 'Thriller' is Michael's most well known album to people around the world, do you think Michael would still have the amount of recognition/as much success that Thriller I guess helped him to have?

So MANY questions!

I created this discussion because Michael was initially displeased with Thriller as Quincey Jones didn't believe in it and Quincey said that it wouldn't sell as many records as Michael wanted. Michael even said that Thriller was a piece of 'crap' until he went back into the studio and I guess 'reshaped' Thriller to what it is now. Also, according to J. Randy Taraborrelli, it was only until Michael spoke with Walter Yetnikoff in which Walter said to let Thriller come out and that it doesn't matter what others said. So Thriller was released... But what if Michael had never spoken with Walter? Did Walter save Thriller?!

I know that Michael was gifted enough to do something better/as good as Thriller, but did the release of Thriller cause Michael to have been unable to achieve that amount of success again? Hmmm....

In my opinion, it is rather impossible for someone to provide a realistic answer to your question(s) because a lot of imponderable factors have to be taken into account. We can only make assumptions about how things would have turned out & I doubt if these assumptions will eventually reflect reality. But, I think there are some things that cannot be denied.

It goes without saying that ‘Thriller’ paved the way not only for MJ himself to achieve higher & broader recognition but also helped a lot of (black) artists to come to the fore & meet with mainstream success (mainly, by means of airplay). Also, the phenomenal, commercial success of that album was also beneficial to the music industry itself because it was (the industry) greatly benefited from the appeal that pop music began to have (from ‘Thriller’ onwards) to larger audiences. So, from that perspective, I think ‘Thriller’ made a lot of things flow smoother & look easier.

I agree that top executives (like Walter Yetnikoff you mentioned) play a major role &, in a way, can change the course of events. That happened not only with ‘Thriller’ but also with subsequent albums. For example, it was Yetnikoff who insisted on releasing the official cover of ‘Bad’ (the one we all know) instead of the original one (that depicted MJ’s face covered with a patterned lace net) that MJ opted for in the first place. To be honest, I am not sure if ‘Bad’ would have achieved less success if it was released with the original (laced) cover, in fact I think no one can tell for sure.

Also, the fact that MJ was at some point (during the ‘Thriller’ recording sessions) totally dissatisfied with the songs (that were about to make the ‘Thriller’ album) should not be of major importance. It seemed that MJ was never (completely) satisfied with the songs that were being transferred from his tape recorder (that he dictated into it) to the actual recording/mixing process.

I think MJ’s high creative nature would have been reflected on other albums with (more or less) the same level of success (if ‘Thriller’ never happened). For example, ‘Dangerous’ included some great songs (many of them probably better than the ones on ‘Thriller’) & it seemed to have unfathomable potential, but things took an unexpected, very sad turn as you know. Also, MJ was performing solo during the ‘Dangerous’ era to full capacity audiences, & that was one of the most effective ways to boost the album’s sales even higher than the ‘Thriller’ album. Of course, his success during the ‘Dangerous’ Tour was also because of the fact that he achieved high levels of success with his previous albums in the first place (including ‘Thriller’), so this specific answer should be regarded only as a prediction (& not a fact).

Finally, ‘Thriller’ is considered to be a mixed blessing. People tend to (always) compare his other albums with the commercial success of ‘Thriller’. As a result, there are a lot of people who still believe that MJ topped his own standards with that album & from that point onwards he never met with the same level of success. That means that ‘Thriller’ is compared on a commercial basis &, for me, this does not fully represent reality because commercial success (charts, sales, etc.) is only one aspect of evaluating music (& not the most reliable one). Although ‘Thriller’ musically was a top-notch production & still today is unrivaled in many respects, yet for many people (particularly fans) it is not his best album.

 

[MAQ]

Thriller imo was a blessing as well as a curse. Blessing in the sense that it turned him from a largely regional hit maker into an international megahit maker. Commercially it was a blessing. His albums after that continued to sell big numbers on their own without any influence from Thriller.

However, critically, it was a curse. Because it was considered Michael's pitch-perfect composition. Everything Michael ever did after that was going to be compared to Thriller. Not because Thriller contained any weak links - imo Thriller had 2 glaring weaknesses (TGIM and Baby Be Mine) - but because it was the best selling album ever. So even if Michael had made 3 more 20 million plus record selling albums, they would not be considered worthy by the critic or by the tabloid - which a lot of people pay heed to.

Plus, if he hadn't released Thriller, it would've been Bad or Dangerous that would've taken its place. Because what Michael did with Thriller, he perfected it in the later albums.

 

[JM77]

"Finally, ‘Thriller’ is considered to be a mixed blessing. People tend to (always) compare his other albums with the commercial success of ‘Thriller’. As a result, there are a lot of people who still believe that MJ topped his own standards with that album & from that point onwards he never met with the same level of success. That means that ‘Thriller’ is compared on a commercial basis &, for me, this does not fully represent reality because commercial success (charts, sales, etc.) is only one aspect of evaluating music (& not the most reliable one). Although ‘Thriller’ musically was a top-notch production & still today is unrivaled in many respects, yet for many people (particularly fans) it is not his best album" - mj_frenzy

"However, critically, it was a curse. Because it was considered Michael's pitch-perfect composition. Everything Michael ever did after that was going to be compared to Thriller. Not because Thriller contained any weak links - imo Thriller had 2 glaring weaknesses (TGIM and Baby Be Mine) - but because it was the best selling album ever. So even if Michael had made 3 more 20 million plus record selling albums, they would not be considered worthy by the critic or by the tabloid - which a lot of people pay heed to" - MAQ

"Plus, if he hadn't released Thriller, it would've been Bad or Dangerous that would've taken its place. Because what Michael did with Thriller, he perfected it in the later albums" - MAQ

"of course, to everything there is dark side of the coin. Thriller brought Michael's stardom into orbit around the Moon as they say and yet Fame has a high price and I'm still grateful that Michael did pay that price so that many people like me could change their lives for the better" - Daz

Like the other comments, I also agree with these particular points as they are points that went through my head before posting my thread MJ definitely accomplished something HUGE by releasing Thriller but also I think that the album was definitely used as THE album to compare to his following albums. Also I agree with MAQ's comment that Bad or Dangerous would've taken Thriller's place - that also was one of my thoughts whilst writing this thread as Michael would have had no one comparing following albums like Bad or Dangerous to a past, I guess, bigger success (based on album sales/awards,etc.) But similar to what Daryll said, that DOESN'T or SHOULDN'T matter at all, similar to the saying 'quality over quantity' - the actual album is amazing and timeless in itself without taking into account album sales, etc.

 

[MIST]

What if Thriller the album had been released but no shortfilms and no Motown 25.
We don´t know how successful the album had been then.

 

[SheilaMJFan4Ever]

Hmm, interesting questions! As a fan of his pre-Thriller it wouldn't have affected my fanship, but I don't think being Thriller-less would have brought on more fans, wouldn't have brought on the crossover appeal. He still would be very famous (because he already was since he was a child), but just not insanely famous, lol!

Mike being Thriller-less means I wouldn't have had to "share" him with so many people, just with Barbee and few other Old School fans here... :crackingup: :hysterical:

 

[MAQ]

About the "Bad or Dangerous" comment, I meant that Bad or Dangerous would've been as famous as Thriller because he continued making innovative music videos and timeless music. For example, Remember the Time video I think is much superior to the Thriller video - and most of the public would probably agree if they actually watch it before commenting on it. Not saying RTT was not famous (it's the first MJ short film I ever saw). Black or White too would appeal to people more than Beat It (in this case BoW WAS much more famous).

Thriller was an excellent musical project but its commercial prowess lies in the revolution of the music video scene and mammoth promotion campaign. People usually say that nothing on Thriller was underrated (I said that too, I realize my mistake) but many of the songs in Thriller are in fact underrated. Human Nature, The Lady In My Life and PYT - that's 1/3 of the entire album and all of them without music videos. Similarly there are lesser known tracks in the other albums as well. See what I mean? Thriller musically wasn't very different from the other later albums - I mean the music never dipped in quality. The thing which set Thriller apart commercially was that no one had done what he did before. And Michael continued this trend in the later albums and innovated stuff even more - and with the later albums he innovated the sounds as well.

 

[barbee0715]

Hmm, interesting questions! As a fan of his pre-Thriller it wouldn't have affected my fanship, but I don't think being Thriller-less would have brought on more fans, wouldn't have brought on the crossover appeal. He still would be very famous (because he already was since he was a child), but just not insanely famous, lol!

Mike being Thriller-less means I wouldn't have had to "share" him with so many people, just with Barbee and few other Old School fans here... :crackingup: :hysterical:

Damn straight!!!! :clap::kickass::hysterical:



I had to think about this question for awhile-because I think of Thriller hadn't happened, there definitely wouldn't have been BAD or anything that came after-it not only knocked him out of the planet famous wise, but the money it brought him enabled him to pursue projects on a quality pretty much unheard of before.
I was trying to think of someone else of pre-Thriller fame, whose career path Michael might have been like-but I've been at a loss so far. I'll come back to it.

 

[Psychoniff]

Hmm, interesting questions! As a fan of his pre-Thriller it wouldn't have affected my fanship, but I don't think being Thriller-less would have brought on more fans, wouldn't have brought on the crossover appeal. He still would be very famous (because he already was since he was a child), but just not insanely famous, lol!

Mike being Thriller-less means I wouldn't have had to "share" him with so many people, just with Barbee and few other Old School fans here... :crackingup: :hysterical:

But Barbee said when Thriller dropped, she went out and bought OTW. Meaning she didn't know who he was before that. That's not exactly old school.

Barbee:

I remember after the demise of disco and the rise of FM radio, that record stores were going out of business. Radio stations were going out of business too. I, for one, only listened to FM Radio at the time-but two days after Motown 25 aired, I was at the record store buying not only "Thriller" but I came home with "Off the Wall" too

 

[Daryll748]

But Barbee said when Thriller dropped, she went out and bought OTW. Meaning she didn't know who he was before that. That's not exactly old school.

Barbee:

WHERE did you get the 'assumption' that "she is NOT old school and didn't know who he was before" just because she didn't buy OTW at the time of its release and only bought it together with Thriller . There is something called LIFE, you know!

I for one didn't get Thriller on its release date too. I got it months later as a gift but it didn't mean I didn't know who Michael was though

 

[Psychoniff]

^:black_eye::bow:

 

[mjprince1976]

Realistically Thriller made Michael Jackson the icon he his. Had he not released it, he may have been the more talented Jackson brother who had a successful solo album (Off the Wall) and would still be working with his brothers. His life may have been even more settled and less controversial than it came. But he would be less known and less iconic, as Thriller marked the change from a significantly impotant Black music star to the Global pop icon and musical force he became. Had he continued on with the pop funk sound of Off the wall and Triumph and not progressed, his career would have died off in the mid 1980s. Off the Wall was a great album, successful but it did not change the music industry. It was a pleasing and well crafted smooth pop, soul and disco funk record with a commercial dancey edge, but so were many of 1979's other dance pop and disco releases and unlike those, Off the wall was not hurt by the anti disco backlash. But the grammy snubs were proof that full crossover was way off yet. Like with Prince's early albums, MJ had work trying to prove he could sell to white as well as Black audiences and with Thriller he did. In a way as great as it was, off the wall before 1983 was still seen as a Black music album for a Black audience in most cases with 2 remarkable #1 hits that struck a chord with whites too.

Whereas Thriller was a self made tour de force with Jacksons irresistable singing, falsetto and QJ grooves that were to the minute. The music itself was not a game changer, but the dancing and the videos are what sold it. The electric footpath and moonwalking to Billie Jean made the crowds hungry for more and then Beat it with its synchronised gangster dance off epic made him legendary. The Thriller Video and subsequent contriversy along with its sheer brilliance made MJ the unstoppable force he was to become. Thriller was an album for white and black people and later on many Asian ones as well. Thriller's runaway sales with the 8 grammy awards, led MJ pressure to record a follow up, not just any follow up but and album that would blow everyone away and he nearly did it. Bad was another brilliant album, that was a huge hit selling 30 million copies and scoring 5#1 hits although they peaked quickly and dropped off after 1 or 2 weeks.

Without Thriller, I doubt there would have been Bad, and even if Thriller had flopped or done less well (Say like a Prince level 1999 success which peaked at #9 but spent 130 weeks in the charts and had 3 Top 20 hits (2 x top 10s)) I think the follow up would have been in 1984/85 and nowhere on the level of Bad. The album was important to MJ and Pop Music in general, but it was not a singular reason.

Not just for the big hits, but think MJ would not have been known for the moonwalk and his other dances as much. Yes he was an awesome dancer before the moonwalk, (The robot, Jackson point shuffle), but the moonwalk made him the dancer and was forever associated with him. My guess had say the Jacksons stopped after Victory with Michael recording Triumph and nothing else until Victory, they would be legends do the oldies and chitlin circuit like the Four Tops or the Temptations.

I don't think it would have stopped the pop music crossover of Black Artists. Prince was bursting through with 1999 and Little Red Corvette at the same time and if anything many would be Jackson fans would have flocked to Prince, Lionel Richie and others and made them even bigger stars.

But to conclude, I am glad he did release Thriller and the Moonwalk and Billie Jean went viral. Because looking back, the 80s music scene would have been a lot less vital and interesting without Michael. However music would have survived after all with the explosion of British invasion electro pop, new icons of the 80s like Prince and Madonna, along with enduring artists like Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton, it would have survived. Plus with balck music, things had been robust since Motown and shows like Soul Train proved Black music was thriving and would through the rap era and into the current shit hop one. To me rap was funky and positive until about 1991 when G funk and gangsta rap took over. Guys like Biggie and Pac were fine, but all the stuff 50 cents and Eminem onwards is just rubbish and stuff like Little Wayne and Migos/YG/Twochainz etc is proof how much chart music has declined since MJ and Prince were ruling the charts.

 

[MIST]

But Barbee said when Thriller dropped, she went out and bought OTW. Meaning she didn't know who he was before that. That's not exactly old school.

You didn´t have to buy his albums to know who he was
I didn´t buy OTW when it was released or when Thriller was released but I knew who Michael Jackson was.
I was dancing to songs from OTW at the disco, before that I remember listening to Jackson 5 on the radio.
I knew about the Wiz.
It seems it was a smaller world then, I knew about him even if I lived in Sweden.

 

[Psychoniff]

Realistically Thriller made Michael Jackson the icon he his. Had he not released it, he may have been the more talented Jackson brother who had a successful solo album (Off the Wall) and would still be working with his brothers. His life may have been even more settled and less controversial than it came. But he would be less known and less iconic, as Thriller marked the change from a significantly impotant Black music star to the Global pop icon and musical force he became. Had he continued on with the pop funk sound of Off the wall and Triumph and not progressed, his career would have died off in the mid 1980s. Off the Wall was a great album, successful but it did not change the music industry. It was a pleasing and well crafted smooth pop, soul and disco funk record with a commercial dancey edge, but so were many of 1979's other dance pop and disco releases and unlike those, Off the wall was not hurt by the anti disco backlash. But the grammy snubs were proof that full crossover was way off yet. Like with Prince's early albums, MJ had work trying to prove he could sell to white as well as Black audiences and with Thriller he did. In a way as great as it was, off the wall before 1983 was still seen as a Black music album for a Black audience in most cases with 2 remarkable #1 hits that struck a chord with whites too.

Whereas Thriller was a self made tour de force with Jacksons irresistable singing, falsetto and QJ grooves that were to the minute. The music itself was not a game changer, but the dancing and the videos are what sold it. The electric footpath and moonwalking to Billie Jean made the crowds hungry for more and then Beat it with its synchronised gangster dance off epic made him legendary. The Thriller Video and subsequent contriversy along with its sheer brilliance made MJ the unstoppable force he was to become. Thriller was an album for white and black people and later on many Asian ones as well. Thriller's runaway sales with the 8 grammy awards, led MJ pressure to record a follow up, not just any follow up but and album that would blow everyone away and he nearly did it. Bad was another brilliant album, that was a huge hit selling 30 million copies and scoring 5#1 hits although they peaked quickly and dropped off after 1 or 2 weeks.

Without Thriller, I doubt there would have been Bad, and even if Thriller had flopped or done less well (Say like a Prince level 1999 success which peaked at #9 but spent 130 weeks in the charts and had 3 Top 20 hits (2 x top 10s)) I think the follow up would have been in 1984/85 and nowhere on the level of Bad. The album was important to MJ and Pop Music in general, but it was not a singular reason.

Not just for the big hits, but think MJ would not have been known for the moonwalk and his other dances as much. Yes he was an awesome dancer before the moonwalk, (The robot, Jackson point shuffle), but the moonwalk made him the dancer and was forever associated with him. My guess had say the Jacksons stopped after Victory with Michael recording Triumph and nothing else until Victory, they would be legends do the oldies and chitlin circuit like the Four Tops or the Temptations.

I don't think it would have stopped the pop music crossover of Black Artists. Prince was bursting through with 1999 and Little Red Corvette at the same time and if anything many would be Jackson fans would have flocked to Prince, Lionel Richie and others and made them even bigger stars.

But to conclude, I am glad he did release Thriller and the Moonwalk and Billie Jean went viral. Because looking back, the 80s music scene would have been a lot less vital and interesting without Michael. However music would have survived after all with the explosion of British invasion electro pop, new icons of the 80s like Prince and Madonna, along with enduring artists like Bruce Springsteen and Eric Clapton, it would have survived. Plus with balck music, things had been robust since Motown and shows like Soul Train proved Black music was thriving and would through the rap era and into the current shit hop one. To me rap was funky and positive until about 1991 when G funk and gangsta rap took over. Guys like Biggie and Pac were fine, but all the stuff 50 cents and Eminem onwards is just rubbish and stuff like Little Wayne and Migos/YG/Twochainz etc is proof how much chart music has declined since MJ and Prince were ruling the charts.

Completely disagree. There was no pop album more eclectic in sound and style before this. Dance-pop, rhythm & blues, soft-rock, M.O.R., slow-jam, hard-rock, dance-rock, disco, post-disco, funk, afrobeat, snd world music....ALL on one album! OTW and Thriller both influenced an array of contemporary R&B, soul and rock artists. It's amazing that 36 years after it's release, OTW are still capturing the imagination of many R&B producers like Pharrell and Rodney Jerkins.

What's the point shuffle?

 

[8701girl]

I think what michael wanted was someone to support his dream and help him make it come true. He had a vision in his head bout the thiller album and wanted it to come alive and thank god he went with his heart otherwise the magic of thiller never wouldve existed

 

[barbee0715]

WHERE did you get the 'assumption' that "she is NOT old school and didn't know who he was before" just because she didn't buy OTW at the time of its release and only bought it together with Thriller . There is something called LIFE, you know!

I for one didn't get Thriller on its release date too. I got it months later as a gift but it didn't mean I didn't know who Michael was though

Thanks for defending me everybody and all of you are exactly right about my life.
I was watching my favorite show, the Hollywood Palace to see Diana and Sammy Davis jr. when they introduced the Jackson 5 to the world. I was ecstatic when their Variety show premiered and really upset when it was cancelled. I was there opening day of the Wiz. I was dancing at the disco to 'Can't Stop'. I realized I was really in love with him during the Diana special when she was flirting with him like mad and he sang 'Rock with You'.

But at the same time I was working 2 jobs and helping to support mother, grandmother and little brother and sister. So albums weren't part of the budget. After Motown 25 I practically ran, not walked to the record store.

MJPrince-excellent post. A great description of the way things were back then.

I have often wondered if Michael's career path would have been more like Jermaine's had Thriller not happened, but maybe it would have been more like Lionel's. I don't know. So many things changed after Motown 25, as Michael said. A lot of good, but a lot of bad.

 

[MAQ]

Ok well let's clear something up shall we? Dangerous and Bad had little to nothing in common with Thriller. Yet they sold huge numbers - 30 million + records sold. Thriller did NOT in anyway influence their production - unless you believe what the biased critics said about MJ trying to top Thriller in every post Thriller album. Bad might've been influenced though, not by the music, but by the success; how to top the success of Thriller.

Tbh a singer like MJ who thinks way out of the box is destined to have a gigantic hit. It's inevitable. Had Michael released Dangerous and accompanied it with the music videos and the iconic dance moves in 1982, the outcome would've been the same. There's nothing special about Thriller (when compared to the other big top 5 sellers in MJ's career) art-wise or promotion-wise. In fact it is imo the least "exhilarating" experience. The songs basically have the same theme - which was executed more perfectly in OtW - save for 2 or 3 songs. Not much diversity of genres; the only song which truly sounds out of that time frame was Billie Jean. The only thing which sets it apart from the later albums is its release date - back when music videos weren't used as short films.

 

[Spaceship]

Bad was certainly inspired by Thriller in music.

"Dirty Diana" was Michael trying to do another "Beat It"; both were hard rock songs featuring well-known guitarists (Eddie Van Halen on "Beat It" and Steve Stevens on "Dirty Diana"). "Dirty Diana" is also similar to "Billie Jean" as they're both narratives about troublesome encounters with certain women who were ("Billie Jean" in "Billie Jean", "Diana" in "Dirty Diana").

"The Way You Make Me Feel" is also pretty similar to "Baby Be Mine", imo.

 

[Psychoniff]

Thanks for defending me everybody and all of you are exactly right about my life.
I was watching my favorite show, the Hollywood Palace to see Diana and Sammy Davis jr. when they introduced the Jackson 5 to the world. I was ecstatic when their Variety show premiered and really upset when it was cancelled. I was there opening day of the Wiz. I was dancing at the disco to 'Can't Stop'. I realized I was really in love with him during the Diana special when she was flirting with him like mad and he sang 'Rock with You'.

But at the same time I was working 2 jobs and helping to support mother, grandmother and little brother and sister. So albums weren't part of the budget. After Motown 25 I practically ran, not walked to the record store.

MJPrince-excellent post. A great description of the way things were back then.

I have often wondered if Michael's career path would have been more like Jermaine's had Thriller not happened, but maybe it would have been more like Lionel's. I don't know. So many things changed after Motown 25, as Michael said. A lot of good, but a lot of bad.

I wasn't attacking you at all. I 'support' you and everyone else. Why get emotional? Why takes things so personal?

 

[Psychoniff]

Ok well let's clear something up shall we? Dangerous and Bad had little to nothing in common with Thriller. Yet they sold huge numbers - 30 million + records sold. Thriller did NOT in anyway influence their production - unless you believe what the biased critics said about MJ trying to top Thriller in every post Thriller album. Bad might've been influenced though, not by the music, but by the success; how to top the success of Thriller.

Tbh a singer like MJ who thinks way out of the box is destined to have a gigantic hit. It's inevitable. Had Michael released Dangerous and accompanied it with the music videos and the iconic dance moves in 1982, the outcome would've been the same. There's nothing special about Thriller (when compared to the other big top 5 sellers in MJ's career) art-wise or promotion-wise. In fact it is imo the least "exhilarating" experience. The songs basically have the same theme - which was executed more perfectly in OtW - save for 2 or 3 songs. Not much diversity of genres; the only song which truly sounds out of that time frame was Billie Jean. The only thing which sets it apart from the later albums is its release date - back when music videos weren't used as short films.

You have it totally backwards here mate. I've already explained Thriller's musical significance in an earlier post.

 

[KOPV]

We have to remember to consider the quality of the album was not the only thing that made Thriller successful.. It was basically the planets lining up perfectly to allow an album explode the way the way it did.. a GREAT album release around the time a new channel (MTV) was making it's way to popularity. Known to mainly play white rock music had something new to showcase (fought against it but after the fact) Michael Jackson 'short films'. The combination of the two helped shock the world.. That + Michael presenting street dance moves/style in a time when it did not get a lot of attention in popular music/entertainment.. Of course the addition of the uniqueness of Michaels personality and interests drew people in so much...

 

[SheilaMJFan4Ever]

WHERE did you get the 'assumption' that "she is NOT old school and didn't know who he was before" just because she didn't buy OTW at the time of its release and only bought it together with Thriller . There is something called LIFE, you know!

I for one didn't get Thriller on its release date too. I got it months later as a gift but it didn't mean I didn't know who Michael was though

:bow: unk: Girl, you beat me to the punch on setting Psychoniff straight, because I couldn't get on here due to LIFE happening, lol! Quiet as it's kept, I didn't buy Off The Wall or Thriller when they were originally released because my sisters bought them FOR ME for birthday presents. As the formats changed (vinyl, to cassette tapes, to CDs then to digital) I bought his albums over and over again.

Barbee used to watch Mike and his brothers/family like I did; on American Bandstand, their Ed Sullivan Show debut, their variety show and most of all, SOUL TRAIN (they were on the Midnight Special Show and others sometimes, too).

She is OLD SCHOOL. Don't get it twisted! :hysterical: :girl_dance:

 

[MAQ]

Bad was certainly inspired by Thriller in music.

"Dirty Diana" was Michael trying to do another "Beat It"; both were hard rock songs featuring well-known guitarists (Eddie Van Halen on "Beat It" and Steve Stevens on "Dirty Diana"). "Dirty Diana" is also similar to "Billie Jean" as they're both narratives about troublesome encounters with certain women who were ("Billie Jean" in "Billie Jean", "Diana" in "Dirty Diana").

"The Way You Make Me Feel" is also pretty similar to "Baby Be Mine", imo.

Dirty Diana is nothing like Beat It - sorry. The only other song which bears resemblance to it is Give In To Me which was released only after it. Beat It was about street gangs - a global themed song - and Dirty Diana was about a groupie - a personal song.

The Way You Make Me Feel isn't like Baby Be Mine either; I could say "Controversy" is similar to Leave Me Alone - however that kinda similarity is a very far fetched one.

 

[MAQ]

We have to remember to consider the quality of the album was not the only thing that made Thriller successful.. It was basically the planets lining up perfectly to allow an album explode the way the way it did.. a GREAT album release around the time a new channel (MTV) was making it's way to popularity. Known to mainly play white rock music had something new to showcase (fought against it but after the fact) Michael Jackson 'short films'. The combination of the two helped shock the world.. That + Michael presenting street dance moves/style in a time when it did not get a lot of attention in popular music/entertainment.. Of course the addition of the uniqueness of Michaels personality and interests drew people in so much...

Exactly. The only thing which made Thriller a 50 million + seller rather than a 20 - 30 million seller was that nobody had done what Michael did before that time in history. And it's not like his other albums were influenced by Thriller's music. If that were the case, Dangerous wouldn't have been higher than Thriller on my list. But of course, these are opinions and perceptions.

 

[Spaceship]

Dirty Diana is nothing like Beat It - sorry.

Musically, I'd say it's quite like "Beat It". Both are hard rock. And they both feature star guitarists.

The Way You Make Me Feel isn't like Baby Be Mine either

Nah, I'd say they're quite similar. Both are upbeat R&B songs about wooing a girl.

 

[JM77]

Exactly. The only thing which made Thriller a 50 million + seller rather than a 20 - 30 million seller was that nobody had done what Michael did before that time in history. And it's not like his other albums were influenced by Thriller's music. If that were the case, Dangerous wouldn't have been higher than Thriller on my list. But of course, these are opinions and perceptions.

Yeah, it's true, Michael did do something different to other artists in 1982 with the Thriller album. For example, the Thriller short film was something that changed music videos forever - Michael said it himself that the term 'music video' was so 'abstract' that it didn't make any sense to him and that by making a short film you could follow a story and it would be 'entertaining as well'. It's also true that his other albums didn't use Thriller as an influence at all to my knowledge. For example, the Bad album was so different to the Thriller album, with a new clothing style, incorporating new genres, new messages, etc. I guess you kind of saw Michael in a 'tough' way with Bad in parts - again, he said it himself, he wasn't saying he was criminally bad - he was saying he was 'alright' and 'tough'. And with Dangerous, Michael incorporated new jack swing as a newer genre for his music.

 

[Psychoniff]

:bow: unk: Girl, you beat me to the punch on setting Psychoniff straight, because I couldn't get on here due to LIFE happening, lol! Quiet as it's kept, I didn't buy Off The Wall or Thriller when they were originally released because my sisters bought them FOR ME for birthday presents. As the formats changed (vinyl, to cassette tapes, to CDs then to digital) I bought his albums over and over again.

Barbee used to watch Mike and his brothers/family like I did; on American Bandstand, their Ed Sullivan Show debut, their variety show and most of all, SOUL TRAIN (they were on the Midnight Special Show and others sometimes, too).

She is OLD SCHOOL. Don't get it twisted! :hysterical: :girl_dance:

He crazy, that Psychoniff! Your right Shelia, put that guy straight!:bowy)

 

[barbee0715]

He crazy, that Psychoniff! Your right Shelia, put that guy straight!:bowy)

haha-at least she's sweet to call me OLD SCHOOL and not just OLD.