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Billie Jean VS Thriller: which do you think is more iconic?

Which is more iconic?

  • Billie Jean

    Votes: 30 75.0%

  • Thriller

    Votes: 10 25.0%
  • Total voters
    40
Billie Jean definitely, as soon as it starts you know what it is. I'd say it's probably a tie but to me Billie Jean is much more iconic.
 
The song or the video? (By video, I mean the Steve Barron Billie Jean, not the Motown 25 performance) :)
 
Billie Jean, the song that propelled him to megastardom.

It is a great song, but the story behind it, how David Bowie and the head of CBS threatened MTV for not playing any Black artists videos and then MTV giving in and playing it, which instantly quadrupled Michael's potential audience, who saw the video and realised how great it was, the song, the dancing and the coolness of it all and then next thing you know, they wanted more. It also attracted many white and global fans in addition to his huge and mostly black fan base.

Thriller on the other had is over long, a great video and he was pretty established when the single was released (Billie Jean and Beat it were #1) the album was diamond already and everyone had seen the moonwalk, also Say Say Say was about to be released and become another smash.
 
Probably equally iconic. Thriller is the most iconic music video -short film- of all time and Billie Jean is one of the most iconic performances, it's MJ's signature performance. Thriller was at its best as a live perfomance during the 88/89 leg of the Bad Tour. The amateur shot version from Wembley is the definitive version IMO.
 
I think there wouldn't have been a Thriller short without the Billie Motown 25 performance. When it was aired the album sales skyrocketed and the King of Pop was born. That's why I believe Billie Jean and the first ever made Moonwalk are more iconic.
 
Thriller has become synonymous with Halloween also and every year people get together and perform it all around the world.
 
I think the music video (excuse me, "short film") is more memorable for "Thriller", but "Billie Jean" became known as Michael's signature song. His performance at Motown 25 set the standard for every attempt that followed it. Michael said at different times he'd wanted to do more with the song's choreography, but the fans kept expecting the Motown sequence.
 
Billie Jean. It was the song with the help of subsequent Motown 25 performance that propelled MJ to mega stardom. It made MJ the biggest pop star in the world and one of the most famous living people in the world. When Thriller came out, MJ was already the biggest popstar in the world.
 
Billie Jean at Motown 25 is hands down one of the most memorable moments of my life, so I would say it's definitely more iconic. It was an electrifying coronation and passing of the torch that he hasn't passed on to anyone yet and probably never will.
 
Fiona said:
I think for the fans, it's Billie Jean, but for the general public, it's probably Thriller.
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This is a possibilty I lean to. Thriller has sort of become something completey in its own right, almost seperate like the Greece Medley where it's constantly recreated.
 
Even though Billie Jean is more iconic, Thriller has better longevity in terms of sales due to its association with Halloween.
 
Billie Jean all the way

Nothing against Thriller, but Billie Jean is just Billie Jean. The jacket, the glove, the hat and the moonwalk. Then you have that ground-breaking short film.

The song itself is incredible, the lyrics, the vocals and that beat. 1 second in and its got you, dum da, dum, da, whoo, whoo. Thank God MJ fought for that intro!!!
 
Billie Jean for me without a doubt. The whole thing is just so beyond slick. The glove, the hat, the light up pavement, the moonwalk, Motown 25...hard to imagine how it blew up at the time! Thriller is awesome no doubt but Billie Jean all the way. It's about as iconic as a performance can get imo!
 
Ok, I misunderstood this thread to be about which song did I believe was more iconic in the eyes of the general public which I still feel could possibly be Thriller, especially with the younger generations. Personally yeah Billie Jean.
 
I voted Billie Jean.

You hear 1 second - you know the song.

The Motown 25 performance, the moonwalk, the hat, the glove, the socks. - ICONIC.

Musicvideo-wise I would vote for Thriller. The Billie Jean video is no way as iconic as Thriller.

But song-wise overall Billie Jean wins for me. - I also think Billie Jean gets more spins on clubs, radio etc.
 
Thriller only has Billie Jean beat when it comes to the short film. Billie Jean beats Thriller on everything else from the song itself, to the live performance, to the costume.
 
respect77 said:
On Spotify Thriller's listens only go up around Halloween (currently it's not even in MJ's top 10) but Billie Jean is constantly lisened to all around the year. So I don't agree that Thriller has better longevity. Thriller has a lot of it's popularity to thank to it being Halloween song, but Billie Jean is all about the awesomeness of the music.
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Sorry, I meant just actual sales not streaming. I think due to Halloween, Thriller gets a boost in sales in every year and even sometimes chart on the Billboard top 100. The same can't be said for Billie Jean.
 
respect77 said:
Spotify actually has a young audience and Billie Jean is miles more listened to than Thriller.
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Yea fair enough, Billie Jean then. I suppose I was looking at it the wrong way, I was looking at it from a point of view that the person knew little to nothing about MJ, perhaps even then it's Billie Jean. I like how Thriller has become a part of the Halloween thing though, there must be something mildly iconic about that.
 
aazzaabb said:
Yea fair enough, Billie Jean then. I suppose I was looking at it the wrong way, I was looking at it from a point of view that the person knew little to nothing about MJ, perhaps even then it's Billie Jean. I like how Thriller has become a part of the Halloween thing though, there must be something mildly iconic about that.
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Agreed. - Hope the new animated movie can be iconic too and become a Halloween traditional thing too.
 
The word 'iconic' doesn't necessarily relate to sales.

BJ has a strong place in history but Thriller has to be most ICONIC.

It has the costume, the dance, the video, not to mention the instantly identifiable song itself and, yes the fact it is strongly linked to Halloween and played all across the world at the end of October.


I think more people would identify:

The Thriller costume than then BJ costume
The Thriller video than the BJ video
The Thriller dance moves than the BJ dance moves.
 
MJTruth said:
The word 'iconic' doesn't necessarily relate to sales.

BJ has a strong place in history but Thriller has to be most ICONIC.

It has the costume, the dance, the video, not to mention the instantly identifiable song itself and, yes the fact it is strongly linked to Halloween and played all across the world at the end of October.


I think more people would identify:

The Thriller costume than then BJ costume
The Thriller video than the BJ video
The Thriller dance moves than the BJ dance moves.
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Hm i'm not sure about the dance moves though. Do the crotch grab or the leg kick or the moonwalk and everyone will immediately recognize it.
 
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