defdave
Proud Member
This is NOT meant to exclude anyone. This is just to join together and reminisce and celebrate that incredibly magical time in the early-mid 80's when the Thriller album and all it's radio hits were on top of the charts. This is not meant to discount the Bad, Dangerous, History, or Invincible eras at all.
I'm just sitting here watching ABC's 20/20 Special : Michael Jackson - After Life and it made me really want to talk to other people who were around in the early 80's and caught up in the excitement and magic of the time. I was a little kid and I just remember being TOTALLY caught up in the excitement of the Beat It and Billie Jean videos...shortly followed by my owning the Thriller audio cassette tape!
I'll never ever forget playing that Thriller tape in my family's cassette tape recorder (a small, portable device with a speaker) and singing along to every single song on that album word for word....and jumping up on my bed with my brown multi-zipper, multi-pocket jacket I called my "Beat It jacket", singing along with the ENTIRE album (cassette tape both sides).
WHAT A TIME THAT WAS!!!!! It literally felt like magic. I've NEVER felt anything quite like that before or after. Since then I've done a lot of things...had many rewarding jobs and married an incredible, beautiful wife and become the father to two absolutely wonderful daughters. I mean a LOT has happened (obviously) since then. And absolutely NOTHING will ever, ever be as awesome as my kids....and I mean that seriously. They're challenging at times...but Michael or no Michael....my kids are THE happiest part of my life.
But what I'm saying is...man....I really, REALLY hold this part of my life close to my heart. The early 80's were an absolutely freaking amazing time to be alive, and better yet...an amazing time to be a Michael Jackson fan! But honestly, I think it was hard NOT to be a Michael Jackson fan at this time. My generation (30-somethings), whether most of us want to admit it or not...almost all of us were Michael's fans back then. But then some of us (many of my friends in fact) "grew out of it" when gangsta rap and alternative rock came around especially.
Let's be honest with ourselves, 30-somethings. The impact the Thriller era made on us was absolutely friggin HUUUUUUGE. I remember when Bad came out I first starting hearing other kids ridiculing him for his lighter skin and I defended him. And then when Dangerous came out, my peers felt like they'd "outgrown" his music as they moved on to depressing alterna-rock and gangsta-rap. And then the allegations during the Dangerous tour and all the defending and logical thought I had to put forth...it was troubling.
But anyway...my point is....we KNEW Michael was innocent because we had come to know who he was. I know when I was listening to the Thriller album (tape actually), I felt like I sort of knew his soul. I felt like I knew who he was. And around that time I started reading books about him and of course watching absolutely everything I could find relating to him and his music on TV. Back then I knew he was a good soul. I knew he had a kid heart. I knew that. I felt it in his music. I felt it in his interviews and his acceptance speeches.
That's part of what the "Thriller" era gave us. We learned even more about who this Michael Jackson guy was. Of course there were a lot of blessed people who were able to realize this before Thriller, but unfortunately I wasn't born until after Destiny and right before Off The Wall so Thriller was my time to learn about and appreciate Michael.
I want to hear about other people's Thriller experiences in the early 80's. I know we're a minority on this board, but I want to get together with you all.
Let's hear about when you first bought Thriller in the early 80's. I want to hear about when you first saw the new videos for Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Say Say Say, and Somebody's Watching Me.
How about Motown 25? Remember watching that as a little kid on live tv? Please guys and gals...if you remember watching that, please say something here. I never get to talk to other fans who remember watching Motown 25 live on network tv. Personally, I'll never forget it. It was a MAJOR part of my MJ fan history. Seeing him do the moonwalk live on tv for the first time was.....I said it over and over but I have to say it again....it was magical.
I don't want to just talk about myself here so please....those of you in your 30's who remember the Thriller era (roughly around '82-'85) please respond. I want to connect with the rest of you who experienced this. It was an absolutely amazing time.
EDIT: Remember seeing or hearing the videos for the first time? Did you have cable or did you watch them on Casey Kasem's Top 10 show like I did? Remember being surprised by Say Say Say? If you were my age, do you remember when you got hooked and had to hear everything Michael ever did? Remember watching the replays of the J5 cartoon show during the Thriller era? Remember when Alvin & The Chipmunks sang Billie Jean and Beat It on Saturday morning cartoons? Remember watching Billie Jean and thinking how cool it was that his feet lit up the tiles on the sidewalk? Remember trying to copy the Beat It and Thriller dances? Remember when you heard "Somebody's Watching Me" and going crazy over Michael singing in the chorus? Remember when you first saw the sparkly glove? The sparkly socks and black loafers? Let's talk about that!
Did you ever get any of the merchandise that was released during the Thriller era? My parents bought me one of the posters that came out (the "Human Nature" poster with the yellow vest). I remember seeing crap-loads of Michael stuff in the stores back then but my parents couldn't afford much of it. What do you remember getting? Did you have MJ school folders like I remember other kids having? Did you get an MJ doll? Did you get one of the official MJ sets I used to see at Wal-Mart that had the sparkly glove and socks? There was so much cool stuff coming out back then. I remember I had a "Beat It" shirt from Wal-Mart. I looooved that shirt. I still have a portrait taken of me where I was wearing it. I demanded that if I was gonna take a picture, I had to wear that shirt.
But I don't just want to talk about merchandise. Let's talk about the entire era and everything that went along with it. Please, I know there aren't that many of us here....there just always seems to be so much talk about the Bad era and later (which is great too!)...but I want to talk (for at least a second) about THE era that I will NEVER forget....THE era that made me a Michael Jackson fan....the era of Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, Human Nature, Wanna Be Startin Something, The Girl Is Mine, The Lady In My Life, P.Y.T., and Baby Be Mine.
I looooooved the Bad era as a kid...and the Dangerous and History eras as a teenager...and the Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible eras as an adult...but NOTHING and I mean absolutely NOTHING in the history or future of music will ever compare to the magic, the discovery, the charm, the innocence, the talent, the majesty and the love during the Thriller era. I mean NOTHING. Nothing was or ever will be quite as awesome as that. It was Michael-mania in it's truest form.
Let's hear your memories!!!!!
I'm just sitting here watching ABC's 20/20 Special : Michael Jackson - After Life and it made me really want to talk to other people who were around in the early 80's and caught up in the excitement and magic of the time. I was a little kid and I just remember being TOTALLY caught up in the excitement of the Beat It and Billie Jean videos...shortly followed by my owning the Thriller audio cassette tape!
I'll never ever forget playing that Thriller tape in my family's cassette tape recorder (a small, portable device with a speaker) and singing along to every single song on that album word for word....and jumping up on my bed with my brown multi-zipper, multi-pocket jacket I called my "Beat It jacket", singing along with the ENTIRE album (cassette tape both sides).
WHAT A TIME THAT WAS!!!!! It literally felt like magic. I've NEVER felt anything quite like that before or after. Since then I've done a lot of things...had many rewarding jobs and married an incredible, beautiful wife and become the father to two absolutely wonderful daughters. I mean a LOT has happened (obviously) since then. And absolutely NOTHING will ever, ever be as awesome as my kids....and I mean that seriously. They're challenging at times...but Michael or no Michael....my kids are THE happiest part of my life.
But what I'm saying is...man....I really, REALLY hold this part of my life close to my heart. The early 80's were an absolutely freaking amazing time to be alive, and better yet...an amazing time to be a Michael Jackson fan! But honestly, I think it was hard NOT to be a Michael Jackson fan at this time. My generation (30-somethings), whether most of us want to admit it or not...almost all of us were Michael's fans back then. But then some of us (many of my friends in fact) "grew out of it" when gangsta rap and alternative rock came around especially.
Let's be honest with ourselves, 30-somethings. The impact the Thriller era made on us was absolutely friggin HUUUUUUGE. I remember when Bad came out I first starting hearing other kids ridiculing him for his lighter skin and I defended him. And then when Dangerous came out, my peers felt like they'd "outgrown" his music as they moved on to depressing alterna-rock and gangsta-rap. And then the allegations during the Dangerous tour and all the defending and logical thought I had to put forth...it was troubling.
But anyway...my point is....we KNEW Michael was innocent because we had come to know who he was. I know when I was listening to the Thriller album (tape actually), I felt like I sort of knew his soul. I felt like I knew who he was. And around that time I started reading books about him and of course watching absolutely everything I could find relating to him and his music on TV. Back then I knew he was a good soul. I knew he had a kid heart. I knew that. I felt it in his music. I felt it in his interviews and his acceptance speeches.
That's part of what the "Thriller" era gave us. We learned even more about who this Michael Jackson guy was. Of course there were a lot of blessed people who were able to realize this before Thriller, but unfortunately I wasn't born until after Destiny and right before Off The Wall so Thriller was my time to learn about and appreciate Michael.
I want to hear about other people's Thriller experiences in the early 80's. I know we're a minority on this board, but I want to get together with you all.
Let's hear about when you first bought Thriller in the early 80's. I want to hear about when you first saw the new videos for Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Say Say Say, and Somebody's Watching Me.
How about Motown 25? Remember watching that as a little kid on live tv? Please guys and gals...if you remember watching that, please say something here. I never get to talk to other fans who remember watching Motown 25 live on network tv. Personally, I'll never forget it. It was a MAJOR part of my MJ fan history. Seeing him do the moonwalk live on tv for the first time was.....I said it over and over but I have to say it again....it was magical.
I don't want to just talk about myself here so please....those of you in your 30's who remember the Thriller era (roughly around '82-'85) please respond. I want to connect with the rest of you who experienced this. It was an absolutely amazing time.
EDIT: Remember seeing or hearing the videos for the first time? Did you have cable or did you watch them on Casey Kasem's Top 10 show like I did? Remember being surprised by Say Say Say? If you were my age, do you remember when you got hooked and had to hear everything Michael ever did? Remember watching the replays of the J5 cartoon show during the Thriller era? Remember when Alvin & The Chipmunks sang Billie Jean and Beat It on Saturday morning cartoons? Remember watching Billie Jean and thinking how cool it was that his feet lit up the tiles on the sidewalk? Remember trying to copy the Beat It and Thriller dances? Remember when you heard "Somebody's Watching Me" and going crazy over Michael singing in the chorus? Remember when you first saw the sparkly glove? The sparkly socks and black loafers? Let's talk about that!
Did you ever get any of the merchandise that was released during the Thriller era? My parents bought me one of the posters that came out (the "Human Nature" poster with the yellow vest). I remember seeing crap-loads of Michael stuff in the stores back then but my parents couldn't afford much of it. What do you remember getting? Did you have MJ school folders like I remember other kids having? Did you get an MJ doll? Did you get one of the official MJ sets I used to see at Wal-Mart that had the sparkly glove and socks? There was so much cool stuff coming out back then. I remember I had a "Beat It" shirt from Wal-Mart. I looooved that shirt. I still have a portrait taken of me where I was wearing it. I demanded that if I was gonna take a picture, I had to wear that shirt.
But I don't just want to talk about merchandise. Let's talk about the entire era and everything that went along with it. Please, I know there aren't that many of us here....there just always seems to be so much talk about the Bad era and later (which is great too!)...but I want to talk (for at least a second) about THE era that I will NEVER forget....THE era that made me a Michael Jackson fan....the era of Thriller, Billie Jean, Beat It, Human Nature, Wanna Be Startin Something, The Girl Is Mine, The Lady In My Life, P.Y.T., and Baby Be Mine.
I looooooved the Bad era as a kid...and the Dangerous and History eras as a teenager...and the Blood on the Dance Floor and Invincible eras as an adult...but NOTHING and I mean absolutely NOTHING in the history or future of music will ever compare to the magic, the discovery, the charm, the innocence, the talent, the majesty and the love during the Thriller era. I mean NOTHING. Nothing was or ever will be quite as awesome as that. It was Michael-mania in it's truest form.
Let's hear your memories!!!!!
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