Thriller Album Took Jackson From Superstar To Pioneering Legend

CLEVELAND - For an album to sell more than 100 million copies worldwide, capture record numbers of Grammy awards and American music awards, and catapult a superstar recording artist into the stratosphere of mythical legends, that album would need to have more going for it than just great music.

One brilliant album had far more than that.

It was 30 years ago today that Epic Records released what is now the crown jewel of their catalogue; Michael Jackson's sixth solo LP, Thriller. Its lead single, a syrupy ballad called "The Girl Is Mine" had been released in mid-October and featured legendary ex-Beatle Paul McCartney in a lyrical back-and-forth with the 24-year old Jackson, with both men professing their undying love for a woman that they both feel is their "girl."

Upon its debut, Thriller received fairly pedestrian reviews, even though some critics hailed it as an outstanding effort. However, within six months of its release, the record had attained a stunning and universal status as a seminal masterpiece which elevated MJ's popularity to staggering heights.

How did it all happen?

First off, in order to truly understand why Thriller became the dominant force of nature that it did, careful attention must be paid to what the music industry was like at the time. Also, everything Jackson did to supplement the album ended up becoming a very key element of the Thriller era. Lastly, the force that was driving MJ at the time may have been the single biggest reason for the performance of Thriller.

Jackson had been upset that his classic, 1979 album Off the Wall did not receive the type of critical admiration that he felt it deserved. The album was all but ignored at all of the awards ceremonies which gave the normally shy and soft-spoken star a big chip to carry on his shoulder. He vowed to create the biggest album in history with his next project.

Alas, Thriller spent its first two months of release as anything but an album destined for the record books. Then, in the weeks leading up to spring 1983, Walter Yetnikoff, then-president of CBS records tried to get the 18-month old MTV network to play a brand new music video by Jackson for his just released single, "Billie Jean." MTV refused initially, a decision that was felt to be racist by many involved, especially since MTV barely played videos by black artists at the time. After Yetnikoff threatened to withdraw videos of all CBS artists from the video channel's reach, MTV gave in and allowed "Billie Jean" to go on the air, and soon  put the hugely popular clip into "heavy rotation."

This is when the magic happened.

In the sleek clip, Jackson sings and dances his way through a mostly deserted cityscape at night, dressed head to toe in black leather. Along the way, he is being followed by a P.I.-style paparazzo who seems determined to catch the elusive star in a compromising position, but fails repeatedly. Jackson is full of mystique and magic in the short film; every step he takes illuminates the ground he walks on, the street pole he leans on and the bed he lays in. At one point, Jackson even transforms a dirty vagrant into a man of style clad in a white tuxedo.

With stunning visuals, plus fancy and eye-catching dance moves set to an irresistible beat, the video dominated the airwaves, set MJ's public profile ablaze and sent the Thriller album flying off shelves. A few weeks later, Jackson's brand new "Beat It" video took it all to another level.

"Beat It" was another brilliant step in Michael Jackson's creative evolution. Not only was the song itself historic (it merged rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen with a pop and R&B star), but the gang versus gang storyline and choreographed dance conclusion made the short film another imitable and pioneering work of genius. It was in this clip that MJ unveiled his unique fashion sensibilities to a very noticeable level. He wore a red leather jacket adorned with 27 zippers, sleeves rolled up and a pair of black high-water pants, which showcased pearly white socks and black loafers.

America had become mesmerized with Michael Jackson. Handsome--pretty even, with a slightly modified face from his original appearance, carefully coiffed Jheri-curled hair, feather-soft voice and an endless repertoire of talent, style and innovation had made him the toast of the globe.

Then, he got even bigger.

Seven weeks after performing the super hit song "Billie Jean" in front of a live audience, the full range of Jackson's showmanship and heavily evolved star power became public knowledge and resulted in, arguably the most important moment of his illustrious career. It took seven weeks for NBC to broadcast MJ's solo performance on a television special celebrating the 25th anniversary of Motown Records, the company that gave Jackson and his brothers their first big break as the Jackson 5 in 1969.

All reports had been glowing about his performance, but no amount of words could effectively sum up what 24-year old Michael Joseph Jackson did on that stage at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on the night of March 25, 1983. The world saw it on May 16, and when the dust settled, Thriller began another steamrolling assault on the music charts, then turned its attention to the record books.

Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" was a blindingly brilliant expression of intense precision, focus, craftsmanship and world class talent. Executing a breathtaking series of dance moves, stylistic flourishes and classic Hollywood theatrics, MJ endeared himself to the greats of the entertainment industry, especially ones whom the budding icon personally admired. He also revealed two new signature elements of his public presentation; the single, sparkly glove and the moonwalk dance step.

From that point, Michaelmania enveloped the U.S. and abroad as scores of children, teens and even adults purchased replicas of his costumes, curled their hair like his, wore his pins on their clothing, hung his posters on their walls and snatched up the tons of magazines that featured his internationally coveted face on the cover.

All of this consumed the summer of '83, a time when MJ kept a fairly low profile. A few more singles were released from Thriller, but there were no music videos to go along with the songs.

Just as it seemed that Michael Jackson had disappeared from the limelight, he re-appeared in a blaze of glory just in time for Christmas 1983. On December 2, the highly anticipated music video for the title track made its world premiere on MTV and completely changed the world of entertainment and music.

Jackson, now 25, had filmed the ambitious 13-minute film "Thriller" during a week in early October. He treated the video as if it were a major motion picture and it even played in a Los Angeles area theater nearly three weeks before its official release date.

The horror-tinged flick, complete with storyline, plot twists and a still iconic synchronized dance number, won Jackson endless critical acclaim, loads of money and universal respect from fans and fellow artists. What was truly amazing is that, at the time of the "Thriller" film's release, the album had already been out for over a year, yet was still selling at an astounding rate of one million copies per week! It was the perfect way for Michael to end 1983, on the highest of notes, which led to a phenomenal first few months of 1984.

On January 16, 1984, the American Music Awards played more like a lengthy tribute to Michael Jackson than an actual awards show. From the opening moments of the telecast, host Lionel Richie made it clear that this show was going to be heavily about Michael. Richie, a major star himself at the time, addressed Jackson (who was seated in the first row with Brooke Shields and Emmanuel Lewis) from the stage and even tried to mimic MJ's signature moonwalk, which he executed with a wild and awkward clumsiness. Thriller captured a record eight awards that evening, and Michael received a special award of merit. Six weeks later, MJ was the center of attention once again as Thriller swept the Grammy awards, sending Jackson home with another eight trophies.

The one chink in the armor for Michael occurred between those two awards shows. On January 27, the legendary entertainer suffered second and third degree burns to his scalp while filming a commercial for Pepsi. Fans around the world held their collective breath, but Jackson recovered in time to dominate the Grammys a month later. Michaelmania continued throughout the rest of 1984, especially with Michael performing a music tour across the U.S. with his brothers, which began that summer.

The Thriller album wound up being the top selling album of 1983 and 1984 and earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. Its legacy endures to this day, three decades later and has inspired an endless array of contemporary musicians. For Jackson, the album's historic success proved to be the greatest of gifts as well as the worst of all curses. He held himself to such lofty standards as a result of this record's achievements that he could not possibly outdo. Even still, all future work from MJ made history in a variety of ways; that is the mark of a once in a lifetime artist.

Long live Thriller.