Thriller (album)

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Thriller is an album by pop singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on December 1, 1982. The album is considered by many to be Jackson's best solo effort, and helped define the artist as one of music's most popular solo acts.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, Thriller is the world's all-time best selling album, with sales estimated at over 104 million copies (Pics of 104 million certificate). In the U.S, Thriller is the second best-selling album of all time with between 27-28 million copies sold,[1] (Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) is currently the best-selling album in the United States). The album's achievements are notable as it is one of only three albums to remain in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 for one full year (along with Falling Into You by Celine Dion and Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette), spending 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10.

[edit] Recording

Recorded between April and November 1982, Thriller was the second of Michael Jackson's solo albums to be produced by Quincy Jones, though this time showcasing Jackson in a more prominent position of control than the preceding Off the Wall album from 1979. Of the nine tracks that came to be on the final project of the album, Jackson wrote four.

The album's first single, "The Girl is Mine", a poppy duet with former Beatle Paul McCartney, was a commercially successful, though critically maligned, song that was solely written by Jackson. The album's second single, "Billie Jean", was a more definitive hit. Despite the controversy surrounding the lyrics, which dealt with illegitimacy, "Billie Jean" catapulted Jackson and Thriller to the top of the charts, Jackson then performed "Billie Jean" at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever Special exposing the dance move, the "Moonwalk" and from there Jackson's success grew. Jackson's reinvention as a crossover artist was complete with his third single, the rock number, "Beat It," which features guitar work by guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original release (1982)

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson)
2. "Baby Be Mine" (Temperton)
3. "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (Jackson)
4. "Thriller" (Jackson/Temperton)
5. "Beat It" (Jackson)
6. "Billie Jean" (Jackson)
7. "Human Nature" (Bettis/Porcaro)
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Ingram/Jones)
9. "The Lady In My Life" (Temperton)

[edit] Special Edition release (2001)

1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (Jackson) – 6:03
2. "Baby Be Mine" (Temperton) – 4:20
3. "The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney) (Jackson) – 3:42
4. "Thriller" (Temperton) – 5:57
5. "Beat It" (Jackson) – 4:17
6. "Billie Jean" (Jackson) – 4:53
7. "Human Nature" (Bettis/Porcaro) – 4:05
8. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (Ingram/Jones) – 3:58
9. "The Lady In My Life" (Temperton) – 4:58
10. Interview with Quincy Jones #1 – 2:18
11. "Someone in the Dark" (Bergman/Bergman/Temperton) – 4:48
    • From the "E.T. Storybook"
12. Interview with Quincy Jones #2 – 2:04
13. "Billie Jean" (Home Demo from 1981) (Jackson) – 2:20
14. Interview with Quincy Jones #3 – 3:10
15. Interview with Rod Temperton #1 – 4:02
16. Interview with Quincy Jones #4 – 1:32
17. Voice-Over Session from "Thriller" (Temperton) – 2:52
18. Interview with Rod Temperton #2 – 1:56
19. Interview with Quincy Jones #5 – 2:01
20. "Carousel" (Sembello/D. Freeman) – 1:49
21. Interview with Quincy Jones #6 – 1:17

Note: track information in italics do not have official names; they are assumed titles

[edit] Out takes

• "Got the Hots"
• "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" (this early version is completely different from the final album recording, also later appeared on Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection)
• "Hot Street"
• "Nite Line"
• "Trouble"
• "Who Do You Know?"
• "Carousel" (also known as Circus Girl - a truncated version appeared on the Thriller Special Edition.)

[edit] Singles: U.S. chart positions

• 1982: "The Girl Is Mine" (duet with Paul McCartney) #2 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Billie Jean" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Beat It" #1 Pop Singles Chart; #1 Black Singles Chart; #14 Hot Rock Tracks
• 1983: "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" #5 Pop Singles Chart; #5 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "Human Nature" #7 Pop Singles Chart; #27 Black Singles Chart
• 1983: "P.Y.T (Pretty Young Thing)" #10 Pop Singles Chart; #46 Black Singles Chart
• 1984: "Thriller" #4 Pop Singles Chart; #3 Black Singles Chart

[edit] Chart trajectory

[edit] Certifications

[edit] Rumors

In early 1984, a rumor surfaced that the first 7 digits of the UPC Code for 'Thriller' were Michael Jackson's phone number. Would-be callers were left to define the area code by themselves, and many of them did -- using their local area code, the area code for Encino, California (where Jackson lived), or the toll-free '800' area code. Callers who opted for the '800' area code somehow got through to the residence of a woman named Barbara Brown in Youngstown, Ohio, who started receiving upwards of a dozen calls a day after Jackson won eight Grammy awards in February. Nearly everyone in the USA who had the same seven-digit phone number (in different area codes) received calls asking for Michael Jackson; the Bellevue Hair Studio in Bellevue, Washington, reportedly fielded fifty phone calls per day at the rumor's height. (Just a few years earlier, Tommy Tutone's song "Jenny (867-5309)" had driven phone customers with that number to distraction as well.)

Exactly how the rumor began is unknown, outside of the general public's fascination for finding hidden meanings in album covers and UPC markings. Some reports claimed the rumor was being spread by MTV, but MTV's public relations manager stated that the network had never broadcast any such information.

[edit] Trivia

• The original name for the Thriller single was Starlight.
• The original name for Billie Jean was "Not My Lover", since Quincy Jones feared people were going to mix up "Billie Jean" with "Billie Jean King".
• Jackson had originally written "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" with his keyboardist Greg Phillinganes. The demo of that version can be heard on Jackson's Ultimate Collection box set. The song was later re-written by Quincy Jones and James Ingram as a more edgy funk-rock staple, rather than the original Stevie Wonder-inspired R&B version.
• Wanna Be Startin' Somethin was originally written by Jackson during the Off the Wall period but was recorded for Thriller.
• The album holds the record for the longest stay at #1 on Billboard's Pop Albums (Billboard 200) chart, staying at #1 for a non-consecutive 37 weeks. The most consecutive weeks Jackson spent at the top was 17, on two separate occasions.
• Thriller is tied for the record for the most top ten singles from an album, with seven. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 also contain seven top ten singles, however, Thriller was the first to reach seven.
• "Thriller" is ranked #20 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
• In July 2006, "Thriller" was named the ninth biggest selling album in British history by the British Phonographic Industry. It was Jackson's second album inside the top ten all time list, with "Bad" at number two behind The Beatles' "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".<ref>The UK's Bestselling Albums from The BPI</ref>
• Vincent Price appears as narrator at the end of the title song.

[edit] Credits

[edit] "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"

• Written and composed by Michael Jackson
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Co-produced by Michael Jackson
• Rhodes and synthesizer: Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizer: Michael Boddicker and Bill Wolfer
• Guitar: David Williams
• Bass: Louis Johnson
• Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Jerry Huey
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Gary Grant
• Saxophone and flute: Larry Williams
• Trombone: Bill Reichenbach
• Bathroom stomp board: Steven Ray
• Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
• Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones
• Horn arragement by Jerry Huey and Michael Jackson
• Background vocals: Julia Waters, Maxine Waters, Oren Waters, James Ingram, Michael Jackson, Bunny Hull and Becky Lopez

[edit] "Baby Be Mine"

• Written and composed by Rod Temperton
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Keyboards and synthesizer: Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizer: Michael Boddicker and David Paich
• Synthesizer programming: Steve Porcaro, Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli
• Guitar: David Williams
• Drums: N'dugu Chancler
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Jerry Huey
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Gary Grant
• Saxophone and flute: Larry Williams
• Trombone: Bill Reichenbach
• Vocal, rhythm and synthesizer arrangement by Rod Temperton
• Horn arragement by Jerry Huey

[edit] "The Girl Is Mine"

• Written and composed by Michael Jackson
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Rhodes: Greg Phillinganes
• Piano: David Paich
• Synthesizer: David Foster
• Synthesizer programming: Steve Porcaro
• Guitar: David Parks and Steve Lukather
• Bass: Louis Johnson
• Drums: Jeff Procaro
• Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones
• Rhythm arrangement by Quincy Jones and David Paich
• Synthesizer arrangement by David Foster
• Strings arranged and conducted by Jerry Huey
• Concertmaster: Jerry Vinci

[edit] "Thriller"

• Written and composed by Rod Temperton and Michael Jackson
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Featuring: Rap by Vincent Price
• Synthesizers: Greg Philinganes, Rod Temperton and Brian Banks
• Synthesizer programming: Anthony Marinelli
• Guitar: David Williams
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Jerry Huey
• Trumpet and flügelhorn: Gary Grant
• Saxophone and flute: Larry Williams
• Trombone: Bill Reichenbach
• Vocal, rhythm and synthesizer arrangement by Rod Temperton
• Horn arragement by Jerry Huey
• Effects by Bruce Cannon and Bruce Swedien

[edit] "Beat It"

• Written and composed by Michael Jackson
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Co-produced by Michael Jackson
• Featuring: Guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen
• Rhodes and synthesizer: Greg Phillinganes
• Keyboards: Bill Wolfer
• Synclavier: Tom Bahler
• Synthesizer and synthesizer programming: Steve Porcaro
• Synergy: Greg Smith
• Guitars, electric Bass: Steve Lukather
• Guitar: Paul Jackson
• Drums: Jeff Porcaro
• Drum case beater: Michael Jackson
• Vocal arrangement by Michael Jackson
• Rhythm arrangement by Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

[edit] "Billie Jean"

• Written and composed by Michael Jackson
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Co-produced by Michael Jackson
• Rhodes and synthesizer: Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizer: Greg Smith
• Synthesizer and synthesizer programming: Bill Wolfer
• Guitar: David Williams
• Bass: Louis Johnson
• Drums: N'dugu Chancler
• Emulator: Michael Boddicker
• Vocal, rhythm and synthesizer arrangement by Michael Jackson
• Strings arranged by Jerry Huey
• Strings conducted by Jeremy Lubbock

[edit] "Human Nature"

• Written and composed by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis
• Synthesizer and synthesizer programming: David Paich
• Guitar: Steve Lukather
• Drums: Jeff Porcaro
• Percussion: Paulinho Da Costa
• Emulator: Michael Boddicker
• Arrangement by David Paich, Steve Porcaro and Steve Lukather

[edit] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"

• Written and composed by James Ingram and Quincy Jones
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Synthesizer and synthesizer programming: Greg Phillinganes
• Vocoder and emulator: Michael Boddicker
• Portasound keyboard: James Ingram
• Guitars: Paul Jackson
• Electric bass: Louis Johnson
• Drums: N'dugu Chancler
• Handclaps: Michael Jackson, Louis Johnson, Greg Phillinganes, James Ingram and Steve Ray
• Arrangement by James Ingram and Quincy Jones
• P.Y.T.'s
  • Janet Jackson
  • LaToya Jackson
  • Becky Lopez
  • Bunny Hull
• Additional background vocals
  • James Ingram
  • Howard Hewitt

[edit] "The Lady In My Life"

• Written and composed by Rod Temperton
• Produced by Quincy Jones
• Rhodes: Greg Phillinganes
• Synthesizer: David Paich and Steve Porcaro
• Guitar: Paul Jackson
• Bass: Louis Johnson
• Drums: Jeff Porcaro
• Emulator: Michael Boddicker
• Arrangement by Rod Temperton

[edit] Technical credits

• Recorded and mixed by Bruce Swedien
• Technical engineer: Matt Forger
• Assistant engineer: Steve Bates and Mark Ettel
• Additional sound sources recorded by Humberto Gatica and Matt Forger
• Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo on "Beat It" recorded by Donn Landee

[edit] Music samples