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Michael Jackson Should Be Buried In His Thriller Suit.....Just In Case!
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Jul 3, 2009
- by djevoke
- posted in Music Matters
Rating:
When I first saw Thriller in 1983, I was 5 and my little brother was 3. We sat maybe a foot away from the TV screen on the edge of the coffee table and were mesmerized. Well, maybe a better way to put it is scared to death. The original mini-movie/music video was 14 minutes long and was directed by horror film director, John Landis who had directed An American Werewolf in Paris two years earlier. It would be the most expensive music video made, with Jackson paying $1million out of his own pocket. I could only give you the URL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8) because embedding for the original is disabled.
+5
In the original video, Jackson transforms into both a zombie and a werecat or as my old neighbor Rick Baker referred to it in "Making of Thriller", "a cat monster". When I was living in Isla Vista and studying theatre, I lived next door to Baker. After learning that he was a Hollywood make-up artist, he showed me his photo book one day (it must've shown on my face that I didn't believe him, after all EVERYONE'S Hollyweird). It was amazing, so many years later to see all the work and transformations that Michael went through to achieve the freaky zombie look or the bizarre cat monster. I had confessed to Baker that he had done an EXCELLENT job on all the zombies and on MJ because it had scared the you-know-what out of me.
Little known fact, at least to me it was: Michael Jackson at the time of Thriller was a Jehovah's Witness; thus, the disclaimer stating, "Due to my strong personal convictions, I wish to stress that this film in no way endorses a belief in the occult" at the beginning of the video.
As if there weren't enough horror veterans on board, MJ had Vincent Price do a spoken word performance and that maniacal laugh at the end of the video. Ola Ray, who was a Playboy centerfold, starred in the video as MJ's love interest. The cheesy 80s acting makes me wonder why I was so scared way back when but, it was the 80s- what do you expect?
Thriller was revolutionary, any way you want to look at it. When Michael died (RIP), views of Thriller went up almost overnight to a grand total of 8 million in a week. Its total view count on YouTube is currently 46, 079, 263. All ten of Jackson's albums made Amazon's top 10 in Music, with Thriller taking the lead. Within hours of the confirmation of his death, Thriller rose to #1 on iTunes. This is repeated everywhere music is sold. He won multiple Grammys and MTV awards for it.
He had already changed MTV with "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" because until those videos aired, MTV had only aired Prince, Tina Turner, Joan Armatrading, and the Bus Boys which were all classified as rock. With Thriller he changed the way people looked at MTV forever. With his amazing talent, he changed the way people looked at pop music. May he finally rest in peace...
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Ronjini
September 29, 2009
Thriller is a party favorite. My friend loves to dance battle and she pulls out Thriller to seal the deal.
djevoke
September 29, 2009
I love Thriller but, my favorite album is Off The Wall! Who doesn't love to dance battle? It's the BEST stress reliever, I've done my craziest moves in a cypher. Thriller is a good one-upper because everyone loves it and you can incorporate more MJ moves.Now, you have me thinking about what song I use to "seal the deal" LOL...
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Fashion_Fiend
September 27, 2009
I remember the first time I saw Thriller as well - although I was a bit older than you were at the time! =) Lovely article - RIP Michael.
djevoke
September 29, 2009
It's one of those things that's hard to forget isn't it?
Fashion_Fiend
September 29, 2009
Yes ma'am. =)
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Sean_Rhodes
July 16, 2009
If you're still looking for the video to embed in your review, I was able to find the code for it at Michaeljackson.com. I haven't actually tried putting it anywhere, though. But when you go to the website and click on videos, you can find the Thriller vidoes and it says in teeny tiny teeny TINY words "Get Code" and if you click on it it'll give you the code and you can embed it. It's a HUGE code, though and people might have to sit through an ad, but it's there.
djevoke
July 16, 2009
Thanks Sean! I'll have to check it out. Now, your next mission should you choose to accept it is to find where I can get "Moonwalker" LOL.... I looked on Netflix and no such luck.
Sean_Rhodes
July 18, 2009
I actually did try looking for it, but it's near impossible. And when I do find it, it's from an independent seller charging a ridiculous price for it. Well, I tried. I'm still searching, though.
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dalydose
July 14, 2009
Ha ha...I could have reviewed just the title! :D Thanks for the info on post-death sales, I knew they were "up there", but I didn't know the exact number. I also enjoyed the "insider" stuff from your neighbor. Your life never ceases to amaze! Thanks for sharing it with us normal folk.
djevoke
July 16, 2009
You're not normal ;P You are most welcome, grasshopper!
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Count_Orlok_22
July 08, 2009
This is a great informative review. I hadn't really thought about it, but I can't believe that the "Thriller" video came out over 25 years ago. I was a huge MJ fan back in the late '80s and early '90s, but when the whole abuse scandal came about, I distanced myself from anything associated with him. Still, despite the constant controversy that surrounded him in the past 15 years or so, "Thriller" was a fantastic album by any measure. Rick Baker was your neighbor? Wow, now I'm feeling a little envious. Did he ever share any of his monster make-up secrets with you? By the way, do you think he was buried in that little sequin glove? I still want to know why he wore that thing. Certainly, it served no practical function and was intended as some sort of fashion statement, but what was it (the fashion statement)? ; )
djevoke
July 16, 2009
He shared a few...I'd be hard pressed to remember them now, that was a decade ago! Wow....maybe he wore the glove because he was a germaphobe or maybe it became so much a part of his personality that he'd feel "naked" without it or maybe he liked the sparklies that it shined when he was on stage LOL....things that make you go hmmm.
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DonnaL1
July 03, 2009
Hi.....nice review on Michael and Thriller. Believe it or not, I just watched Thriller in its entirety the other day. Prior to his death, I really wasn't inclined to do so, although much of his music I do like. Wow!....what a video....very impressed and yes, he should be buried in that suit, as you say, "just in case."
djevoke
July 03, 2009
That is the one shame that his death has brought...a blessing in disguise is that as soon as he died his sales jumped through the roof as if his death resuscitated the need to rediscover talent. I'm glad you enjoyed the video...imagine being 5 when you first saw it...TERRIFYING LOL!
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Valsviews
July 03, 2009
Well-said, Djevoke. Articulately composed! Keep it up!!
djevoke
July 03, 2009
Thanks for your kind words @Valsviews! I'll try my best...have you played the Fave King of Pop videos game yet? His videos were the BEST!
Valsviews
July 03, 2009
Thanks for the info. I'll click the game this weekend. Meanwhile, have a wonderful (July 4th) holiday!
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