7. Thriller – Michael Jackson (Epic – 1982)
From child star to supernova, Michael Jackson became “The King of Pop” behind the unprecedented success of his second Quincy Jones production, Thriller – the undisputed international biggest selling album of all-time. Interestingly, of the 9-song album’s seven Top 10 Pop charters, Epic led off with the weakest for the pre-release first single: the Paul McCartney duet “The Girl is Mine.” Next came the bedrock paranoia funk of “Billie Jean,” the song that’s accompanying music video broke the color barrier at MTV followed by Jackson’s historical performance on the “Motown 25” television special.
The hard-rockin’ “Beat It” boasted a “West Side Story”-inspired anti-gang video and a searing guitar solo from special guest Eddie Van Halen. “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” lit up the dancefloor while “Human Nature” fired up imaginations (including that of Miles Davis who recorded a jazz version).
The catchy and soulful “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” was needed Funk from the pen of Q-discovery James Ingram. And the title track “Thriller” (one of three penned by the masterful Rod Temperton) made history as an extended length music video (it debuted as an MTV television special) pairing Michael on a date gone “bad” with Black Playboy playmate Ola Ray and featuring a priceless spoken word breakdown by legendary master of the macabre Vincent Price. Temperton’s other two compositions were the achingly sensual “The Lady in My Life” (which, as arranged by Onaje Allan Gumbs, led jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan’s Magic Touch album to scores of weeks at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz chart) and the album cut favorite “Baby Be Mine.” Thriller was the #1-selling Pop album for the Christmases of 1982 and 1983, and resides in the Library of Congress National Registry of culturally significant recordings. Click NEXT for the next album.
