Thriller 40

There are two things in the music business:

before Thriller and after Thriller.

Mark.

The first time I heard.

Michael Jackson's Thriller, he was pop,

he was R and B, he was gospel, he was rock.

It was everything that I loved.

And bring all of these elements together...

dance and choreography

and theatrical moments and the feeling,

you know, like a musical, damn near.

The magic of it... each track was better than the next.

It was in your brain, and everybody knew it.

For the 14th consecutive week,

the best-selling album in the country

is Michael Jackson's Thriller.

If Thriller came out today,

it would still be the greatest album ever made.

It's the ultimate blueprint to modern pop music.

I love the way that record is sequenced, right?

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." The title says it.

He wanted to be starting some shit right now. He wanted...

He's like, "I'm about to start some shit

in the industry right now. I'm about to blow everybody up."

This was literally the pinnacle of everything

that began with him.

"Thriller," "Beat It"

and "Billie Jean."

To this day, when "Thriller" comes on, I mean,

there's not a Halloween that doesn't happen

where you don't hear that song.

But then you have "Human Nature," "P.Y.T.,"

and then you have "Lady in My Life."

It became the biggest-selling album ever.

Michael Jackson. Always keep one in the cab.

This is history.

I want to say it's Black culture,

but it's-it's for everyone.

Thriller is the biggest-selling

album of all time.

Thriller is a cultural phenomenon

that's lasted four decades and seems determined

to continue going forward.

What takes your breath away is

he had the ambition to become the biggest star in the world.

And he did it. The fact that he had

that dream, I mean, that-that goal,

that's what's the remarkable story.

Ever since we were kids,

we've always wanted to dance or keep the time to the music.

And that's part of us.

It's like, uh, something we have to have.

And it's in us, because I don't know

what I would do if there was, uh... wasn't music.

Joe Jackson's role

in his children's careers would give people a lot to talk about.

The former steelworker had somehow gotten his family

out of Indiana, groomed for stardom.

Now, here are five brothers

from Gary, Indiana, ranging in age from ten to 18:

The Jackson 5.

This poor man's life has been

dissected completely.

Is there anything anybody hasn't asked you by now?

Um...

Now, tell me, what do you think is the success

of the Jacksons, yourself and the Jacksons?

I would say probably, um, togetherness.

I can't think about Michael without thinking about.

The Jackson 5 and Motown and all of that,

so it takes me a little further back.

Takes me to Off the Wall,

which is one of my favorite records.

[Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" playing]

Welcome to WBLS once again, Michael Jackson.

Thank you very much.

The name of the album is...

- Off the Wall. - Are you?

We'll be back with Michael right after this.

I was not the biggest Jackson 5 fan.

I was a serious pop music critic.

And I said, "Well, it's cute what they're doing."

You know, James Brown,

Jackie Wilson, that's really nice.

You know, it wasn't what I was interested in.

And then Off the Wall comes out,

and I was caught up in the excitement

of learning more about Michael and his world,

so I interview him separately.

You interview the brothers all together, him separately.

You know, he's nervous.

He doesn't like to do interviews.

He's sad, he's lonely, he says.

He starts talking about his life.

He was so hurt around 14 and 15 and 16,

when his face changed.

He got bigger.

I mean, his face had broken out.

He was so sad.

People didn't care about him anymore.

You know, adults would come into a party at some house,

and they would be looking all around. "Where's Michael?"

And they'd be walking right past him, you know?

"And he got the feeling that," We don't care about you.

We want that little kid."

He was dead set on his focus

to be, you know, Michael Jackson, solo artist.

And he had to.

He knew that it was time. He knew that...

He was excited to have it all be on his own terms.

You know, not with... not attached to anybody.

And he knew that-that...

that he was even gonna soar from that.

Well, Off the Wall was an enormous success.

It-it put Michael on the map as a solo artist.

People forget that, before Off the Wall,

there was a period between Motown and the Destiny album

where people thought maybe

the career of The Jackson 5 was over,

that they were yesterday's news, forgotten boy band, really.

So Off the Wall reestablished Michael as someone to watch.

Off the Wall was just this incredible record,

and we knew that Mike was coming back

with something special because

he didn't win everything that he wanted during the Grammys,

and he only won one award,

which was the R and B award at that.

He thought he was gonna sweep.

He thought for sure, "I got a pop smash here."

So, when that didn't happen, he left there with a vengeance,

just determined to do better next time.

He was determined

to change the way he was perceived.

Uh, there were a lot of writings he did to himself, affirmations.

I look in the mirror,

and I would say over and over to myself...

I'd take a deep breath, put my feet together,

raise myself erect, strong like a...

a hero warrior, and I'd say,

"Biggest-selling album of all time, greatest seller,"

over and over to my mind, and look in my eyes.

And I'd mean it.

I'd say, "Biggest-selling album of all times."

And I wouldn't accept anything

unless this was exactly what I wanted.

My attitude was:

I want the biggest-selling album of all times,

to break records, to do phenomenal work.

I came in angry.

Michael was writing.

He was writing. He was fuming.

He was still upset about

this idea that he would be denied,

you know, major awards for Off the Wall.

I just remember all of the, uh...

the process of when they were doing it.

And the, uh... the excitement

while they're recording, just, you know...

just hearing tales, you know, as they're coming

in and out of the studio with it.

Westlake was a really great studio

because y-you felt the facility had this warmth

and this friendliness and this casual put-you-at-ease feeling.

There was just the most incredible vibe.

Where you could just be creatively free to-to take...

take the music wherever you wanted.

This is hallowed ground. I was... I was in here a lot