I can’t believe Thriller was released 25 years ago
December 1, 2007I was listening to NPR today and they had a lengthy story about how yesterday was the 25th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. Like I need another reminder of how damned old I’m getting.
Man I remember that album. And yes, a vinyl album is how I first heard it. My Dad actually bought a copy. That to me says absolutely everybody was buying a copy of it.
It wasn’t though just about the music. It’s really the videos, and how Michael Jackson turned videos into the premiere marketing tool for music. I mean there were plenty of video-driven hits before then but he took it to the next level.
For example, he showed that even a campy song like the title track could be redeemed if it had a great video to go with it. It’s become such a part of our collective pop culture that people do the Thriller dance at weddings for heaven’s sake.
After I post this I’m going to listen to the album once again. Unfortunately I don’t have the vinyl so it will have to be the CD that I play. Or maybe the copy I ripped into my iPod.