Who Is Thriller's Perfect Storm?
Thriller’s Perfect Storm
The remarkable events that helped create the #1 selling album in music history
I have listened to Michael Jackson’s music my entire life and have been fascinated by his contribution to music and entertainment. But, at what point in Jackson’s career did he blast into the stratosphere reaching popularity and wealth far beyond anyone else, past or present, in the industry? That point was November 30, 1982, when CBS Records released the album “Thriller”, an album that had the timing of a perfect storm. The musical forces of nature converged all at once to form a vocal and dancing phenomenon that grew into the biggest selling album of all time.
A Storm is Brewing
In 1980, the music industry …show more content…
Up until this point, radio stations were reluctant to promote black music, as it was more out of touch with the average white listener. Disco was out of the popular picture and the rhythm-based black music had a beat that could be considered almost disco-like, which caused radio stations to stay away from it. It seemed as though black music didn’t have a home of its own unless black artists were singing songs that appealed to a larger white …show more content…
He had embellished it—combining it with some other steps of his own—and enjoyed practicing it privately. Jackson 's dance resembled the Moonwalk, which kids were already doing on the street. Dancing his version of the Moonwalk, Michael seemed to be walking backward and forward at the same time, just like a robot or someone walking on the moon. He loved doing the dance in private, but he had never performed it before an audience. Now, in his kitchen in the middle of the night, the rhythm of "Billie Jean" shaking the room and impelling his body, he decided to do the Moonwalk for the first time in public, on the "Motown 25" show. (King,
The remarkable events that helped create the #1 selling album in music history
I have listened to Michael Jackson’s music my entire life and have been fascinated by his contribution to music and entertainment. But, at what point in Jackson’s career did he blast into the stratosphere reaching popularity and wealth far beyond anyone else, past or present, in the industry? That point was November 30, 1982, when CBS Records released the album “Thriller”, an album that had the timing of a perfect storm. The musical forces of nature converged all at once to form a vocal and dancing phenomenon that grew into the biggest selling album of all time.
A Storm is Brewing
In 1980, the music industry …show more content…
Up until this point, radio stations were reluctant to promote black music, as it was more out of touch with the average white listener. Disco was out of the popular picture and the rhythm-based black music had a beat that could be considered almost disco-like, which caused radio stations to stay away from it. It seemed as though black music didn’t have a home of its own unless black artists were singing songs that appealed to a larger white …show more content…
He had embellished it—combining it with some other steps of his own—and enjoyed practicing it privately. Jackson 's dance resembled the Moonwalk, which kids were already doing on the street. Dancing his version of the Moonwalk, Michael seemed to be walking backward and forward at the same time, just like a robot or someone walking on the moon. He loved doing the dance in private, but he had never performed it before an audience. Now, in his kitchen in the middle of the night, the rhythm of "Billie Jean" shaking the room and impelling his body, he decided to do the Moonwalk for the first time in public, on the "Motown 25" show. (King,