The Badger Herald

ARTSETC.

Jack-o still thrills after 25 years

by Steve Lampiris

Friday, December 7, 2007

The stats alone for Michael Jackson's Thriller are astounding: Nominated for 12 Grammys and taking home eight, the album spawned seven top-10 singles, spent 37 weeks as the No. 1 album (a record for any pop album), during which it sold 40 million alone, and has since sold 104 million copies sold around the world, 27 million of which have been sold in the U.S. Most tellingly, it still sells 60,000 copies each year, and is set to sell even more next year with the re-release of Thriller, as the album quietly celebrated its 25th birthday Dec. 1.

Just for some perspective, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon holds the record for the longest duration in the Billboard 200 (741 weeks), but has sold a comparatively slim 40 million units worldwide.

These stats certainly are impressive, but they may overshadow the music itself, which is a shame. Thriller's nine songs that compose the biggest album in history are a collection of everything that popular music had become until 1982. Quite literally, there is something for everyone in the ensuing 42 minutes.

So why has the album become the behemoth that it is? Some argue that MTV had something to do with it. Certainly, with videos like "Billie Jean" and the iconic, mini-movie "Thriller," these critics have a point. A lot has also been made about how Jackson was MTV's first black star and that they forged a symbiotic relationship between 1982 and 1984 (during MTV's zenith), lasting until the man went nuts for the first time.

Others argue that it was the Michael Jackson persona — the archetypal performer — that made the album so huge. Still others contend that it was because the album did, in fact, have a little something for everyone: hard rock ("Beat It"), funk ("Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"), ballads ("Human Nature"), pop ("Thriller") and, oh yeah, a song with Paul McCartney ("The Girl is Mine").

I would contend that the main reason the album has become this cultural phenomenon is a combination of all those above assertions, as they are all interrelated, but most credit is due to the Jackson persona. From the humble beginnings (comparatively speaking) in the Jackson Five until he released Thriller, Michael was a performer first and foremost.

Pop stars today are not forged in the music scene, they are manufactured (ahem, "American Idol"). Performers, though the winners and runners-up may be, these new individuals are not molded from years of releasing singles and albums with the risk of them flopping, only to be dropped from a label a year later. Instead, they are automatically pushed to the front of the line via one of the biggest shows in TV history and have (relatively) no fear of failing in the music business.

When Jackson decided to leave Motown, people thought he was nuts. Alas, how wrong they were. Off the Wall, Jackson's first solo record after leaving Motown, was a tremendous hit, selling seven million copies in the states alone. He risked, essentially, his whole career with that album, and it worked.

Undeniably, Jackson is lucky that Thriller came out when it did. The biggest difference between then and now is how impatient record companies are nowadays with an artist's sales. During the '60s, '70s and '80s, record companies were willing to work with an artist and build their fan base. They would give an artist a chance if his/her first record or two did not go gold. Now, if after two records there is no gold (or, more importantly, platinum) record in sight, they are dropped "like a bad habit." The music scene used to look at an artist in the long term. Now, artists are treated like fashion statements.

Thriller would not work if it were released today, because the musical landscape is so vastly different from the broad-based appeal of the '80s pop scene. Popular music is now divided and subdivided, ad nauseum.

If Jackson had released Off the Wall first in this environment, people would have been  scratching their heads, wondering just what the hell it is. Even if Wall had gone platinum, Thriller would have been a flop. Releasing "The Girl is Mine" as the first single would kill any momentum that an album like Thriller would have today. "Billie Jean" might save it coming next, but by the time "Human Nature" is released as single No. 5, people would already be moving on to the new Kelly Clarkson record. Let us not forget that the centerpiece of the album, the title track (and Thriller's best song), was released as the last single.

More time would be spent trying to categorize the album as a whole than the quality of the music and, thus, any intrinsic value of said music would be lost. In addition, Thriller was clearly conceived as an album rather than a collection of songs released all together, as the iPod has forced albums to become.

It also would not work on college campuses, including the University of Wisconsin, simply because Thriller is not one of the four major types of music found around college — those being, of course, Dave Matthews Band, Radiohead, indie and commercial rap. Add to that the fact that the city of Madison is not very pop-friendly in terms of venues: The Orpheum and Majestic scream indie bands and modern rock and the Alliant Energy Center seems to draw almost exclusively arena rock acts, which Michael Jackson is obviously not.

I suppose that it is a gift from above that Thriller was released when it was. In the short quarter-century that it has been out, the collection has changed the face of music forever and undoubtedly changed the ways in which music is heard (and seen). If you have read this column and do not own Thriller, arguably the best and most important album of the 1980s, what the hell are you waiting for? Go get it.

 

Steve Lampiris is a junior majoring in political science. If you'd like to discuss whether or not "Thriller" is the greatest music video ever, e-mail him at [email protected]