Michael Jacksons Thriller is without a doubt one of the most influentialrecords of all time. The 1982 album is one of the best-selling of all time andis still regarded as groundbreaking. That’s not just because of the music: theaccompanying video clips made just as much of an impact. The images at singlesas Beat It and Thriller changed the way the music industry views videoclips.
“I’m not giving you any more video clips and I’m going to fucking telleveryone you don’t want to play music by a black artist.” Walter Yetnikoff,director of record label CBS Records, made his dissatisfaction clear in theearly 1980s with these unmistakable words.
He is furious on MTV when it turns out that the channel has released the musicvideo for the song Billy Jean from Jackson refuses to run. The channelrejected the video clip because music by a black artist would not fit themusic station, which focused on rock music. After this confrontation, MTVquickly tacks, with great success for Jackson as a result.
The idea of television channels fully devoted to broadcasting video clipswas still in its infancy. The same goes for narrative video clips as we knowthem today.
At that time, MTV broadcast almost exclusively rock music by white artists.That comes through Billy Jean change in. The video clip in which Jacksondances to shake off a photographer chasing him, has been played countlesstimes and contributes to the rising popularity of the channel.
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Beat It and mass choreography
Jackson has quite the taste. The singer hires director Bob Giraldi for thevideo clip Beat It. He counts $ 150,000 (now more than 144,000 euros) out ofhis own pocket to get the project off the ground, because the record companykeeps its hand on the purse strings. The video, shot in Los Angeles, featuringmembers of local gangs, furthers Jackson’s superstar status.
It is also one of the first video clips in which a so-called mass choreographyis incorporated into the storyline. Towards the end of the video, two gangsget together with Jackson, then perform an iconic choreography to the chorustogether.
The video clips are showered with awards in the year of release, includingseven Video Billboard Awards. The video is seen to this day as one of theclips that made the most impact on the music industry.
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The short film at Thriller
Beat It turns out not yet to be the ambitious project Jackson has in mindfor it Thriller -album. A year after the release of the record, he startedworking on the video clip for the seventh single, title track Thriller. Thesinger is working with director John Landis on a short horror film in which heplays the leading role together with actress Ola Ray.
In the fourteen-minute video, Jackson takes on the role of a werewolf and azombie. In addition, he performs a choreography that is still recognized bythe masses in an instant. The video becomes a great success, receives severalimportant awards and also boosts the sales of the album. In the week after thevideo was released, more than a year after the album release, the record soldanother million times.
De videoclips van het album Thriller blijven ongekend populair. Zo vaakzijn ze bekeken op YouTube:
- Billie Jean – 1,2 miljard keer bekeken * Beat It – 882 miljoen keer bekeken * Thriller – 863 miljoen keer bekeken
Jackson’s method of success becomes the new standard
The album has only nine songs. The fact that no fewer than seven wereeventually released as singles is highly exceptional. All become top ten hitsin the United States, an unprecedented success at the time.
Jackson and his team continue to extend the success of the album with newsingles and accompanying video clips. The method is seen as the new standardin the music industry, where record companies are increasingly going big withvideo clips and investing more in releasing multiple singles per album.
That was exactly what Jackson was going for when releasing Thriller. Hewanted to make a pop album on which every track hits the mark and there are noweaker songs to fill the record.
“There are so many albums that have one really good song and the rest areB-sides. Why can’t every song be a hit? That people would buy every song if itcame out as a single. That was my goal with this album,” said the singer. Inthis he succeeded in all respects.
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