Thriller – Michael Jackson – 1982

I’ve been a big fan of Michael Jackson for as long as I’ve been a fan of music in general. The first studio album I ever bought was the cassette of Bad, and I was also fortunate enough to see him in concert at Wembley Stadium – admittedly when he was past his prime, but come on… it’s Michael frickin’ Jackson.

Michael Jackson’s music always had excellent production and his sound was always stellar, even if the song wasn’t. The music video for Thriller is every bit the masterpiece that it was when it was released over thirty years ago, and there’s nothing I can say about it here that hasn’t been said before, so all I will say is if you haven’t seen it – firstly, I don’t want to know you; and secondly, why on earth have you not seen it?!

Thriller holds a special place in my heart, even though it’s nowhere near my list of top Jacko tracks. Hell, it’s not even one of the best songs on the album, and that’s only got nine songs on it!

When I was fourteen I lived in Australia and we filmed a home movie on VHS to send back to my grandparents in Scotland. Trust me, it was what people did in those days. Anyway, at the end of the tape my dad filmed me lip-synching to Thriller, as I shuffled from side to side, wearing white trousers, and a white denim shirt. Yes, for six whole minutes. I even threw in the single worst example of a moonwalk ever committed to camera. (Un)fortunately, this footage does still exist.

It was an annoyingly poor effort, because I know I can do better. Maybe I should recreate…

Hmmm, I wonder.