Personality | The ‘Thrill’ lives on


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AUGUST 2009

ALBUMS


Thriller Thriller produced the rock-tinged Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Human Nature and P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing). The title track became the album’s record-breaking sixth Top 10 single, and propelled it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling album in history.	Bad Bad became the first album in history with five #1 singles — Dirty Diana, Man In The Mirror, The Way You Make Me Feel, Bad and I Just Can’t Stop Loving You. Michael Mania reigned and there was nothing else to call him but ’The King’ at the age of only 29.	Dangerous Black or White was the first single from this album, followed by the No. 1 R&B singles Remember The Time, In The Closet and Jam, selling more than 17 million copies of the album worldwide.	HIStory HIStory – Past, Present & Future – Book 1 topped charts all over the world. The 6-time platinum album produced hits like You Are Not Alone, Stranger In Moscow, Earth Song and They Don’t Care About Us.	Blood on the Dance Floor 1998’s Blood On The Dance Floor: History In The Mix contained new remixes of eight songs from the HIStory album and five new original songs. The title track became a Top 10 hit in Europe.

SONGS

Earth Song

Touching and meaningful, it talks about man’s destruction of earth and its rebirth. It opens with an impressive piano score with excellent vocals from Jackson.

Thriller

Thriller comes close on the heels of Beat It which also has its own share of memorable bars. With incredible vocals, mind-blowing beats and a catchy groove Thriller was ahead of its time.

Beat It

An impressive beat with a music score that’s racy, jumpy and over the top, Beat It won the hearts of millions of MJ fans, with its message of courage.

I’ll Be There

MJ sang this ballad with heart and soul, his emotions coming out so well. Covered by many artists after its first tryst with success with MJ in the Jackson 5, the most popular cover is Mariah Carey’s version.

Black or White

A bit controversial due to MJ’s own ’change of colour’, this catchy song had marvellous break beats.

VIDEOS


Billie Jean This video has the honour of being the first music video by a black artist to be shown on MTV. An interesting fact is that there never was a ’Billie Jean’ — it was a composite of people his brothers had been plagued with over the years.	Thriller At $1,000,000 it is one of the most expensive music videos in music history. Believe it or not, MJ wanted to destroy this video, but producers stopped him. This state-of-the-art 14-minute video is famous for its ghoulish dance scene.	Bad Directed by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas), Bad saw actor Wesley Snipes co-star alongside MJ. The video is about a smart city youth who wants to get education. MJ wanted this video to be a duet between him and Prince. But Prince declined.	Black or White A host of celebrities like Macaulay Culkin, Tyra Banks, Bart and Homer Simpson come together for this video which featured people of different ethnicities morphing into each other. Its premiere had an estimated audience of 500 million, the largest viewing ever for a music video. Guitarist Slash (of Guns ’n’ Roses) plays the intro for this video.	Dirty Diana Considered one of MJs riskier videos, it tells the story of a groupie and ends with him finding a beautiful woman in his limousine. Some wanted the video banned, but a little naughtiness and that too from a simple soul like Michael certainly never harmed anyone.