All language subtitles for Thriller.40.2023.720p.WEBRip.x264

♪ Dramatic, atmospheric music ♪

♪♪♪

[crowd cheering]

♪ "Billie Jean" by
Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

♪ "Beat It" by Michael Jackson ♪

[Steven Ivory] There are two
things in the music business:

before Thriller
and after Thriller.

[crowd cheering]

♪♪♪

♪ But you wanna be bad ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter... ♪

[crew member] Mark.

[Mary J. Blige] The
first time I heard

Michael Jackson's
Thriller, he was pop,

he was R and B, he was
gospel, he was rock.

It was everything that I loved.

[Usher] And bring all of
these elements together...

dance and choreography

and theatrical moments
and the feeling,

you know, like a
musical, damn near.

The magic of it... each track
was better than the next.

It was in your brain,
and everybody knew it.

[reporter] For the
14th consecutive week,

the best-selling
album in the country

is Michael Jackson's Thriller.

If Thriller came out today,

it would still be the
greatest album ever made.

It's the ultimate blueprint
to modern pop music.

[Raphael Saadiq] I love the way
that record is sequenced, right?

"Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'." The title says it.

He wanted to be starting some
shit right now. He wanted...

He's like, "I'm about
to start some shit

in the industry right now. I'm
about to blow everybody up."

[Maxwell] This was literally
the pinnacle of everything

that began with him.

"Thriller," "Beat It"

and "Billie Jean."

To this day, when
"Thriller" comes on, I mean,

there's not a Halloween
that doesn't happen

where you don't hear that song.

But then you have "Human
Nature," "P.Y.T.,"

and then you have
"Lady in My Life."

[announcer] It became the
biggest-selling album ever.

Michael Jackson. Always
keep one in the cab.

[Misty Copeland]
This is history.

I want to say it's
Black culture,

but it's-it's for everyone.

[Nelson George] Thriller
is the biggest-selling

album of all time.

Thriller is a
cultural phenomenon

that's lasted four decades
and seems determined

to continue going forward.

[crowd cheering]

[Robert Hilburn] What
takes your breath away is

he had the ambition to become
the biggest star in the world.

And he did it. The
fact that he had

that dream, I mean,
that-that goal,

that's what's the
remarkable story.

♪ Soft, curious music ♪

[Michael Jackson] Ever
since we were kids,

we've always wanted to dance
or keep the time to the music.

And that's part of us.

It's like, uh, something
we have to have.

And it's in us,
because I don't know

what I would do if there
was, uh... wasn't music.

[reporter] Joe Jackson's role

in his children's careers would
give people a lot to talk about.

The former steelworker had
somehow gotten his family

out of Indiana,
groomed for stardom.

♪ "I Want You Back"
by The Jackson 5 ♪

♪♪♪

[The Jackson 5's "I Want
You Back" continues]

♪♪♪

[Ed Sullivan] Now,
here are five brothers

from Gary, Indiana, ranging
in age from ten to 18:

The Jackson 5.

♪ Oh, baby, give me
one more chance ♪

♪ To show you that I love you ♪

♪ Won't you please let me ♪

♪ Back in your heart ♪

♪ Oh, darlin', I was
blind to let you go ♪

♪ Let you go, baby ♪

♪ But now since I see you... ♪

[Dick Clark] This poor
man's life has been

dissected completely.

Is there anything anybody
hasn't asked you by now?

Um...

♪ Enjoy yourself ♪

♪ Enjoy yourself, enjoy
yourself with me ♪

♪ Enjoy yourself,
enjoy yourself ♪

♪ Enjoy yourself with me ♪

♪ You better enjoy yourself... ♪

[interviewer] Now, tell me,
what do you think is the success

of the Jacksons, yourself
and the Jacksons?

I would say probably,
um, togetherness.

[Saadiq] I can't think about
Michael without thinking about

The Jackson 5 and
Motown and all of that,

so it takes me a
little further back.

Takes me to Off the Wall,

which is one of my
favorite records.

[Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop
'Til You Get Enough" playing]

[radio DJ] Welcome to WBLS
once again, Michael Jackson.

[Michael] Thank you very much.

[radio DJ] The name
of the album is...

- [Michael] Off the Wall.
- [radio DJ] Are you?

[both laughing]

[radio DJ] We'll be back with
Michael right after this.

♪ Lovely ♪

♪ Is the feeling now ♪

♪ Fever... ♪

I was not the biggest
Jackson 5 fan.

I was a serious
pop music critic.

And I said, "Well, it's
cute what they're doing."

- ♪ Baby, baby ♪
- ♪ Ow, ow... ♪

[Hilburn] You
know, James Brown,

Jackie Wilson,
that's really nice.

You know, it wasn't what
I was interested in.

And then Off the Wall comes out,

and I was caught up
in the excitement

of learning more about
Michael and his world,

so I interview him separately.

You interview the brothers
all together, him separately.

You know, he's nervous.

He doesn't like
to do interviews.

He's sad, he's lonely, he says.

He starts talking
about his life.

♪ Soft, melancholy music ♪

He was so hurt around
14 and 15 and 16,

when his face changed.

He got bigger.

I mean, his face had broken out.

He was so sad.

People didn't care
about him anymore.

You know, adults would come
into a party at some house,

and they would be looking all
around. "Where's Michael?"

And they'd be walking
right past him, you know?

And he got the feeling that,
"We don't care about you.

We want that little kid."

[George] He was dead
set on his focus

to be, you know, Michael
Jackson, solo artist.

[Brooke Shields]
And he had to.

He knew that it was
time. He knew that...

He was excited to have it
all be on his own terms.

You know, not with...
not attached to anybody.

And he knew that-that...

that he was even
gonna soar from that.

Well, Off the Wall was
an enormous success.

It-it put Michael on the
map as a solo artist.

People forget that,
before Off the Wall,

there was a period between
Motown and the Destiny album

where people thought maybe

the career of The
Jackson 5 was over,

that they were yesterday's news,
forgotten boy band, really.

So Off the Wall reestablished
Michael as someone to watch.

Off the Wall was just
this incredible record,

and we knew that
Mike was coming back

with something special because

he didn't win everything that
he wanted during the Grammys,

and he only won one award,

which was the R and
B award at that.

He thought he was gonna sweep.

He thought for sure, "I
got a pop smash here."

So, when that didn't happen,
he left there with a vengeance,

just determined to
do better next time.

[John Branca] He
was determined

to change the way
he was perceived.

Uh, there were a lot of writings
he did to himself, affirmations.

[Michael] I look
in the mirror,

and I would say over
and over to myself...

I'd take a deep breath,
put my feet together,

raise myself erect,
strong like a...

a hero warrior, and I'd say,

"Biggest-selling album of
all time, greatest seller,"

over and over to my mind,
and look in my eyes.

And I'd mean it.

I'd say, "Biggest-selling
album of all times."

And I wouldn't accept anything

unless this was
exactly what I wanted.

My attitude was:

I want the biggest-selling
album of all times,

to break records, to
do phenomenal work.

I came in angry.

[Ivory] Michael was writing.

He was writing. He was fuming.

He was still upset about

this idea that he
would be denied,

you know, major awards
for Off the Wall.

I just remember
all of the, uh...

the process of when
they were doing it.

And the, uh... the excitement

while they're recording,
just, you know...

just hearing tales, you
know, as they're coming

in and out of the
studio with it.

["Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'" playing, muffled]

♪ I said you wanna be
startin' somethin' ♪

[fading in] ♪ You got to
be startin' somethin' ♪

♪ I said you wanna be
startin' somethin' ♪

♪ You got to be
startin' somethin' ♪

- ♪ It's too high to get over ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ You're too low to get under ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ You're stuck in the middle ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ And the pain is thunder ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah... ♪

[Matt Forger] Westlake
was a really great studio

because y-you felt the
facility had this warmth

and this friendliness and this
casual put-you-at-ease feeling.

There was just the
most incredible vibe.

Where you could just be
creatively free to-to take...

take the music
wherever you wanted.

This is hallowed ground. I
was... I was in here a lot

'cause Quincy made a
lot of records in here.

Off the Wall was made in here.

Certainly Thriller.

Quincy worked in here a lot.

Quincy influenced everything

- we've ever done in our lives.
- Yes.

- Whether you can hear it or not.
- Exactly.

Depth of understanding of music.

That's what makes Quincy Quincy.

He's done big band.
He's done small bands.

He's done pop. He's done rock.

He's done everything.

So, just understanding
all those different genres

and-and how to fuse
them all together

is what gives you all these

wonderful applications that you
get on a Michael Jackson record.

And that sound was ma...

You know, Bruce Swedien
had a lot to do with

how that overall
sound was... the echo

and the reverbs and the...
the way he would place things.

And they were excited.

As we were making the record,

you could feel the
excitement in the room.

Knowing that we
were doing something

that was gonna be special.

[playing elegant melody]

[Greg Phillinganes]
Wow, I don't even know

where to begin.

I just remember coming
here to this studio,

which was like a second home,

and coming in, listening to, uh,

the demos that Rod
Temperton would provide.

And we would just start
to carve musically

and-and work our way into
the details of the demos.

[Steve Lukather]
Rod Temperton.

This guy was brilliant.

I mean, he was deep.

I love Rod Temperton. He
wrote incredible songs,

and he was a part of Quincy's,
you know, tight team.

[Anthony Marinelli] We
did a lot of funky sounds

on "Baby Be Mine."

[Michael Jackson's
"Baby Be Mine" playing]

♪♪♪

Quincy was just looking for...

He's always looking for
something different.

So we were brought
in because it was...

I think Quincy knew about MTV,

and he was looking
for a cinematic thing

'cause Quincy came from film.

When Michael would
want... he-he knew things

that he would want for sounds.

And, uh, he would put it on
a record player and play it.

And then I'd say, "Well, let
me go get that other synth."

So it would be in the truck,

parked in the parking
lot of Westlake,

or it would be in the hallway.

We had Anvil Cases
lined up the hall,

and we just basically
took over the place.

And we were creating sounds
and using synthesizers

in-in kind of a big way
and replacing orchestra.

[playing Michael Jackson's
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"]

♪♪♪

[Paul Jackson, Jr.] So,
one of the things that

I noticed about
Michael's development

as a songwriter...
I-I saw him getting

more rhythmically and
harmonically advanced,

taking steps forward
and forward and forward.

His talent was not only
developing as a singer.

- Mm-hmm.
- He developed as a...

- as an entertainer.
- Yes.

It's funny you guys should
have picked this room,

'cause I'm walking through
here, you know, and I-I just...

you know, I'm just
seeing. I can...

I almost, um, channel him,

- his spirit into this room.
- Yeah.

He had us prepared.

- We were prepared.
- [Oren Waters] No question.

And he would come
in ready to go.

He was the kind of
individual that, uh,

had a awesome work ethic.

[Ed Eckstine] The process was

quite a, uh, adventure

'cause most people forget
that the first single

from the album was
"The Girl Is Mine."

♪ "The Girl Is Mine" by Michael
Jackson & Paul McCartney ♪

Obviously, you had no
bigger star in the world

than Paul McCartney.

And, you know, the pairing
of Michael and Paul,

what better flag waver
to get a project started?

[Michael] ♪ Every night, she
walks right in my dreams ♪

♪ Since I met her
from the start ♪

♪ I'm so proud I
am the only one ♪

♪ Who is special in her heart ♪

♪ The girl is mine ♪

[Bruce Swedien] Yeah, hit
it, John. Hit it, John.

♪ The doggone girl is mine... ♪

[Lukather] So we get the call.

It's, like, Paul McCartney
and Michael Jackson.

I mean, it just didn't
get any bigger than that,

so we were kind of like,

"Oh, holy shit. What
are we gonna do?

What's this gonna be all about?"

When Paul McCartney
walked in the room,

there was a palpable
change of energy of:

"Oh, my God, that's
Paul McCartney."

[Michael] ♪ Saying that
she's yours, not mine ♪

♪ Sending roses and
your silly dreams ♪

♪ Really just a waste of time ♪

♪ Because she's mine ♪

- [Quincy Jones] Beautiful. Whew!
- Yeah.

♪ The doggone girl is mine ♪

Do that one more time,
man, from the second verse.

[Forger] Uh, that
was a wonderful day.

For me, it was a day
that changed my life.

I was in the presence
of the greatest,

most successful people

in the music business.

Paul McCartney, Michael
Jackson, Quincy Jones.

George Martin was there.

[Nelson George] Because
of its catchy melody,

many think "The Girl Is Mine"
was written by Paul McCartney,

when, in fact, it was
composed by Michael Jackson.

♪ Really just a waste of time ♪

♪ Because she's mine... ♪

Once the music started flowing,

it was like here's
two old friends.

[beeping]

- ♪♪♪
- [dialogue inaudible]

[beep]

[McCartney] ♪ The
girl is mine ♪

[backup singers]
♪ Mine, mine ♪

[McCartney, singing
deeply] ♪ Yes, she's mine ♪

- [backup singers] ♪ Mine, mine ♪
- [laughing] ♪ Don't waste ♪

[beeping]

[Michael] ♪ But we
both cannot have her ♪

♪ So it's one or the other ♪

♪ And one day you'll discover ♪

♪ That she's my girl
forever and ever ♪

[McCartney] ♪ Don't build
your hopes to be let down... ♪

[George] Coming out
of Off the Wall,

the challenge was:

Is Michael Jackson
really a pop star,

or is he just a
big R and B artist?

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoo ♪

[Ivory] The way
it worked was that

you were a Black artist
until you weren't,

and you weren't when you
got on the pop charts.

Michael told me

"The Girl Is Mine"
was his sneak attack.

He knew he wanted to cross over,
and what better way to do it

than to have Paul McCartney?

[McCartney] I've heard
it all before, Michael.

She told me that I'm her
forever lover, you know?

Don't you remember?

[Michael] Well,
after loving me,

she said she couldn't
love another.

Is that what she said?

Yeah, she said it.
You keep dreaming.

- ♪ I don't believe it, no ♪
- [backup singers] ♪ Mine, mine ♪

- ♪ The girl is mine ♪
- ♪ Mine, mine, mine ♪

- ♪ No, mine ♪
- [Michael] ♪ No, mine ♪

♪ She's mine, mine,
mine, mine, mine ♪

[backup singers] ♪
Mine, mine, mine... ♪

[George] So, that
initial session

with Michael and Paul
happens in April.

The actual formal
sessions for Thriller

didn't start for a
couple months later.

Yeah, Michael, uh, did the
demos at-at his home studio.

Quincy invited me to
go to Michael's house

to listen to some demos.

What I didn't realize was that

we would be given our own
private world premiere

of "Billie Jean," "Beat It,"
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'."

♪ "Beat It" (demo)
by Michael Jackson ♪

♪ Beat it ♪

♪ But you're driving me mad ♪

- ♪ So beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showing how funky,
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to
be defeated... ♪

[Michael] Well, the
songwriting process

is something that's very
difficult to explain

because it's very spiritual.

♪ Who's wrong or right,
just beat it... ♪

It's, uh... it really
is in the hands of God,

and it's as if it's
been written already.

That's the real truth.

As if it's been written in its
entirety before you were born

and you're just
really the source

through which the songs come.

Really, because they're...

they just fall right into
your lap in its entirety.

You don't have to do much,
uh, thinking about it.

And I feel guilty having to put
my name sometimes on the songs,

but I-I do write them.

I compose them. I write
them. I-I do the scoring.

I do the lyrics.
I do the melody.

But still it's, uh...
it's the work of God.

"Startin' Somethin'"
was wild. You know,

he had all this...
[imitates drumbeat]

♪ "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin' by Michael Jackson ♪

[Mark Ronson] "Wanna
Be Startin' Somethin'"

has the frenetic
percussion of Off the Wall,

which is amazing because

it's like, you have these
incredibly tight drum grooves

and these programmed beats now.

I think that's why, for-for me,

"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
is still my favorite.

I remember just, uh, uh, being
able to go out and do the demo

- at Hayvenhurst, yeah.
- [Maxine Waters] Mm-hmm.

[Julia Waters] He had
it before we got there,

and then h-he just, you know,

shared it with us and
we worked out the parts.

[Maxine] And we just
had to perfect it,

because it's so
rhythmic and all that.

And so he knew the
sound, he knew the...

the rhythm that he wanted
to hear and everything,

so like I said, we were quick.

- ♪ Too low to get under ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Stuck in the middle ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ And the pain is thunder ♪

- ♪ Yeah ♪
- ♪ Hard to get over ♪

[playing "Wanna Be Startin'
Somethin'" accompaniment]

♪♪♪

There's a certain approach, you
know, you want to take to...

you know, to
emphasize the feeling.

I would say that Quincy helped
glue those elements together

and make an arc out
of the progression

of how the song started
to... to the vamp at the end,

and made it seamless, you
know, including horns,

which, of course,
at-at first thought,

would be considered too jazzy,

but they blended perfectly
well in the song later on.

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ Too high to get over ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ You're too low to get under ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ You're stuck in the middle ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ And the pain is thunder... ♪

But there's still that...
[imitating percussive beat]

[percussive beat playing]

And then at the end,

when it goes a cappella to...

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

That, as a DJ... that
is your best friend

because then you start to
mix in your next record

and blending in whatever
the biggest songs you have.

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

[scatting over "Wanna
Be Startin' Somethin'"]

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

- ♪ Hee, hee, hee ♪
- ♪ Mama se, mama sa ♪

- ♪ Ma-ma coo sa ♪
- ♪ Help me sing it ♪

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

- ♪ Hoo, hoo ♪
- ♪ Mama se, mama sa ♪

- ♪ Ma-ma coo sa ♪
- ♪ Hee, hee ♪

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

♪ Mama se, mama
sa, ma-ma coo sa ♪

- ♪ Sing it to the world ♪
- ♪ Mama se, mama sa... ♪

[Oren] As a matter
of fact, I asked him

what "mama se, mama sa,
ma-ma coo sa" meant,

you know, while
it was going down.

He... "Well, it
don't mean nothing.

Just sing it, you know," and...

- [laughter]
- Yeah, and there it is,

because that was difficult
to do, I'm telling you.

He said, "I like
singing with you all

because you sound like me."

He always thought our
voices blended so well

- with-with his.
- [Maxine and Oren] Mm-hmm.

[Usher] "Wanna Be
Startin' Somethin'"

was like... it was
like an opportunity

to kind of get into his mind.

And this idea of,
like, "Billie Jean"

and the fact that he was
living kind of in this...

this world where

you didn't really know
what was real or wasn't.

♪ "Billie Jean" (demo)
by Michael Jackson ♪

♪ She told me I
was a lonely man ♪

♪ And I felt sad ♪

♪ She called my name,
then she said hello ♪

♪ All them who died ♪

♪ And I sit in a cup in a ride ♪

♪ It seems that you ♪

[scatting melody]

[Blige] My mom had just bought

a stereo system,
and it had lights.

The drums kicked in.

[imitating drumbeat]

And then... [imitates bass line]

I mean... [chuckles] What?

And I ran down the hallway
just to hear closely

what was... what was playing,
what this record was.

And it was "Billie
Jean," and it was on

and poppin' from there. [laughs]

It's actually kind of nasty,
and you can hear the room mics

and it's dirtier than you think.

You know, you always
have that moment where

you fall in love with an
artist for the first time.

Really truly great,
legendary artists,

you have that same feeling
over and over and over again.

"Billie Jean" was that moment

where I fell in love with
Michael all over again.

♪♪♪

When Michael sings it,

he puts the funk into it
the way he does all the...

[imitating Michael's
vocalizations]

and all the little
stuff that he puts in.

That gives it the syncopation.

And if I just go...
[imitates beat]

he's gonna go...
[imitating vocalizations]

♪ She was more like
a beauty queen ♪

- ♪ From a movie scene ♪
- [accompaniment fades]

[a cappella] ♪ I
said, "Don't mind ♪

♪ But what do you
mean I am the one ♪

♪ Who will dance on the
floor in the round?" ♪

♪ She said I am the one ♪

♪ Who will dance on the
floor in the round ♪

[accompaniment returns]

♪ She told me her
name was Billie Jean ♪

♪ As she caused a scene ♪

♪ Then every head turned ♪

♪ With eyes that dreamed... ♪

[Usher] Everybody
loves toxic R and B.

"Billie Jean is not my
lover. She's just a girl

who claims that I am the one"?

Yeah, that's like,
was it his side chick?

You know what I'm saying?
Was it some chick who,

you know, he had an encounter
with and got pregnant?

Is this real, or is
this some delusional fan

who is saying that, you know,

they had an encounter
that they did or didn't?

All of those things just led you

to be more intrigued
about an artist, right?

But it was, like,
urgent and R and B.

It was... it was
crazy. It was a...

an amazing R and B
record, and his lyrics...

you know, "The kid is
not my son," I mean...

♪ The kid is not my son... ♪

[Blige] "The kid
is not my son."

[laughs] That first... well,
that... we-we like bad boys,

so that made us
love him some more.

And then when I saw the
video, I was losing my mind.

I lost my voice, screaming.

You know, it was
about "Billie Jean."

You know, him stepping on,
you know, the-the pavement,

it glowing and, you know,
making you feel the magic.

I'd storyboarded that, uh,
he would walk down the, uh...

the street and the paving
stones would light up.

And I showed him
which 11 paving stones

we could afford to have light up

and therefore which
ones couldn't.

And he looked carefully at them,

and-and I said, "Well,
should we rehearse it?"

And he said, "No,
let-let's just do it."

And we ran the
playback, the music,

and the chorus kicked
in for "Billie Jean,"

and he began his dance movement

down that street, and
I'll never forget it.

The-the camera
actually steamed up.

I could hardly even see him
through the-the eyepiece

because it was

so exciting to watch.

[Ivory] Michael is
doing so much moving

that Steve isn't even getting.

There are several
shots in "Billie Jean"

where he's just being
shot from the waist up

and you can just see him
doing all kinds of stuff.

And it's like,

"Why aren't you getting that?"

But that's just how new

the medium was to
capturing dancers.

Michael opened
the door for that.

♪ I am the one... ♪

And every time they just kept
freezing him in those brackets,

and every time he'd
walk, they froze him.

And every time he
said something,

I just was losing my mind
'cause I loved him so much.

But on "Billie Jean,"

we was like, "Oh, he is
super-duper-duper sexy."

- ♪ Not my lover ♪
- ♪ Don't call me, Billie Jean ♪

♪ Billie Jean is
not my lover... ♪

[Branca] MTV refused
to play "Billie Jean."

They said, "Well, our
network appeals to,

you know, white teenagers,

and this just really
doesn't fit our format."

♪ hard rock guitar riff ♪

[Mark Goodman] This is it.

Welcome to MTV Music Television.

I'm Mark Goodman.

- I'm Martha Quinn.
- I'm Alan Hunter.

[Goodman] You'll never look
at music the same way again.

Turn it on! Leave it on!

America, see the
music you want to see.

I want my MTV.

Some prominent Black
musicians are complaining

that they are being left
out of the video market,

specifically the Music
Television cable operation.

It-it occurred to me,
having watched MTV

over the last few months,
um, that it's-it's got a...

it's a solid enterprise and
it's got a lot going for it.

I'm just floored by the fact
that there's so many Bl...

so few Black artists
featured on it.

Why is that?

The fact is, quite frankly,
we're a rock and roll station.

MTV will deny this
till the world ends,

that they had nothing
against Black artists.

But they refused to,
uh, play Michael.

[Walter Yetnikoff]
In 1975, I was named

president of the
CBS Records Group

and a vice president
of CBS, Inc.

No single record changed
the business and my life

as powerfully as Michael
Jackson's Thriller.

I screamed bloody murder

when MTV refused
to air his videos.

They argued that their
format, white rock,

excluded Michael's music.

I argued they were
racist assholes.

[Branca] So Walter
Yetnikoff said,

"Really? Okay.

If you don't play
Michael Jackson,

I'm pulling Billy Joel and
everybody else that I have,

uh, off of MTV."

[Yetnikoff] I've never
been more forceful

or obnoxious.

I've also never
been as effective.

With added pressure from
Quincy Jones, they caved in,

and in doing so, the MTV
color line came crashing down.

[Ivory] One of
the most important

things about Thriller was
the doors that it opened

for other artists to
have the opportunity

to get on the pop charts.

Tina Turner. My
God, Private Dancer.

That's who it was.

It was Tina, it was
Lionel, it was Whitney,

it was Michael and Prince.

Revenues could just be crazy.

♪ Quiet, hypnotic music ♪

[George] Thriller
changes the dynamic

and the culture.

Michael shows the way
that this is possible.

Yeah, I-I grew up, uh,

during the time that
Thriller was released,

and MTV was just becoming
a really big thing.

I remember almost more vividly

the amazing storytelling
through the videos,

which is pretty interesting
'cause I think here we are

40 years later, and
the music and the video

is coming to life again
for the next generation

on TikTok.

Michael Jackson's music
has been available

on TikTok since August 2020.

I think there's a real rebirth

of the music and the video
from these songs on the album.

And it is this new generation
that's being exposed

or engaging with the music.

There are about ten million

video creations on
TikTok right now

that include music
from Thriller.

There are 17 billion views

of those ten million
videos that exist.

There are about two billion
likes on those videos,

so people putting
a little thumbs-up

or sharing or doing something
to say, "I'm excited about this.

I'm engaging with
this-this music."

Pretty massive numbers.

They're hearing it
for the first time.

They're-they're like...

You know, it's-it's
the same feeling

we maybe had when we
watched the MTV video

for "Thriller" or "Beat It."

They're having that same
experience 40 years later,

but rather than just
watch, they're actually

then making something to
engage with that music.

[Michael] I was
kind of upset about

the news I heard about MTV and
how they weren't showing Blacks,

and that kind of hurt me.

So I wanted to do something
that was so powerful,

so strong that everybody
would have to show it.

But I wanted to
tell a strong story.

The story had to sell itself.

And what... these so-called
videos weren't doing that.

They were terrible. They
were just a lot of nothing

put together just
to sell a song.

I wanted my things
to be powerful.

I wanted to stand out
from everything else

that when you see it,
you run to the set

and you're glued
to it, watching it.

I wanted quality. I
wanted excellence.

I wanted the best. I wanted
to perfect perfection.

[Usher] One thing that I can

always say about Michael

is that you felt like there
was a sense of culture.

And the culture would
span all the way

from kind of like this Broadway,
you know, more theatrical world,

and then there was this other
element that was cultural,

that was almost like gangsters.

♪ "Beat It" by Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

You know, when you
look at "Beat It"

and the idea that the people
of that era felt like,

"Oh, he's speaking
to us and with us.

He's rocking with us.
He's making music for us.

We can dance to his music."

♪♪♪

It was an incredible
move to decide,

"We're gonna have a
rock and roll record

on this thing."

"Beat It" was straight
up rock and roll.

[Steven Ray] Michael's
idea with "Beat It"

was to distance himself
from Off the Wall,

from the dance, disco.

And Michael wanted to stretch.

Creatively, he
wanted to stretch.

[Lukather] They wanted a
crossover hit across the board.

Rock, R and B, pop.

They called me to come in
with Michael and Quincy

to do the... [imitates
"Beat It" guitar riff]

They want to go rock
and roll, let's do it.

You know, so I did it with
all... you know, all-all that,

doubled it and
made it sound huge.

And then I played the
bass on it as well.

I did play bass on
that record as well.

So I sat with them
and made that swing,

and when Michael was
dancing in the room,

I knew I was in the pocket.

[Branca] When he
wrote "Beat It,"

he said, "I want a kind
of guitar player on here

that will attract young,
white, teenage males."

Eddie Van Halen.

[Ray] He said, "Well, what
do you want me to do?"

And Quincy said, "Well,

I want you to be you.

That's you right
there." And he pointed

to the famous, you
know, Strat that he had.

And he said, "I'm not gonna
tell you what to play.

You go be you."

[Branca] I mean, Eddie ripped

these solos off one
after the other.

[rhythmic thumping]

[playing "Beat It" guitar solo]

♪♪♪

[Marinelli] I
remember, like, hearing

the sound coming from Studio A,

where he was doing the-the solo.

It was so loud.

I could... I just...

It was just so loud.

Bruce Swedien and
Quincy brilliantly

edited that solo together.

I mean, I think I
probably just loved it

'cause, at that moment,
it was probably everything

that I ever loved in
one song, you know?

I've done way more time googling

Lukather's tone on "Beat It"
than, um, Eddie Van Halen's,

because it's the
tone that drives

the whole record...
that's the riff.

It's the perfect way that, like,
a rock guitar could ever sit

over programmed
drums in a... in a...

like, a funky groove.

I thought his videos
were incredible.

I mean, first off,
the guy could dance.

I mean, just being in the room,

watching him groove
while we're playing.

[Rich Talauega]
That short film...

you see, this whole movie,

it's about a big fight that's
about to happen, right,

between two rival gangs, right?

♪ "Beat It" by Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Beat it... ♪

[Tone Talauega] He saw
value in street culture.

He wanted to try
to figure out a way

on how to incorporate it, and...

and the beginning
of it was "Beat It."

[Rich] The people that you see

in that film are a mixture
of dancers and street cats.

And not only that

is that you actually had
real gangsters on set.

Like, real Bloods and Crips

and Vatos and all
that, like, for real.

[Terry Lewis] There
was such a magic

in Michael and his movement.

♪ No one wants to be
defeated, oh, Lord ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

♪ Just beat it... ♪

[Rich] You had B-boying

that was going on in New York.

You had popping and locking

that was going down
over here in California,

and strutting and-and
robotting, all them.

So the guy that's vibrating

in the "Beat It" short film
with the... with the glasses on,

his name is Robot Dane.

This is the first ever

street dance wave of the
United States of America.

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter... ♪

[Usher] The most
relevant scene

at the time, which either
was breakdancing, locking,

popping, waving, whatever
it might have been,

he's pushing the
envelope forward,

he's teaching us some things,
he's informing us as artists,

but also, too, as performers,

he's letting us know that,
"Yo, I want to be the baddest."

As a fan or a critic,

you're always looking
for breathtaking moments,

the time when you say,

"I've never seen
anything like that.

I'm probably not gonna see
anything like that again."

The Motown show,

that's what I think was
the most important step

in the whole Thriller process
of making him the superstar.

♪ And I'll be there ♪

- ♪ Whoo! ♪
- [crowd cheering]

[Ivory] Bob Jones was, uh,

vice president of
publicity at Motown.

He says,

"We're doing a Motown show."

I rented a tuxedo, and,
uh, I went to the show.

People just went crazy.

[Blige] I was home
in front of the TV.

[chuckles] Waiting for
him to take us there.

First, we didn't know
what he was gonna do,

because he was up there
with his brothers.

[Ivory] The Jacksons leave,

the brothers leave, and
Mike stays out there.

[crowd cheering]

And in the audience,

you could hear
just kind of like:

"What's-what's getting
ready to happen now?"

And, you know, Mike goes
through the whole...

"Those were some great times.
I love the-the old songs."

You know, th-those
were good songs.

I-I like those songs a lot,

but, especially, I like...

- [spectator] "Billie Jean"!
- [crowd shouting]

- the new songs.
- [crowd cheering]

[Ivory] And then here comes

"Billie Jean."

- ["Billie Jean" playing]
- [raucous cheering]

♪♪♪

The tape that you can see

of "Billie Jean"

and the stuff you see
going on in the audience,

it does not capture what
was happening in that crowd.

These people were going

absolutely berserk.

♪ Who will dance on the
floor in the round? ♪

Mike just turned
it the fuck out.

♪ People always told me,
"Be careful of what you do ♪

♪ Don't go around breakin'
young girls' hearts" ♪

♪ Hee-hee ♪

♪ And Mother always told me... ♪

I mean, he just laid
a bomb on that room.

♪ "'Cause the lie becomes
the truth," hey, hey ♪

♪ Billie Jean is not my... ♪

[Hilburn] I was at that show

at the Pasadena
Civic Auditorium.

And he's moving different.
He's got his own moves now.

He's not so much doing
what-what he learned growing up,

and he was excited about it.

♪ Hee-hee-hee ♪

♪♪♪

[Blige] We just
was happy to see

Michael Jackson perform, period.

Nobody seen the moonwalk coming.

[cheering]

♪ She says I am... ♪

[Hilburn] He does
the moonwalk.

That's the breathtaking
moment, okay?

And after the show, I
couldn't believe it.

I had to go backstage
and to ask somebody,

"Was there a
special trick floor?

[laughs] How did he do that?"

[Rich] You know, this
was the performance

that really changed
space and time.

A few of his dances, we
call 'em timekeepers.

And he created a whole
vocabulary of timekeepers,

whether it's with his hip...

[snapping rhythmically]

or with his... you
know, his side,

- stomping with the ankle.
- That's right.

Or he'll stomp with the foot.

With that, you can sing.

You see what I'm saying?

And it looks like
you're dancing.

- But you're really not.
- It's an illu...

It's-it's a bit
of a trick, right?

And you go... you
walk over here.

[scatting rhythmically]

And switch the mic,

flip the coat, put the
hand in the pocket.

You could do a few things
here and there that only...

only you can do if you know
your song and your music.

♪♪♪

You know, when you see

him glide across
the floor or pop,

it's a special effect.

He saw magic in that dance.

Look at that... if
you pause each moment,

it's an iconic silhouette.

It's the hat, it's
the arms, it's the...

it's the tapping of the leg.

Right? The kick.

♪♪♪

To see a Black man
standing on his toes,

seeing that and not
being conscious of it

has made generations
of Black, brown,

white, whatever color kids feel
like anything was possible.

It's bigger than I think we,
uh, think and acknowledge.

[cheering]

[Ivory] After Mike finished,

the producer had to get
on the microphone and say,

"Ladies and gentlemen,
please, please,

gather yourselves
and take your seats.

We have more show to tape.

There's much more show coming."

And it took a minute for people
to get their ties back together

and the women to put
their wigs back on.

[George] Okay, I have
one question for you.

Who was the unfortunate artist

- who had to come on...
- [laughing]

I don't remember. [laughing]

[cheering continues]

[Usher] I think that was
the moment that he had

his breakout moment from
the... from the group.

That song, "Billie Jean,"

and the way he performed
it on that night

set the standard of what
it was to be a megastar.

The next day after the show,
Fred Astaire called my house.

He said, "I saw the
show last night.

I taped it. I watched
it twice this morning."

And he said, "You
were incredible.

You're a hell of a mover,
and you really put them

on their A-S-S," he said.

And I said, "God, thank you.

It's so wonderful
for you to say that,

'cause I think you're the best."

And that was my r-reward,
'cause I think he's brilliant.

♪ Tense, hypnotic music ♪

♪♪♪

[Copeland] To a
classical dancer,

it's about your line,
it's about the shapes

that you're-you're making.

And Michael does that.

That, to me, is very
similar to a trained dancer,

even though he wasn't trained.

He would've been the
ideal ballet dancer.

The proportions of his body.

He was lean, uh, and long,
um, and just had, like,

a natural instinct
when he moved.

But there... but there was
such precision and clarity.

He was a perfectionist,

and that's what dancers are.

Um, you know, you don't
commit that type of time

and sacrifice your body,

the injury, all of those things,

if you don't have the passion
for it and the love for it.

And all of that sums up Michael

as a dancer, as a
performer, as an artist.

[George] Michael Jackson
didn't invent dancing on film,

but his particular synthesis

of the Nicholas
Brothers on one hand

and Bob Fosse, Astaire,
popping, locking,

moonwalking... no one had ever

put those elements
together before like that.

You can see it all
the way through from

"Billie Jean" and "Beat
It" and "Thriller,"

all the way through to all
of these other artists.

Look at MC Hammer,
"U Can't Touch This."

Then you go forward to, like,
Usher and Justin Timberlake.

And then you go farther
forward to Justin Bieber,

Doja Cat, Bruno Mars.

[Branca] Michael is emulated.

If you look at BTS,
you can see it.

[BTS's "Dynamite" playing]

[Ivory] I'm all in with BTS.

I love those guys.

Every move they do is
all Michael Jackson.

Michael created that.

[George] The
entire K-pop wave,

they've all studied Michael

in terms of stage clothes,
video clothes and stagecraft.

There's a great video
if you watch BTS.

There's a lot of
Michael Jackson.

You see it in their dancing.

♪ 'Cause I, I, I'm in
the stars tonight ♪

♪ So watch me bring the fire
and set the night alight ♪

♪ Shining through the city
with a little funk and soul ♪

♪ So I'm-a light it up
like dynamite, whoa-oh-oh ♪

♪ Dyn-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na,
na-na-na, life is dynamite ♪

♪ Dyn-na-na-na... ♪

[George] So, the
entire K-pop movement,

they're students of the game.

You can look at a number of
millennial hip-hop artists...

Polo G being one of them...

23, 24 years old, from Chicago,

yet he's very much in
trance with Michael Jackson

and he uses Michael
Jackson music

and imagery in
some of his music.

♪ Ha, smooth
criminal, Mike Jack ♪

♪ And I still like to tote
a four-five like Mike back ♪

[Polo G] It was just a
night I was riding around,

I was riding in my car,
and I was just listening

to Michael Jackson interviews.

I wasn't listening to music.

I was just listening
to his interviews.

And I just came up
with this idea, like,

maybe I should do, uh, this
song and this instrumental

and just really mess
everybody head up

'cause I know they wouldn't

be expecting that
from a young artist.

♪ Tell me, Annie, are you
okay? Screaming out, "No way" ♪

♪ Tell me, Annie,
are you okay? ♪

'Cause I remember my grandma
had this same exact album.

My auntie, who was her daughter,

she was a big
Michael Jackson fan,

so she always had
us listening to him.

So I remember her
having this one exactly.

[George] It's pretty wild.

It says how powerful the imagery
that Michael created was.

♪ Soft, atmospheric music ♪

♪♪♪

[Ray] On Thriller,

his life was evolving, you know,

and his vocal approach
was different.

There's vocalists,
and there's stylists.

[chuckles] Style wins.

When you can hear a person sing

and recognize them fr-from
the first couple bars,

you know you got
something special.

They have a special tone,

a special voice, a
special delivery.

Now, Michael had all of that.

In just the way
he loved to dance

and-and he loved to perform,

he turned all of that melody
that he was so great with

into percussive melody.

Well, that's what he did.
He would sing drum parts.

He would sing bass lines.

He would, uh... all with
his rhythmic inflections.

We call it "drums
in your mouth."

He would beatbox. He was
an amazing beatboxer.

But beatbox with melody
and sing, you know,

not just beatboxing.

He would, you know,
integrate melody with it.

And you can hear it on
"Beat It," you know,

just the way he would
attack each syllable.

♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

[accompaniment fades]

[a cappella] ♪ Showin' how
funky, strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

♪ Just beat it ♪

♪ Beat it... ♪

I think of all of his
melodies and his songs,

and they're
completely percussive.

I mean, they're incredibly
rhythmically hooky,

and, you know, all those songs,
and the songs that he wrote

have these very aggressive
staccato rhythms.

I feel like "Billie Jean" and
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin',"

they're really short and stabby.

They're always, like...
there's a tiny bit of, like,

anger and, like, contempt
in the... in the...

in the way that he's
singing and writing.

[Michael, a cappella]
♪ I know I am someone ♪

♪ And let the truth unfurl ♪

♪ No one can hurt you now ♪

♪ Because you know what's true ♪

♪ Yes, I believe in me ♪

♪ So you believe in you ♪

♪ Help me sing it ♪

♪ Hoo-hoo! ♪

The greatest soul singers are
not afraid to feel the music,

you know, just do what the
music tells them to do.

For all the new cats,
all the new-school cats

that are going on
record and ad-libbing,

and they say, like...

[aggressive staccato scatting]

I'm sorry, Michael
did that first.

I'll prove it to you.

[Michael, a cappella] ♪
So beat it, just beat it ♪

[brief staccato scatting]

♪ Beat it ♪

[Michael yawning
over beatboxing]

♪ Beat it ♪

Why was he yawning
on a record, though?

It shows the freedom

and how comfortable
he felt in the studio

without worrying about
people's judgment

or, like, "Yo, what's that?"

Because you know he was
bringing the freaking skills.

You knew he was bringing
ultra talent and imagination,

for him to be like,
"You know what?

I feel like yawning right here."

[Michael yawning
over beatboxing]

♪ Beat it ♪

[Michael grunts dramatically]

I-I don't know what that
one is. I don't know what...

[laughing] I don't...
but I love it.

And I'm listening
to his ad-libs.

He's doing all that...

[beatboxing]

He's doing all this
rhythmic stuff.

♪ "Human Nature" by
Michael Jackson ♪

[Michael beatboxing as
instrumental track fades]

[Ray] Michael had
such a clear vision

of what he wanted, and Quincy,

he knows who wanted to
work with each other.

There's a number
of things going on.

We have "Beat It,"
drums being done

by Jeff Porcaro at Sunset Sound;

Steve Lukather in
Studio B at Westlake;

Studio A, Quincy and Bruce.

Quincy's going back and
forth between A and B,

across the hallway.

Then you add the
E.T. storybook album,

and-and then... then
it's just a lot going on.

Quincy had become friends
with Steven Spielberg.

And I remember one day
he... Steven invited Quincy

down to the set when
he was working on E.T.

And, uh, E.T. was there,

and the guys who were operating
it at the time were there.

And I think somewhere
in the course of it,

Steven had said to
Quincy, said, "You know,

"I want to do a
rec... we should do

a record of some sort."

[Branca] So Quincy, I think,

came to Michael and-and said,

"Steven wants us to do
the E.T. storybook album,"

where Michael would
narrate the story of E.T.

and Michael would write and
sing a song for the album.

[Eckstine] And Michael
was a big fan, too,

so, "Quincy, let's do this."

So they started doing it in
the midst of doing Thriller.

I've always loved film, and, uh,

we're talking, in the
stage of doing, uh,

Quincy Jones and myself
and Steven Spielberg,

uh, working on a project.

[Branca] The problem
is nobody bothered

to call Walter Yetnikoff

and clear the rights
because the album was

going out on
Universal MCA's label.

I'll never forget, uh, one
day, I was at a-a meeting

and I get a call, so
I get on the phone

and Walter says, "Tell Michael
to stop kissing the monster."

"Walter, what are
you talking about?"

"Stop kissing the monster!"

So, if you look at the
E.T. storybook album,

Michael's got his
arm around E.T.

They're like pals, and that's
what Walter was talking about.

It wasn't just an album.

It was a whole box
set with posters

and a picture of
Michael with E.T.

So Walter filed an
injunction against,

uh, MCA and Universal

and made them take the
album out of the stores.

It was already shipped.
It was already a huge hit.

They had to pull the album back.

Epic wasn't happy, and
they felt it was sort of

holding up their record,
the-the Thriller record.

Yeah, they sued, you know.

"No, you can't have our
artist, da-da-da-da-da."

You know, and Walter
was litigious anyway,

and so he-he went...
he went in hard.

And MCA responded hard,

and it was, you know,
all hell broke loose.

[Branca] And he said,
"John, is he mad at me?"

I said, "What do you
think, Walter?" [laughs]

"You-you just sued him
and Steven Spielberg

and Quincy Jones,
and you wonder...

you're wondering if
he's mad at you?"

Uh, and he goes, "What
can I do to make it up?"

And I said, "You
give him the owner...

ownership of his
master recordings:

Off the Wall, Thriller
and everything to come."

And he said, "Done."

To get your masters back in
the middle of a contract,

I don't think had
ever, ever happened.

♪ "Carousel" by
Michael Jackson ♪

[Ray] Rod came with his songs.

Michael had his songs.

And if those
worked, they worked.

If they didn't, they-they
went looking elsewhere.

♪ I lost my heart ♪

♪ On the carousel ♪

♪ To a circus girl ♪

♪ Who left my heart
in pieces... ♪

[Jones] "Carousel"
was a great song,

and fortunately or
unfortunately, you know,

there was only room on the album

for one mood like, uh,
"Carousel" or-or "Human Nature,"

and "Human Nature" was the
choice we had to make, you know.

Toto was big at that time.

[Jones] Toto, who
I just adored,

we worked together a lot,
and, um, they sent over

two demos that they thought
would be right for Michael,

and all of a sudden, there's...

at the end, there
was all this silence.

And then it said... it said...

♪ Why, why? ♪

[scatting "Human Nature" melody]

♪ Why? ♪

And-and I tell you, I get...

I get goose bumps
just talking about it.

And I said, "What the
hell is that?" You know?

That's what took "Carousel" out.

I said, "This is
where we want to go,"

'cause it's got such a...
a-a wonderful flavor.

- [crowd cheering]
- [Michael] I'll tell you what.

Tonight, I want to do...

one of my favorite songs.

♪ I touched her shoulder ♪

♪ She likes the way I stare ♪

♪ And they say, "Why?" ♪

Everybody sing!

♪ Tell them that
it's human nature ♪

♪ Why, why does he
do me that way? ♪

The song that always haunts
me is "Human Nature."

- [chuckles]
- [exhales sharply]

- Um... Yeah.
- What a beautiful record.

That's-that's one of those
records that you just say,

"I wish I would've did
that record." [laughs]

And that always,
for me, is the...

the test of if I love it or not.

[Michael] I remember one
experience in the studio,

Rod Temperton, one of
the writers on the album,

and he said, "Michael, if
you only had three hits

off this album, would
you not be happy?"

I said, "I'd be very angry."

And they all started laughing.

I said, "I expect eight
hits off of this album.

Nine, all of 'em."

[Michael Jackson's
"Human Nature" playing]

That is how I am. I'm sorry.

And my attitude was always
reaching out for more.

Never being satisfied.

And right at this very moment,
I'm on my fifth hit record.

Five. "Human Nature"
is number ten.

And I've broken a record that
has never been done before...

five hit songs for one album.

Always reaching out for more,
striving for excellence.

[Ray] It's so engaging

because the idea

was to have something
for everyone.

There was a song that I didn't
really know too much about

that was called "Starlight,"

and it was a disco song
that Rod Temperton wrote.

You know, so it
really evolved from

this click here at 1:18.

And so, okay, we lay the
click down, and the idea was:

"Let's put it... let's
put a new version down.

Let's put some tracks down
and see where it goes."

So we-we started
with this drumbeat.

[synthesized drumbeat playing]

Four on the floor,
kind of dance song.

And then... backbeat.

[drumbeat continues]

Claps on the four.

[synthesized handclaps
add to the beat]

And then the hi-hat
part was like this.

Five, six, seven, eight.

[drumbeat continues]

And then open hat.

There we go.

And then the cowbell.

Here we go.

So, another thing about
Michael and Quincy

is they like kind of like

a little bit of a
feel to the music.

So, this is straight time.

And then we add a little
bit of shuffle to it

so it just kind of pushes
it a little bit like that.

So it's in.

And then the bass line ended
up being kind of like a...

something I never
would have expected,

like a little bit of a
Latin rhythm, like...

[imitating drum and bass beat]

Which sounded like a
conga line to me, but...

[playing synthesized bass line]

And there was the-the opening.

[playing "Thriller"
synthesizer melody]

♪ "Thriller" by
Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

[wolf howling]

[Phillinganes] Just layering
all the parts to "Thriller"

was one of the most fun sessions
I've ever done in my life.

[Yetnikoff] At 24,
Michael had become more

than a master singer,
dancer, songwriter.

He was a super salesman
of his own mystique.

Michael's passion for world
conquest was singular.

He lived, breathed,
slept, dreamt and spoke

of nothing but
number one successes.

Thriller stayed
number one for months.

In the long period of its
unprecedented success, however,

when it occasionally fell to
second place for a week or two,

Michael panicked.

Hysterical, he'd berate me

for failing to pump
up the promotion.

"I'm pumping, Michael," I'd say.

"I promise you I'm pumping."

And I was.

[Ivory] After
Thriller had sold

about three or four
million copies,

I got a call about 12 noon.

On the phone was the
record company saying,

"Hey, listen, if
you're not busy,

we need you to get
over here right now."

Michael was going to
be presented a-a plaque

for the-the Thriller record.

And we were wondering,
why were we waiting?

In came Jane Fonda.

Jane?

[applause]

I love Michael,
and I admire him.

He's the only person I
know that writes music

that you can dream
to and dance to

and love to and work out to.

And I do all of 'em to it.

- Come here, Michael.
- [applause]

[Ivory] In retrospect, I know

exactly what he was doing.

He understood the
importance of having

a big white star
giving him this plaque.

Uh, Michael has a number one
single on the pop charts,

number one album
on the pop charts,

number one single on
the R and B charts,

number one album on
the R and B charts.

And I think that starts...

that's sort of an
historic record.

[Maxwell] But I don't
think we understood

where it was gonna go until

the "Thriller" video came out.

♪ Suspenseful orchestral music ♪

♪♪♪

[Branca] As far as
the record company

was concerned, the
album cycle was done.

They were thrilled
with whatever it sold,

and Michael said, "No, no,
we're gonna... we got more."

"Thriller," of all the
songs on the album,

uh, seems like you can do
much more video-wise...

no, movie-wise...
than any of the songs

'cause of the story
and all the visuals

and monsters and stuff.

And so I came up with an idea

of thinking that I
really want to change,

metamorphosis into
some other creature.

I... and I-I saw American
Werewolf In London.

I really liked it.

And-and I said, "Who's
the director who did it?"

And they said, "John
Landis, John Landis."

I said, "Great. That's
who we got to get."

So I said, "Get in
touch with him."

[John Landis] So I get
this call, and he says,

"Michael Jackson," and
I really thought...

"Little Michael Jackson
of The Jackson 5?"

I mean, I thought,
"He's a kid," you know?

And he told me he had
a song, "Thriller,"

and he wanted me
to make a video.

And I said, "Why?"

His brother showed
him on the bus

the tape of American Werewolf,
I think to scare him,

but he loved American
Werewolf in London.

And he was obviously fascinated
with Rick Baker's work.

[roaring]

And so he called me and said,

"I want to turn into a
monster. Will you do it?"

And the record label
wouldn't pay for it.

And, uh... and we
talked, and I said,

"Michael, you know, you
shouldn't pay for this.

You shouldn't pay
for it yourself."

And he said, "Branca,
figure it out."

Nobody wanted him to do this.

This was entirely his own thing.

And everybody else... his
people and the record company...

said, "Next album. Let's...
We've already... Michael, hello.

It's the most successful
album of all time. We want..."

So they thought
"Thriller" was outrageous.

[George] Its budget was
$1.2 million dollars.

That's at a time when the
average music video budget

was only $50,000 dollars.

So I went... I went back to the
office and thought about it.

And I thought up this
idea of a making-of.

Went to MTV and Showtime,

and-and Michael was the
biggest thing on the planet.

And I said, "We'll give you

a making of
Michael's next video.

We need a million two."

And they came back,
and they said yes.

[Michael] We're
trying to bring back

the motion picture shorts,

which we will do with,
uh... with "Thriller."

A lot of the videos... I
hate to use the word "video"

'cause I like to think of
it as a film, which it is...

we're doing a short film...
a lot of 'em are so terrible.

And I wanted "Thriller" and
"Beat It" to be a stimulant

for people to make better
videos or short films.

I really did, 'cause, I mean,
I love MTV, watching it.

You know, I think it's great,

but a lot of stuff I see,
I'm not so crazy about.

[Landis] He wanted
to turn into a...

at first, a-a wolf man,

like the werewolf in
American Werewolf.

[growling]

His desire was to
turn into a monster

on camera.

We had the character turn into

a four-legged hound
from hell, a...

you know, a beast.

And Michael wanted to
do that, and I told him,

"Michael, it would
be so difficult

for you to dance with four legs,

you know, and for
the puppeteers.

No."

So then it was gonna be

more of a traditional
wolf man character.

And Rick Baker did the first
design, and it was great

but truly terrifying.

And I said, "Aah!
Whatever we have him

turn into, he's got
to be attractive."

Scary but...

kind of cool and
elegant, you know?

So his second design, he
made him that "were-cat,"

and it's a much more
graceful design.

Are you all right?

- Go away!
- [screams]

[roaring]

♪ "Thriller" by
Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

[Deborah Nadoolman Landis]
Michael Jackson was

a very slight person.

99 pounds soaking wet.

So, how do you develop
a presence on screen?

For "Thriller,"

you know, it was supposed to be

a satire of a
teenage horror film,

so he's in a letterman's jacket.

And then, with his red
jacket for that theater,

I was trying to create
a silhouette that was

sexy, masculine, impressive,

and... and gave him
weight on screen.

[John Landis] So, with
Michael's fascination

with monsters, I said, "Well,
you'll become two monsters.

You'll become a werewolf,"

and then when we decided on
dancing zombies, a zombie.

Doesn't make sense,
but who cares?

You know, it's a fantasy.

And he really enjoyed the
process of the makeup,

and he really enjoyed
wearing the makeup.

Most actors hate
it, and he loved it.

He's so dynamic, Mike,

and he has such
power and such charm.

As I had seen it, just
looking at, you know,

"Can You Feel It"
and everything I saw,

it's like, "Why isn't
he being sexual?"

I mean, he's a rock star.

So one of the first
things for me was

I wanted a girl to make him sexy

and to also...

to be gaga in love with him.

The big eyes, you know.

And I saw over a
hundred actresses

and dancers and all
kinds of people.

And when Ola came in,

one, she was
desperate, desperate

to be with Michael Jackson,
and she was adorable.

[Ola Ray] Michael Jackson
isn't Michael Jackson

as a werewolf.

Michael Jackson is

another person
totally with the mask.

And I like, you know,
when he's so shy.

I have something I
want to tell you.

[John Landis] The
only time I really

explained something to him,
I said, "You know, Michael,

I want you to know when you say,
'I'm not like other guys'..."

I'm not like other guys.

"...it will get a laugh."

And he was clueless. He said,
"Why would this get a laugh?"

I said, "Because you're
not like other guys."

But at least he was prepared,
'cause it got a huge laugh

and, uh... and so
he was in on it.

You know, I think he would have
been terribly upset otherwise.

[Rich] From the
beginning of the film,

going to the theater,

then you're walking out,
and then Michael has

that cat-and-mouse sort of, uh,

walk that he's
doing with Ola Ray.

That's like an ode back to, uh,
classic, uh, musicals, right?

The cat-and-mouse chase.

Right? Th-Then, you
know, the-the man

playing up to the
woman and all that.

[John Landis] And
it's a dolly shot.

And I said, "Mike, here's
what we're gonna do.

As long as Ola
could keep the beat,

you do those lyrics,

you can never be more than
this many feet away from her."

[Deborah Nadoolman Landis]
The big difference between

a costume designer and
a fashion designer is,

for us, it's all about
dramatic context.

So, where are they gonna be?

They're gonna be in an
alley and a movie theater.

And what are they doing?

They're on a date,
and Michael is gonna

be playful and be seductive.

She's dressed in blue.

She's cool.

She's relaxed. She's in jeans.

They did have a
leopard print on them,

but, you know, tight
jeans, little jacket.

She couldn't have been cuter.

I think, to the audience,

with what she's wearing
and her attitude,

she's sending off
every good vibe.

And I'll say, "Okay,
well, that was fine.

I don't want fine.

You're Michael Jackson,

so it has to be great.

Because if you can't be great,

why the fuck do I have
Michael Jackson here?"

So he goes, "Okay, John."

And he did the next take.

He was great!
[laughs] You know?

♪ For you and I to cuddle
close together, yeah ♪

♪ All through the night ♪

♪ I'll save you from the
terror on the screen ♪

♪ I'll make you see... ♪

[John Landis] Michael
Peters and Michael Jackson

came up with the choreography,

and it's fascinating
choreography

because the dancers were allowed

more rehearsal than usual.

At that point already,

Michael had established
certain moves,

so my first instruction to
Michael Peters was spooky,

and the second one was:

"I don't want any Michael move."

♪ suspenseful orchestral music ♪

♪ "Thriller" by
Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

[Rich] And they go into this

popping routine, right?

This goes back to the whole
thing of where Michael Jackson

crosses the technique and
the street world, right?

♪♪♪

And he was so inspired by
popping and waving and all that

so that he had to
put them in the film.

How would a zombie dance?

And then looking at
it, and it was...

it just made a
lot of sense to me

that they weren't just locking
or they just weren't popping

or they just weren't
doing jazz dance.

The angles, the
lines were all...

demented and crooked, and it...

I'd just never seen
anything like that before.

♪ 'Cause this is thriller ♪

♪ Thriller night... ♪

[Deborah Nadoolman
Landis] On those zombies,

those costumes were
just made of rags.

We call it aging,
distressing and dying.

Then, of course,
Rick Baker's work

was just masterful on everybody.

♪ Thriller night ♪

♪ 'Cause I can thrill you more ♪

♪ Than any ghoul
would ever dare try ♪

This is a song about
watching a movie.

Yo. A Blockbuster night.

[laughs] He made
a whole movie.

He entertained us.

He gave us R and B,
he gave us horror,

he gave us sci-fi, but he
gave it all to us in music.

He-he was just a-amazing.

[John Landis] After
the video came out,

it tripled its sales.

They sold six million of these.

This made MTV a powerhouse

and then created this
whole rock video business.

It was extraordinary.

[Deborah Nadoolman Landis]
And it's that moment when

the audience falls
madly in love,

that the audience
creates the icons.

[Branca] He could
write the songs.

He could produce them.

He could sing them.

He could perform like no other.

And he also was a fashion icon.

I've seen little tiny
kids in red jackets.

I've seen old grandpas
in red jackets.

I've seen girls in red jackets.

I've seen everybody
wearing that jacket.

It was huge worldwide.

They were buying the leather
jackets that Michael...

They were buying everything.

They were buying Michael
Jackson posters, calendars.

♪ Looks so much like
Michael from head to toe ♪

♪ Put the mic in his hand
and he'll steal the show ♪

[all] I love you,
Michael Jackson.

[crowd chanting]
Michael Jackson!

[woman] Anything with
Michael Jackson on it

does continue to sell.

[man] I work in a record
store, and it still

just flies out of
the store every week.

And we're talking about a record

that's a year and a half,
almost two years old,

and people are still
freaking out about it.

[reporter] There have
always been fan clubs,

Michael's fans more
passionate than most.

This club calls
itself the P.Y.T.'s.

We love you! We
love you, Michael!

And if nothing else,
"Thriller" was always

gonna be played in
the month of October.

Like, there's this big
thing in Mexico that happens

where, I'll tell you, the-the...
every... people fly in for it.

They're all in their
costumes, and they do

the "Thriller" dance,
thousands of people.

And people are
still, you-you know,

dancing to this
song like it's...

like it was just
done, like the...

like the short film
just came out yesterday.

"Thriller," a long time coming.

Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

[George] Probably the
single biggest video

for MTV ever.

[Ivory] After their
initial reluctance,

MTV became a huge supporter
of Michael Jackson,

especially the
"Thriller" short film.

They heavily promoted
the premiere.

At some point, it felt
like the "M" in MTV

stood for "Michael."

And everybody was talking about
how they were gonna cut school

to go home to watch
the "Thriller" video

because it was a twelve
o'clock world premiere on MTV.

And he was acting, he
was eating popcorn,

and then he turned
into a monster.

There's something about
music, I think, that has...

that triggers so many
different emotions in people,

so you're tapping
into all of that

to a larger and larger
and larger audience,

and it just exponentially grew.

[George] So, the
spring of '84,

the record's already out,

it's already selling
because Michael's now gone

from being a pop
star to a phenomenon.

The Guinness Book of World
Records is giving him

an award as the biggest-selling
album of all time.

It's a thriller
of a party tonight

for Michael Jackson at the
Museum of Natural History.

That's where Jackson's
being honored

for his album that's
broken all the records.

[reporter 2] This was the
payoff for the fans tonight,

that momentary glimpse of
superstar Michael Jackson

with his date for the
evening, Brooke Shields.

[Yetnikoff] Thriller, with
25 million copies sold,

was the best-selling album ever.

Today, we surpassed 25
million copies for Thriller.

Michael Jackson, the number
one artist in the world!

- [crowd cheering]
- Thriller eclipsed them all.

At one point, the
damn thing was selling

a million copies a week.

[George] Michael had
become a global obsession.

And just think, you
all came to see me.

[sparse laughter]

No, I know why you're
here, and with good reason.

To see one of the most
talented, most popular

and most exciting superstars
in the music world today,

Michael Jackson.

Michael, welcome
to the White House.

[John Landis] But
being with Michael

at that moment in time,

this is... "Thriller" is
now out on television.

And there was Michael
mania, you know.

He called me, and he said,

"Have you ever been
to Disney World?"

So the park was open, and there
were people walking around.

Here's Michael,
here's Mickey and me.

Suddenly, we look around,

and there are people

as far as you can see
in every direction...

behind us, in front
of us, around us...

and they're getting more
and more hysterical.

"Michael! Michael!"

And you see Mickey
Mouse is going like...

"Holy shit!

We're never getting out
of this alive!" You know?

[Branca] You
know, Thriller was

the biggest album in the world,
Michael was the biggest star,

and he wanted to go
out and tour Thriller.

But Joseph... you know,
uh, Mr. Jackson...

had other ideas.

He wanted to bring all
the family back together.

He brought in Don King

as the recommended
promoter of the tour.

And he got the brothers and
Mrs. Jackson, Katherine.

Everybody was all for it.

Michael was hesitant,
to be honest.

He felt like he had done
Thriller on his own,

and he wanted to tour
as a solo artist.

But he was persuaded
to go along with it.

[Ivory] This tour is a
bonanza of marketing,

so everybody wants
to get in on this.

And Quaker Oats, you know,
they had made a deal.

They had a tentative
deal with the Jacksons

to be the sponsors
of this thing.

And then Don King says, "Listen,
I've already made a deal.

I made it with Pepsi."

♪ "Billie Jean" (Pepsi
Version) by Michael Jackson ♪

♪♪♪

[Branca] Michael was
not into the sponsorship

'cause he-he said,
"This isn't my thing.

I don't drink Pepsi. This
is all for my family."

And Michael did not want
to do the Pepsi deal.

♪ You're a whole
new generation ♪

♪ You're loving what they do ♪

♪ Put a Pepsi into motion ♪

♪ And that choice is up
to you, hey, hey, hey ♪

♪ You're the Pepsi
Generation... ♪

[Branca] 'Cause he said to me,
"Okay, Branca, listen to me.

I got to do this 'cause
my family wants it,

but you have to write two
things in the contract.

Number one: I'm never
holding a Pepsi can.

And number two: I can't be

on the screen for more
than three seconds."

So it's in the Pepsi contract,

no more than three seconds
and never holding a Pepsi can.

So if you ever watch
that commercial again,

you'll-you'll see.

[Ivory] It's
interesting because

if Don King had not made
the deal with Pepsi,

Michael's hair wouldn't
have gotten burned.

I was actually at
the Pepsi commercial,

and I had an all-access pass.

When I arrived at the
Shrine Auditorium Downtown,

Michael and the
Jacksons were onstage

performing "Billie Jean."

[cheering]

The audience had been invited,

you know, and they
were told to scream

and the whole thing.

They didn't have to be
instructed to do that.

They were crazy about, you know,

seeing the Jacksons and
Michael there and...

They did a run-through, and
after they came offstage,

Michael was just in a great mood

and he was having
fun, fooling around.

And then they
called them back out

and said, "We're
gonna do this again."

And it went horribly wrong.

Filming the Pepsi commercial,
there was a big explosion.

♪ You're the Pepsi Generation ♪

♪ Guzzle down... ♪

[Branca] And it
burned Michael's scalp

very severely.

[Ivory] The audience didn't
know what was going on.

And when they took
Michael offstage,

I went backstage,

and it was just absolute chaos.

They put him in a stretcher...

you know, an
ambulance stretcher...

and they took him offstage
to a paramedic truck.

And Michael Jackson
was smart enough...

- [camera snaps]
- to be covered up,

but he had his glove out.

That was the photograph
that went around the world

of him with the glitter glove.

People were crying, you
know, in the audience.

And people were running
with the ambulance

as it was taking him away.

It was just an incredible thing.

When I got home, it
was all over the news.

[reporter] Jackson was rushed
to a hospital last night

after suffering second-
and third-degree burns.

[reporter 2] But
his doctor said

the famous patient
was doing well.

He slept several
hours last night.

He was up watching TV at
approximately one o'clock.

He's comfortable this morning,
although he is continuing

to have discomfort
in the scalp area.

[Branca] People don't realize

he had to go to emergency
treatment in a burn center,

and he was troubled by
the pain from that burn

for the rest of his life,

which led to pain pills and
whatnot to-to ease the pain.

[Ivory] Because he
needed painkillers,

he was in pain,
life couldn't stop.

He had a book full of
things that he had to do.

You know, a schedule
that just could not stop.

The opening of the Victory Tour

in Kansas City was
a massive event.

[dramatic, atmospheric
music playing]

♪♪♪

[crowd cheering]

It's at Arrowhead Stadium.

It's a giant football stadium.

[raucous cheering]

- I love you, Michael.
- I love you, Michael.

I love you so much.

This is gonna be the best
concert of the century.

- Don't you think?
- Definitely.

I have to ask Michael
Jackson to marry me today.

We would do about anything
to see Michael Jackson.

[dramatic music continues]

♪♪♪

[cheering continues]

[reporter] You're looking
at a sneak preview

of what is perhaps
the most controversial

rock concert tour in history,
the Jacksons' Victory Tour,

opening tonight in Kansas City.

[Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be
Startin' Somethin'" playing]

♪♪♪

♪ I said you wanna be
startin' somethin' ♪

♪ You got to be
startin' somethin' ♪

♪ I said you wanna be
startin' somethin' ♪

♪ You got to be
startin' somethin' ♪

- ♪ Too high to get over ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Too low to get under ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ You're stuck in the middle ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ And the pain is thunder ♪

- ♪ Too high to get over ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪

♪ Too low to get under ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ You're stuck in the middle ♪

- ♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
- ♪ And the pain is thunder ♪

♪ I took my baby to the doctor ♪

♪ With a fever, but
nothin' he found ♪

♪ By the time this
hit the street ♪

♪ They said she
had a breakdown ♪

♪ Someone's always tryin' ♪

♪ To start my baby cryin' ♪

♪ Talkin', squealin', lyin' ♪

♪ Sayin' you just want to
be startin' somethin' ♪

♪ I said you wanna be
startin' somethin' ♪

♪ You got to be
startin' somethin' ♪

[fading] ♪ I said you wanna
be startin' somethin' ♪

♪ tense synthesizer tones
fading into drumbeat ♪

♪ "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young
Thing)" by Michael Jackson ♪

♪ Where did you
come from, lady? ♪

[reporter] The Victory Tour
sold out in Kansas City.

Then it was on to
Dallas, Jacksonville,

New Jersey, New
York and Knoxville.

It's currently scheduled
in some 13 cities

with more sites yet
to be announced.

Preparations are
well underway tonight

for the Jacksons'
Victory Tour concert.

[reporter 2] The Jacksons'
massive stage was beginning

to take shape as
early as Thursday.

[reporter 1] There's
not too many places

that you can stick a
monstrous stage like this.

Most of the performances,
more than 50 in all,

will be in stadiums
like the Silverdome.

♪ Pretty young thing ♪

- ♪ You need some loving ♪
- ♪ TLC ♪

♪ Tender lovin' care ♪

♪ And I'll take
you there, girl ♪

♪ Ooh-ooh, I want
to love you... ♪

[George] The shows
of the Victory Tour

were much more
mainstream America,

and that was a testament to
how big Michael had become

and to the penetration
of the album.

♪ Ow! ♪

[Michael Jackson's
"Beat It" playing]

[George] The irony
of Thriller is that

there was never a
tour solely dedicated

to the biggest LP of all time.

The Victory Tour was a mix

of vintage Jackson family
music and hits from Thriller.

But it was the Thriller material

that turned the crowd
out every night.

[crowd cheering]

[Michael Jackson's
"Billie Jean" playing]

♪ Hee! Hoo! ♪

♪♪♪

♪ She says I am the one ♪

♪ But the kid is not my son ♪

♪ No, no, no ♪

♪ Billie Jean is not my lover ♪

♪ She's just a girl who
claims that I am the one ♪

♪ But the kid is not my son ♪

♪ She says I am the one ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Whoo! ♪

♪ You know you ain't ♪

♪ Not my lover ♪

- ♪ You know you can't ♪
- ♪ Not my lover ♪

♪ Because you are ♪

♪ Not my lover ♪

♪ 'Cause you're a silly girl ♪

♪ Not my lover ♪

♪ Billie Jean is not my lover ♪

♪ Billie Jean is
not my lover ♪

♪ Billie Jean is not my lover ♪

♪ Billie Jean is
not my lover ♪

[steady drumbeat playing]

[crowd cheering]

♪ Billie Jean is not my lover ♪

♪ Billie Jean is not my lover ♪

Michael has been
nominated for 12...

- 12 1983 Grammy Awards.
- [applause]

The highest number in history.

♪ "Don't Stop 'Til You Get
Enough" by Michael Jackson ♪

[Shields] So we went
to the 1984 Grammys

at the Shrine Auditorium.

I didn't get the
feeling he was nervous.

I actually got the feeling that

he was excited.

And I don't think I had any idea

even the magnitude of it.

♪ Keep on with the
force, don't stop ♪

♪ Don't stop till you
get enough, keep on... ♪

[George] Michael
Jackson was nominated

for 12 Grammys overall,

including Album of the Year
and Record of the Year.

♪ And I feel on fire ♪

♪ Ain't nothin'... ♪

[Melissa Manchester] The
Record of the Year is...

"Beat It," Michael Jackson.

[Mike Love] For
Album of the Year...

[Brian Wilson]
The winner is...

- [laughing, exclaiming]
- Thriller!

[cheering and applause]

♪ Sensation ♪

♪ Oh, sensation ♪

♪ Lovely where we're at... ♪

Best Pop Vocal Performance,
Male: Michael Jackson.

[cheering and applause]

I made a deal with
myself, if I win more...

one more award,
which is this award,

which is seven,
which is a record,

I would take off my glasses.

[cheering]

♪ Ooh, keep on with
the force, don't stop ♪

♪ Don't stop till
you get enough ♪

♪ Keep on with the
force, don't stop ♪

♪ Don't stop till
you get enough ♪

♪ Keep on with the
force, don't stop... ♪

[Shields] He deserved it.

You know, it was... it was due.

♪ Don't stop till
you get enough ♪

♪♪♪

[Yetnikoff] In February 1984,

between Michael and Quincy,
Thriller won a dozen Grammys.

[Michael] Well, as
we know, Thriller is

a huge, huge
success... the album...

but, uh...

the joy of doing
something phenomenal

'cause everybody waiting
to see the next big,

you know, Michael Jackson short.

And I thought "Thriller"
was the perfect vehicle.

- We're gonna come out.
- No.

- No one's gonna like it.
- No, no, no, no, no.

But 40 years from
now, Michael...

My part will be.

[laughing] I don't
know about you.

All right, and stop.

- [crew member] Cut.
- [beep]

Who's your biggest inspiration?

Who inspired you the most?

Michael Jackson.

[Ronson] Michael
saw that he could

touch greatness
with Off the Wall,

knew he was still going
against racist radio

and people that wanted
to put him in a box.

But you have to be so
in the rarefied air,

.0001%, to even be able to,
like, project yourself to that.

That idea that I can take

dance music and visuals

and turn the world on its ear,

that idea that he crystallized
in "Thriller"... not going away,

and I don't think it's
ever gonna go away.

[Usher] So, whether it was

"Human Nature" and
his amazing voice,

you know, "Beat
It" and looking at

the references that were
there, because every time

you saw a video, you
got a new idea of, like,

who he was as an artist
and what he was selling.

Right? There was his hair and
his clothing, his wardrobe.

All of those things were
informing the culture.

He was establishing
the standard.

Thriller.

Man, there has never
been anything like that.

Michael Jackson's Thriller.

♪ Suspenseful orchestral music ♪

[screams]

What's the problem?

Come on, I'll take you home.

[evil laughter]

♪ "Beat It" by Michael Jackson ♪

♪ They told him, "Don't
you ever come around here ♪

♪ Don't wanna see your face,
you better disappear" ♪

♪ The fire's in their eyes and
their words are really clear ♪

♪ So beat it, just beat it ♪

♪ You better run, you
better do what you can ♪

♪ Don't wanna see no blood,
don't be a macho man ♪

♪ You wanna be tough,
better do what you can ♪

♪ So beat it ♪

♪ But you wanna be bad ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, just beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ Just beat it ♪

- ♪ Beat it, beat it, uh! ♪
- ♪ Just beat it ♪

♪ They're out to get you,
better leave while you can ♪

♪ Don't wanna be a boy,
you wanna be a man ♪

♪ You wanna stay alive,
better do what you can ♪

♪ So beat it, just beat it ♪

♪ You have to show them that
you're really not scared ♪

♪ You're playin' with your life,
this ain't no truth or dare ♪

♪ They'll kick you,
then they'll beat you ♪

♪ Then they'll tell you
it's fair, so beat it ♪

♪ But you wanna be bad ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

♪ Just beat it, beat
it, beat it, beat it ♪

♪ Beat it, beat it, beat it ♪

♪ Beat it, beat it, beat it ♪

♪ Beat it, beat it, beat it ♪

♪♪♪

♪ Beat it, beat it, beat it ♪

[rhythmic thumping]

[electric guitar solo playing]

♪♪♪

- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be defeated ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be
defeated, oh, Lord ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

♪ It doesn't matter
who's wrong or right ♪

- ♪ Just beat it, beat it ♪
- ♪ Beat it, beat it ♪

♪ No one wants to be
defeated, oh, no ♪

♪ Showin' how funky and
strong is your fight ♪

[fading] ♪ It doesn't matter ♪

[crowd cheering]

[soft jingling]

[Michael chuckles]

[Michael whoops]