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http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/features/stories/2008/01/04/010608_WL_Thriller_WEB.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=5
By MELINDA MAWDSLEY
The Daily Sentinel
Friday, January 04, 2008
Love him or hate him, Michael Jackson matters.
The “King of Pop” is one of the most polarizing artists in history and one of the most popular musicians of all time based on album sales. He is also arguably one of the most innovative.
His iconic career now is overshadowed by accusations of child molestation, but 25 years ago, Jackson couldn’t be beat.
His “Thriller” was the best-selling album in the country.
“Thriller” was released Dec. 1, 1982, and was the No. 1 best-selling album for 37 weeks and America’s top-selling album for two years (1983-1984), according to Billboard magazine.
It is considered one of the greatest albums ever and produced a string of hits, including No. 1 songs “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.”
“Thriller” is the United State’s No. 2 top-selling album of all time. “Eagles: Their Greatest Hits, 1971-1975” is No. 1.
“Thriller” sold an estimated 104 million copies worldwide and produced eight Grammys in 1983.
In 2005, Jackson went on trial and was exonerated of child molestation charges. Since his acquittal, he has seemingly tried to avoid the spotlight.
In February, a 25th anniversary commemorative edition of “Thriller” will be released, according to Sony BMG Entertainment.
Jackson, who turns 50 in August, candidly talked about the original release of “Thriller” and the material on the new album in a rare interview with Joy T. Bennett for December’s Ebony magazine.
The anniversary album will contain classic songs, video and new cuts featuring Jackson and contemporary artists such as Akon, Kanye West, Fergie and will.i.am, both of the Black Eyed Peas, according to Sony BMG Entertainment.
The first single from the new album — Jackson’s first single in nearly five years — will be “The Girl is Mine,” which he originally recorded with Paul McCartney. In this new version, McCartney’s vocals were removed and the song remixed with vocals from will.i.am. It is set to come out Jan. 22.
“It’s a classic, there is no question about it,” said Rock Cesario, owner of Triple Play Records, 530 Main St. “Michael Jackson wouldn’t be the first guy with talent who is strange. I was just listening to the Jackson 5 the other day, and that kid could sing when he was young. Who knows what happened.”
GRAND JUNCTION THRILLED
In 1983, a gallon of gas was $1.29, and a postage stamp was 20 cents. Tom Selleck was America’s heartthrob as Magnum P.I.
Grand Junction was smaller and more conservative than with it is now, but “Thriller” was still a resounding success.
“It sold like hot cakes... I couldn’t keep it in the store,” said Arn McConnell, who was attending Mesa College and working at Airtime, a store on North Avenue, when “Thriller” as released.
McConnell was also the station manager at Mesa College’s radio station, KMSA. He didn’t play songs from “Thriller” because it was too mainstream and didn’t fit his eclectic taste. He said he preferred to play songs not heard on popular radio.
McConnell didn’t buy “Thriller” because it was so mainstream, but he could tell Jackson’s album would be successful.
“It generated hit after hit after hit, which is unusual,” said McConnell, a graduate of Grand Junction High School and Mesa College, now Mesa State College.“The release was huge even in white bread Grand Junction. Culturally, it seemed backwater here, but it probably was not much different (here) than the rest of the country.”
Nowadays, McConnell is a DJ at KAFM community radio and occasionally puts a Jackson song on the air. However, he prefers Jackson’s songs recorded before “Thriller.”
Jack Delmore, a lyric tenor and Mesa State College associate professor of music and music theater, is adamant that he is not a fan of Jackson. But years ago, he listened to “Thriller” over and over again courtesy of his sister’s cassette and vinyl collection.
Yes, he said. She had both.
“Back then, he was kind of a phenomenon,” Delmore said. “Everybody listened to it, of course.”
Delmore was beginning graduate school at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when “Thriller” came out.
“‘Thriller’ (the song) was more operatic in its scope,” Delmore said. “It was this epic song telling this story with amazing imagery, and there were some great licks. It was fun to listen to. It kept going and going. In that regard, it was fun. You knew you were listening to something that was really unique. His musicality is top-notch or first-rate or cutting-edge.”
Delmore said he will listen to “Thriller” again when the anniversary release comes out in February.
It will be interesting to see how the public receives Jackson in 2007, he said.
“He was very talented,” Delmore said. “Maybe he’ll have a second act, but he’s done so much damage to his public image. I don’t know if they’ll embrace a new album.”
OLD AND NEW FANS
Ryan Stringfellow was a kid when “Thriller” was released. He wasn’t into music or performance, but he idolized his older brothers and their opinions. His middle brother, eight years Stringfellow’s elder, was into Jackson.
“He had the glove,” said Stringfellow, 31, executive director at KAFM. “He taught me the moonwalk. I remember some people I went to school with had the red leather jackets.”
In the early 1980s, with the arrival of MTV and music videos, the visual appeal of musicians became increasingly important. Jackson entered the video scene with the 1983 “Thriller.”
The critically-acclaimed, 13-minute video was named MTV’s top video ever.
It was so popular and ground breaking that it continues to be imitated around the world. One of the more famous recent re-enactments of “Thriller” was done by the inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines. That video and others can be watched on www.youtube.com.
“He always wanted to do the next great things,” Stringfellow said. “He was always doing something different. He was innovative.”
With the choreography in the “Thriller” video, Jackson turned presentation into an essential element of music. It is a recipe pop stars still follow.
“People were talking about him,” said Jan Hart, who owns J.B. Hart Music, which has been at 417 Main St. since 1972. “It was not negative. He was a fabulous dancer. Nobody had ever seen (dancing like that).”
As a joke, Hart Music employees autographed a Jackson poster with the words, “To all my friends at Hart Music.” Hart remembered a man asking for the poster while he was purchasing a piano. The store’s employees told the man it wasn’t really Jackson’s autograph.
“He didn’t care,” Hart said.
Nancy Don, a volunteer accountant at KAFM, bought “Thriller” for her 14-year-old daughter as a stocking stuffer last Christmas.
Don said she is trying to introduce her daughter to a wide variety of music that was popular and innovative before she was born.
“She loved it,” Don said.
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