1 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:10,160 About five years ago, I heard that Michael Jackson had chosen me 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:15,200 and my dance group Diversity to support him on a huge run of concerts he had planned in London. 3 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:19,720 It was one of the greatest moments of my life 4 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:23,680 because Michael Jackson has always been my greatest musical hero. 5 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,520 But then we heard the tragic news. 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,560 While he was preparing for his shows here, he died, 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,160 following an overdose of prescription drugs. 8 00:00:33,160 --> 00:00:35,120 He was only 50. 9 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:39,440 So I never got to meet the man who inspired me to dance. 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,520 But this is MY tribute to him. 11 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:45,040 I've come here to California to learn more about Thriller, 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:49,640 the ground-breaking album that sold an incredible 60 million copies worldwide 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,440 and turned Michael Jackson into a global superstar. 14 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:54,400 # THRILLER CHORDS 15 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:03,320 Michael Jackson released a record-breaking seven Top Ten US hits off this single album... 16 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,160 # Ama-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa 17 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:08,120 # Ama-me-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa 18 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,920 ..wrote a new chapter in the history of dance... 19 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:14,000 What we did wasn't respected as a real art form. 20 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,120 All that started with Michael Jackson and Thriller. 21 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:20,000 ..and revolutionised the world of music video. 22 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:24,000 He really had genius. He was an extraordinary performer. 23 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,320 An ambitious soul singer set out to make the most successful record of all time. 24 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:32,200 I have lots of dreams and they usually come true. 25 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,440 And in the process, changed the music industry for ever. 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,600 I believe Thriller killed the record business. 27 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,280 Even today people are still just following in those glittery footsteps. 28 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,840 I want to find to how Michael Jackson made Thriller 29 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,680 the best-selling album in recording history. 30 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:54,280 And the price he paid for his unprecedented success. 31 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:01,640 # Every little swallow, every chick-a-dee 32 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,120 # Every little bird in the tall oak tree 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,200 Michael Jackson was the ultimate child star. 34 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:11,600 By the age of 14, he'd already racked up ten Top Ten hits in the UK. 35 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,720 # Rockin' robin # Tweet, twiddly-dee 36 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,240 # Blow, rockin' robin, cos we're really gonna rock tonight 37 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,320 Everybody, clap your hands! 38 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,600 Then in 1979, he released Off The Wall, 39 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,040 his first solo album as an adult. 40 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,040 And the statement he wanted to make a break from the music of his childhood. 41 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,000 # Wanna rock with you 42 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:35,560 # All night 43 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,600 # Dance you into sunlight 44 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,120 The album did well. It produced four Top Ten singles 45 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:46,520 and won a Grammy Award for Best Male R'n'B vocals. 46 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,560 But Michael Jackson felt he'd been snubbed. 47 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,760 He felt Off The Wall deserved much more recognition 48 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,360 and he certainly didn't want to be pigeon-holed as an R'n'B artist. 49 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:01,840 # Don't stop till you get enough! 50 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:05,800 So, he set out to make an album that the critics couldn't ignore. 51 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,360 An album that would easily outsell any other record ever released. 52 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,200 An album that would make him the biggest star on the planet. 53 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:16,440 And that album was Thriller. 54 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:18,400 # THRILLER INTRO 55 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:27,800 I've come down to the studio where Thriller was recorded. 56 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,160 I'm here to meet a key member of the team that Michael Jackson put around himself 57 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,400 to make the album that would revolutionise popular music. 58 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:41,680 Bruce Swedien was the engineer on Thriller and right-hand man of legendary producer Quincy Jones. 59 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,640 Quincy had worked for decades with some of the world's top performers, 60 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,160 but during the recession of the early '80s, 61 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,120 music sales were in steep decline. 62 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,960 The very first day we're in this room, 63 00:03:54,960 --> 00:04:02,520 Michael and I, and Quincy came in and says, "We're here to save the recorded music industry." 64 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:07,440 So you set out to achieve something and the plan was on such a huge scale 65 00:04:07,440 --> 00:04:10,480 but that never scared Michael. Never. 66 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,560 The bigger the plan the better he liked it. 67 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,480 He wasn't afraid of anything. 68 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,720 Tell me something about the recording. 69 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,600 All the music that we did together he had it in memory. 70 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:26,840 We also recorded most of it with him in the dark. 71 00:04:26,840 --> 00:04:30,680 So he didn't want anything around him to distract him from the moment. 72 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:32,720 Not even the lights. Yes. 73 00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:35,720 He never wanted the printed page 74 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,640 to detract from the emotional value of the music. 75 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:44,160 And so what would he say if something was coming out of these speakers and he really liked it? 76 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,560 He's say, "Oh, man, that's smelly!" 77 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:50,320 Smelly? He was a Jehovah's Witness. 78 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,400 So he didn't curse. 79 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,120 He wouldn't say, "Oh, that's goddamn good." 80 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:56,800 He'd say, "That's smelly." 81 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,200 So finally, Quincy just started calling him Smelly. 82 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,440 That was Michael's nickname? 83 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,440 That was Michael's nickname, yeah, Smelly. 84 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,360 Do you miss him? Oh, terribly. 85 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,440 I think about him every day. 86 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,320 It almost makes me cry when I think about it. 87 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,320 He was just uh...one of a kind. 88 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:24,320 The first single off Thriller, a duet with Paul McCartney, 89 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,320 called The Girl Is Mine, was released in October 1982, 90 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,840 a month ahead of the album. 91 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:31,880 Nice pop fluff. 92 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,960 By no means a classic single. 93 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:39,000 Didn't sound like the first of an endless stream of hits. 94 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,080 It sounded like a hit 95 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,400 but it wasn't so great that you thought, "Wow." 96 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:45,360 # The girl is mine 97 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,400 # The doggone girl is mine 98 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:54,360 On Thriller there's nine songs and almost every song 99 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,560 is aimed at a particular demographic. 100 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,760 The Girl Is Mine - an obvious way to try to reach out to the soft-rock audience 101 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:04,760 that otherwise would not have heard Michael Jackson's work. 102 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:10,000 What Michael Jackson really wanted was to break past the idea 103 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,560 that his music was aimed for a black audience only. 104 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:14,760 # Sending roses... 105 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,560 If Michael's duet with Paul McCartney was seen as a little lightweight, 106 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,120 the next single off the album was anything but. 107 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:26,480 # She told me I was... 108 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,520 Billie Jean was written and demo'd by Michael at his home in 1981. 109 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,520 Greg Phillinganes, who played keyboards on this track 110 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,840 and most of the rest of the Thriller album, 111 00:06:36,840 --> 00:06:39,480 remembers hearing the song for the first time. 112 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,440 # It seems that you... 113 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,200 You can just feel the...the power. Yep. 114 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:49,160 These raw grooves and... 115 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:53,040 ..singing...but he didn't have all the words. 116 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,680 # Billie Jean is not my lover 117 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,920 That's the first time we heard it. I'm like... 118 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:06,400 This'll work! 119 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:08,360 # The kid is not my son 120 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,120 What makes that song so powerful? 121 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,040 You got that driving, undeniable bass line. 122 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:17,040 Yeah. Under a very simple beat. 123 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,080 But when you put that... 124 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,760 There's just nothing else like that. 125 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,800 But Quincy would argue that... 126 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:27,600 the inspiration for Billie Jean 127 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,760 came from a Donna Summer cover of State Of Independence. 128 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:35,800 # This state of independence shall be 129 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:39,120 # This state of independence shall be... 130 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,280 (PLAYS STATE OF INDEPENDENCE BASS LINE) 131 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:48,280 Now, if you were to slow that down... 132 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:50,760 Yeah, exactly. ..and put it in a different key, 133 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,160 you might end up with something like this. 134 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:55,120 (BILLIE JEAN BASS LINE) 135 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:00,920 Which... 136 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,000 But he listened to everything. 137 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,440 He studied the greats in cinema and music as well as dance. 138 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,480 After Off The Wall, did he make a conscious effort 139 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,640 to make Thriller different? He did. 140 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,800 There's stories of him writing a certain number of millions of sales 141 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:21,880 and focusing on that daily. 142 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:27,840 And...there's obviously another level of maturity in writing. 143 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:33,400 I think he wanted to establish himself as a legitimate cornerstone 144 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:35,480 of pop music. 145 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,160 That Thriller period turned into a different level of fame. 146 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,480 Basically there was fame and then there was Michael Jackson. 147 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:46,240 And, so it was unchartered territory. 148 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,520 # She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene 149 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:53,320 Music was only part of Michael Jackson's Thriller masterplan. 150 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,560 Now he needed a cutting-edge video to promote his remarkable new single. 151 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:02,200 Michael's previous videos had been little more than films of him performing. 152 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,200 But for Billie Jean, he wanted something different. 153 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:10,120 He was impressed by the glossy promo for the Human League's Don't You Want Me? 154 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,160 directed by Steve Barron. 155 00:09:12,160 --> 00:09:14,160 # Don't you want me, baby? 156 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,720 # Don't you want me, oh-oh-oh? 157 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:25,720 The manager said if you can come up with an idea that suits Michael, that has a similar vibe 158 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,960 and satisfies a feel that matches the song, 159 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,480 then...we'll have you meet him. 160 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:38,880 He's into Peter Pan and wants it to have some magical element to it 161 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:42,840 so I talked through it, showed him how his character would walk along the street 162 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:44,880 and various scenes would transform. 163 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,840 # I am the one 164 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:49,000 # Gonna dance... 165 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,360 I did ask him what the song was about. 166 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,880 And he said that it wasn't about him. 167 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:58,000 And that it was about an incident that he'd read about in the newspaper. 168 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:02,880 He said there was a private detective involved in the article 169 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,760 so I combined the newspaper and the private detective 170 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:12,360 and gave little hints of the narrative of a story that I didn't really know. 171 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:15,560 # But the kid is not my son 172 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,480 The manager said, "Michael's been practising in front of the mirror some routines. 173 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,320 Can you keep a little bit in the video somewhere where he can dance?" 174 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:27,880 # Don't think twice, don't think twice! 175 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:33,280 So we rolled the playback really loud and Michael burst into life. 176 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:35,200 # Showed a photo of a baby crying, eyes... 177 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,680 He was engaging with the camera and he was up on his toes. 178 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,800 He was spinning. # ..in the round, baby 179 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,760 And we stopped. There was a silence. 180 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,000 Nobody could say anything. 181 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:51,080 And then spontaneously, everybody just burst out into this applause. 182 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,720 Billie Jean was a really important moment for Michael Jackson as a dancer. 183 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,920 He was drawing on all of the influences around him 184 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:02,160 that gave him...the iconic spins, 185 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:04,560 to the slides and the funk of James Brown. 186 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,000 What was happening was all the street-dance styles, 187 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,760 it was coming up and inspiring Michael Jackson. 188 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,680 The poppers and lockers that started to emerge in the '80s. 189 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,240 But not just that. Going up on his toes, 190 00:11:17,240 --> 00:11:20,280 the hits and the shapes from Bob Fosse - Snake In The Grass. 191 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:24,240 The famous choreographer pioneered many of the Billie Jean moves 192 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,400 in this sequence from The Little Prince. 193 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,520 Michael Jackson was drawing inspiration from everywhere. 194 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,200 And the first time it came out to the world was the Billie Jean music video. 195 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:38,080 Michael had a brilliant dance, 196 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:40,200 a great video and a classic song. 197 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:42,240 There was only one problem. 198 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,960 It wasn't getting air time on MTV. 199 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,720 MTV was not in the business of playing black artists in the early 1980s. 200 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,920 They imagined their particular demographic was young white males 201 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:59,360 who listened to rock music and they didn't see Michael Jackson as part of what they did. 202 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:03,440 # My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold 203 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:07,960 # Angel is the centrefold 204 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,880 A lot of people are watching MTV and they're thinking, 205 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:12,880 "There are almost no black artists." 206 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,560 And so Walter Yetnikoff who's running CBS records 207 00:12:17,560 --> 00:12:21,760 famously says, "I'm going to pull all of the videos from CBS 208 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:24,360 unless you put on Billie Jean." 209 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:28,520 # My blood runs cold, my angel is the centrefold 210 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:32,520 It was partly through that that MTV changed their minds, 211 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,920 played his video in rotation and it broke to a much wider audience than it ever would have. 212 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:43,080 Billie Jean reached No.1 in Britain and America in March 1983. 213 00:12:43,080 --> 00:12:47,480 But Michael Jackson had still not revealed his trademark dance for the song. 214 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:50,240 The moonwalk became a Jackson staple, 215 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,400 but this move had been around long before Michael did it. 216 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,040 The first person to perform it on British television 217 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,320 was Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar. 218 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,400 # My love to you, baby, I surrender 219 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,680 I was just acting out what was in the music 220 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,320 then I waited for the breakdown to come. 221 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:07,280 So I just took it to that. 222 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,920 # This night you won't forget 223 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:17,000 That is the back-sliding. 224 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:19,440 That's what it was known as, created as. 225 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,280 Michael Jackson changed the name to the moonwalk. 226 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:27,680 Michael wanted that street-dance element in his performances. 227 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,760 And he wanted me to come over and start working with him. 228 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:35,080 And that's 1980. It wasn't until '83 that he did it publicly 229 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,000 at the Motown 25th anniversary. I was in the audience actually. 230 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,360 Michael Jackson's inspired performance at Motown 25, 231 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:47,000 and in particular, the stunning public debut of his moonwalk, 232 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,360 has gone down as one of the greatest live musical events in television history. 233 00:13:54,200 --> 00:13:58,200 Some of my people looked at me but the rest of the people were looking there. 234 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:00,320 I was like, "Wow!" 235 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:05,480 After that I saw Michael. He was like, "How was it?" I said, "Man, it was amazing." 236 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,000 He said, "Yeah, but it didn't come out right." 237 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:09,560 I said, "What? It was great." 238 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:15,920 The moonwalk became the key element of Michael Jackson's live performances of Billie Jean. 239 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:19,160 Which left Jeffrey Daniel with a bit of a problem. 240 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,720 It only bothered me in the early days 241 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,400 because that's how I dance, right? 242 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,080 So suddenly I go out to a club and a good song comes on 243 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,520 and we're body-popping, you know. 244 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:35,600 And we're doing that and they're like, "Hey! He's doing Michael Jackson." 245 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,560 I'm like, "OK, well..." 246 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:41,640 Jeffrey went on to work with Michael on many other occasions, 247 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,000 most notably as a dancer and choreographer on the Bad video. 248 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:47,080 # You know I'm bad... 249 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,120 Michael made what was known as street-dancing 250 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:52,200 part of the general industry. 251 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,080 What we did wasn't respected as a real art form 252 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,320 until Michael Jackson comes along and he loves what we do. 253 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:02,400 He wants it in his videos. 254 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:09,520 Therefore, I'm the first street-dance choreographer on MTV. 255 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,600 # Who's bad? 256 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,440 The third single from Thriller was yet another change in direction. 257 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,600 Beat It had a really strong rock influence. 258 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:24,040 So for this single, Michael and producer Quincy Jones brought in rock superstars Toto. 259 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:30,080 # I bless the rains down in Africa 260 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,360 # Gonna take some time do to the things... 261 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,240 How did you guys get involved in the Thriller album in the first place? 262 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,800 Well, Michael called my house at like eight, nine in the morning. 263 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:43,600 This is the '80s, man. We didn't go to bed till six in the morning! 264 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,920 So I get this call. "Hi, this is Michael Jackson." 265 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:48,880 And I'm going, "Fuck off!" 266 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,280 And he calls back again. "This is me." 267 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,320 "If you're Michael Jackson why are you calling me at eight in the morning?! 268 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:01,160 Who is this?!" I thought it was one of my friends messing with me. 269 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,200 Yeah, yeah. So two or three hours later I get a call from Quincy's office. 270 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,560 "That was really Michael. Call him back." 271 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:09,560 So I have to call. I get the number. I go, 272 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,680 "Hey, Michael. It's Steve Lukather." And he goes, "Hi." 273 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:16,120 I go, "Hey, man, I'm really sorry. I thought somebody was messing." 274 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,080 "I get that all the time." 275 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,960 Michael had produced a home demo of the track he wanted the band to play on. 276 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,960 # Beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it 277 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:30,800 # No-one wants to be defeated 278 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,560 I kind of laughed at the lyrics cos I'm a funny guy. 279 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:38,640 "Beat it." With my sense of humour, you know where I went with that! 280 00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:40,760 I didn't really get it at first. 281 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:45,080 I got it right away because Quincy had been asking for something like My Sharona. 282 00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:48,560 # M-M-M-My Sharona 283 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,080 He wanted a real simple straight-ahead rock thing. 284 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,720 And we wound up filling that slot. 285 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:58,320 # Close enough to look in my eyes, Sharona 286 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,320 Quincy was like, "OK, man, this is rock and Michael crossing over." 287 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,840 I said, "OK." I got out the Marshall stacks and I played the riff. 288 00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:12,720 Yep. And I quadruple-tracked that with the big, huge real heavy sounds 289 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,080 and then I played bass guitar on it as well. 290 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:19,360 And we sent it to Quincy and it worked. It was great. 291 00:17:19,360 --> 00:17:22,640 But Quincy called and said, "It's too much. It's too rock." 292 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,920 They'll never play it on R'n'B radio. 293 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:30,760 It had to be right in the middle. He was trying to find that sweet spot, 294 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:33,240 so rock radio would play it AND pop and R'n'B. 295 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,000 So I used the smaller amps and re-did it. 296 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,680 And that's what you hear on the record. 297 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:40,520 (GUITAR SOLO) 298 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,080 With the addition of a blistering Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, 299 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:49,080 Quincy, Michael and Toto had come up with a track that obliterated music boundaries. 300 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,120 Beat It would be the second video off the Thriller album 301 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:58,440 and Michael Jackson wanted something even more spectacular than Billie Jean. 302 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,240 So he put up $100,000 of his own money 303 00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:05,000 to film this gangland confrontation 304 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,600 with top commercials director Bob Giraldi. 305 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,480 Bob Giraldi had come to Michael's attention with a poignant news promo 306 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:18,760 about an elderly blind couple holding a block party for their new black and Hispanic neighbours. 307 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,560 BOB: This wasn't the big story of the day but we felt it was an important one. 308 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:25,880 And that's why it was on Eyewitness News. 309 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,240 Michael saw it and was moved by it 310 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,240 and the rest is history. 311 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,200 # BEAT IT INTRO 312 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:41,720 Beat It had to do with my growing up with a bunch of tough guys 313 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,920 who thought they were a lot tougher than they really were. 314 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:51,200 And I wrote a narrative based on the non-violent message of the song. 315 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:56,080 And based on my experience walking around trying to be tough. 316 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,080 # BEAT IT INTRO 317 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,640 The story revolves around two rival gangs preparing for a rumble 318 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:09,440 on the mean streets of 1980s Los Angeles. 319 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,200 # They told him don't you ever come around here 320 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,280 # Don't wanna see your face, you better disappear 321 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,960 # The fire's in their eyes and their words are really clear 322 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,880 # So beat it, just beat it 323 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:29,720 Michael decided that the one missing piece was the authenticity of the gangs. 324 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,120 He knew that I was gonna pick dancers. 325 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:34,160 We talked about that. 326 00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:36,240 And they're hardly gang members. 327 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,120 No matter how they get wardrobed. 328 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:43,480 So he decided that he wanted to include two of LA's most notorious gangs - 329 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,400 The Crips and The Bloods. And let's use them in the video. 330 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:49,480 I thought he was crazy. 331 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:51,480 He got the police to go along with it. 332 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:54,360 He got The Crips and The Bloods to go along with it. 333 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:58,120 Everything was fine for half a day. Then after lunch it got hairy. 334 00:19:58,120 --> 00:20:03,080 As it turned out, one of The Crips starts smacking one of The Bloods. 335 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:05,080 And there was a little bit of a fight. 336 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,240 # Beat it, just beat it 337 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:12,440 The police came to me and they said, "Bob, I really have to shut this down. 338 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:16,640 This gets a little bit scary." I got this superstar over here. 339 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:19,040 I got these two gangs that hate each other. 340 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,120 You know what's gonna happen next. Let's call it a day. 341 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:25,120 And I said, "There goes the whole music video." 342 00:20:25,120 --> 00:20:28,440 I said, "You know what? Do me a favour. 343 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:32,200 Let me try one thing. Just one thing. When it doesn't work we go home." 344 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:34,840 I said, "Let me play the music." 345 00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:38,520 And we picked it up from Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo. 346 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:40,480 (GUITAR SOLO) 347 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,280 Peace. 348 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:46,400 The way they watched those kids dance. 349 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:52,120 The look on the faces said, "We may be the baddest asses in the world, 350 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:55,360 but that's something we'll never be able to do." 351 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,400 It just was brilliant. 352 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,320 # Beat it, beat it, beat it 353 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:05,400 Certainly when Michael came down the stairs and started going into his dance, I had a front-row seat 354 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,560 to watch him really do what he does best. 355 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,160 He could dance his ass off. 356 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,520 The two gang leaders are played by the late Michael Peters, 357 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:21,760 dressed in white, who choreographed this video after winning a Tony Award for his work on Broadway. 358 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:25,400 And Vincent Paterson, who went on to collaborate with Michael 359 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,920 throughout much of his career after meeting him for the first time at the auditions. 360 00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,320 How would you describe him as a dancer? 361 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:37,480 The bizarre part was that you're dealing most of the time with this guy who is so quiet, 362 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,920 so shy, who doesn't talk above a whisper. 363 00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:44,880 "Hey, Vince. Everything all right?" "Yeah, Mike, everything's great." 364 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:46,920 Then the music would come on - BAM! 365 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,640 And it was like - It explodes! It was like an explosion. 366 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,120 You could feel the energy and you got sucked into that energy 367 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,040 and it elevated YOUR performance ability. 368 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,280 It was such a ride. 369 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:05,000 And something I've never ever experienced with anybody else. Ever. 370 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,120 Vince, tell me about Beat It. 371 00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:09,640 Was Michael involved at that point in the choreography 372 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,600 or did Michael Peters say, "This is how it's gonna be"? 373 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:17,120 Well, I think Michael Jackson's history was one of being told everything to do. 374 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:21,040 You know. From his dad, from the way Motown was. 375 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:23,480 So it was totally Michael Peters' work. 376 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:25,600 But as we started working a little bit, 377 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:30,160 he did begin to make some suggestions but not too much on Beat It. 378 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:35,080 Vincent also appeared as one of the zombies in Michael Jackson's next video - Thriller. 379 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,200 By the time we got around to Thriller, things had changed for Michael Jackson. 380 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:43,160 I mean, I saw that transition just in one video to the next. 381 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:48,720 Of being someone who was kind of quiet, not wanting to put too much energy, 382 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,840 too many ideas into the picture. 383 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:54,720 And by the time we got to Thriller, man, he was like right there. 384 00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,720 He was a really major part of it. 385 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:02,040 Vincent Paterson choreographed several of Michael's later videos 386 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,560 including my own favourite Smooth Criminal. 387 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,200 But things were never quite the same as those early days together. 388 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:14,560 I felt that with Beat It and Thriller Michael was having the opportunity 389 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:19,440 to kind of um...be himself and find out who he was as a human being. 390 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,360 Stepping away from the Jackson 5 391 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:23,240 and beginning to establish his own life. 392 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:28,840 But it was a little bit sad because when you become that famous that fast, 393 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:32,240 you never know any more who loves you because you're yourself 394 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,200 or because you're this idol. 395 00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,800 With the success of Beat It, Michael Jackson was well on his way 396 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:41,840 to becoming a global megastar. 397 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,440 He had already scored three Top Ten hits off the Thriller album. 398 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:47,440 But he'd hardly even started. 399 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:49,520 The best was yet to come. 400 00:23:55,535 --> 00:23:57,615 # WANNA BE STARTIN' SOMETHIN' 401 00:23:57,615 --> 00:24:02,255 I've come to Los Angeles to find out why Michael Jackson's Thriller 402 00:24:02,255 --> 00:24:04,575 became the best-selling album of all time. 403 00:24:06,015 --> 00:24:09,655 The record's success was built on a series of stunning hit singles. 404 00:24:09,655 --> 00:24:15,295 The fourth to be released in May 1983, was Thriller's opening track - 405 00:24:15,295 --> 00:24:17,255 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. 406 00:24:18,775 --> 00:24:24,935 # Ama-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa 407 00:24:24,935 --> 00:24:29,055 Backing vocals on the track came from the world-famous Walters Family. 408 00:24:29,055 --> 00:24:31,135 # Ama-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa 409 00:24:32,535 --> 00:24:34,495 Whoo! Yay! 410 00:24:35,975 --> 00:24:38,455 Bam! Bam! Bam! 411 00:24:38,455 --> 00:24:40,495 Yes! 412 00:24:40,495 --> 00:24:43,175 Ama-ma-se, ma-ma-sa, ma-ma-coo-sa. 413 00:24:43,175 --> 00:24:45,255 So cool, man. 414 00:24:45,255 --> 00:24:47,255 Thank you, guys, for that. Thank you! 415 00:24:47,255 --> 00:24:49,815 I'm delighted. I love it! 416 00:24:49,815 --> 00:24:51,815 Gets you going. You hear it. When it comes in... 417 00:24:51,815 --> 00:24:54,895 (HUMS RIFF) Yes! Yes! 418 00:24:54,895 --> 00:24:56,975 Yes! Yes! 419 00:24:56,975 --> 00:25:00,055 Yes. What did you think when you first heard the track? 420 00:25:00,055 --> 00:25:03,975 We loved it. Did you love it? You could feel the rhythm in it 421 00:25:03,975 --> 00:25:06,535 and I always related to his dance moves. 422 00:25:06,535 --> 00:25:10,255 And you could see how he would just...come up with that like that. 423 00:25:10,255 --> 00:25:13,335 And it would be something he would be able to perform well to. 424 00:25:13,335 --> 00:25:16,335 With the rhythms and stuff. Of course. 425 00:25:16,335 --> 00:25:19,535 He felt music from the very last hair on his head 426 00:25:19,535 --> 00:25:23,855 to the tip of his toes. Did you see the difference in him as an artist 427 00:25:23,855 --> 00:25:25,895 between Off The Wall and Thriller? 428 00:25:25,895 --> 00:25:28,495 I feel he started to explore different types of music 429 00:25:28,495 --> 00:25:30,935 and the influences were much greater. 430 00:25:30,935 --> 00:25:34,895 I always considered it like if you're gonna cook a certain food 431 00:25:34,895 --> 00:25:37,015 you use certain spices. Exactly. 432 00:25:37,015 --> 00:25:41,455 And if you're gonna make a certain dish that's characteristic to a certain thing 433 00:25:41,455 --> 00:25:45,535 then you use those spices. Right here with one soprano, one alto, 434 00:25:45,535 --> 00:25:47,655 one tenor. And our brother's bass. 435 00:25:47,655 --> 00:25:51,455 And so we have all the four voices. Exactly. I'm a choir. 436 00:25:51,455 --> 00:25:53,575 Mm-hm. Yes, we do. 437 00:25:53,575 --> 00:25:58,175 It's a bit like with me when I dance, depending on what type of music, where I am, 438 00:25:58,175 --> 00:26:00,215 depends how my body moves. Yes! 439 00:26:00,215 --> 00:26:02,175 Simple as that. 440 00:26:03,775 --> 00:26:07,375 One thing that came to my attention, Ashley, 441 00:26:07,375 --> 00:26:10,615 as we're talking about specifically the rhythm and stuff, 442 00:26:10,615 --> 00:26:12,335 was that lyric "you're a vegetable". 443 00:26:12,335 --> 00:26:15,215 "You're a vegetable, people eat off of you." 444 00:26:15,935 --> 00:26:19,335 # You're a vegetable # You're a vegetable 445 00:26:19,335 --> 00:26:21,095 # They hate you # They hate you 446 00:26:21,095 --> 00:26:22,735 # You're a vegetable # You're a vegetable 447 00:26:22,735 --> 00:26:25,335 If you're gonna interpret their ideas for the music 448 00:26:25,335 --> 00:26:27,695 and give it back to 'em, you have to, in some way, 449 00:26:27,695 --> 00:26:30,455 get into their head so you can have that understanding. 450 00:26:30,455 --> 00:26:33,575 And so when we get to that lyric, I'm like, "Hmm... 451 00:26:33,575 --> 00:26:36,255 This is interesting." He sort of went... 452 00:26:36,255 --> 00:26:38,495 Right. It kind of got dark. 453 00:26:38,495 --> 00:26:40,575 Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? 454 00:26:40,575 --> 00:26:43,935 I'm looking at Mikey, I'm like... "OK, you know what I mean?" 455 00:26:43,935 --> 00:26:47,495 Yeah, yeah. He never had that chance to be a child. 456 00:26:47,495 --> 00:26:50,415 Because we worked with him when he was a child. 457 00:26:50,415 --> 00:26:52,495 We just watched their family grow. 458 00:26:52,495 --> 00:26:57,215 But by then he was so inundated with...different people 459 00:26:57,215 --> 00:27:01,335 that he never had a chance to be...a... ..normal kid. 460 00:27:01,335 --> 00:27:04,015 He couldn't be a normal kid or a normal person. 461 00:27:04,015 --> 00:27:07,455 Because just imagine being in a position where you can't even 462 00:27:07,455 --> 00:27:10,415 walk out of the door of a place and somebody's not... 463 00:27:11,135 --> 00:27:13,295 # My baby's slowly dyin' 464 00:27:13,295 --> 00:27:15,375 As Michael Jackson's fame grew, 465 00:27:15,375 --> 00:27:18,335 his personal life became more difficult. 466 00:27:18,335 --> 00:27:20,895 And in time, more controversial. 467 00:27:22,575 --> 00:27:25,815 But in the summer of '83, he was still riding high. 468 00:27:25,815 --> 00:27:30,135 Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' was the fourth hit single off Thriller. 469 00:27:30,135 --> 00:27:32,895 And all four songs had been written by the singer. 470 00:27:32,895 --> 00:27:37,895 But producer Quincy Jones had also invited a number of other composers 471 00:27:37,895 --> 00:27:39,855 to offer tracks for the album. 472 00:27:40,815 --> 00:27:44,455 Including the main song writer from the American rock band Toto - 473 00:27:44,455 --> 00:27:46,135 David Paich. 474 00:27:46,135 --> 00:27:48,575 David had been working away on these demos, 475 00:27:48,575 --> 00:27:52,455 different grooves, at his home studio where I lived with him. 476 00:27:52,455 --> 00:27:55,695 Quincy was sending a guy over every day to pick up a cassette. 477 00:27:57,735 --> 00:28:02,295 David's band mate Steve Porcaro had been working on a composition of his own for Toto - 478 00:28:02,295 --> 00:28:04,255 Human Nature. 479 00:28:07,935 --> 00:28:11,415 They had just done a quick down-and-dirty mix of Human Nature 480 00:28:11,415 --> 00:28:14,775 to cassette, which wound up being the last cassette we had. 481 00:28:14,775 --> 00:28:17,815 So what I did was took the thing that I'd just recorded, 482 00:28:17,815 --> 00:28:20,895 fast-forwarded it, turned it around, re-labelled it, 483 00:28:20,895 --> 00:28:23,455 so David's two things were on the A side. 484 00:28:23,455 --> 00:28:25,535 And handed it to the guy. 485 00:28:25,535 --> 00:28:28,895 So the next day Quincy was working in his office, I guess. 486 00:28:28,895 --> 00:28:30,975 And he let the tape run. 487 00:28:30,975 --> 00:28:33,655 And all of a sudden, like 20 minutes later... 488 00:28:34,215 --> 00:28:35,815 ..Human Nature starts playing. 489 00:28:35,815 --> 00:28:40,535 # Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature 490 00:28:40,535 --> 00:28:44,295 # Why, why, do they do it that way? 491 00:28:44,295 --> 00:28:47,015 What happened next? He called you and said...? 492 00:28:47,015 --> 00:28:51,975 He called David and said, "I love this song why why of yours." 493 00:28:51,975 --> 00:28:54,095 And I said, "That took a while." 494 00:28:54,095 --> 00:28:57,615 David was bombed. He was like, "They don't like my song. They like your song." 495 00:28:57,615 --> 00:29:00,575 So you guys knew about the track at the time but you just didn't...? 496 00:29:00,575 --> 00:29:04,015 We dug the song. We thought maybe it was a little too pop for us. 497 00:29:04,015 --> 00:29:06,495 We were trying to be in a rock band at the time. 498 00:29:06,495 --> 00:29:09,055 The story I like to tell is the band were saying 499 00:29:09,055 --> 00:29:13,575 it wasn't stadium-rock enough. Edit to Michael at the stadium! 500 00:29:13,575 --> 00:29:18,775 AUDIENCE: # Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature 501 00:29:18,775 --> 00:29:20,775 Steve's there like... 502 00:29:20,775 --> 00:29:22,775 Yeah. 503 00:29:22,775 --> 00:29:25,375 "Guess it didn't make the stadium-rock thing." 504 00:29:25,375 --> 00:29:31,655 # They say why, why, tell 'em that it human nature 505 00:29:31,655 --> 00:29:33,775 And another thing I gotta say. 506 00:29:33,775 --> 00:29:38,215 You can't put in words for a song-writer, someone who had something to do with it, 507 00:29:38,215 --> 00:29:41,415 for an artist like that, who's got that much talent. 508 00:29:41,415 --> 00:29:44,895 what they bring to the table when they do one of your tunes. Amazing. 509 00:29:44,895 --> 00:29:46,855 # Why does he do me that way? # 510 00:29:50,295 --> 00:29:54,215 Human Nature was followed two months later in the US by PYT - 511 00:29:54,215 --> 00:29:56,295 Pretty Young Thing. 512 00:29:56,295 --> 00:29:59,535 A funky soul workout written by James Ingram and Quincy Jones. 513 00:29:59,535 --> 00:30:02,655 # I want to love you, PYT, pretty young thing 514 00:30:02,895 --> 00:30:06,055 It was amazing how CBS just thought, 515 00:30:06,055 --> 00:30:08,255 "Oh, OK. Let's put out another one." 516 00:30:08,255 --> 00:30:10,335 And so out comes another one. 517 00:30:10,335 --> 00:30:16,135 And then, "Hey, let's do Human Nature and PYT. Why not?" 518 00:30:16,135 --> 00:30:18,015 And they both got to be Top Ten records. 519 00:30:18,015 --> 00:30:20,135 This was new territory. 520 00:30:20,135 --> 00:30:24,695 No album in history had ever generated six major hit singles in the US. 521 00:30:24,695 --> 00:30:28,495 The important thing that the record companies of America learned was, 522 00:30:28,495 --> 00:30:32,815 every time one of those Michael Jackson tracks was played as a single on the radio, 523 00:30:32,815 --> 00:30:34,815 it was a free commercial for the album. 524 00:30:36,495 --> 00:30:40,735 By autumn of 1983, album sales were finally starting to drop away. 525 00:30:40,735 --> 00:30:43,975 But Michael Jackson had one card left to play. 526 00:30:43,975 --> 00:30:47,255 The release of the album's title track and maybe, more importantly, 527 00:30:47,255 --> 00:30:48,935 its ground-breaking video. 528 00:30:48,935 --> 00:30:52,895 The song was written by Englishman Rod Temperton, 529 00:30:52,895 --> 00:30:55,895 who had worked with Michael on several of his earlier hits, 530 00:30:55,895 --> 00:30:58,215 including Rock With You and Off The Wall. 531 00:30:58,215 --> 00:31:02,815 For the video, Michael brought in Hollywood A-list director John Landis, 532 00:31:02,815 --> 00:31:06,015 after seeing his horror film An American Werewolf In London. 533 00:31:08,775 --> 00:31:12,055 The 1981 hit featured brilliantly-realised 534 00:31:12,055 --> 00:31:17,655 monster transformations, created by seven-times-Oscar-winning make-up designer Rick Baker. 535 00:31:17,655 --> 00:31:21,575 All Michael wanted to do was go through some kind of change on screen. 536 00:31:21,575 --> 00:31:23,655 And become a monster. 537 00:31:23,655 --> 00:31:27,615 So Rick Baker and I went over to his house with a book of monsters. 538 00:31:27,615 --> 00:31:29,695 And he was like..."Euw!" 539 00:31:29,695 --> 00:31:32,495 It was so funny because he'd never seen any monsters. 540 00:31:32,495 --> 00:31:34,535 He'd seen hardly any horror films. 541 00:31:34,535 --> 00:31:36,575 I mean...I think two. 542 00:31:36,575 --> 00:31:38,615 Cos he was too scared. 543 00:31:38,615 --> 00:31:40,695 So I wrote the script, he loved it. 544 00:31:40,695 --> 00:31:42,735 And then we did the budget. 545 00:31:42,735 --> 00:31:46,975 Now, what I didn't know was CBS records were saying, 546 00:31:46,975 --> 00:31:49,895 "Calm down. There's no way we're spending any more money." 547 00:31:49,895 --> 00:31:55,175 So Michael puts me on the phone with Walter Yetnikoff, CBS records. 548 00:31:55,895 --> 00:32:00,135 And to this day I never heard language like that. 549 00:32:00,135 --> 00:32:02,215 I thought the phone would melt. 550 00:32:02,215 --> 00:32:04,735 I mean, he went on and on. It was like...ahhh! 551 00:32:04,735 --> 00:32:06,815 My hair was...! 552 00:32:06,815 --> 00:32:09,135 And I give the phone back to Michael. 553 00:32:09,135 --> 00:32:12,735 And Michael takes it, says, "OK, Walter, I'll talk to you later." 554 00:32:12,735 --> 00:32:14,735 "What did he say?" I said, "He said no." 555 00:32:14,735 --> 00:32:18,815 With the record company unwilling to pay the half-million-dollar budget 556 00:32:18,815 --> 00:32:22,055 for the Thriller video, the project seemed dead in the water. 557 00:32:22,055 --> 00:32:24,815 But John and his team came up with a solution. 558 00:32:24,815 --> 00:32:27,255 They'd produce a Making Of documentary 559 00:32:27,255 --> 00:32:29,215 and sell that to fund the film. 560 00:32:30,735 --> 00:32:34,295 The Making Of Thriller was a unique, behind-the-scenes look at 561 00:32:34,295 --> 00:32:36,655 the most successful pop star in the world. 562 00:32:36,655 --> 00:32:40,615 It became the biggest-selling home video release of all time. 563 00:32:40,615 --> 00:32:43,295 In one of the most fascinating sequences, 564 00:32:43,295 --> 00:32:47,775 Rick Baker is filmed preparing Michael for his transformation into a monster. 565 00:32:47,775 --> 00:32:52,015 John surprised me. I thought I was going to be taking a life cast of Michael that day. 566 00:32:52,015 --> 00:32:54,455 I didn't know there was going to be a camera crew. 567 00:32:54,455 --> 00:32:59,615 I said, "John, come on. Michael is obviously shy. 568 00:32:59,615 --> 00:33:03,655 It always looks horrifying when you show someone getting a life cast taken. 569 00:33:03,655 --> 00:33:07,135 "Do we really need to do this?" "Yes!" 570 00:33:07,135 --> 00:33:12,535 Yes! Now, in hindsight, I'm so thankful they did do the making of Thriller 571 00:33:12,535 --> 00:33:15,615 as it inspired a lot of people to become make-up artists. 572 00:33:15,615 --> 00:33:20,815 Was you involved creatively from the tip-top - what characters were gonna be in the video 573 00:33:20,815 --> 00:33:23,375 and how they were gonna look? Yeah, pretty much. 574 00:33:23,375 --> 00:33:26,255 I really didn't want to do another Werewolf, so to speak. 575 00:33:26,255 --> 00:33:31,055 And I thought it would be cool to do him more feline, like a cat. 576 00:33:31,055 --> 00:33:33,015 And he went for it. 577 00:33:35,535 --> 00:33:40,735 We did it with bladders under his brow and his cheekbones growing. 578 00:33:40,735 --> 00:33:44,175 I think we shot most of the transformation one day at my shop. 579 00:33:44,175 --> 00:33:47,495 With the stuff in the hands and the inserts and all that stuff. 580 00:33:49,735 --> 00:33:53,295 And the whiskers coming out of his head was a half-a-head of Michael 581 00:33:53,295 --> 00:33:57,135 that we made. We punched the hairs through this thing and pulled 'em, 582 00:33:57,135 --> 00:34:01,975 actually pulled 'em in and reverse-printed it so it looked like they were growing out. 583 00:34:01,975 --> 00:34:05,055 That's cool. Tricks. We didn't have computers in those days! 584 00:34:05,055 --> 00:34:09,615 I happen to have brought the teeth that Michael Jackson wore 585 00:34:09,615 --> 00:34:12,615 when he was the cat monster. The actual teeth? 586 00:34:12,615 --> 00:34:15,815 I'm sure there's some of his DNA right in these teeth right here. 587 00:34:15,815 --> 00:34:18,175 Can I have a look? Sure. Just don't drop 'em! 588 00:34:18,975 --> 00:34:22,735 These are... It's a little scary! Yeah. They're sharp too. 589 00:34:22,735 --> 00:34:26,015 I was worried about that. I was afraid - Don't want that biting you. 590 00:34:26,015 --> 00:34:30,215 I was afraid of Michael biting his lip or falling. Yeah. 591 00:34:30,215 --> 00:34:33,375 Obviously he had two characters. He had the cat character 592 00:34:33,375 --> 00:34:36,215 and the zombie. When Michael turned into the zombie... 593 00:34:37,535 --> 00:34:41,175 ..it was incredible how much he still looked like Michael 594 00:34:41,175 --> 00:34:43,455 but yet he looked completely different. 595 00:34:43,455 --> 00:34:46,095 How did you go about creating that look? That zombie look. 596 00:34:46,095 --> 00:34:49,975 It was to make more skull-like cheekbones and eye sockets. 597 00:34:49,975 --> 00:34:52,055 But he was up for it. 598 00:34:52,055 --> 00:34:56,015 He really... He really wanted to wear these make-ups. 599 00:34:56,015 --> 00:35:01,815 The Making Of documentary reveals John Landis's skilful direction of Michael Jackson 600 00:35:01,815 --> 00:35:06,655 as he flirts with his screen girlfriend played by former Playboy model Ola Ray. 601 00:35:10,015 --> 00:35:13,455 I just had Ola keep the beat. 602 00:35:13,455 --> 00:35:15,495 She keeps the beat, walking straight. 603 00:35:15,495 --> 00:35:19,095 And I told Mike, "You can never get more than four feet away from her." 604 00:35:19,095 --> 00:35:20,975 Did he freestyle all that? Totally. 605 00:35:20,975 --> 00:35:22,975 Yeah. Completely freestyle. So cool. 606 00:35:22,975 --> 00:35:26,535 And Ola was so crazy about Michael, she was just... 607 00:35:26,535 --> 00:35:31,415 so in love with him, I think she makes it work. 608 00:35:31,415 --> 00:35:33,735 # Under the moonlight 609 00:35:34,015 --> 00:35:36,815 # You see a sight that almost stops your heart 610 00:35:37,455 --> 00:35:39,335 # You try to scream 611 00:35:39,335 --> 00:35:41,255 I met up with Ola at an LA studio 612 00:35:41,255 --> 00:35:44,735 and asked her to recreate that iconic Thriller sequence for me. 613 00:35:45,855 --> 00:35:48,935 OK. Let's talk a little bit about the walking scene. 614 00:35:48,935 --> 00:35:52,375 The famous scene of you and Michael when you've left the movie theatre. 615 00:35:52,375 --> 00:35:55,295 I really enjoyed it cos I got a chance to touch his face 616 00:35:55,295 --> 00:35:57,375 and play with him a little bit. 617 00:35:57,375 --> 00:36:00,895 And John Landis had me walking to the beat of the song. 618 00:36:00,895 --> 00:36:02,975 But I was walking too fast. 619 00:36:02,975 --> 00:36:06,335 I was, like, going like this. Show me the speed of the fast walk. 620 00:36:08,055 --> 00:36:10,135 OK. I want to see this. 621 00:36:10,135 --> 00:36:12,455 Then I wanna see how you did it for the movie. 622 00:36:15,575 --> 00:36:17,735 That's not how you did it in the video. 623 00:36:17,735 --> 00:36:20,455 No. Then John Landis had me slow it down so I did... 624 00:36:20,455 --> 00:36:22,415 Slowed it down. 625 00:36:23,655 --> 00:36:26,655 Yeah. I remember it. Michael was moving along here. 626 00:36:26,655 --> 00:36:29,135 And he was walking around and he was singing. 627 00:36:29,135 --> 00:36:32,575 And you guys were back and forwards. He was playing around me. 628 00:36:32,575 --> 00:36:35,615 And he was going back. I have this big old smile on my face 629 00:36:35,615 --> 00:36:40,535 and loving every minute. It wasn't fake. You were genuinely loving it. 630 00:36:40,535 --> 00:36:42,575 Of course! Who wouldn't? 631 00:36:42,575 --> 00:36:44,655 It's true. I was in love. 632 00:36:44,655 --> 00:36:49,375 I feel so bad. I'm like I don't know who's going to take his place. 633 00:36:49,375 --> 00:36:52,495 Gonna be hard to find a replacement for Michael. It is. 634 00:36:52,495 --> 00:36:55,895 The world's not gonna have a replacement for Michael Jackson. 635 00:36:55,895 --> 00:36:57,895 Who's gonna top that? 636 00:37:00,335 --> 00:37:02,775 The whole thing with Thriller was good, it was fun. 637 00:37:02,775 --> 00:37:04,815 THEN came a problem. 638 00:37:04,815 --> 00:37:07,455 Someone felt it was satanic. 639 00:37:07,455 --> 00:37:10,535 And that the Jehovah's Witnesses could not be involved. 640 00:37:10,535 --> 00:37:14,215 During Thriller, Michael went out to proselytise! 641 00:37:14,215 --> 00:37:16,175 Really? Yeah. Knock-knock. 642 00:37:16,175 --> 00:37:19,735 Can you imagine opening your door and there's Michael Jackson? 643 00:37:19,735 --> 00:37:22,695 Saying, "Do you want to become a Jehovah's Witness?" 644 00:37:22,695 --> 00:37:26,615 I don't know what the spiel is but I do know they disapproved the video. 645 00:37:26,615 --> 00:37:30,935 And Michael called John Branca, his lawyer and said, "It has to be destroyed." 646 00:37:30,935 --> 00:37:35,815 And so I went to Michael who had locked himself in his room. 647 00:37:35,815 --> 00:37:39,135 It was very strange. And basically said, 648 00:37:39,135 --> 00:37:43,255 "Michael, do you think I'm satanic? It's YOU! Are YOU satanic?! 649 00:37:43,255 --> 00:37:46,455 It's fake. It's not real. It's a movie." 650 00:37:46,455 --> 00:37:49,775 And so what we worked out was... 651 00:37:51,335 --> 00:37:53,415 "We'll put a disclaimer on it." 652 00:37:53,415 --> 00:37:57,855 And what's funny about it is people were intrigued by it. 653 00:37:57,855 --> 00:38:01,295 It helped sell the video! It made it more interesting. 654 00:38:01,295 --> 00:38:05,455 Everything Mike did, even though some things were so eccentric, 655 00:38:05,455 --> 00:38:07,415 worked out. 656 00:38:10,495 --> 00:38:15,615 Thriller is the absolute pinnacle of the video era. 657 00:38:15,615 --> 00:38:18,895 Because everybody was waiting for the premiere. 658 00:38:18,895 --> 00:38:20,975 Can you believe this? 659 00:38:20,975 --> 00:38:23,815 People were watching television at a certain time 660 00:38:23,815 --> 00:38:26,495 because a video was going to have its premiere. 661 00:38:26,495 --> 00:38:30,855 That's how important Michael Jackson had become in that short period of time. 662 00:38:30,855 --> 00:38:36,015 Thriller was a watershed moment in terms of what you might call event pop. 663 00:38:36,015 --> 00:38:38,055 You have to remember that in the 1970s, 664 00:38:38,055 --> 00:38:41,655 film had really changed with the rise of blockbusters. 665 00:38:41,655 --> 00:38:47,455 Michael Jackson envisioned Thriller as the equivalent of what Star Wars, 666 00:38:47,455 --> 00:38:50,255 one of the biggest films of all time, an event. 667 00:38:50,255 --> 00:38:52,415 He wanted to do that in the context of music. 668 00:38:52,415 --> 00:38:54,455 And he did it with Thriller. 669 00:38:54,455 --> 00:38:57,095 He IS this new format. 670 00:38:58,575 --> 00:39:02,175 Just as Al Jolson sang... in The Jazz Singer, 671 00:39:02,175 --> 00:39:05,135 Michael Jackson just fits. 672 00:39:05,735 --> 00:39:09,415 And he knew that this video era was for him. 673 00:39:12,575 --> 00:39:15,695 Michael Jackson achieved everything he set out to with Thriller. 674 00:39:15,695 --> 00:39:18,455 The album won a record number of Grammies. 675 00:39:18,455 --> 00:39:22,775 It was well on its way to becoming the best-selling LP of all time. 676 00:39:22,775 --> 00:39:25,695 And he had conquered the new world of music video. 677 00:39:25,695 --> 00:39:27,735 # I want to love you, PYT, pretty young thing 678 00:39:27,735 --> 00:39:30,335 But the story of Thriller doesn't end there. 679 00:39:30,335 --> 00:39:33,215 Three decades on, Michael Jackson's masterpiece 680 00:39:33,215 --> 00:39:36,335 remains one of the most influential records of all time. 681 00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:45,920 I've come to America to find out what made Thriller 682 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,080 the most successful album of all time, 683 00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:51,200 and Michael Jackson the most famous man on the planet. 684 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:58,080 This was the time when Michael started to establish his own separate identity. 685 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:01,000 And costume played a key part in that. 686 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:07,160 So I'm here at the Grammy Museum to check out some of the more iconic outfits from the Thriller era. 687 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:16,360 The photo on the front of the album is a glossy 1980s classic. 688 00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:20,360 With the singer staring seductively from the cover in a pure white suit. 689 00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,600 He looks like a smooth guy. He does. 690 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:25,640 Tell me a little bit about this suit. 691 00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,320 There are so many stories about this suit. 692 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:30,400 What we know here at the Grammy Museum 693 00:40:30,400 --> 00:40:33,960 is that the suit was custom-designed by Hugo Boss. 694 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:36,040 For Michael Jackson. 695 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:40,360 This is Michael Jackson coming out of the whole disco era 696 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:44,040 and you're seeing the tide of the world changing. 697 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:48,040 Fashion is changing. And he was saying, "This is my time to shine, 698 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,080 and I'm here to be taken seriously." 699 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,040 And that's what this suit is doing. 700 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:57,200 The Grammy Museum also holds one of the custom-made Fedoras, 701 00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:01,200 designed by Rick Pallack for Michael Jackson's Billie Jean performances. 702 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,680 Would you like to see the hat? The one he's worn? 703 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,000 The one he's worn. All right, let's do it! 704 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,560 Isn't this pretty cool? That is very cool. 705 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:13,640 Right. His name's in it. 706 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:16,320 You can really see like how he would flip the hat. 707 00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:18,720 You hold this and you can see him tipping it. 708 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:20,920 Tipping it. It feels like it should do that. 709 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:24,800 It's a prop. And the brim is really...almost like a frisbee. 710 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,280 Like a frisbee! Exactly like a frisbee! 711 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:30,120 That is so cool. It has so much structure to it. 712 00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,400 Not your normal Fedora. Not your normal Fedora. 713 00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:34,600 This is a Michael Jackson Fedora. Yes. 714 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:38,800 The jewel in the crown of the collection is the jacket from the Thriller video. 715 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,760 So the jacket was designed by Deborah Landis, 716 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:44,320 and I think she did such a phenomenal job. 717 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,880 It really looks like an M. You see that? For Michael? 718 00:41:46,880 --> 00:41:49,680 Maybe it's my choreographic head but the black V 719 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,480 follows the shape of the dancers in the video. 720 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:58,720 It was perfect. And that red colour just pops so he stands out 721 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:02,920 from the rest of the zombies. This jacket was one-off. 722 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:05,000 There's 100 been made like it 723 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:08,280 but this was the one that started the craze. This is the one. 724 00:42:08,280 --> 00:42:11,960 So do you believe that Michael Jackson, stylistically, 725 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:17,080 has influenced other artists? My God, without a question. Yes. 726 00:42:17,080 --> 00:42:21,920 There's Rihanna, Beyonce, hello, with the glove. 727 00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:25,800 Usher. Justin Timberlake. So many different artists. 728 00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:27,760 It's absolutely insane. It's insane. 729 00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:34,680 In 2009, after more than a decade without touring, 730 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:38,520 Michael Jackson scheduled a series of 50 concerts in London. 731 00:42:38,520 --> 00:42:41,160 This is the final curtain call. 732 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,920 My dance group Diversity were booked to support him. 733 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:46,880 See you in July. 734 00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:51,880 Michael also got in touch with one of his former choreographers Travis Payne 735 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:53,960 to work with him again on this show. 736 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:57,080 I was very happy to know we'd get to pick up where we left off. 737 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,560 And just to hear how happy he was, 738 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,560 to get back out on stage and perform. 739 00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:09,920 Fascinating behind-the-scenes footage of the rehearsal 740 00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:12,640 shows Michael and Travis preparing a re-working 741 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:15,360 of the Thriller video for the planned stage shows. 742 00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:21,240 What was that time like, being with Michael? 743 00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:24,480 He set such high standards for himself and those around him. 744 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:26,520 And sweated every detail. 745 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:28,560 He had days where he was just tired 746 00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:30,680 because of doing so much. 747 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:37,280 But all of that fed him because he missed being able to create like that. 748 00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,880 The London concerts never took place. 749 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:47,680 On the 25th June 2009, Michael Jackson died following an overdose of prescription drugs. 750 00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,640 It was just a complete shock. 751 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:56,040 To not only be told that he had passed away, 752 00:43:56,040 --> 00:44:00,720 but...in the manner in which he did. 753 00:44:00,720 --> 00:44:03,040 It was just...and continues to be... 754 00:44:03,040 --> 00:44:05,120 utterly devastating. 755 00:44:05,120 --> 00:44:09,560 Obviously he had so much negativity around him. 756 00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:14,880 But just as an artist he would go on to inspire...so many people. 757 00:44:14,880 --> 00:44:17,920 I agree. I think it's awesome to see. 758 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:20,840 That means they have studied the greatest. Exactly. 759 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:22,920 That's what Michael did. 760 00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,200 He felt to be great you need to study the greats. 761 00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:32,520 Michael Jackson's music is still being performed at venues across the planet. 762 00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:34,640 The girls give it and go... 763 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:39,640 Here in London, Thriller Live has been running in the West End for over six years. 764 00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:43,160 And then hit it now. 765 00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:47,760 Its creator, Adrian Grant, invited me to sit in on one of their rehearsals. 766 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:54,640 I sometimes feel that Michael is under-rated as an artist 767 00:44:54,640 --> 00:44:56,720 because of the hype that surrounded him. 768 00:44:56,720 --> 00:45:00,120 And when you strip it down he was a fantastic song-writer, dancer. 769 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:02,040 And that's what Thriller Live is about. 770 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:09,240 He's still inspiring people through his work. 771 00:45:09,240 --> 00:45:12,920 All the dancers we have in the show grew up listening to Michael Jackson's music. 772 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,880 And rehearsing and doing their dance school to Michael Jackson's music. 773 00:45:20,640 --> 00:45:23,760 Kids as young as five years old come to watch our show, 774 00:45:23,760 --> 00:45:26,520 who weren't even born when Thriller was created. 775 00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:28,840 And people as old as 80 are out in the aisles dancing 776 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:31,200 and waving their arms to his music. 777 00:45:31,800 --> 00:45:33,760 # PYT (Pretty Young Thing) 778 00:45:39,480 --> 00:45:44,160 But it's Thriller that everyone knows and they come to see the Thriller song 779 00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:47,560 with the zombies. And songs like Beat It and Billie Jean. 780 00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:50,440 That defined him as the world's greatest entertainer. 781 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:57,320 Thriller and its seven US hit singles became the benchmark 782 00:45:57,320 --> 00:46:00,320 for the way record companies marketed their major stars. 783 00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:05,480 Big problem. Almost no other artist had as many hit singles on an album 784 00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:07,600 as Michael Jackson did. 785 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:11,360 So I believe that Michael Jackson's Thriller killed the record business 786 00:46:11,360 --> 00:46:14,240 while of course being great for Michael Jackson. 787 00:46:14,240 --> 00:46:16,320 # Thriller 788 00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:19,040 I think there are some artists who are so radical 789 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:22,320 that their influence is felt for decades and decades after 790 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:25,680 the moment in which they first make their major impact. 791 00:46:25,680 --> 00:46:30,600 And so I feel like even today in the 21st century people are still... 792 00:46:30,600 --> 00:46:34,160 just trying to figure out how he did what he did and they're still 793 00:46:34,160 --> 00:46:36,480 following in those glittery footsteps. 794 00:46:36,480 --> 00:46:43,080 In 1987, Michael Jackson gave a rare interview to Australian journalist Molly Meldrum 795 00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:46,880 about Thriller and how he coped with the fan frenzy that followed. 796 00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:51,680 I'd like to sneak into theatres without being noticed sometime. 797 00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:55,720 Um...sometimes there's really nothing you can do about it. 798 00:46:55,720 --> 00:46:57,760 It's the price you have to pay. 799 00:46:57,760 --> 00:47:01,160 Did it flatter you people were trying to do your dance steps? 800 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:04,440 I always loved watching that. Especially the children. 801 00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:07,240 When they wore all the gear and everything. 802 00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:10,040 And imitating me. I think it's fun. 803 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:13,520 Did you check up on sales each week? 804 00:47:13,520 --> 00:47:16,920 I pretty much did the album and sat back and watched 805 00:47:16,920 --> 00:47:18,960 cos it was another one of my dreams. 806 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,040 I knew it was gonna do what it did. 807 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,080 I have lots of dreams and they usually come true. 808 00:47:25,960 --> 00:47:29,680 I wanted to find out how my musical hero fulfilled his dream 809 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:32,840 and made Thriller the most successful album of all time. 810 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:38,200 It seemed to me this unique combination of rock, pop and R'n'B 811 00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:40,240 attracted a massive audience. 812 00:47:40,240 --> 00:47:42,840 # Just beat it, just beat it 813 00:47:42,840 --> 00:47:46,840 Three ground-breaking videos brought the music to a new market. 814 00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:48,840 # Cos this is Thriller 815 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,800 But most of all, Michael Jackson was a consummate performer 816 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:54,880 at the height of his powers. 817 00:47:54,880 --> 00:47:57,920 A great singer, songwriter and dancer. 818 00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:00,720 The perfect package. 819 00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:03,240 But was there a price to pay? 820 00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,600 He became the most famous man in the world. 821 00:48:07,600 --> 00:48:10,560 And as the rumours became ever more bizarre, 822 00:48:10,560 --> 00:48:13,440 and the tabloids became ever more frenzied, 823 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:17,320 Michael Jackson retreated into what seemed an odd, isolated 824 00:48:17,320 --> 00:48:19,480 and at times, even sad life. 825 00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:26,640 But his masterpiece, Thriller, still stands as a testament to this brilliant artist. 826 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:31,960 And still brings pleasure and inspiration to me and many other millions like me. 827 00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,400 # Every night she walks right in my dreams 828 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:36,960 # Since I met her from the start 829 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:40,200 # I'm so proud I am the only one 830 00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:42,440 # Who is special in her heart 831 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:44,920 # The girl is mine 832 00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:46,880 subtitles by Deluxe 833 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:51,640 # The doggone girl is mine 834 00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:57,680 # I know she's mine