It’s hard to remember a time when “Thriller” wasn’t a Halloween staple. The song and its iconic video feel as permanent a fixture in pop culture as trick-or-treating itself. But what if I told you that the song was never meant to exist, its music video was a last-ditch gamble, and its success was a miracle born from desperation?
The story begins not with a monster hit, but with a song called “Starlight.” Written by the genius songwriter Rod Temperton, “Starlight” was a funky, R&B tune about lovers under a night sky. It was a good song, but producer Quincy Jones didn’t think it was strong enough to be the title track for Michael Jackson‘s new album. He wanted something more mysterious, a title that would match the dramatic evolution of Jackson’s persona. Jones famously told his team that they were there to “save the recording industry,” setting an almost impossible standard for every track. Under this immense pressure, Temperton went back to the drawing board, conjuring up the word “Thriller,” a word he initially thought was “crap to sing”. Yet, in just a couple of hours, he penned the chilling new lyrics, transforming the sweet romance of “Starlight” into a terrifying, suspenseful narrative. Interestingly, the original demo used inclusive pronouns like “we” and “us,” making Jackson a participant in the story. The final version changed this to “you” and “you’re,” casting Jackson as a narrator—a spectator to the horror.
The creative process for “Thriller” was full of curious and personal details that reveal Jackson’s hands-on approach. When it came to the famous spoken-word section, Jones’s wife, Peggy Lipton, suggested horror legend Vincent Price. Temperton wrote Price’s ominous monologue in a taxi on his way to the studio, a moment of pure, last-minute inspiration. The sound effects were equally unconventional. Sound engineer Bruce Swedien tried to record his own Great Dane, Max, howling in a barn overnight, but the dog refused to cooperate. So, who stepped in to provide the eerie, lupine cry we all know? Michael Jackson himself recorded the howls, proving his direct involvement in creating the final masterpiece.
By mid-1983, despite the Thriller album being a massive success, sales were starting to slow. The album had already spun off hit singles like “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” but the momentum was waning. It was at this crucial moment, fueled by Jackson’s “obsessive” focus on his sales numbers, that a high-stakes decision was made: release “Thriller” as the final single with an ambitious music video. The record label, Epic, was skeptical and refused to fund it, believing the album had already peaked. The solution was an innovative, even revolutionary, idea. Jackson and director John Landis secured funding from MTV and Showtime by creating a behind-the-scenes documentary, The Making of ‘Thriller’. Both networks paid for the exclusive rights to air the documentary, with Showtime paying an additional $50,000 for pay-cable rights. This funding model worked perfectly; the “Making Of” documentary itself became a massive commercial hit, selling over a million copies on VHS and becoming the best-selling videotape of its time. This creative solution not only funded the art but became a successful product in its own right, paving the way for a new marketing format the industry uses to this day.
“You hear the door slam / And realize there’s nowhere left to run / You feel the cold hand / And wonder if you’ll ever see the sun”
The music video’s release on December 2, 1983, transformed a simple promotional tool into a 13-minute cinematic short film. It was a game-changer, breaking down racial barriers on a predominantly white MTV and popularizing the “making-of” documentary format. The iconic red jacket designed by Landis’s wife, Deborah Nadoolman, and the legendary zombie dance have become permanent staples of pop culture.
The gamble paid off spectacularly. The music video’s success doubled the Thriller album’s sales, helping it become the best-selling album of all time. Even decades later, the song returns to the charts every Halloween, a testament to its enduring power and its permanent place in our collective imagination. The story of “Thriller” isn’t just about a song or a music video; it’s a story about a creative team under pressure, who, through innovation and a determination to create something perfect, didn’t just save an album—they changed the entire music industry.
My copy: 7″, 45 RPM, Europe, 1984, Epic Records
Trackslistan (Swedish radio chart): #14 on year-end list 1984
