Widely regarded as the greatest music video of all time by everyone but Kanye West, Thriller is more like a musical short film than a music video. And while Its not one of my personal favorites, it is Halloween weekend, so I couldn’t resist featuring it this friday.
Thriller is the most downloaded music video on iTunes and is also probably one of the most referenced music videos in popular culture. A recent parody is a scene in Wizards of Waverly Place wherein zombies partake in a dance battle with the Wizards – said one zombie, “One music video and we’re expected to have dance battles everywhere!” There’s also the only scene my dad ever wants to watch out of the movie 13 Going On 30 wherein Jennifer Garner leads a party in the dance. But really you can find the dance anywhere; prisons, marching band shows, weddings, weddings and more weddings. Dragon*Con even attempted a world record for the most people doing the dance at once. Mexico City holds the record at almost 14,000 people.
So yeah – Thriller is pretty much the undisputed most influential music video to have been produced to date. One last interesting fact about the song that few people seem to recognize: While MJ wrote many of his own songs, Thriller was written by a guy named Rod Temperton who also wrote several other songs for Jacko.
Have a good weekend and a safe Halloween!