Micheal Jackson’s "Thriller" on A-List
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Topic: Micheal Jackson’s "Thriller" on A-List
Posted By: Jody Thornton
Subject: Micheal Jackson’s "Thriller" on A-List
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 3:47am
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I was looking at all the old posts. Boy, do I have a lot of reading cut out for me.
One of the interesting ones was the A-List. I noticed it did include "Thriller" and it started reminding me - was this the promo version that removed Vincent Price. The beginning is a lot like the new "2003 Edit". During it's heyday in 1984, what vinyl did this version come on (12" or 7")? I wonder why Vincent's rap was thought to be possibly offensive? ------------- Cheers, Jody Thornton (Richmond Hill, Ontario) |
Replies:
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 4:59am
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The regular US 45 version is the one that has no Vincent Price rap. The US promo 45 has an edited version that still keeps the rap in tact. You raise in interesting question, though. I wonder why it was cut in the first place?
The US 12" single has the full LP version. |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 5:01am
| I figured they didn't want to pay Vincent extra royalties to be on the 45! |
Posted By: Jody Thornton
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 5:04am
So you mean to tell me that the commercial store-bought 45-rpm record in the US was the "non-Vincent" version? REALLY? Wow - see in Canada, we had just the LP version on our 45, but an alternate promo came out with the Vincent ommission. Only CKFM and CFTR played it though in Southern Ontario. ------------- Cheers, Jody Thornton (Richmond Hill, Ontario) |
aaronk wrote:Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 9:26am
| I must've heard "Thriller" on the radio well over a hundred times when the song became a hit in 1984 and I can honestly say I don't once remember hearing it without the Vincent Price "rap". For me, this is one instance where I don't consider the commercial 45 to be the "true" hit version. |
Posted By: RichM921
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 9:42am
| Thriller on "A-List" runs 5:58 with the 60 second intro. It DOES have Vincent Price. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 3:49pm
| I've been wondering if anyone (Jim, maybe?) has any anecdotes from the radio perspective in those days. Was it a surprise that Thriller (the album) turned out to be such a big hit? By the time Epic was a few singles into the album, was each subsequent single an automatic add? |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 6:27pm
That's not true. I have a commercial Canadian 45 which runs 3:56 and is the edited version without the rap. Maybe there were two Canadian 45s? |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 25 May 2008 at 6:33pm
I know that CHUM in Toronto strayed from their top 40 roots to play more "alternative" or "new wave" music throughout most of '82; however, when "Thriller" was released they automatically added just about every single from the album, and during '83 went back to programming Top 40 music. They knew they couldn't ignore it. "The Girl is Mine" never charted on their chart (it did on CFTR), but the single "Thriller" was the only song in history to debut at No. 1 on the CHUM singles chart. For the record, I was listening to "Rock 102" (as it was known then) from Buffalo at the time (still am!) - but I followed the Billboard charts, along with the CHUM and CFTR charts religiously back then. Still have 'em, as a matter of fact :) |
Posted By: Jody Thornton
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 6:11am
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And oddly enough - Stereo Rock (used on Rock 102) never played the single "Thriller" in 1984.
They did play "The Girl...", Billie Jean", "Beat It", "PYT", and "Human Nature", but that was it. CHUM was interesting in 1980 to early 1983, say February. Notice that they presented themselves more like album rock, and even played album versions too? The only edit I remember them playing in that period was "Rapture" by Blondie - they played the US Remix with all the cowbells softly overdubbed. All others were LP versions. ------------- Cheers, Jody Thornton (Richmond Hill, Ontario) |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 5:12pm
Answering your last question first...Yes. Despite the lead-off single (TGIM) being one of the weakest tracks on the album IMHO, once "Billie Jean" hit, Michael's career was on fire. For the next 6 or so years he could have burped into a microphone and had it reach the top 10. I was working weekends at an AM CHR (yes, there were a few still around) when "Thriller" hit, and I'll have to admit was a bit surprised since MJ was considered a bit of a has-been. I don't remember if we played "Thriller"...by the time it was released as a single, we'd transitioned to AC, and it wouldn't have fit. 1983/84 was a good time to be doing CHR/Top 40. There was almost too much good new stuff around! We were overdue...'80 thru about mid-82 had to be one of the most boring periods of music ever. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 6:03pm
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"Thriller" was so huge that the '84 Pepsi radio spots could have been a hit, had they been released, um, commercially.
How many others asked their continuity director for their station's tape and box after the campaign had run its course? 
|
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 10:23pm
Funny you should say that because I collect music from the '40s through the present (though primarily '50s through '90s) and I actually consider the early '80s to be my very favorite period of music ever. I loved all the mellow, melodic MOR hits that dominated the charts back then and seriously wish music like this would make a comeback. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 10:25pm
| Thanks for the very cool looking scan, Yah Shure! |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 26 May 2008 at 11:25pm
| There definitely were some great records from '80 to '82, but I agree that '83 to '85 were probably the decade's best years for music. I loved the new wave and urban records that were impacting top 40. |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 3:19pm
Hmmm...they were usually very good about playing just about everything on the Hot 100, and I thought they did, but you may be right. Now, they play it every year on Halloween - just like every other station in North America! |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 3:24pm
I love the '80s - I think the whole decade was great - but I do agree that some years were stronger than others. 1983 is my favorite year for music, but 1980, '86 and '89 were very strong too. I always thought there was a bit of a downturn in '81 & '82. I remember Billboard even reporting that sales were way off those years; acts like Bruce Springsteen and Supertramp hit the top 5 on the album chart in mid-82 and didn't even go platinum. As soon as "Thriller" hit so big, everything went through the roof again. Too bad top 40 music isn't as good now as it was then :( |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 9:18pm
| Yep... I'm a huge '80s music enthusiast in general and I agree with the consensus here that the mid-'80s were a very fun time to be a Top 40 music fan. I too have many great music memories from that time period. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 27 May 2008 at 11:23pm
For a long, long time, top 40 music in recent years was not very good at all. I honestly think that in the past six to twelve months, quite a bit of really good music has come out. I think MySpace and the Internet has really helped break some artists that might have otherwise been passed over by the record labels. (Who runs those companies nowadays anyhow? They complain about low record sales, yet they put out complete garbage and wonder why nobody is buying.) Recent singles that have been, IMO, pretty darn good are "Apologize" by OneRepublic; "Leavin'" by Jesse McCartney; "See You Again" by Miley Cyrus; "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles; "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie; "No Air" by Jordin Sparks. There have been quite a few songs recently that remind me a lot of the mid-'90s when you would hear Tonic, Paula Cole, Donna Lewis, Take That, Mariah, etc. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 28 May 2008 at 5:10am
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I'd add the last few months, I've seen some new dancable music pop up as wedding requests. "Shake It" from Metro Station, "4 Minutes" from Madonna and Justin Timberlake,
"Don't Stop The Music" from Rihanna. Last year, "Makes Me Wonder" from Maroon 5 was big. |
Posted By: chendagam
Date Posted: 01 June 2008 at 8:28am
I do actually remember the edited version being played here in the Philadelphia area on the radio. It is what made me go out and purchase the 45 when I was 10 years old! Even back then I wanted to own the radio versions of songs and I knew that I could not make my own edit of that song since the instrumental break was exclusive to the 45. I do remember thinking it was weird that the VP rap was omitted. Although I felt at the time they did this because if you wanted the full version you would either have to purchase the 12" single which sold for $4.99 or the entire album which went for about $8.99 as compared to the $1.49 single. |