UK 7 Single
(Epic EPCA 3643)
1. Thriller (single edit) 4:37
2. The Things I Do For You (live with the Jackson's) 3: 39
USA 7 single
(epic 34 4364)
1. Thriller (single edit) 4: 37
2. Can't get out of the rain 4: 2
USA 12 single
1. Thriller 5: 57 <
Dual Disc Single
Epic 82876 7252 2 / EAN 82876725225
CD
1. Thriller 4:9
2. Thriller (Album Version) 5: 58
DVD
1. Michael Jackson's thriller (music video)
chart information
UK: #1 UK Top 4 single chart details: 24, 1, 11, 16, 12, 13, 11, 12, 18. B list)
Germany: #21 France: #1 Australia: #4 Denmark: #3 Belgium #1
In Britain, its highest ranking came to No.1, becoming the fifth single in Jackson's album to reach the top 1. Some people think that it is incredible that Thriller, one of Michael Jackson's most outstanding works, has achieved such a relatively low ranking in the British list. However, we should see that at that time, its album of the same name had sold more than 2 million copies in Britain, making it one of the best-selling albums in British history. At the same time, it also means that most related markets are saturated, and many people have heard this song in the album, but no new recording materials have been added to the single disc (the only new material is the live version of The Things I Do For You by Jacksons, but it has already appeared on Jackson's Live》CD). Nevertheless, it stayed in the top 4 for 12 weeks (18 weeks in the top 75), making it the longest-lived single on Jackson's British singles list.
In the United States, it is the 7th single of Thriller album released in China, ranking 4th on the list. It became Jackson's seventh consecutive Top 1 single in the United States, which is a new chart record! The single sold more than 1 million copies (certified by platinum records) and stayed in the Top 1 singles list for 14 weeks. It's in R&; The results of B single charts are slightly better, ranking third. If it can be released earlier, it will surely become another number one song. But just like the situation in Britain, the sales of album #1 itself swallowed up the single sales market.
This single and its incomparable music video greatly promoted the sales of Thriller album, which was finally included in the Guinness Book of World Records as "the best-selling album in history".
except Germany, this single has performed quite well in other countries' charts. The sales of the album Swallow Single in the German market are more serious than in the UK.
Introduction to Music Video
The music video of this song shot by p>John Landis successfully opened up the road of "music movie" in the contemporary sense, and won three awards (audience choice award, best performance award and best choreography) and six nominations (the other three nominations that were not awarded were the most creative award, video of the year and video of the best male singer) in the 1984 MTV Music Video Award.
The full name of the music video is "Michael Jackson's Thriller", with a total length of 13 minutes and 34 seconds. The heroine opposite Jackson is Euler Ray.
Opening the Modern MV Era
John Landis said in an interview with NBC's Today program that Thriller almost didn't make it because it didn't raise money. Because Thriller has sold well, the record company doesn't want to spend any more money to make such a video. Although Michael wanted to pay for it himself, John Landis disagreed. Finally, they found MTV for financial support. As for the cost of this video, the director said that the data on the Internet were all exaggerated, and actually it only cost 5, yuan, but it was astronomical in that year. Disney Studios also agreed to release the film in limited quantities in Los Angeles that year. But Landis and partner George Folsey thought of a channel that others didn't think of, that is, cable TV network. Showtime had only 3 million subscribers. When Thriller was released in Los Angeles and received enthusiastic response, Showtime decided to follow up.
This channel decided to pay $25, for the exclusive rights to broadcast this video for ten days, and then MTV went crazy. They called John Landis and paid another $25, for the rights to broadcast for two weeks, which made Thriller recover its cost. Then, Columbia Records thought the video was a brilliant promotion idea, so it was distributed to TV stations for free. Finally, in those days, you could watch Thriller when you turned on the TV, and the sales of the album increased by two or three times.
The music video of Thriller has set a very high standard for the shooting of later videos, and initiated and promoted the vigorous development of the MTV era in the world since the 198s. Therefore, as his agent and lawyer John Branca pointed out, "Michael enjoys the highest royalty income in the music industry." So, Michael, then 24, also realized his other dream-to become the richest man in the entertainment industry: he could get a commission of about $2 from the profit of every sold thriller, not counting the music video < Tremble > The income from the sales of making tidbits and so on.
how did Jackson create the modern MV? In an exclusive interview with Oprah in 1993, he told himself: I hope a music video has a beginning and an end, just like a small movie. Thriller, Avoidance and so on all use this model. From then on, the modern MV was born.
In p>29, the Library of Congress included it in the permanent collection of the National Film Registration Form.
the director recalls
Michael Jackson suddenly called me. He saw Rick Baker's masterpiece and turned a man into a wolf in The American Werewolf in London. Michael is fascinated by this kind of transfiguration, saying that he also wants to make such a movie in which he can become a monster. At that time, rock music videos were usually to help sell records, so I was not interested at all. But of course I am interested in making a short film, because Michael is so prominent, so I know someone will be interested in playing it. This is also an opportunity to find great dancers to make a musical and shoot it correctly.
at that time, we figured out that the film might cost 5, dollars. At that time, it was quite a lot, because many people made a film at that time, but it only cost 5,-7, dollars. CBS and Sony told us to fuck off. This album has produced two successful music videos: Avoid and Billie Jean. Besides, this album is already the number one album and has sold more than any other album in history. So Michael said, "All right, I'll pay for it." I said, "Absolutely not." He was still living with his parents. He said, "Why don't you film how we made this video? We can make a <: Tremble > Make tidbits, so that it will be 45 minutes long and the video itself will be 15 minutes long, so it can be used as a special feature on the show time program. " When MTV heard that we were going to give this film to Showtime first, they said they would buy it first. It was first shown as a short film in Los Angeles along with the film Fantasia for a period of time, which caused a great sensation. But Columbia screwed me because they sent this video to all TV stations in the world for free. As soon as Thriller appeared on MTV and other international TV stations, it seems that it has been playing 24 hours a day. The album also returned to the top spot and sold twice as much. It has completely achieved MTV and consolidated the power of this medium.
Then I got a call from Austin Furst, who said, "I want to release Thriller and the tidbits into a VHS home video." I said, "It's on TV for free. Who will buy it? " He said, "I'm going to set its price at $24.95." I don't think anyone will buy it. As a result, 5, copies were sold. It has created a home video business again.
live performance
Thriller has been performed on three solo tours of Jackson, usually starting in the middle of the concert.
On the tour of "Bad", it was completely performed live, while in some later tours of "Dangerous TOUR" and "HIStory TOUR", Jackson performed lip-synching. Of all the lip-synching songs during the tour, Thriller is the most typical example. It requires difficult dance steps and high-quality live singing-but you can't have your cake and eat it. Jackson tried to reach the highest standards in both categories at the same time during the tour "Awesome", but it didn't work, and the dance was very rough. So in the next two tours, Jackson chose lip-synching to perform the most dazzling dance.
The performance of this song becomes more and more complicated, and many high-tech special effects, make-up and magic performances are often added. David Copperfield, a famous magician, designed this magic performance. Although Jackson didn't sing live on the "Danger" and "History" tours, the whole performance is still unforgettable.
this song has not been performed at any awards ceremony.
lyrics and translation
Thriller night/thriller
[1st Verse] It's Close To Midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark The devil hides in the dark You see a sight that almost stops your hea Under The Moonlight. Rt scene scares your heart, You Try To Scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it, terror makes your vocal cords fail, You Start To Freeze, you are cold As Horror Looks You Right Betwee. N The Eyes flash in horror, you are completely paralyzed [Chorus] 'Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Night because it's a scary night And No One's Gonna Save You. No one can save you From The Beast About Strike. You know it's thriller, thriller night, you see, This is the night of horror. You're Fighting For Your Life. If you want to live, you have to fight Inside A Killer. Thriller Tonight in this murderous night of horror [2nd Verse] You Hear The Door Slam and realize there's nowhere left to run. You realize there's nowhere to run. You Feel The Cold Hand's hands and feet are cold And Wonder If You'll Ever See The Sun. Can you see the sunrise tomorrow? You Close Your Eyes and hope that this is just imagination. I hope everything is just a fantasy, But All The While. You hear the creative creep' up behind. You hear ghosts sneaking up on You're Out Of Time, you have no time to escape [Chorus] 'Cause This Is Thriller, Thriller Night because it's a thriller night, There Ain't No Second Chance fighting Against The Thing With Forty Eyes, You Know It's Thriller, Thriller Night, you see, this is the night of horror. You're Fighting For Your Life, you have to fight Inside Of Killer, Thriller Tonight In this murderous night of horror, [bridge] night creations call the night spirit begins to crow And The Dead.