One Shot: The Legendary Video of Michael Jackson’s Thriller

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:07:00 Speaker 1 Hi everyone, and welcome back to Rewind and React, and we are continuing our one shot series, 00:00:07:00 - 00:00:10:11 Speaker 1 where we take a look at an individual's music video. 00:00:10:11 - 00:00:23:00 Speaker 2 That's right. And spooky season is just around the corner. So today we are diving into one of the greatest Halloween videos of all time, perhaps one of the best music videos of all time. 00:00:23:00 - 00:00:30:23 Speaker 1 Yeah. That's right. So if you've read the title of this episode, we are all taking a look at Michael Jackson's Thriller. 00:00:30:25 - 00:00:52:22 Speaker 2 The thriller video plays out like a short horror film, clocking in at nearly 14 minutes long. If you include the credits. It opens with Michael Jackson and his date on a late night drive, just as Jackson's car runs out of gas. The couple walks through an empty forest street until Michael stops and asks his date to be his girl. 00:00:52:25 - 00:01:02:10 Speaker 2 After she agrees, he confesses that he's not like the other boys, and with the full moon revealed, he suddenly transforms into a werewolf and chases her through the woods. 00:01:02:10 - 00:01:12:14 Speaker 2 This is revealed to be a film within a film, with Michael Jackson and his date watching the scene in a movie theater. She becomes disturbed by the frightening content and leaves. 00:01:12:16 - 00:01:40:17 Speaker 2 A reluctant Jackson eventually chases after her and walks her home as they pass by abandoned houses and cemeteries. A full moon rises and fog blankets the streets. Zombies begin to emerge from their graves and close in on the couple. And ultimately, when his date turns around, she finds Michael himself as the living dead. Jackson then breaks into the now legendary dance sequence, joined by a troupe of zombies and ghouls. 00:01:40:20 - 00:02:09:28 Speaker 2 The climax shows his date fleeing into a deserted house, chased down by the zombie horde as she's cornered in a room. Michael and the zombies close in on her just as he's about to lunge at her. The tone shifts from horror themes to a bright color palette, hinting that it was all just a mind game or nightmare. Jackson puts his arm around her and walks her out of the room, with the video ending as he turns to the camera and flashes a devilish grin, revealing his glowing werewolf eyes. 00:02:09:28 - 00:02:18:11 Speaker 1 Yeah. That's right. And you, you mentioned this is a very popular video. Obviously, this is probably the the video. The music video, I should say, 00:02:18:11 - 00:02:22:26 Speaker 1 we had the Beatles kind of creating that concept of a music video 00:02:22:26 - 00:02:32:11 Speaker 1 in the 60s. And then the 70s were kind of a lull. But here is where Michael Jackson takes that concept of a music video to the next level and turns it into, 00:02:32:11 - 00:02:34:05 Speaker 1 a mainstream art form. 00:02:34:08 - 00:02:43:14 Speaker 1 And early days of MTV. So this also helped put MTV on the map. Now MTV had something this big, this cultural moment, 00:02:43:14 - 00:02:56:14 Speaker 1 people would wait and know what time this thriller video was going to be released so they can, like, stop and turn on the TV and watch The Times on MTV. And it created so many trends, so many other things. 00:02:56:14 - 00:03:01:16 Speaker 1 It's really a legendary video. So, you know, looking back at it. Rob, what were your thoughts? 00:03:01:16 - 00:03:09:29 Speaker 2 So before I get into those, I do want to touch on what you said. Yeah. This was a cultural touchstone that redefined all music videos. 00:03:09:29 - 00:03:17:25 Speaker 2 researching this, I kept seeing the word pop up an event, music video, and I wasn't really sure what that meant. I looked into it a little bit, and, 00:03:17:25 - 00:03:19:12 Speaker 2 this was the first, 00:03:19:12 - 00:03:26:03 Speaker 2 it this, it popularized the concept of the event music video and by sure is the biggest one. 00:03:26:03 - 00:03:30:21 Speaker 2 typically they're longer than standard videos, usually like 8 to 15 minutes. 00:03:30:21 - 00:03:34:14 Speaker 2 I almost always have a high profile filmmaker attached to them. 00:03:34:14 - 00:03:36:13 Speaker 2 And in this case, we have John Landis. 00:03:36:13 - 00:03:40:14 Speaker 2 They their premiere has, like, a fanfare event, and, 00:03:40:14 - 00:03:42:12 Speaker 2 they spark cultural discussion. 00:03:42:12 - 00:03:45:12 Speaker 2 A couple other event music videos throughout the years. 00:03:45:15 - 00:04:05:09 Speaker 2 That and Black in Black or White by Michael Jackson. Like a Prayer and Express Yourself by Madonna. November Rain by guns N roses, Single Ladies, Bad Romance, One More Time, and oops, I Did It Again are all often cited as some of the biggest event music videos, with, of course, thriller being the first big one. 00:04:05:09 - 00:04:26:29 Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, and I'll hop in. You know, we were too young to remember, but there was a time in the 90s where Michael Jackson releasing a music video was a prime time event, like, they would set it up on TV. You would tune in at 8:00 and watch this long music video from Michael Jackson. And he's, I think, the only star that has been able to do that, 00:04:26:29 - 00:04:27:22 Speaker 1 even now. 00:04:27:22 - 00:04:47:23 Speaker 1 And of course, this was pre-internet, YouTube and everything like that. Everything's such a vast network of where you can release things. But there was a time where, yeah, these event music videos were literally turn on your TV at night. Here comes a premiere of the new music video on Watch It. Which is crazy to think for such a short piece of entertainment. 00:04:47:26 - 00:04:51:07 Speaker 2 Yeah, I do remember the black or white premiere. 00:04:51:07 - 00:05:05:26 Speaker 2 I think they kind of coincided it with The Simpsons somehow. I think Bart was even in the video. Maybe or something. Maybe he just, like, lit in. There was like an introduction to the music video by Bart Simpson. Had Macaulay Culkin in there. It was definitely targeting the children audience right 00:05:05:26 - 00:05:11:15 Speaker 1 I should say. I guess Rob's a little older than me because he remembers this. I do not, 00:05:11:18 - 00:05:12:28 Speaker 2 I also grew up in a household where, 00:05:12:28 - 00:05:18:21 Speaker 2 my parents let me watch The Simpsons and not it's not every kid at my school. It's. That's fair. Yeah. 00:05:18:21 - 00:05:20:16 Speaker 2 But kind of to that, 00:05:20:16 - 00:05:23:22 Speaker 2 kind of going into what you're asking what I thought of the video. 00:05:23:22 - 00:05:28:08 Speaker 2 So I had always thought. I've always thought the thriller video was good, right? 00:05:28:09 - 00:05:31:09 Speaker 2 Like, you know, it's one of the most iconic videos of all time. 00:05:31:09 - 00:05:43:17 Speaker 2 It's rewatching it now. You know, I've kind of, like, caught it here and there over the years, especially around Halloween. It usually comes up, but like sitting down and watching the entire thing right now. Wow. It's so much better than I remember. 00:05:43:17 - 00:05:53:28 Speaker 2 I look at other big videos from the 80s and nothing, nothing is near as amazing as this one. 00:05:54:01 - 00:05:58:22 Speaker 2 And I wanted to show my daughter, but I watched it all the way through and I was like, oh, 00:05:58:22 - 00:06:01:21 Speaker 2 this still might be a little too scary for her. 00:06:01:21 - 00:06:09:05 Speaker 2 She's just turned seven, so it's like, I don't especially the beginning with the werewolf chase and everything. I don't know, maybe I could just show her the dance at, 00:06:09:07 - 00:06:09:18 Speaker 2 But 00:06:09:18 - 00:06:16:21 Speaker 2 one thing that really stood out to me was the colors in this music video. And we both dabbled in, 00:06:16:21 - 00:06:17:28 Speaker 2 video editing and, 00:06:17:28 - 00:06:34:05 Speaker 2 the whole cinema scene, and I don't, I don't know what they did so different. And it's almost like it's filmed in Technicolor or something like that, because it almost especially the beginning, almost looked like The Wizard of Oz a little bit with how the colors just popped off of each other. 00:06:34:05 - 00:06:37:02 Speaker 2 His, you know, obviously he's got the red jacket, 00:06:37:02 - 00:06:44:08 Speaker 2 her sock hop dress and everything in a dark street. Like, they just, like, really popped. 00:06:44:08 - 00:06:47:06 Speaker 2 And I went back and I looked at some of these other, 00:06:47:06 - 00:06:50:05 Speaker 2 80s videos that were, like, really big, 00:06:50:05 - 00:06:56:09 Speaker 2 sledgehammer take on me, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Van Halen, guns N roses. 00:06:56:09 - 00:07:08:29 Speaker 2 Nobody had this kind of color scheme like it was just it's not even a scheme. Just the the way that they were so theatrical, it made it look like a a short film or a feature film. Right? 00:07:09:01 - 00:07:14:21 Speaker 1 Well, I guess it does help to have an actual movie director back in your hair film, 00:07:14:21 - 00:07:28:10 Speaker 1 for your short video. But you're right. Like it? And it was, they say, you know, around a half $1 million to make the most expensive music video, probably for a long time, because no one was thinking a budget into a music video at the time like that. 00:07:28:10 - 00:07:47:13 Speaker 1 The difference between having a real talented and money, of course, but real talented director helm your video and he knows you know John Landis. Speaking of, he knows how to set up a scene, how to do the colors right, how to, like, stage everything. 00:07:47:13 - 00:07:50:24 Speaker 1 It makes a difference. And you're right, it still looks good to this day. 00:07:50:24 - 00:08:03:09 Speaker 1 I with the caveat that, yes, the special effects are practical. And some of it. Like when the whiskers come out of his face, I'm like, all right, this it's you can tell it's pretty fake, but it's still, for that time. It was amazing. 00:08:03:11 - 00:08:08:25 Speaker 2 It. And you know that you mentioned the whiskers. It just helped the whole werewolf transformation. 00:08:08:25 - 00:08:23:01 Speaker 2 it felt like the original wolf man and things like that, where, like, you know, you see, like the the patches start to form and they, you know, clearly are just stopping the camera. Nice. I'm just cutting it weird and adding a little more, little more to the whiskers. 00:08:23:04 - 00:08:23:29 Speaker 2 I was like 00:08:23:29 - 00:08:35:11 Speaker 2 all the werewolf transformations we've seen over the years. Concentrating so much on the whiskers was kind of funny to me. I was like, what a weird thing to like, really hone in on. Yeah, you're. 00:08:35:12 - 00:08:51:04 Speaker 1 Right, and I because everything else looks really good. Like when the fingernails or the, the nails go through the fingers in the hand, I was like, this is a really cool practical effect. But yeah, that still shot where you just focus on the whiskers or even the hair, like you said. 00:08:51:04 - 00:08:52:16 Speaker 1 I'm sure it was cool at the time. 00:08:52:16 - 00:08:54:28 Speaker 1 And, you know, we have to remember too. 00:08:54:28 - 00:08:58:00 Speaker 1 they didn't have the HD that we have now. Right. So some of this, 00:08:58:00 - 00:09:08:23 Speaker 1 those older music videos, even older movies, they kind of look fine because you can cheat with the bad quality at the time. But when we see it in this video is available in 4K, 00:09:08:23 - 00:09:09:08 Speaker 1 on YouTube. 00:09:09:08 - 00:09:12:04 Speaker 1 So you can see it really in fine detail. 00:09:12:04 - 00:09:23:09 Speaker 2 That being said, the makeup on the zombies is amazing. Like this I do one maybe. I don't think music videos winning awards back then, but 00:09:23:09 - 00:09:29:28 Speaker 2 the whoever did the makeup, they do, you know who did the makeup has to have like gone on to do really great things. I would imagine. 00:09:30:00 - 00:09:37:10 Speaker 1 Yeah. I don't know, it's probably I mean, it might be someone Landis knew because he did do American Werewolf in London and like a lot of other films, 00:09:37:10 - 00:09:38:24 Speaker 1 so they might have used someone for that. 00:09:39:27 - 00:09:41:09 Speaker 2 I just looked it up. His name is 00:09:41:09 - 00:09:42:25 Speaker 2 Eric Baker. 00:09:42:25 - 00:09:44:28 Speaker 2 He has won an Academy Award, 00:09:44:28 - 00:09:46:03 Speaker 2 seven times actually. 00:09:46:03 - 00:09:52:03 Speaker 2 His first one was for a werewolf, American Werewolf in London. So there we go. 00:09:52:05 - 00:09:53:16 Speaker 1 Someone that Landis didn't know. 00:09:53:16 - 00:09:57:06 Speaker 2 Speaking of Landis, I looked into him. You know, obviously we know him, but, 00:09:57:06 - 00:10:07:27 Speaker 2 you know, really American Werewolf in London was his only big horror movie. You know, he really did was he just made movies for Saturday Night Live alumni? Yeah. 00:10:07:28 - 00:10:08:08 Speaker 1 Like, 00:10:08:08 - 00:10:09:04 Speaker 1 animal House. 00:10:09:11 - 00:10:16:03 Speaker 2 Yeah. Blues Brothers, Trading Places, Spies Like Us, Three Amigos, Coming to America, Beverly Hills Cop. 00:10:16:03 - 00:10:16:28 Speaker 2 he was just on, 00:10:16:28 - 00:10:25:14 Speaker 2 what's his name? Michael. Lauren. Yeah. Lauren. Michael. Michael. Like, on Lorne Michaels payroll. It looks like. 00:10:25:14 - 00:10:38:06 Speaker 1 it's funny to show you that. Like, if you do a lot of good Hollywood movies, one day you'll break it into the music video directing world. So congrats to John Landis for finally working hard to get into that space. 00:10:38:09 - 00:10:41:13 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. And he also did Black or White by Michael Jackson. 00:10:41:15 - 00:10:41:23 Speaker 1 So 00:10:41:23 - 00:10:42:24 Speaker 1 Now it's funny. 00:10:42:24 - 00:10:52:11 Speaker 1 Talking about the the makeup person and kind of the awards he won. Thriller actually didn't even win video of the year for MTV that year. It was The Cars you might think. 00:10:52:11 - 00:11:00:04 Speaker 1 So it's it's kind of crazy to think now. Like what? What a cultural thing this became that didn't even win the award when it came out. 00:11:00:04 - 00:11:11:04 Speaker 1 And I think we see that a lot with a lot of award shows and Hollywood movies and things like that. So it's nothing new, but it's kind of funny to think this most famous video didn't even win video of the year. 00:11:11:06 - 00:11:15:14 Speaker 2 Yeah, it's yeah, you can always go by those MTV VMAs for sure. 00:11:15:14 - 00:11:18:23 Speaker 2 MTV had actually been criticized before this music video, though. They were, 00:11:18:23 - 00:11:21:14 Speaker 2 often criticized for not playing enough black artists. 00:11:21:14 - 00:11:25:08 Speaker 2 So Billie Jean and thriller really kind of broke through those racial barriers 00:11:25:08 - 00:11:45:29 Speaker 1 Yeah. You're right. I mean, and there's definitely a lot of like, discussions. I actually made a documentary for this, music video as well. But you're right, at the time, MTV didn't want to play black artist. They wanted to stick with their, like, rock and roll. Lane and Billie Jean, as you mentioned. But like, I think the the CEO of Epic Records was like, well, we're going to call you out on this because you're not showing black artists. 00:11:45:29 - 00:12:06:01 Speaker 1 And so they relented. And I mean, it worked out like MTV. I don't know if MTV would have been fine, maybe, but without this, these music videos from Michael Jackson, I don't know how long MTV would have lasted in that space. That being said, though, there were a lot of like kind of up and coming music video channels around the time, so it's not like they would have gone away. 00:12:06:01 - 00:12:06:12 Speaker 1 But, 00:12:06:12 - 00:12:09:03 Speaker 1 you know, I'm glad that they fix that. 00:12:09:03 - 00:12:10:15 Speaker 2 Yeah. It's 00:12:10:15 - 00:12:16:02 Speaker 2 yeah, it's good that they started playing them, but they're still going to give video of the year or to the cars. Right. 00:12:16:02 - 00:12:16:26 Speaker 1 Give them time. 00:12:16:26 - 00:12:18:10 Speaker 1 But 00:12:18:10 - 00:12:25:20 Speaker 1 a couple of things. So I will say when I watched it and I actually I've never watched it fully until we did this episode. 00:12:25:20 - 00:12:32:09 Speaker 1 And I think that that's probably fine. I think a lot of people know the dance and they've seen clips of it, and it is a 14 minute video. 00:12:32:09 - 00:12:49:29 Speaker 1 So if you watch the video there, there's a kind of disclaimer at the beginning. Yeah. Saying like it's not related to the occult. And I didn't know anything about Michael Jackson, really, but apparently he's a Jehovah's Witness or he was a Jehovah's Witness at the time. And they were looking down on this video and like, you had to kind of put that caveat in there, which I thought was kind of interesting. 00:12:50:02 - 00:13:09:14 Speaker 2 That that disclaimer at the beginning. And then there's one at the end for something different. It just seems so silly, like, yeah, I get it. Okay. The first one, it's his own personal things like, hey, I just want to say, this is this, you know, I'm not worshiping the devil or anything. You know, it's I'm sure, I guess if the artist had such a 00:13:09:14 - 00:13:10:27 Speaker 2 opinion on it, I guess. 00:13:10:27 - 00:13:20:09 Speaker 2 Whatever. But then at the end, they say, like, none of these zombies are based on real people or, you know, they're all depicted by, you know, fictional things. That's so unnecessary. 00:13:20:27 - 00:13:36:29 Speaker 1 I thought about that, and actually, I think so in the cemetery scene, you know, zombies are coming up and they have the names of people and there's probably just a cover, like, what if there's this one random person in the world with this name that sees this video and thinks they're making fun of them? So it's like just kind of, 00:13:36:29 - 00:13:39:25 Speaker 1 nip it in the bud at the moment situation. 00:13:39:28 - 00:13:48:20 Speaker 2 Yeah, I guess so. It's just so silly. I guess if you're going to have a, you know, four minute credit sequence at the end, you might as well throw that in there. Yeah, yeah. 00:13:48:20 - 00:14:07:17 Speaker 1 I will say so. The cool part of this video is also when you're watching the beginning, it takes you out of that moment of you're watching a music video. And by that I mean, like, I've watched a lot of music videos where they're very long and sometimes you're just, like, waiting for the song to start. 00:14:07:17 - 00:14:13:14 Speaker 1 I've seen that so many times, or I've watched that so many times where I'm like, all right, I don't care what's going on. 00:14:13:14 - 00:14:28:18 Speaker 1 Let me get to the song. And this one, you don't feel that I you feel like you're watching a cool video, and then you're going to be like, oh, wait, there's an actual song attached to what I'm about to watch, which was kind of cool. So I like that element of it and how they really set that up. 00:14:28:18 - 00:14:32:00 Speaker 1 And at the time too, before, 00:14:32:00 - 00:14:43:10 Speaker 1 internet and spoilers and things like that. I think watching it for the first time had to be such a cool experience where you're like, wait, they're in a theater and they're watching this, and the song hasn't even started yet. 00:14:44:00 - 00:14:45:12 Speaker 2 Yeah, I looked into that a little bit. 00:14:45:12 - 00:14:46:23 Speaker 2 the theater, 00:14:46:23 - 00:14:49:06 Speaker 2 like what they were trying to accomplish with that theater. 00:14:49:06 - 00:14:57:17 Speaker 2 Apparently, you know, Drive-In movies were super big at this time, and they would often show old horror films 00:14:57:17 - 00:14:59:18 Speaker 2 at the Drive-In theaters. 00:14:59:18 - 00:15:05:18 Speaker 2 it was just trying to, like, lean into that a little bit where people were going to Drive-In movies, watching really bad, 00:15:05:18 - 00:15:07:05 Speaker 2 kitschy movies. 00:15:07:05 - 00:15:10:04 Speaker 2 And yeah, that's what they tried to lean into a little bit. 00:15:10:04 - 00:15:12:03 Speaker 1 And they do a good job with it. I think, 00:15:12:03 - 00:15:15:01 Speaker 1 even like the chemistry with Michael, and, 00:15:15:01 - 00:15:27:24 Speaker 1 Rita is really good. Like, he pulls over and he's really acting like he ran out of gas. And then they walk in and they do that kind of a scene with it. What I thought was interesting, though, and this is just 00:15:27:24 - 00:15:29:01 Speaker 1 nitpicking little things. 00:15:29:01 - 00:15:51:11 Speaker 1 But then they watch themselves in the theater and I'm like, so are they watching themselves? Are you both like in this world that we've built? That's all made up and nothing really matters? Are they just watching themselves acting a movie or are you or is it just, you know, again, it just seemed a little like overthinking, maybe the situation of, 00:15:51:11 - 00:15:51:20 Speaker 1 life. 00:15:51:20 - 00:15:54:27 Speaker 1 Would she be scared? She. She was in the movie. She made the movie. But, 00:15:54:27 - 00:16:04:26 Speaker 1 I also forgot while I watched that scene, that's where the famous popcorn meme comes from. Or in the popcorn gif where Michael Jackson didn't. Popcorn have you? You know what I'm talking. 00:16:04:26 - 00:16:07:06 Speaker 2 About, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:16:07:06 - 00:16:09:21 Speaker 1 people use that to respond to when 00:16:09:21 - 00:16:16:14 Speaker 1 drama is about to happen and they show that GIF like I'm just going to eat popcorn. Watching this happen. I was like, oh yeah, here's the scene. And it's so cool to see that, 00:16:16:14 - 00:16:18:22 Speaker 1 reference in real life. 00:16:18:24 - 00:16:23:00 Speaker 2 Yeah. So I think that, you know, they weren't supposed to be like the actors in the movie. 00:16:23:00 - 00:16:27:07 Speaker 2 it's like we're watching ourselves, but it's not really us, you know, kind of think, 00:16:27:07 - 00:16:29:19 Speaker 2 you know, I think it was just like a play that 00:16:29:19 - 00:16:40:05 Speaker 2 it was acting in both parts. However, in that theater scene, like, I love the difference in Michael in the movie and Michael outside of the movie, 00:16:40:05 - 00:16:42:22 Speaker 2 because he plays a very, like, caring person. 00:16:42:22 - 00:16:53:24 Speaker 2 It seems in the film on screen. And then we get out to like the, the theater seats and she's like, I want to leave. And he's like, nah, he's he plays kind of a jerk boyfriend. 00:16:53:24 - 00:16:55:24 Speaker 2 Yeah. My favorite part of it is when, 00:16:55:24 - 00:16:56:21 Speaker 2 he's finally like, 00:16:56:21 - 00:17:06:12 Speaker 2 I guess I got to go after her. And then he just randomly hands his popcorn to somebody else and they're like, okay, seems so what a weird thing to do, right? 00:17:06:12 - 00:17:12:19 Speaker 1 I was thinking that too. Also, he eats with his mouth, like wide open while he's chewing on the popcorn. I was like, I this has to be 00:17:12:19 - 00:17:16:00 Speaker 1 direction from John to be like, okay, you really got to be 00:17:16:00 - 00:17:19:23 Speaker 1 very jerky, comical kind of character. 00:17:19:23 - 00:17:23:02 Speaker 1 Because yeah, I've never seen someone eat popcorn like that. 00:17:23:04 - 00:17:26:28 Speaker 2 And when I first started watching it, like, his voice, 00:17:26:28 - 00:17:34:22 Speaker 2 when I guess, like when kind of separated out to, like the 60s, 50s or 60s, like. Yeah. And then the 80s. Right. 00:17:34:22 - 00:17:37:17 Speaker 2 It's speaking where it's like you could definitely tell instantly by 00:17:37:17 - 00:17:39:23 Speaker 2 the clothes they're wearing and stuff like that, which is really cool. 00:17:39:23 - 00:17:41:27 Speaker 2 obviously this is in the 80s when, 00:17:41:27 - 00:17:45:26 Speaker 2 wearing the, like, purple leopard. 00:17:45:29 - 00:17:46:09 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:17:46:09 - 00:17:49:29 Speaker 2 When, you know, with the sock hop dress and the, the 50s, 00:17:49:29 - 00:17:52:06 Speaker 2 the voice when he's in the 50s 00:17:52:06 - 00:18:01:24 Speaker 2 at first I was like, is he just like a really bad actor? And then we get all of it and he's like, got an almost different voice. So he talks a little bit different. Like, okay. 00:18:01:24 - 00:18:13:03 Speaker 2 So it was just distinguishing between the two roles. But at the beginning I was like, man, this is a strange voice that I'm hearing from him. And then obviously Michael Jackson's had some strange voices over the years. 00:18:13:05 - 00:18:13:20 Speaker 1 But 00:18:13:20 - 00:18:20:08 Speaker 1 yeah, you're right. And I just want a quick correction for us because I messed us up. It's Ola Ray is the actress, not Rita? 00:18:20:08 - 00:18:22:05 Speaker 1 So I don't know where I got Rita from, but, 00:18:22:05 - 00:18:24:04 Speaker 1 just so I don't have to edit that out. 00:18:24:06 - 00:18:26:29 Speaker 2 Was her name Rita in the video? 00:18:27:02 - 00:18:28:04 Speaker 1 Maybe. 00:18:28:25 - 00:18:30:10 Speaker 1 I can't remember. 00:18:30:13 - 00:18:33:03 Speaker 2 Maybe we'll edit this out. Yeah, yeah. 00:18:33:05 - 00:18:35:15 Speaker 1 Or, you know, maybe our fans will love this. 00:18:35:17 - 00:18:38:13 Speaker 2 We'll back and forth. This is the real stuff. 00:18:38:16 - 00:18:40:01 Speaker 1 This is what they came here for. Yeah. 00:18:40:08 - 00:18:41:28 Speaker 2 This is how the sausage is made. 00:18:42:00 - 00:18:44:04 Speaker 1 Exactly. Very poorly. 00:18:44:04 - 00:18:47:28 Speaker 1 So they leave the theater when she gets out and gives the popcorn to that neighbor. 00:18:47:28 - 00:19:03:13 Speaker 1 So, the only poster I could read outside the theater is mask of the Red death, which is a 1964 horror film starring Vincent Price, which, as anyone knows, this video Vincent Price does the voiceover during the interlude in the cemetery scene. 00:19:03:13 - 00:19:07:10 Speaker 1 A very famous actor known for doing a lot of horror movies. 00:19:07:10 - 00:19:08:07 Speaker 2 yeah, 00:19:08:07 - 00:19:15:02 Speaker 2 he did the entire, like, spoken word part of the track in just two takes. 00:19:15:02 - 00:19:18:26 Speaker 2 He's a, you know, legendary horror actor himself. He doesn't need a lot of takes. 00:19:18:26 - 00:19:26:29 Speaker 2 did you know Vincent Price before? I mean, I guess now, you know, before this video, because this video came out before you were born, I think. 00:19:27:02 - 00:19:27:26 Speaker 2 But I did, 00:19:27:26 - 00:19:29:07 Speaker 2 I, I. 00:19:29:07 - 00:19:37:20 Speaker 1 Knew of him a little bit. So, you know, in one of the previous episodes you mentioned House on Haunted Hill, and he actually was in the original from like the 60s. 00:19:37:20 - 00:19:41:26 Speaker 1 And I really learned about him on, of course, The Simpsons episode where, 00:19:41:26 - 00:19:46:09 Speaker 1 they I think they're doing, like, a puzzle, like Vincent Price has a puzzle, and then they call. 00:19:46:11 - 00:19:58:12 Speaker 1 And I don't think he was alive at the time, but I have to double check. But there was a voice on the like answering machine that used Vincent Price's voice. So that was like when I first learned about him. And then I learned about, like, all the stuff he did, 00:19:58:12 - 00:20:00:04 Speaker 1 in the 60s and whatnot. 00:20:00:07 - 00:20:07:18 Speaker 2 Yeah, I, I'd seen the original House on Haunted Hill. It's nowhere near as scary as the newer one, but, 00:20:07:18 - 00:20:09:11 Speaker 2 I knew him from Edward Scissorhands. 00:20:09:11 - 00:20:13:15 Speaker 2 He's the inventor who creates Edward. Oh, yeah. 00:20:13:15 - 00:20:15:27 Speaker 1 Okay, so do I. I've. I've seen him in other things then. 00:20:16:04 - 00:20:17:21 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. 00:20:17:21 - 00:20:27:01 Speaker 1 then we transition once they leave the theater and the neighborhood gets pretty rundown pretty quickly, like. Yes, again, I know it's for the video, and I know this. It's setting up the scene, but I was like, where? 00:20:27:06 - 00:20:27:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:20:27:14 - 00:20:29:20 Speaker 1 So first of all, that it was filmed at the 00:20:29:20 - 00:20:32:01 Speaker 1 Palace theater in downtown LA. 00:20:32:01 - 00:20:47:27 Speaker 1 But they filmed the zombie scene somewhere in East L.A., so, you know, obviously that's movie magic, but yeah, I was like, this is such a it seems like a nice theater. And then they're just walking down. There's their like neighborhood with like, empty streets and 00:20:47:27 - 00:20:50:00 Speaker 1 a cemetery that's easy to get to. 00:20:50:00 - 00:20:52:16 Speaker 1 Like they don't even have a fence in the cemetery. 00:20:52:16 - 00:21:05:05 Speaker 1 And then we hop into that, like, I like the playfulness where. And I never really. I had to look up the lyrics because I, you know, I didn't know the lyrics to the song, and it makes sense, like, everything makes sense in the video with the lyrics, but we get that again. 00:21:05:05 - 00:21:13:28 Speaker 1 Kind of like jerky boyfriend Michael, where he's like kind of taunting her and singing along and making the jokes and like, walking like a zombie and things like that. 00:21:14:00 - 00:21:14:13 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:21:14:13 - 00:21:18:07 Speaker 1 And then they pass the cemetery. And of course, it fills a lot of those, 00:21:18:07 - 00:21:28:10 Speaker 1 horror movie tropes. Where now at the Haunted Cemetery, something's about to happen and all the zombies come out of the different woodworks. What I thought was interesting is 00:21:28:10 - 00:21:34:21 Speaker 1 the zombie that's coming out of the manhole. First of all, you have to be a very strong zombie to lift up a manhole, I suppose. 00:21:34:21 - 00:21:46:00 Speaker 1 But also, is this just like a neighborhood where you just throw people in the sewer and that's where they just come from? Again, maybe a little overthinking, but I was like, this is kind of weird. 00:21:46:03 - 00:21:50:14 Speaker 2 Like maybe his grave was so far down it was easier to go through the sewer. 00:21:50:14 - 00:21:54:08 Speaker 2 Or. Yeah, maybe he just fell in the sewer. Nobody cleaned him up. 00:21:54:08 - 00:22:01:00 Speaker 2 yeah. We we already kind of talked about the makeup, but yeah, all the zombie design and like, them coming out of the graves all very, very cool. 00:22:01:00 - 00:22:17:06 Speaker 2 Yeah, I guess practical effects really are the way to go sometimes. You talked about him kind of taunting her, I didn't realize, but most of the actual song part of this takes place just of them walking down that the abandoned streets are not random, but the houses look abandoned. 00:22:17:06 - 00:22:31:00 Speaker 2 I always knew that Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown kind of pulled their dance style from Michael Jackson, but like seeing him just kind of improv dance as he's, I guess we'll call it taunting her. 00:22:31:00 - 00:22:39:06 Speaker 2 It definitely made me think of Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown the way they dance. And I mean, yeah, it's really their dance and the way he dances, but you can see the where the inspiration comes from. 00:22:39:06 - 00:22:39:16 Speaker 2 There. 00:22:39:16 - 00:22:48:07 Speaker 1 This is definitely like not just a history of music videos but like a history of music a moment. Right. I mean, a lot of Michael Jackson's stuff is, 00:22:48:07 - 00:22:50:15 Speaker 1 referenced by everyone else, but even that style, 00:22:50:15 - 00:22:52:21 Speaker 1 the red jacket, 00:22:52:21 - 00:22:52:27 Speaker 1 and 00:22:52:27 - 00:23:00:15 Speaker 1 other performances, the glove and stuff like that. He really like, set off this whole trend that changed a lot of the music industry. 00:23:00:15 - 00:23:01:17 Speaker 1 And this video is 00:23:01:17 - 00:23:03:21 Speaker 1 really like the key moment for it. 00:23:03:23 - 00:23:04:23 Speaker 2 Yes, absolutely. 00:23:04:23 - 00:23:14:06 Speaker 2 when we start seeing the zombies come out, I do love the, the ones on the his arm falling off as they're walking. That was a good effect. 00:23:14:06 - 00:23:23:02 Speaker 2 When she turns around, like the zombies kind of corner them, she turns around and sees Michael is now a zombie. I also love that his jacket is now, 00:23:23:02 - 00:23:25:04 Speaker 2 tattered and ripped. 00:23:25:06 - 00:23:26:08 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:23:26:11 - 00:23:39:06 Speaker 1 I yeah, you're right. That was a kind of a cool nod like so he he turns into a zombie. For anyone who hasn't seen the video yet. And that's exactly his same outfit, except for it's all, like, tattered and ripped up. 00:23:39:06 - 00:23:42:08 Speaker 1 And then that's when they perform the dance. So I think if anyone's seen 00:23:42:08 - 00:23:48:03 Speaker 1 clips of this video, this is the moment they've seen where they do kind of that whole dance, which is a really cool dance. 00:23:48:13 - 00:23:53:19 Speaker 1 And part of the reason that his jacket was designed like that was so he can have some movement while he danced. 00:23:53:21 - 00:23:55:23 Speaker 1 So that's why it has kind of those looks to it. 00:23:55:25 - 00:23:56:12 Speaker 2 Yeah. You got a guy. 00:23:56:13 - 00:24:04:23 Speaker 2 Did that. Yeah. Pop, which is kind of I'm wearing a red jacket now. It's kind of tough to like do it so I can see how you need a specific kind of jacket for that. 00:24:04:26 - 00:24:07:25 Speaker 1 Yeah. You need the non two version of the jacket. 00:24:07:25 - 00:24:10:15 Speaker 1 But yeah that's like the iconic moment. 00:24:10:17 - 00:24:14:15 Speaker 2 Yeah. That that jacket by the way. You know who designed it. 00:24:14:17 - 00:24:16:07 Speaker 1 Wasn't it Landis's wife. 00:24:16:09 - 00:24:19:00 Speaker 2 It was. Yes. Deborah Nadelmann. 00:24:19:00 - 00:24:27:05 Speaker 2 Yeah. John Landis, his wife, she also designed the look behind Indiana Jones. Oh, nice. She's somewhat of an eye for an. 00:24:27:05 - 00:24:28:03 Speaker 1 Eye for it. 00:24:28:03 - 00:24:30:20 Speaker 2 zombie dance. Have you ever done it before? 00:24:30:20 - 00:24:32:18 Speaker 1 No, I can't dance. I've tried, 00:24:32:18 - 00:24:44:08 Speaker 1 just like normally dancing. I'm not good at it, but I was. I was watching the video. I will say I was like, maybe I should learn this. This would be really cool. And then as it goes on, I'm like, oh, I'm never going to learn this. 00:24:44:11 - 00:24:56:27 Speaker 2 I mean, you know, there's really a few moves you can learn. Just everybody, you know, like, does. Exactly. I mean, obviously the, the hands, the fingers out hands to the side, back and forth, the, you know, clap and shimmy, 00:24:56:27 - 00:24:59:18 Speaker 2 just that's all you need to know, really. But, 00:24:59:18 - 00:25:01:14 Speaker 2 Michael Jackson and, 00:25:01:16 - 00:25:02:03 Speaker 1 Oh, I didn't. 00:25:02:03 - 00:25:04:25 Speaker 2 Write down his name. Guy named Rick. 00:25:04:25 - 00:25:06:19 Speaker 2 I want to say, 00:25:06:19 - 00:25:08:03 Speaker 2 lastly, no, 00:25:08:03 - 00:25:10:11 Speaker 2 sorry. Michael Peters, that's his name. 00:25:10:11 - 00:25:12:09 Speaker 2 Choreograph the dance together. 00:25:12:09 - 00:25:13:01 Speaker 2 They wanted to 00:25:13:01 - 00:25:16:19 Speaker 2 model it after classic movie monster moments. 00:25:16:19 - 00:25:17:23 Speaker 2 So they watched a whole bunch of, 00:25:17:23 - 00:25:20:20 Speaker 2 silent horror films like Nosferatu and 00:25:20:20 - 00:25:24:01 Speaker 2 Bride of Frankenstein to kind of get the, like, 00:25:24:01 - 00:25:25:15 Speaker 2 silhouettes of what they wanted. 00:25:25:21 - 00:25:30:20 Speaker 2 And then they just worked on how they could put the routine together to, like, match all these silhouettes. 00:25:30:20 - 00:25:34:03 Speaker 1 it makes me think of and what we'll do a Michael episode one day. But 00:25:34:03 - 00:25:37:24 Speaker 1 he chose like a different genre for these videos for this album, right? 00:25:37:24 - 00:25:40:01 Speaker 1 Beat It. What's very, 00:25:40:01 - 00:25:43:07 Speaker 1 West Side Story two gang rival gangs. 00:25:43:07 - 00:25:43:29 Speaker 1 Billie Jean was 00:25:43:29 - 00:25:45:29 Speaker 1 one of those, like nor paranoid 00:25:45:29 - 00:25:48:09 Speaker 1 mystery where he's being chased down. 00:25:48:09 - 00:25:59:03 Speaker 1 And then this was like horror themed. So each one has its own style, which I thought was really cool. And I never even thought about how even the dance was a reference to monster movies. 00:25:59:06 - 00:26:01:08 Speaker 2 Yeah, he was doing eras before Taylor. 00:26:01:08 - 00:26:04:22 Speaker 1 Exactly. Yeah, well, that's probably where Taylor got her inspiration from, right? 00:26:04:22 - 00:26:05:01 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:26:05:01 - 00:26:19:21 Speaker 2 So there's the famous zombie dance that, you know, everybody knows at this point. I also love in the middle of it, we get a slow motion zombie dance. It's just like 3 or 4 guys like doing this. Yeah, I know what style you would call it, but this, 00:26:19:21 - 00:26:27:15 Speaker 2 liquidy kind of slow motion dance. I was like, man, I completely I don't think I've ever noticed that in the video before, but, 00:26:27:15 - 00:26:31:21 Speaker 2 my wife and I watched this a few times, and we were both trying to do the little slo mo dance. 00:26:31:21 - 00:26:38:21 Speaker 2 I don't know if we're ever going to pull that out anywhere, but it's fun to like that. Yeah, all the choreography in this video is amazing. 00:26:38:23 - 00:26:45:26 Speaker 1 You know, those those three guys also show up in the credits later. I don't know if you noticed. And I was like, oh yeah, those guys are back. And they do a fun job. 00:26:45:28 - 00:26:46:18 Speaker 2 Yeah, they do. 00:26:46:18 - 00:26:47:01 Speaker 1 So 00:26:47:01 - 00:26:53:18 Speaker 1 I want to talk about kind of the transition. So she sees the dance, then he turns back to, 00:26:53:18 - 00:26:54:05 Speaker 1 human, 00:26:54:05 - 00:26:55:12 Speaker 1 and then she runs away 00:26:55:12 - 00:27:03:14 Speaker 1 and she runs up at this like abandoned house because of course, that's naturally what you do when you're running away from zombies. Find an empty, scary abandoned house. 00:27:03:16 - 00:27:04:24 Speaker 2 And. 00:27:04:24 - 00:27:20:06 Speaker 1 That's where it also kind of gets cool, because now we're getting into like night of the Living Dead horror, like the zombies are moving a little quicker, they're a little more aggressive. They're coming in from the floorboards again, it's probably that sewer zombie knows how to get under things and 00:27:20:06 - 00:27:22:19 Speaker 1 you're really getting that sense of fear. 00:27:22:22 - 00:27:45:26 Speaker 1 Like you have nowhere else to go. You're stuck in this room, the zombies are coming through, the windows are coming through everything. Michael's breaking down the door in zombie mode. And again, this is a cool moment for people who've probably seen it for the first time where you think everything's lost and all hope is gone. And then it turns out that it's just a hallucination or hallucination, maybe just a kind of paranoia or whatever, you know? 00:27:45:28 - 00:28:09:05 Speaker 1 Movie doesn't have to make sense again. But that you get that moment where you're like, okay, all is well. And then they give you another twist. And that's when at the end they freeze frame. He looks back and he doesn't have the zombie eyes, but he has the werewolf eyes. So now we're mixing both of what's happened in the video into kind of that one moment, which I thought was really well done. 00:28:09:08 - 00:28:12:11 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tied it all together at the end. 00:28:12:11 - 00:28:30:20 Speaker 2 you mentioned the house that she runs into. It's weird for some reason, in the 80s and 90s for you young kids, one of the scariest things that we could think of to put in a horror movie or house is sheets on the furniture. Like, it was just like a. 00:28:30:20 - 00:28:37:07 Speaker 2 Yeah, like I think Casper had it. And like, a bunch of dogs is. Yeah. Beetlejuice. Yeah, yeah. 00:28:37:07 - 00:28:50:20 Speaker 2 We can don't say it one more time. No. If for some reason it's says, oh, just drape a white cloth over the couch and suddenly this is a spooky place to be. I don't know what where this came from, but, yeah, it was like. 00:28:50:22 - 00:28:59:13 Speaker 1 How do you. You make a ghost with a white sheet over a person and someone says like, well, why don't we just be even lazier and just throw it over a bunch of furniture and make that scary? 00:28:59:13 - 00:29:00:12 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:29:00:12 - 00:29:03:29 Speaker 2 You know, this massively successful music video, 00:29:03:29 - 00:29:15:16 Speaker 2 only pushed the album to be even more massively successful. And thriller, the album today remains the best selling album of all time. 00:29:15:16 - 00:29:30:17 Speaker 1 Yeah, and it's crazy to think about because we we've talked about artists releasing videos for songs that weren't singles, and that came out like way after the album. And this was, this was that case where the album was kind of losing and sales and was kind of going down, 00:29:30:17 - 00:29:36:24 Speaker 1 and they wanted to make one more video, and it wasn't even like a main single that they wanted to release it for. 00:29:36:24 - 00:29:47:16 Speaker 1 And this really pushed it back over the top and like, put it back on the top of if you compared it today in the Spotify playlist or whatever, which I think was really cool. 00:29:47:16 - 00:29:52:19 Speaker 1 And again, it speaks to the power that Michael had even at that time, where he can say, I want to do this. 00:29:52:19 - 00:29:54:26 Speaker 1 They had to secure funding. 00:29:54:29 - 00:29:59:09 Speaker 1 And Showtime was like the big funder for it. But again, I want to do this. I'm going to do this. 00:29:59:21 - 00:30:00:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:30:00:14 - 00:30:09:18 Speaker 2 You mentioned Showtime. Yeah. Apparently. Yeah. Showtime and MTV both contributed. So, yeah. You know, MTV wasn't so opposed to playing his videos. 00:30:09:20 - 00:30:16:23 Speaker 1 Well, it's interesting because I've read a lot of different articles. So apparently MTV had a policy where they wouldn't spend money on music videos 00:30:16:23 - 00:30:25:12 Speaker 1 So Landis had to spin it as we're making a documentary of the making of. And that was like The Loophole, where Showtime and MTV was like, okay, well, it's a documentary. 00:30:25:12 - 00:30:27:27 Speaker 1 It's not an actual music video. 00:30:28:00 - 00:30:41:20 Speaker 2 Yeah. So let's imagine that must have been huge at the time to write, like, what's in the documentary of how they made this video? Let's get I mean, I've never seen it. I've researched it and I even wrote down that they made it. And I should have watched the documentary. 00:30:41:23 - 00:30:56:03 Speaker 1 Well, it's funny because apparently the documentary sold so well, and in the early 80s, not a lot of people had VHS players. So, like, people would still buy them without the access, to watching it. But it was this, that popular. 00:30:56:06 - 00:30:57:11 Speaker 2 Wow. Crazy. 00:30:57:11 - 00:30:59:05 Speaker 1 And then I will say, kind of just to 00:30:59:05 - 00:31:00:24 Speaker 1 wrap up my thoughts. 00:31:00:24 - 00:31:05:10 Speaker 1 Great video, great song. I feel like it's only had Halloween. 00:31:05:10 - 00:31:14:05 Speaker 1 I don't think I've ever heard this song played any other time except for around Halloween, which is fine. It's kind of a Halloween song, but it's very interesting that 00:31:14:05 - 00:31:19:15 Speaker 1 like a Christmas song or something, or it's really only one time of year that this video and song comes out. 00:31:19:17 - 00:31:22:21 Speaker 2 Yeah, nobody's listening to this at Saint Patrick's Day. 00:31:22:21 - 00:31:28:19 Speaker 2 Yeah, it's it's absolutely. But it it is the D Halloween song though. I'll give it that. Right. Yeah. 00:31:28:19 - 00:31:32:16 Speaker 1 There's like Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas. I mean, this is thriller. 00:31:32:18 - 00:31:38:05 Speaker 2 Nobody's listening to that at Valentine's Day. That's when you listen to Monster Mass. 00:31:38:05 - 00:31:40:05 Speaker 2 I got one more thing for a Landis. 00:31:40:05 - 00:31:53:18 Speaker 2 John Landis and Michael Jackson purposely avoided slasher film references in this. They wanted to stick to, like, classic movie monsters, even though, like Halloween and Friday the 13th were the biggest movies in the eight early 80s, they said, 00:31:53:18 - 00:31:55:26 Speaker 2 you know, they didn't want to be gory or mean spirited. 00:31:55:26 - 00:32:03:29 Speaker 2 They just wanted to be like a classical movie. Monsters and theatrical. So cool. Cool division. Yeah. 00:32:04:01 - 00:32:06:02 Speaker 1 Yeah. And I think we'll see that with all of our, 00:32:06:02 - 00:32:12:10 Speaker 1 one shot Halloween kind of videos. There's not really too much gore in them for Halloween videos. 00:32:12:12 - 00:32:12:25 Speaker 2 Well, 00:32:12:25 - 00:32:20:10 Speaker 2 little spoiler. There's a little gore in the next episode, but you'll have to wait and see what that is exactly. 00:32:20:12 - 00:32:21:18 Speaker 1 Anything else for this? 00:32:21:21 - 00:32:34:18 Speaker 2 I do have one final thing. In 2009, thriller became the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, cementing its importance in the American culture. 00:32:34:18 - 00:32:35:15 Speaker 1 that's a good call out. 00:32:35:15 - 00:32:35:28 Speaker 2 So. 00:32:35:28 - 00:32:37:26 Speaker 2 great music video, great short film. 00:32:39:17 - 00:32:42:14 Speaker 1 Well, let's hop into a quick trivia game if you have time. 00:32:42:14 - 00:32:44:02 Speaker 2 Rob I do have time. 00:32:44:07 - 00:32:47:29 Speaker 1 And what we're going to do is let's do a little bit of a 00:32:47:29 - 00:32:52:25 Speaker 1 sibling rivalry. So we have Michael Jackson versus Janet Jackson. 00:32:52:27 - 00:32:53:20 Speaker 2 Okay. 00:32:53:23 - 00:32:54:14 Speaker 1 So, 00:32:54:14 - 00:32:59:20 Speaker 1 you might know enough about both, but I'm sure there's a few tricky ones in here. 00:32:59:20 - 00:33:10:01 Speaker 1 I'll start with this question. Which artists song doesn't really matter? Single reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. 00:33:10:03 - 00:33:14:00 Speaker 2 Does it really matter? I'm going to have to say Janet. 00:33:14:02 - 00:33:15:16 Speaker 1 Yes, you are right. 00:33:15:18 - 00:33:15:29 Speaker 2 All right. 00:33:15:29 - 00:33:19:22 Speaker 2 I feel like if it was Michael, I would have known that song. 00:33:19:24 - 00:33:21:03 Speaker 1 Yes, exactly. 00:33:21:03 - 00:33:28:05 Speaker 1 Okay. Next question. Which artist was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 as a solo artist? 00:33:28:05 - 00:33:42:03 Speaker 2 Oh, this feels like a trick, because Michael surely must have been in there before 2019, I'm going to say. But is that why it's a trivia question? I'm going to say, Janet. 00:33:42:06 - 00:33:44:28 Speaker 1 You are right. Yes, I was a little tricky, but, 00:33:44:28 - 00:33:47:20 Speaker 1 I don't know when Michael got inducted. I'm sure it was a lot earlier. 00:33:47:23 - 00:33:49:14 Speaker 2 It had to have been right. 00:33:49:17 - 00:34:06:05 Speaker 1 Yeah. Okay. Which artist invincible album was reportedly one of the most expensive albums ever made, involving over 100 musicians and many well-known producers. Michael Jackson you are correct, that one. I remember whole album as well. 00:34:06:07 - 00:34:10:26 Speaker 2 Yeah, I remember the album cover was like all white or not all white, but it's very white. 00:34:10:28 - 00:34:11:24 Speaker 1 Yes. Yeah. 00:34:11:24 - 00:34:12:12 Speaker 1 Good job. So 00:34:12:12 - 00:34:13:23 Speaker 1 you're three for three. 00:34:13:23 - 00:34:26:08 Speaker 1 This one's probably easy, but for the youngins out there, which artist suffered reduced radio airplay and promotional support following the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show? Controversy? 00:34:26:11 - 00:34:27:23 Speaker 2 Janet Jackson. 00:34:27:26 - 00:34:42:09 Speaker 1 Yes. Good job. Yeah. You know that that question could have went different directions, but I know as soon as I went 2004 Super Bowl halftime show controversy. It's, that was a slam dunk. That was the nipple gate incident. Yeah. The Super Bowl. 00:34:42:11 - 00:34:50:14 Speaker 2 I think if you even said after a controversy, I still would have gotten it. Michael Jackson certainly had his own, but I don't think that was stopping anybody from, 00:34:50:14 - 00:34:52:18 Speaker 2 listening to his music, you know? Yeah. 00:34:52:19 - 00:34:54:06 Speaker 1 Yeah, that's a good point. 00:34:54:06 - 00:35:03:26 Speaker 1 Which artist compilation. The Essential has stayed on the UK Official Albums Chart for over 200 weeks. 00:35:03:29 - 00:35:06:10 Speaker 2 And I'm going to say Michael Jackson there. 00:35:06:13 - 00:35:07:19 Speaker 1 You are correct. 00:35:07:21 - 00:35:12:20 Speaker 2 I think I've seen that that listed before the essential. Yeah. Over. 00:35:12:22 - 00:35:14:05 Speaker 1 Yeah. You got a good memory here. 00:35:14:10 - 00:35:16:08 Speaker 2 Is that a posthumous release? 00:35:16:11 - 00:35:17:21 Speaker 1 It has to a band, but, 00:35:17:21 - 00:35:20:12 Speaker 1 I don't have the details of when it was, 00:35:20:12 - 00:35:22:02 Speaker 1 which artist launched their own 00:35:22:02 - 00:35:29:21 Speaker 1 record label called Rhythm Nation. Oh, it's got to be Janet Jackson. You're right. Yeah, I think that's an album name of herself. 00:35:29:21 - 00:35:38:27 Speaker 2 Yeah, that's where it's like, the most iconic part of her is Rhythm Nation. You get the momentum. Eastern door. Yeah. 00:35:39:00 - 00:35:45:14 Speaker 1 Which artist Together Again Tour became their highest grossing tour of their career? 00:35:45:17 - 00:35:48:13 Speaker 2 Oh, man, did, 00:35:48:13 - 00:36:03:08 Speaker 2 I want em? This one's tough because I could see it for either one. And I've definitely heard the name of this tour. It was it when Michael had the rest of the Jackson five with them, I think. I think it's Janet Jackson, actually. 00:36:03:08 - 00:36:07:00 Speaker 1 You are right. Wow, Rob, you are killing it. Okay, a couple more. 00:36:07:06 - 00:36:09:06 Speaker 2 Do you know the date of that? Was that recently? 00:36:09:14 - 00:36:11:08 Speaker 1 Yeah. 2023 2024. So. 00:36:11:09 - 00:36:14:28 Speaker 2 Oh I went to that. Oh you did. Yeah. That's why I know it with, 00:36:14:28 - 00:36:15:25 Speaker 2 Ludacris and, 00:36:15:25 - 00:36:16:25 Speaker 2 you know, Janet Jackson. 00:36:16:25 - 00:36:19:17 Speaker 2 A friend invited me. She had box seats 00:36:19:17 - 00:36:21:17 Speaker 2 Yeah. Shout out to Holly if you're listening. 00:36:21:17 - 00:36:26:00 Speaker 2 Yeah. She took my wife and I. Amazing experience. 00:36:26:00 - 00:36:31:22 Speaker 2 Awesome. Dancing by Janet Jackson's dancers. She wasn't doing a lot, but. 00:36:31:25 - 00:36:34:23 Speaker 1 Yeah, I mean, she's got to be in her, like, 60s now, right? So. 00:36:34:24 - 00:36:45:27 Speaker 2 Yeah, she was. Yeah. But, you know, great overall show. I did kind of expect a little more from Ludacris. He only performed for like 30 minutes and he'd like do a verse and a chorus. And then that would be it. 00:36:45:29 - 00:36:48:09 Speaker 1 Oh, one of those one of those shows. Yeah. 00:36:48:11 - 00:36:54:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. He's like, all right, here's 45 seconds of moves. Get out the way. You know, I just like, oh, I want the whole thing. 00:36:54:16 - 00:36:56:27 Speaker 1 Yeah I think I'm here for samples. 00:36:57:00 - 00:37:01:22 Speaker 2 Yeah. It may have been less than 30 minutes. Is probably like 15 minutes of like, oh what was. 00:37:01:22 - 00:37:05:20 Speaker 1 There a lot of artists like. What was it just like a cram schedule or was it. 00:37:05:22 - 00:37:07:15 Speaker 2 Janet performed a lot of songs. 00:37:07:15 - 00:37:14:06 Speaker 2 Okay. Yeah, I think we missed whoever's before Ludacris, but, yeah, that was it. Interesting. 00:37:14:07 - 00:37:21:16 Speaker 1 Okay, here we go. This one can be go either way as well. Which artist has ten studio albums? 00:37:21:19 - 00:37:30:05 Speaker 2 Oh, man. That's a little tough. I mean, I couldn't count them all, but I'm gonna go. 00:37:30:05 - 00:37:34:11 Speaker 1 Michael, I'll help here a little bit. One artist has ten, one has 11. 00:37:34:13 - 00:37:39:01 Speaker 2 Oh, my gosh, I have to. I'm gonna say, Michael. 00:37:39:04 - 00:37:39:29 Speaker 1 You are right. 00:37:40:04 - 00:37:41:07 Speaker 2 All right. 00:37:41:15 - 00:37:43:16 Speaker 2 That was just a shot in the dark. Really? 00:37:43:19 - 00:37:50:01 Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah, well, the longevity of Janet, like, maybe she released recent albums, but. Yeah, that was a tough one. 00:37:50:04 - 00:37:50:14 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:37:50:14 - 00:38:02:23 Speaker 1 Okay, let's see. Which artist is the only artist in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 to have seven singles from one album peak within the top five positions. 00:38:02:25 - 00:38:06:24 Speaker 2 Has got to be Michael, you are Rock. Oh, really? 00:38:06:24 - 00:38:07:07 Speaker 1 Wow. 00:38:07:09 - 00:38:10:17 Speaker 2 Currently Janet seven from one album. 00:38:10:19 - 00:38:17:06 Speaker 1 Yeah, and I can imagine it must be Rhythm Nation, but I don't remember all of her albums. She has 11. 00:38:17:08 - 00:38:18:22 Speaker 2 Wow. That's crazy. Go, Janet. 00:38:18:23 - 00:38:29:07 Speaker 1 Yeah yeah yeah, I mean yeah, the Jacksons. Well, awesome. Rob, you did a almost perfect score. You just got tripped up at that last one. But yeah. Yeah. Kudos. You know, you're Jackson's idea. 00:38:29:07 - 00:38:31:04 Speaker 2 Apparently I do. 00:38:31:04 - 00:38:45:16 Speaker 1 Well, everyone, I hope you enjoyed this spooky one shot for the Halloween season. And, if you want to listen to more of our stuff, feel free to look us up on Instagram, TikTok, our website. Feel free to recommend videos. 00:38:45:16 - 00:38:47:14 Speaker 1 Otherwise, we'll talk to you soon. 00:38:47:17 - 00:38:50:20 Speaker 2 Yes, and like we said, Halloween is right around the corner. 00:38:50:20 - 00:38:54:15 Speaker 2 If you are hosting a Halloween party or are you just having some fun at home? 00:38:54:15 - 00:39:05:05 Speaker 2 In October, be sure to check out our website, rewind and React or our YouTube channel. We will have a Halloween playlist of some of the best spooky music videos for you. 00:39:05:07 - 00:39:15:06 Speaker 2 So check that out and till then, we will see you next time we got to go! It's close to midnight Moon.