Michael Jackson's Thriller: The Most Ambitious Project in Pop History

In 1981, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones set out on one of the most ambitious projects in pop music history: an album where every song was a hit. The result was Thriller. The record-breaking, chart-topping masterpiece produced six top-ten hits, became the best-selling album of all time, and propelled Black American music into global pop dominance. Watch as jazz musicians Peter Martin and Adam Maness react to this iconic '80s pop album. They break it down track-by-track: MJ's timeless ad-libbed melodies, Ndugu Chancler's drum intros (the greatest in pop history?!), Greg Phillinganes's synths, and Rod Temperton's songwriting. Thriller is so much more than "Thriller". Listen with us, and you'll never hear this record the same way again. Michael Jackson unveils the Moonwalk at NBC's Motown 25 special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB7TqzPVt_M&t=538s Greg Phillinganes breaks down the bass line on Thriller: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqxOg3M-OM Adam and Peter analyze Off the Wall: https://youtu.be/jR9zxGueeq4 Start your free Open Studio trial for ALLLLL your jazz lesson needs: https://osjazz.link/yhi 00:00 – Intro Jam: Thriller 01:54 – We're an Award-Winning Podcast! Thank You! 03:20 – Thriller's Path to Global Domination 07:15 – "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" 14:40 – How Thriller Inspired Adam to Play Music 19:10 – “Baby Be Mine” 22:40 – The Greatest Lift in Pop Music History 24:20 – Drum Intros: "Baby Be Mine" vs "Rock With You" 31:50 – “The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney)" 34:00 – The MJ/McCartney Track That Belonged on Thriller 39:55 – "Thriller" 45:30 – "Beat It" 50:30 – The Van Halen Solo that Made "Beat It" Rock n' Roll 53:00 – "Billie Jean" 55:55 – "Human Nature" 58:40 – The "Human Nature" Demo that Was Almost Lost 1:00:10 – "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" 1:04:20 – "The Lady in My Life": Thriller's Best Track?! 01:13:50 – The First Time We've Agreed on Snobometer 01:18:05 – GALA