How Quincy Jones Helped Make Thriller The Biggest Album of All Time

As a connoisseur of music history, I find myself utterly captivated by the extraordinary tale of Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson’s collaboration on the iconic album, Thriller. Jones, with his illustrious career spanning decades and various mediums, stood as a towering figure in the realm of entertainment. His life experiences, from scoring soundtracks for films and TV shows to becoming the first African American nominated for an Oscar, provided him with a unique perspective on the symbiotic relationship between music and visuals.

Forty-two years following its debut, Michael Jackson’s Thriller stands as a colossal symbol of American cultural influence. Recognized globally as the best-selling album ever, it serves as an unattainable benchmark for pop artists. The album’s ubiquity is adored and admired worldwide. On charts, Thriller held the number one position for 37 non-sequential weeks, setting a record for most top 10 singles from a single album with seven. Since then, it has sold over 60 million copies across the globe.

From a passionate cinephile’s perspective, the journey of this film wasn’t a foregone conclusion; it encountered numerous hurdles on its path to unprecedented success. The primary challenge stemmed from skepticism among executives regarding the potential reach of a Black R&B artist’s resonance in broader audiences.

The insurmountable determination and genius of two men, Jackson and Quincy Jones, were instrumental in overcoming various obstacles. Quincy Jones, who recently passed away at 91 in Los Angeles, had already established himself as a powerful figure in the music and television industries before teaming up with Jackson, a former child prodigy grappling with his transition into adulthood. Together, they produced a masterpiece – Thriller – which catapulted Jackson to solo stardom while showcasing Jones’ diverse talents. This groundbreaking creation was a product of their relentless competition, deep affection for decades-spanning pop culture, and fascination with the latest technologies and multimedia means of celebrity.

Building a new pop sound

As a devoted film enthusiast speaking about music, let me share that back in 1979, I had the privilege of working alongside Jackson on his album “Off the Wall,” his fifth solo venture outside the Jackson 5. Jackson’s prior solo albums hadn’t resonated with diverse audiences, so our goal was to captivate the mainstream by reinventing disco as it was transitioning out of its golden era. We infused the genre with a fresh wave of synthesizers and electronic drumbeats, pushing its boundaries into uncharted territories.

The song “Off the Wall” was incredibly successful, yet its critical recognition was limited due to the music industry’s narrow-minded views on race and genre. The Grammys categorized it within their R&B genres, neglecting to nominate popular tracks like “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” or “Rock With You” for Record of the Year or Song of the Year. Michael Jackson voiced his discontent over being overlooked by Rolling Stone for a cover story in 1980, stating: “I’ve been informed repeatedly that black people on magazine covers don’t sell copies … Just wait,” he said.

Jones and Jackson aimed for their subsequent release to make a significant impact; they wanted each song on the album to be an unquestionable hit in multiple genres such as rock, adult contemporary, R&B, soul. As Jones expressed to Rolling Stone in 2009, “To truly stand out, you must aim for impact in four, five, six distinct areas.

In their strategic approach, Jones and Jackson sought out a highly popular artist they thought was too big to be ignored by mainstream white radio stations – Paul McCartney. Their aim was to produce an easy-listening pop song mirroring the success of McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s “Ebony and Ivory,” which could potentially elevate Jackson’s global popularity to Beatles-like levels. The resulting track, titled “The Girl Is Mine,” faced criticism from critics, with even McCartney himself labeling it as superficial. However, some radio DJs refused to play the song due to its depiction of interracial relationships. Despite this, their strategy was successful: the single climbed to No. 2 on the pop charts, setting the stage for the album’s plans to cross over to a wider audience.

shiny, polished, and taut. Quincy Jones, with his extensive and comprehensive understanding of music theory and music history, crafted this unique sound. As a teenager, he honed his skills as a jazz trumpeter in Seattle alongside Ray Charles. Later, he became an integral part of the New York jazz scene, composing songs for Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, and Count Basie. Jones’ primary goal was to infuse Jackson’s music with the language and essence of jazz, all while aiming for chart-topping success. For example, “Baby Be Mine” was a clear tribute to John Coltrane, as Jones revealed in an interview with Vulture in 2018. “I want to introduce the young generation to bebop,” he said. “In my opinion, jazz holds the highest place in music because the musicians studied every aspect of it.

In the same interview, Jones shared that his musical influences for Thriller were as diverse as jazz, bar mitzvah music, Sousa marches, strip-club tunes, and pop. This melting pot of inspirations spanned decades and continents. For instance, the track “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'” pays homage to Cameroonian musician Manu Dibango’s 1972 hit “Soul Makossa.” (It was a point of contention that he wasn’t initially credited, but they managed to reach a financial settlement.) As a fan, this global fusion of sounds truly makes Thriller an extraordinary album.

In drawing from the annals of music history, Jones found himself at the forefront of the pop music scene. He invited pioneers of the 1980s music world, such as Toto, whose hit “Africa” was climbing the charts, to collaborate on “Human Nature”. Moreover, the esteemed rock musician Eddie Van Halen, who held Jones in high regard, declined payment for his iconic guitar solo on “Beat It”.

Alongside other factors, Jones was significantly impacted by the fresh release from an emerging talent – Prince’s “1999” album. Upon its debut, Brian Banks, the synth player for “Thriller,” recalled that Jones shared the title track with them and admired the “large, sharp chord sound,” desiring something even more grandiose. This signature sound became instrumental in launching the album’s lead track, “Thriller,” setting the stage for a four-decade-long rivalry between these musical titans.

The electronic tunes on the album Thriller received a significant boost due to Michael Jackson’s adoption of the most advanced music equipment available at that time, such as synthesizers and drum machines. As Anthony Marinelli, a keyboardist, explained to the BBC, “We had so much equipment that we couldn’t even store it in the hallways, all the crates.” Jackson was eager to experiment with different instruments to achieve similar sounds, and I frequently used this drum machine on various tracks. Quincy Jones skillfully added the ideal supporting musicians or background vocals, resulting in a lot of innovation.

In total, Jones enlisted 62 musicians and 22 vocalists for the production of Thriller. He and Jackson dedicated countless hours to achieving album perfection, often working round-the-clock. As Jones shared with the BBC, “The second engineers and even the musicians themselves were carried out on stretchers due to exhaustion.

I want my MTV

However, the pair recognized that music was just one piece of the puzzle when it came to turning “Thriller” into a monumental hit. Jones, with his extensive background in TV and film, had been composing soundtracks for numerous films and television shows since the ’60s. In 1968, he made history by becoming the first African American to receive an Oscar nomination for best original song.

In my perspective, he possessed an intuitive knack for blending music and visuals to create significant cultural landmarks. For the title track of “Thriller”, I was amazed at how he arranged a chilling spoken-word segment by the horror actor Vincent Price, thereby adding a layer of suspenseful storytelling to the song.

Meanwhile, a swift emergence was taking place in the realm of music: MTV. However, this television network was still deeply segregated and seldom played Black musicians. When MTV decided not to air Rick James’ “Super Freak,” its founder Bob Pittman attempted to justify the decision by stating, “It has nothing to do with race, but with sound quality.

Despite this resistance, Jackson and Jones were hellbent on getting on the channel, and allocated an enormous amount of money to create distinctive, movie-quality music videos that would show off Jackson’s charisma. Jackson paid $150,000 for the “Beat It” music video out of his own pocket. Eventually, and thanks in part to threats from Jackson’s studio executives to MTV, the channel put “Billie Jean” into heavy rotation. The 14-minute “Thriller” video, directed by John Landis (National Lampoon’s Animal House), followed, giving MTV 10 times their usual ratings.

At this stage, MTV couldn’t ignore the fact that Black artists were popular among their supposed audience, and started featuring other Black musicians such as Lionel Richie and Prince. As Rob Tannenbaum, co-author of I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, explained to The Root in 2013, “MTV’s playlist was predominantly white until Michael Jackson managed to get on air by creating some of the most captivating music videos anyone had ever seen.

I was an integral part of MTV’s triumphant journey, as the pivotal change I helped initiate led them to record their first quarterly profit in 1984. This milestone coincided with the peak popularity of “Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and “Thriller.” From then on, high-budget music videos became a powerful tool for artists to exhibit their creativity visually, thereby giving birth to an epoch marked by visual-centric music stardom. As Jones articulated in 2022, “Michael and MTV ascended together to greatness.” To this day, the standard for music videos remains unchanged since that transformative period.

To summarize, Quincy Jones’ impressive career spanned beyond just “Thriller,” encompassing collaborations with Ella Fitzgerald, the soundtrack for “The Color Purple,” “We Are the World,” and many other significant works. His career is extensively covered in the documentary “Quincy,” co-directed by his daughter Rashida Jones. Quincy Jones has earned third place on the list of most Grammy awards, making him part of an exclusive group known as EGOT winners (those who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards). However, it was “Thriller” that showcased the pinnacle of Jones’ abilities. His unwavering faith in Michael Jackson and his relentless artistic dedication allowed them to shatter numerous records and establish new norms for pop stardom.

In a conversation with Fresh Air in 2013, Jones described “Thriller” as a blend of his entire orchestration expertise, along with the selection of songs, and Michael’s diverse talents as a dancer, singer, and exceptional performer. Essentially, it was like us combining all our accumulated experience and skills to create something unique.

2024-11-05 00:07