Michael Jackson's 'Thriller': Story Behind The 'Glee' Cover

MJ classic is mashed up with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 'Heads Will Roll' for post-Super Bowl episode.
By Aly Semigran


"Glee"
Photo: FOX

Madonna, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and now, finally, Michael Jackson. The cast of "Glee" has covered plenty of icons during their first two seasons, but it's taken 33 episodes to get around to the King of Pop.

With a huge catalog of Jackson songs, the singing, dancing students of McKinley High paid homage to the late singer with one of his biggest staples (and, arguably, the greatest music video of all time) with their take on "Thriller."

The groundbreaking single from Jackson's best-selling album of the same name was mashed up with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Heads Will Roll" for the post-Super Bowl episode (titled "The Sue Sylvester Bowl Shuffle"), featuring a zombie-fied "Glee" cast.

Bound to become a smash all over again (though with its nonstop rotation at Halloween parties and wedding receptions until the end of time, it's never truly gone away), here's a brief history of the dance/pop classic.

Released on January 23, 1984, "Thriller" was the seventh, and final, single to be released from Jackson's smash record. According to the RIAA, the album (released by Epic Records) has gone gold 29 times, narrowly edging out the Eagles' Greatest Hits 1971-1975 for the title of best-selling album of all time.

In 2009, MTV News estimated that the Thriller album was poised to go triple diamond, meaning 30 million records sold in the U.S. alone.

After Thriller's other singles (including "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and "Wanna Be Startin' Something") dominated the charts, it was time for the spooky, undeniably original track to take over. The song "Thriller" also appeared on many of Jackson's other albums, including the compilations HIStory and Number Ones.

Clocking in at a little under six minutes (though the radio edit was closer to four-and-a-half), the song features pop-music mainstays like synthesizers but shakes things up with its spooky sound effects, including creaking floors, howling and thunder.

The song was produced by Quincy Jones and written and composed by Rod Tempterton and spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #4.

But it's the music video for "Thriller" that truly made it the phenomenon it was in the '80s and continues to be today. Less a music video than a mini-motion picture, the video (over 13 minutes long and directed by John Landis) won three MTV Video Music Awards and has been named the best music video of all time by many outlets, including VH1 for the special "VH1: 100 Greatest Videos."

The chiller features Jackson in that iconic red leather jacket on a date with his girlfriend (played by Ola Ray) before things go terribly awry. After all, as Jackson (whose disclaimer at the start of the video reads, "This film in no way endorses a belief in the occult") sings in the opening line, "It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark." Cue werewolves, zombies, Vincent Price's soliloquy and one of the most memorable dance sequences ever.

The video was (no pun intended) a monster hit. As the Los Angeles Times notes, "At the height of the song's popularity, MTV would run the 14-minute 'Thriller' video twice an hour."

Choreographed by Jackson and Michael Peters (who, as the LA Times also reported, appears in the video as one of the zombies) and with makeup by Oscar-winner Rick Baker (also an undead "Thriller" extra) was made with a huge budget of an estimated $500,000.

Still, the efforts paid off. Landis (who told the "Today" show back in 2009 that no one wanted to give them the funds to make the risky vid) made the accompanying 45-minute documentary about the venture, called "The Making of Thriller." Featuring the behind-the-scenes wizardry, as well as the music video in full, it would go on to move more than 10 million copies.

Since then, the signature song and video have seen their share fair of tributes in movies (notably in the 2004 comedy"13 Going on 30") and TV ("South Park," "Family Guy," "30 Rock," among others), not to mention the countless flash mobs that have gone viral. (Remember the prisoners in the Philippines who became overnight phenomenons on YouTube?)

Even with the "Glee" number, this likely won't be the last incarnation of "Thriller." Billboard reported in October that a "Thriller" film is in the works. With a plot allegedly revolving around Price's narration, Kenny Ortega, who directed Jackson's last effort, "This Is It," will reportedly helm the project.

Since Jackson's untimely passing on June 25, 2009, the song and video's legacy continue to live on. In the week following Jackson's death, "Thriller" was the best-selling track in the U.S., with sales of 167,000 copies on the Billboard Hot Digital Singles chart.

Then, in December 2009, "Thriller" was the first music video to ever be inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. It seems "no mere mortal can resist ... the thriller" after all.

What did you think of the "Thriller" mash-up on "Glee"? Let us know in the comments!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657395/glee-thriller.jhtml

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'Super 8' Cast Laugh Off Film's Mystery Theories

'They said Chuck Norris was in the train,' star Riley Griffiths tells us at the movie's premiere in Los Angeles.
By Kara Warner


Riley Griffiths, Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning
Photo: Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — One of the more exciting things about the new J.J. Abrams-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced thriller "Super 8" is the overall mystery of the film. From the basic plot details that have been released, very little is known about what the heck the movie is about. Based on word of mouth and one key moment in the film's trailers that show something trying to escape a locked compartment on a train, there is a very mysterious "thing" or secret terrorizing a small town.

MTV News headed out to the film's star-studded premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night to find out from the castmembers what crazy theories they've heard about what the "it" or "thing" or "big secret" is all about. Their answers were surprisingly varied and all over the map.

"I've seen on IMDb that a lot of people thought it was a giant lion," Zach Mills said. "I don't know why. That's the craziest thing I've heard."

"The funniest thing that someone has guessed what it is, they said Chuck Norris was in the train," Riley Griffiths revealed. "That's probably the funniest thing I've heard so far."

"I think someone said once on Facebook or something that it was the cube that Elle [Fanning] and Joel [Courtney] are looking at, and that [they think] it's some creature," Gabriel Basso said of a moment where Fanning and Courtney's characters are examining a vibrating white cube. "That was really funny. I laughed."

Ryan Lee's conspiracy theorists or secret guessers seemed to think that the mystery revolves around someone or something with a canine obsession.

"[They think] that the thing has a dog fetish," Lee revealed. "That's the funniest thing somebody has said to me about the mystery of the movie. They think that thing is hoarding dogs in its train, I guess."

And last but not least, the adult in the group, actor Kyle Chandler, recalled a theorist who thinks the mystery revolves around a certain fever- and frenzy-inducing pop star. "Someone suggested to me that it was Justin Bieber," he said. "And it could be."

Check out everything we've got on "Super 8."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Jack White And Karen Elson 'Celebrate' Divorce

After six years of marriage, pair will throw an anniversary and divorce party in Nashville.
By Jocelyn Vena


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Jack White and his wife, model/singer Karen Elson, have announced their divorce, but it doesn't seem like there are hard feelings between them. They plan to commemorate the ending of their six-year marriage with a divorce party this weekend, according to People.com.

"Karen Elson and Jack White announce today that they are getting divorced," a statement about their divorce reads. "We remain dear and trusted friends and co-parents to our wonderful children Scarlett and Henry Lee. We feel so fortunate for the time we have shared and the time we will continue to spend both separately and together watching our children grow.

"In honor of that time shared, we are throwing a divorce party," the statement continues. "An evening together in Nashville to reaffirm our friendship and celebrate the past and future with close friends and family."

This is the second split for White this year. Earlier this year, Jack and Meg White officially dissolved the White Stripes. The musical partners had also been previously married to one another. White married Elson (who appeared in the Stripes' "Blue Orchid" video) in 2005 in Brazil, quickly expanding their family with a son and daughter. They reside in Nashville where the party is expected to take place on Friday night (June 10).

An invitation says that the unusual party will have "dancing, photos, memories and drinks with alcohol in them. ... Please help us celebrate together this anniversary of the making and breaking of the sacred union of marriage with our best friends and animals." So, who made the guest list? The invite adds, "This is only for close personal friends and family. So please no plus ones or dead beats."

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