Emissions
It was the biggest album of 1982, and the title track was the last Top Ten single to come from it. That’s seven singles out of nine tracks total.
Michael Jackson wanted to top not only the success, but the ambition of his previous album, Off The Wall, and I think we can all agree that he more than succeeded. Thriller remains the largest-selling album of all time.
What! you say, bigger than Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band? Bigger than Dark Side of the Moon? Bigger than Bat Out of Hell? Yes, indeed. As of this week, the top 15 all-time sellers are:
Artist
Album Title YearSales (in millions)
Michael Jackson Thriller1982
66
AC/DC Back in Black1980
50
Pink Floyd The Dark Side of the Moon1973
45
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell1977
43
Whitney Houston / Various artists The Bodyguard Soundtrack1992
42
Eagles Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)1976
42
Bee Gees / Various artists Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack1977
40
Fleetwood Mac Rumours1977
40
Shania Twain Come On Over1997
39
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV1971
37
Michael Jackson Bad1987
35
Alanis Morissette Jagged Little Pill1995
33
Celine Dion Falling into You1996
32
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band1967
32
Michael Jackson Dangerous1991
32
That’s THREE albums Jackson has in the all-time Top 15, and Off the Wall isn’t even one of them. (It’s way down the list, a spot or two below HIStory.)
This was one of the pictures originally considered for the album’s cover, which is why they used it for the Special Edition.
Anyway. Today we’re looking at the title track, a song that started as “Starlight” and ended with Quincy Jones’ wife recruiting Vincent Price to do a little white-boy rap.
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