1976 to 1982
For the next album, titled «Thriller», which was initially going to be called «Star Light», Michael once again got to work with Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton, and many of the musicians who had collaborated with him on the album «Off The Wall».
Michael: ”I remember one time, when we were working on «Thriller», Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton were in the studio. I was playing pinball.
One of them asked me: ”If this album doesn’t turn out as good as «Off The Wall», will you be disappointed?“
I remember getting upset. I was upset that this question was even asked.
I told them: ”«Thriller» has to be better than «Off The Wall».“ I said that I wanted this album to become the best-selling album of all time. And they started laughing. Apparently, this wish seemed unrealistic to them.“
Michael joined Paul McCartney again. The two songs «Say Say Say» and «The Girl Is Mine» were the result of their collaboration.
In the end, Quincy Jones and Michael chose «The Girl Is Mine» as the first confirmed track of the album «Thriller».
«Not My Lover» was the title they used for «Billie Jean», because Quincy disagreed with the name «Billie Jean» that Michael had chosen from the beginning for this song. Quincy felt that people might immediately think of Billie Jean King, the female tennis player.
Michael: ”Many people have asked me about this song. And the answer is very simple. This song is about a girl who claims that I am the father of her child, and I defend my innocence because this baby isn’t my son.
This has happened to some of my brothers, and I’ve always been very astonished by it. I couldn’t understand how those girls could say they were carrying someone’s child in their womb while such a thing wasn’t true. I can’t even think about telling such a lie.“
Eddie Van Halen agreed to collaborate on playing the song «Beat It». He played the guitar brilliantly on his own. And also Steve Porcaro [Toto], Steve Lukather, Greg Phillinganes, Louis Johnson, and Vincent Price were among the people who collaborated with Michael on this album.
In the end, Michael and Quincy were put under heavy pressure by the recording company to finish the album as soon as possible.
Michael: ”When the company pressures you to finish the work as quickly as possible, you really feel pressured. And they had also put us under heavy pressure for the album «Thriller». They said this album had to be finished on a specific date. Do it or die.
So we found ourselves in a situation where we were basically killing ourselves to finish the work correctly within the scheduled time. We compromised a lot on the mixes of the songs, and also on which songs should be included on the album. We cut and trimmed the songs so much that finally the whole album became something without any loose ends.
[Spielberg — Michael — Quincy]
When we finally listened to the songs we were supposed to deliver; «Thriller» looked so awful to me that I started crying. We were under intense pressure because at the same time we were trying to finish «Thriller», we were also working on «The E.T Story Book» and had to finish that too by the set deadline. It was like all the people in the studio were fighting with each other, and we came to this bitter realization that the mixes of the «Thriller» songs weren’t good enough.
Right there in the studio—Westlake Studio in Hollywood—we listened to all the songs on the album. I was devastated with sadness. I let out all the feelings I had been holding in all at once. I got angry and left the room. I told my people: ”We are not going to release this album. Call CBS and tell them they can’t get this album. We’re not giving this album to them. That’s it.“
In the end, I realized that we had to remix the entire album from the beginning. When that was done.... Boom!... «Thriller» sounded like a bomb and knocked all the competitors out in America. CBS could also tell the difference between them. «Thriller» was a very demanding project.“