Yahoo Web Search

"Thriller" was written by English songwriter Rod Temperton, who had previously written for Jackson's 1979 album Off The Wall. Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to suit Jackson's love of film. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the bassline that runs through the song, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. He recalled: "I wanted it to build and build – a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense ...

"Thriller" is a disco-funk song. Set in the key of C# minor, it has a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The instrumentation consists of a Minimoog synthesizer, a Linn LM-1 drum machine, a Rhodes piano, a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer, an electric guitar, a pipe organ, and a horn section consisting of trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn, saxophone, and flute. The backing track, especially the bassline, has certain similarities to the 1981 number-one R&B hit "Give It to Me Baby" by Rick James. At t

"Thriller", along with the rest of the album, was recorded over eight weeks in 1982. It was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Engineer Bruce Swedien had Jackson record his vocals in different approaches, doubling takes and recording at different distances from the microphone. Some background vocals were recorded in the Westlake shower stall. The bassline was recorded with two modified Minimoog synthesizers playing in unison. To record th

"Thriller" was the final single released from the album. It was not initially planned for release, as, according to Epic executive Walter Yetnikoff, "Who wants a single about monsters?" By mid-1983, sales of Thriller began to decline. Jackson, who was "obsessive" about his sales figures, urged record executives Walter Yetnikoff and Larry Stessel to help conceive a plan to return the album to the top of the charts. Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested releasing "Thriller", backed by a new musi

"Thriller" was the seventh and final Billboard Hot 100 top-ten single from the Thriller album. In Billboard issue date February 11, 1984, the single entered the charts at number 20 on the Hot 100. It reached number seven the following week, number five the next, and peaked the next week at number four, where it stayed for two weeks. It finished as the #78 single on Billboard's Hot 100 for the year 1984. For the issue date February 25, 1984, "Thriller" charted at number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop