At #10 on the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart is a song that first entered the chart 42 years earlier: Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’
This is an example of one of the exceptions to Billboard’s new Hot 100 rules, which allow a perennially popular track to return to the chart due to seasonal popularity. ‘Thriller’ has become a Halloween staple, popping onto the chart on an annual basis during spooky season.
The week of March 10, 1984, was a great one on the Billboard Hot 100.
In the top spot you had Van Halen’s ‘Jump,’ followed by Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.’ Rounding out the top three was Nena’s ’99 Luftballons,’ a rare hit not in the English language.
What a great mix of songs. What a great decade!
Throwing back to the week of November 19, 1983, we find Lionel Richie on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘All Night Long (All Night).’
I’ve featured that song already, however, so I’m moving on to #2, a hit duet between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. ‘Say Say Say’ was the first collaboration the duo recorded, but the second they released. ‘The Girl is Mine’ showed up on Jackson’s Thriller the year before.
Today’s AI-generated track is the best I’ve heard yet. This one imagines Michael Jackson singing George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper.’
I don’t know what sets it apart. Maybe the programmer has spent more time recreating Jackson’s vocals than others. Or maybe there is some quality in Jackson’s voice that makes it easier to render digitally. Or maybe the AI is on par with the rest but this excellent match of song and performer masks the imperfections. At any rate, this one is pretty special.
Today we throw back 40 years to the week of May 14, 1983, when a song called ‘Beat It’ by little-known pop singer Michael Jackson topped the Billboard Hot 100.
I was surprised to see I hadn’t featured ‘Beat It’ on the blog through 5,432 Songs of the Day. The closest I’ve come is a Random Weekend feature of ‘Beat It 2008,’ a bonus track on the 25th anniversary re-release of Thriller that remixed the song and added vocals by Fergie. Exhibit A of why Throwback Weekends are already better than Random Weekends.
Meet Me In Montauk 