Favorite musicians

So, as I am sitting here typing papers, I've heard at least two songs by Lady Gaga, and now Michael Jackson is playing.  I wonder how many other people jam out to their favorite musicians while writing papers?  I know that sometimes I can't stand to have music playing while I'm trying to focus, while other times I have to release and relax through my music and just feeling the beat.

In thinking about my favorite musicians, many people may feel I'm a bit old school in liking Michael Jackson - but am I?  This one musician managed to transform so much of the world for the better, through his love for kids and the foundations/donations that he put his own money into.  He also completely upended many parts of the music industry -the greatest of which was the advent of the music video as we know it.  I trust that anyone reading this will have seen the music video "Thriller" to MJ's song of the same name.  The album Thriller, released in November of 1982, contained the song as the title track.

[spoiler alert-watch the movie on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOnqjkJTMaA&ob=av3n]

I would like to give a simple little review of the masterpiece that is the music video to this song.  At 14 minutes it is a substantially longer movie than the song.  Which, to most artists, is excessive.  However, there is a story that is being told through the video.  The initial scenes appear to Michael turning into a werewolf creature to then attack his lover, whereby the camera focuses on a laughing Jackson eating popcorn watching this scary movie with his date.  Telling his girl she is taking the scariness to seriously, they venture out onto the street where Jackson begins the opening lines of the song to cheer up his girlfriend.  As the movie goes along, they pass by a cemetery where inevitably, some ghoulish creatures rise from the grave.  The movie concludes with some scary beastliness dancing around with Michael Jackson (which according to Commoncraft indicates that they were not actually zombies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnfyradCPY)

What this movie did was change the music video recording industry.  It included fanciful costumes, unique elements of synchronized dancing in a story board fashion.  While the beginning of the video feels a bit tedious, it certainly has the scary buildup to lead into the almost light-hearted rendition of the spooky lyrics.  It even includes haunting sounds of Vincent Price's voice throughout the end of the song. Overall the video is an enjoyable watching experience, particularly to those who are about to go trick-or-treating on halloween.  There's something about the song and video that just puts the spook in your step.