Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

2. Michael JacksonThriller

Do you know what’s crazy? At the time, because I’m from a very religious background, and I never had cable either, I never saw the videos for this. But I did watch that series about the come up of The Jacksons, The American Dream, that starts before even Michael was born. So you see that Billie Jean performance, when he first does the moonwalk – and I just remember watching that and feeling a certain energy at the show. No matter how good you think a show is, have you ever seen something that’s never been done before!? There was a time when I could do the moonwalk, and I tried the lean forward thing but… I can’t do that.  Everything’s been said about Thriller already. Groundbreaking. Not just the numbers – I chose these albums not based on numbers, but based on sound and how it marked a time. The sonics of it still hit me to this day. ‘PYT’ was a bad tune – the vibes, everything! Mike’s hard to talk about because it’s hard to really pick out the songs – overall, I just felt he was sick.

PreviousNext Record

The Quietus Digest

Sign up for our free Friday email newsletter.

Support The Quietus

Our journalism is funded by our readers. Become a subscriber today to help champion our writing, plus enjoy bonus essays, podcasts, playlists and music downloads.

Support & Subscribe Today