44 PULSE
G45?8;BCC<A:
COVER STORY
new york post
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Man in the Moonwa k
Head chef
Sam Mason hasn’t forgotten his pastry
chef days at WD-50
and Union Pacific, as
demonstrated by his
spice bread panna
cotta with lime sorbet, $12.
@4><A:G;8F68A8!!!
Rock star visitors thus far include Rancid
and the Yeah,
Yeah, Yeahs.
How Michael Jackson made the best-selling album of all time
new york post
Sunday,January 27, 2008
CEBB9
CBF<G<I8
Ambient
tunes heard in
the downstairs
lounge span Led
Zeppelin to
Interpol to De La
Soul.
BY SPORT MURPHY and SARA LIEBERMAN
T
THE STAR
It’s easy to forget that Michael
THE SOUND
Wisely, Jackson reconvened the “Off
The Wall” team to create his new album,
a core of talent that producer Quincy
Jones called his “Killer Q Posse.” Englishman Rod Temperton had written
“Rock With You” and he now co-wrote
several new numbers for “Thriller,” including the title cut. With the help of superband Toto, Temperton helped Jones
sort through almost 600 songs before
settling on the final lineup.
The painstaking preparations paid off,
as the actual sessions covered “a little
more than two months . . . like riding a
rocket” as Quincy Jones put it in his 2002
autobiography, “Q.” Anyone who remembers the ’80s pop as a kitschscape of
gated drums and synth pads might want
to dust off their copy of “Thriller.” It’s
alive and fresh — still bright with the
sparks of that rocket ride.
Most of Jackson’s tunes were neither
funk nor rock. It was Thriller Music, an
amalgam of styles so familiar in the wake
of the album that it’s impossible to convey how different it sounded when new.
Its biggest difference, of course, was that
it blurred color lines.
‘BILLIE
JEAN’
THE
MOONWALK
Based on a real-life
Jacko stalker, the song
became the first by a
black artist to get MTV
airplay.
THE GUEST STARS
While Jones, Temperton and the members of Toto who
helped craft the album were themselves big names
among music fans, part of what made
“Thriller” such a cultural sensation was
Jackson’s then-unusual penchant for involving celebrity “guest stars” in his music.
Paul McCartney, who had composed
“Girlfriend” for “Off The Wall,” was one
of the few entertainers who understood
the enormous fame Jackson enjoyed,
and there seems to be a genuine warmth
to their corny exchanges on “The Girl Is
Mine” — before Jackson poisoned the
relationship by buying the Beatles’ publishing catalog out from under Sir Paul.
But in the early ’80s, far more surprising than a guest Beatle was Eddie Van
Halen’s solo on “Beat It,” the song that
Jones and Jackson wanted to have a rock
feel. Van Halen was the reigning guitar
god of heavy metal, and his band’s videos were in constant rotation on MTV
(then, notoriously, unwilling to feature
“black music” until serious pressure
from CBS records broke that barrier
once and for all with the video for “Billie
Jean”). Later “strange bedfellows” collaborations — such as Aerosmith with
Run-DMC or Public Enemy with Anthrax — made news of their own. But Eddie’s shredding on Michael’s tune was a
genuine breakthrough.
“Thriller’s” real wild-card participant,
though, was actor Vincent Price, who
came aboard to . . . rap. Of course! If
Price’s contribution seemed goofy when
the album first debuted (had served in a
similar capacity on Alice Cooper’s 1975
album “Welcome to my Nightmare”), it
seemed perfectly natural by the time
John Landis directed the album’s titletrack video (see related story).
THE SUPER-SELLING SINGLE
The mere mention of “Billie Jean” to
music executives can inspire transports
of rapture — memories of a time when
record-store cash registers rang like the
very bells of heaven. The second hit single from “Thriller” astounded everyone
upon its release, particularly after the far
more modest pleasures of “The Girl Is
‘BEAT IT’
Tailor’s also
one of few places in
town specializing in
“molecular cocktails,” which manipulate airs and weights
to create drinks that
can be foamy, smoked
and otherwise
unusual.
;BG7<F;
Tailor
525 Broome St.; (212) 334-5182
When word leaked out that rising culinary
star Sam Mason and revolutionary cocktail
chef Eben Freeman were joining forces to
open a cozy, bilevel bar and restaurant, the
hype was such that A-listers like Calvin Klein
popped in to find the space still under construction. When Tailor finally opened in
September, it proved worth the wait,
beautifully fusing 1940s Americana
countryside with modern-day SoHo. Here’s your VIP tour.
By BRIAN NIEMIETZ
What’s new and what’s tasty around town this week
Pierre Loti
53 Irving Place; (212) 777-LOTI
This cozy, subterranean
Turkish wine bar comes
from Orhan Cakir, half of
the brother pair that created
the West Village and TriBe-
Ca wine bars Turks & Frogs.
Pierre Loti, Cakir’s solo enterprise, is named for the
19th-century Turkish writer
known for his exotic travel
and romance novels. Loti’s
romantic spirit is brought to
life by the room’s red velvet
banquettes, garnet curtains
and flickering candlelight.
The international wine list
contains 300 bottles and
will eventually offer 60 by
the glass, to pair with a
modest menu of Turkish
mezze.
Must-have meal: Mezze
sampler with your choice of
smoky eggplant salad, dolma
(grape leaves stuffed with
pine nuts and currants), ezme
(chopped spicy peppers with
tomatoes, onions and pars-
The beer list
is short but
special,
highlighted
by bottled
Orval, $16.
In the late ’90s,
Tailor was the famous club Veruka, where Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark
Wahlberg and
Bobby D. made the
rounds.
As distilleries
go, Tomintoul is a
young one,
founded just
over 40 years
ago in Scotland’s
Speyside region.
It’s also a relatively new presence in the US.
Long used to
craft Whyte &
Mackay’s line of
blends, it deserves the single-malt treatment its now
getting with a variety of
bottlings, including 10-, 16and 27-year versions, as well
as a young, peaty entry and
a 12-year-old finished in
Oloroso casks. While the
10-year-old bottle runs
$39.99, an extra $20 is well
spent on the 16-year, which
further refines its delicate,
nutty complexity with a
lovely caramel finish.
— Isaac Guzmán
Dine Out
Zlata Praha Restaurant
Turkish delights
Chech-Slovak & Continental Cuisine
Venison Wild Game Feast
February 1-3 and February 8-10
Friday, Saturday and Sunday
ley), hummus, olives and haydari (thickened Turkish yogurt with walnuts), ($15.95);
and Circassian poached
chicken in walnut sauce
($11.95).
Soundtrack: Groovy
lounge music like “Buddha
Bar” and “Chill Out.”
Hours: Sun.-Thurs., 4
p.m.-2 a.m.; Fri. and Sat., 4
p.m.-4 a.m.
— Andrea Strong
WE ALSO OFFER NON-VENISON SPECIALS
RESERVATIONS REQUIRED
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718-721-6422 • 718-728-9199
www.zlatapraha.cc
Great Thai Cuisine
YUM YUM BANGKOK
650 Ninth Ave (45th/46th St)
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360 W 46 St (8th/9th Ave)
212-541-5943
THAI – ORIENTAL RESTAURANT
www.
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Wireimage
EVERETT COLLECTION
With choreographer
Michael Peters (in the
shades and white
jacket), MJ drew on
“West Side Story.”
The sole vodka
cocktail on the
menu is the “Bazooka” — vodka
infused with Double Bubble gum and
house sour mix, $13.
RICH PRESS
Drawing on the backslide
made famous by Cab Calloway and updated by
breakdancers, Jackson debuted his signature move
during the “Motown 25”
TV special.
Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis
Jackson was a star for well over a decade
by the time “Thriller” came out on Nov.
30, 1982. He and his brothers had scored
huge hits with “ABC” and “I Want You
Back,” and 1979’s “Off the Wall” set a
record by making Jackson the first solo
artist ever to spawn four Top 10 hits from
one album. But 25-year-old Jackson was
still living with his parents in Encino,
Calif., where he’d spend a few hours a
week walking door to door, talking to
neighbors about God’s word. And to
think people slammed doors in his face.
Tomintoul
16-year-old
scotch
ZANDY MANGOLD
HE MUSIC BIZ has always traded in outlandish superlatives —
every popular album is proclaimed a “classic,” every decent
songsmith a “genius.” But somehow even the grandest claims
can’t do justice to the impact and
universal appeal of Michael Jackson’s 1982 masterwork “Thriller.” From late 1982 through to
1987’s release of “Bad,” there was no corner of the world cloistered enough to
avoid the onslaught of “Thriller” and the
ephemera — spangled gloves, moonwalking kids, red leather jackets —
that it spawned while becoming the
best-selling album in history.
“That’s when, if you weren’t a
Michael fan, you became a
Michael fan,” says soul crooner
Pharrell in a video teaser commemorating the album and touting Sony’s
new 25th anniversary edition, due out
Feb. 12. The new package will feature the
original nine tracks, remixes by the likes
of will.i.am and Kanye West, a bonus
DVD and more.
Remembering “Thriller” asks us to
think about Jackson as he was before his
court cases, weird marriages and financial problems. It’s also a chance to recall
him when he still had most of his nose.
But mostly it’s a great excuse to relive a
record filled with groundbreaking
sounds and grooves that have kept dance
floors filled for decades. Not to mention
the videos that changed the way the music business works. Here’s how Jackson
created his masterpiece and turned the
whole world into his fan base.
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new york post
Sunday, Month
2007
Januaryx,27,
2008
new york post
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Han, 29, and Jo, 27
who originally met at church in 2005, skipped
their first dance as their friends sang a Korean
love song for them instead.
— Alana Newton
27,000,000 COPIES OF ‘THRILLER’
Dec. 15 — Not even a sleet storm could stop Martin Uria as he traveled from
Delaware to New York to propose to his college sweetheart, Deirdre Byrne.
“I immediately said yes, kissed him, and jumped up and down,” says Byrne,
the lifestyle editor for Kaboose.com in Manhattan, who met Uria in 2003
while an undergrad at Ithaca College. Uria, a consultant for a computer company in Manhattan, wed Byrne at the Our Lady of the Magnificent Catholic
Church in Kinnelon, NJ, before escaping to Hawaii for their honeymoon.
— Alana Newton
ESSENTIALS
Q Dress: Valentino
ESSENTIALS
Q Honeymoon: Six days in Maui, Hawaii
Q Reception: Hamilton Park Hotel & Conference Center in
Florham Park, NJ
WILLIE MARQUEZ OF THE PROS
Q Bouquet: Multicolored hydrangeas and roses
RICH PRESS
Oct. 13 — When congratulating someone, it’s
common to give a high-five or shake hands, but
on Elliot Han’s wedding day, his friends hit the
bottom of his feet instead. “We don’t believe in
such a thing — it was just for fun,” laughs Han of
this Korean tradition. But Han, a paralegal in
Manhattan, and Myoung Sun Jo, a dietitian intern at NY Presbyterian Hospital, did believe in
feasting on true Korean foods such as kal-bi, bulgogi, sushi, sashimi, rice cakes and soups with
their 250 guests at the Korean American Presbyterian Church of Queens. The Queens couple,
Byrne, 24, and Uria, 26
EUN MI OH PHOTOGRAPHY
Tell your story in the New York Post’s wedding pages! It’s free. Go to
nypost.com or call (212) 930-8022 for details
Q Dress: A full A-line ivory dress
with thin beaded straps and
chapel-length train, designed
by Jasmine
Q First dance: Marc Cohn’s “True
Companion”
RICH PRESS
)'CH?F8
Rodriguez, 20,
and Figueroa, 22
Hanko, 39 and
Jenkins, 38
Jan. 11— Are family reunions the
new Meet Market? “I was a family
friend. We met at a Christmas reunion in 2006,” says Almeni Figueroa, a student at the Borough of
Manhattan Community College.
Reynaldo Rodriguez, an officer in
the US Navy, proposed the next
Christmas Eve. “He had just returned from deployment. We went
to dinner and he got down on one
knee,” she smiles. They wed at city
hall and celebrated at Carida in
Brooklyn, where 40 guests joined
them for dinner.
— Christofer Cassuto
Jan. 11— Glyn Jenkins and Debra
Hanko met at a bar near Times
Square one fateful night last April
when Jenkins was visiting New
York from his hometown of Manchester, England. “We instantly
recognized that we had so much in
common,” recalls the bride, a production manager for a Manhattan
fashion company. Less than a year
later, Hanko proposed on New
Year’s Eve. “We were destined to be
together,” says the bride. Jenkins, a
former schoolteacher in England,
and Hanko wed at city hall and are
planning two receptions with their
families in Seattle and England.
— Alana Newton
ESSENTIALS
ESSENTIALS
Q First date: A romantic winter
stroll through Central Park
Q Bouquet: Red roses
Q The ring: Three oval-cut diamonds framed in white gold
Q Future first dance: The Bee
Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love”
I f you’re newly engaged or know someone who’s getting
married, pick up the Courier Wedding Guide. This FREE
full color, glossy magazine covers everything you’ll need to
know – from the engagement party to the honeymoon.
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or go to courierweddingguide.com
HAVE BEEN SOLD IN THE USA, 45M WORLDWIDE
122 WEEKS
A RECORD-BREAKING 2
YEARS ON THE CHARTS
7 GRAMMYS
INCLUDING RECORD &
ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Mine.” Hit-hungry teens and hipster
critics alike instantly succumbed to the
song’s long, insinuating intro and anguished emotionality.
Famously, the song was inspired by
a true incident involving a crazed fan
who insisted that Jackson, upon whose
property she trespassed, somehow fathered one of her twins. Yes, read that
again. Given the probability that such
weirdness had surrounded Jackson’s
life since the age of 5, it’s easy to understand the paranoia crackling through
“Billie Jean.” But the lyrics also indicate
that Jackson, while firmly denying paternity, seemed content to invite the interpretation that he did indeed “dance...
on the floor... in the round” with an
adult female.
THE MOVES
The way he tilted his hat, punctuated moves by balancing on his toes,
thrust his pelvis forward and effortlessly drifted across the floor — “Thriller” was as much about Michael’s
moves than it was his sound.
“It was the first time we saw [him]
dance as Michael, not as the Jackson
Five, but as Michael,” says Mary J. Blige
on the new release’s video teaser. “Oh
god, it was electrifying.”
He was both smooth and robotic at
the same time, a makeup-less mime
whose movements seemed to echo the
dizzying heights of his falsetto sound.
“He would watch tapes of gazelles
and cheetahs and panthers to imitate
the natural grace of their movements.
He wanted to be the
best of everything — to take
it all in,” Jones
wrote in “Q.”
The album
also
spawned the
infamous
“moonwalk,”
a move Jackson may have
defined but did
not invent.
He f irst
showed
o ff t h e
backwardsmoving
foot-
THE
GLOVE
He had worn it before,
but after moonwalking with it on TV’s“Motown 25” it became a
fashion staple.
7 TOP 10
SINGLES: THE GIRLS IS
MINE, BILLIE JEAN, BEAT
IT, THRILLER, P.Y.T.,
WANNA BE STARTIN’
SOMETHIN’, HUMAN
NATURE
PULSE 45
MONSTER MASH
The director of ‘Thriller’ on the
greatest music video ever made
BY JOHN LANDIS
When we made the video for the song “Thriller”
in late 1982, the album
“Thriller” had been No. 1
for over a year, and at this
work during his March 1983 perform- movement,” says Ne-Yo, who’s actualpoint it was at No. 8 or
ance of “Billie Jean” on the “Motown ly penning tracks for Jackson’s muchsomething. They had al25” TV special, but several dancers had talked-about comeback album.
ready released “Billy Jean”
already beat him to what was then
and “Beat It,” and it was on
THE FUTURE
known as the backsliding.
its way down.
So here we are, 25 years after this
In 1981, Electric Boogaloos member
Michael Jackson had
Timothy “Popin Pete” Solomon massively successful release, wonderseen my movie “An Amer“moonwalked” in the Talking Heads ing what has and will become of our reican Werewolf in London,”
video “Crosseyed and Painless,” and vered Gloved God.
and for the “Thriller” vidIn the two decades since “Thriller,”
Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar performed
eo he wanted to become a
a version on “Top of the Pops” in 1982. Jackson has changed. For one, he’s
monster. He wanted to go
But once Jackson’s feet — in those practically white. His nose can almost
through a metamorphoblack loafers and white socks — back- be plucked from his face. And fans
‘THRILLER’
sis onscreen. That’s
slid across the stage, the world was have been exposed to a very odd and
how I got involved at
hooked. Street dancers brought their questionable private life, which includlightning speed.
boomboxes to the sidewalks, attempt- ed the highly controversial child-moWith flash-in-the-pan
Originally, the film
ing to mimic the move. Grade-school lestation charges brought against him.
actress Ola Ray, Jackwas intended to be a
kids used recess to practice in school But while many music lovers have
son did a zombie shuftheatrical short. Once
playgrounds. Even the most uncoordi- found it hard to divorce the man from
fle into the hearts of
we’d budgeted it, it was
nated, no-rhythm fools found them- his music, his impact on popular mumusic fans.
like half-a-million dolselves boogieing backward behind sic is undeniable. And whenever he relars — they keep saying $1
leases this comeback album, the fans
closed doors.
million, but that’s not true.
From contemporary artists such as will, well, come back.
The most expensive rock
Everett Collection
“Whether he’s 90 years old and
Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown, to
video up until that point
Filipino prisoners in orange jumpsuits moonwalking at 1 mph,” says Pharrell,
was, say, $50,000, so it really was about $500,000.
and bridesmaids in taffeta gowns, Jack- “the world will be right there to
When Michael approached me, I thought I could exploit his celebson’s moves continue to be influential watch.”
rity to bring back the celebrity short. But half-a-million dollars is a lot
on all types of movers and shakers.
of cash to raise. So Michael called [label boss] Walter Yetnikoff at CBS,
his record company, and Yetnikoff basically said, “Are you nuts? Go
THE FASHION
f - - k yourself.” Michael’s music company basically said,
No one could explain why he
“This is a vanity project for an album that could
wore it. Sure, they wondered. But
not possibly be more successful — so forget
no one really cared. As soon as
it.”
Jackson started wearing that white
BY SARA LI
Michael wanted to put up his own monEBERMAN
rhinestone glove on his right hand
I was 4 when
ey, and I wouldn’t let him. So George Folduring that infamous appearance
“T
hriller” first
those nine so
sey, my editor, suggested, “Why don’t we
becam
on “Motown 25,” fans followed
— and my b ngs eventually made e a phenomenon, bu
fi
lm us filming it, so we can expand it to an
as
t
th
eir way into
suit. How many, exactly, we can’t
could be fou ement dance routin
hour.” So we sold it — “Thriller” and the
my soul
e.
n
d
O
b
n
possibly guess. But the number
o
an
o
gi
y
ei
given night,
on hand, leg
ng down th
making-of — to Showtime, then a brandI
er
w
of gloves discarded so that
I’d drop the armers on gams — to e — rhinestone glove
new cable channel. Then MTV went cran
th
ee
e
youngsters could wear only one,
dle on
singles of “T
fierce for “B
zy. They said, “How can you show this on
hriller.”
eat It.” Duri my 45 rpm record playe
just like Michael, are informally
my air guitar
ng Eddie Van
r and be
Showtime?!” And we said, “OK, give us
,
reported “in, like, the high jil(and I) faded twirling around and Halen’s solo, I’d get o
some money.” So they put up a third of the
lions.”
“hee, hee, h out. With “Billie Jean,”around until the song ut
money to the rights to be the third people to
ee
I
w
”
an
o
u
d
ld
“r
And it didn’t stop there.
mimic Mich
emember to
“Thriller,” I’d
show it.
ae
“The red jacket in ‘Beat It’ —
floor, dramatshimmy and shake, thalways think twice.” Fo l’s
So we made it, and it was a pleasure.
r
en
ic
so
al
ly lifting my
mehow end
I don’t think you could walk
like Vincent
head up to h
on the
Michael Peters was the choreographer, and
Price.
o
w
down the street and see a kid
l
in
After an h
laughter
Michael Jackson put in some moves. Michael
that didn’t have that. I mean, I
rate my per our of practice, I’d call
Baker
did the makeup. It was fun and no one
m
fo
y
rm
m
an
o
m
ce
downstairs
— moonwal
company ove
had one,” says Blige.
to
was prepared for that kind of success. The alwhere I had r, I’d take my routine k included. When we h
Whether you were a beatbum went back to No. 1 and tripled its sales —
was sure I w a larger audience and up to the living room ad
boxing badass from the ’hood
floor-to-cei
as good eno
and created about eight different industries.
lin
ugh
or a stylish mom from suburIn high scho
g
Now you see the “making-of” stuff all the
ol, I joined Sp to be one of his backumirrors. I
tion in dance
bia, you wanted to dress like
p dan
ortsnite, a gi
,
time.
so
n
g
rl
san
only competcers.
d sports. I w
“Moonwalk
Michael Jackson. From the
ias a proud m
White” team
The really weird thing is that this guy called
em
.
ened sense
flood pants and white socks,
of admiratio We lost, but I left with ber of the
Austin Furst calls me and says he’d like to put
a
to the zippered leather jackn for The Glo
heightsion with tr
this hour out as a home video. And I said, “Well,
ve
yi
et and Jheri curls, he was
I most recenng to spell “mamasay m d One and an obsesit’s been on TV all over the world — whose gontl
am
y
got in touch
asa mamasuave, but edgy; completely
dance class
coo sa
with
na pay $80 for it?” He said, “We’re gonna do sellover-the-top, but yet still
mostly womheld last year at Equin my inner Michael at a .”
through” [marketing a video directly to conox. Some 30
en
,
sh
o
w
ed
fore Hallow
understated.
members,
up on a ra
sumers at a low cost instead of via the rental
Some nevereen to learn the moves iny Tuesday night just b
“It sold Michael Jackson
market]. It was $29.95 and it sold a million in the
fr
d
ean
o
m
ce
the “Thriller”
d before, oth
united once
43 million records,” rapped
video
ers w
US, and 8 million overseas.
th
played over e sound of that creaky ere pros, but all were .
Missy Elliott on her song
head.
Boy, making “Thriller” was a lotta fun, and a
door and ho
wling wolf
“Work It.” ”Shoot, everyMy moves w
huge
success, but it was nobody’s great idea. It
er
e
pr
et
ty solid, but
ghoul” ever
one had a zipper jacket,
Iw
— just by th
was just Michael Jackson saying he wanted to
e mere fact as the least scary “grizz
gantic grin
and half these thugs had
that
ly
off
turn into a monster! I certainly wasn’t prepared 25
ing my child my face. It was the clos I couldn’t wipe the gi
the glove to match, ya feel
hood dream
years later to have people send me YouTube videst I’d ever co
.
me?”
me to fulfilleos of 6,000 Filipino prisoners dancing in sync to
“It was more than a song,
the song. It’s wonderful.
more than a music — it was a
— As told to Laura Vogel
Lennox McLendon/AP
ME AND MY
GLOVE