Michael Jackson‘s Thriller had more classic hits than just about any other album. However, most of those hits did not reach No. 1. Even when the King of Pop made an epic music video, a chart-topper was not guaranteed.
1. ‘Thriller’
The fact that “Thriller” didn’t hit No. 1 feels bizarre. No other music video mattered so much to American culture and yet the tune only peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. If Billboard counted sales of the video’s VHS as single sales, “Thriller” definitely would have hit No. 1.
Jackson (and Vincent Price) got the last laugh on this one. Everybody loves “Thriller.” It’s not just a popular Halloween song, it’s the Halloween song. It certainly held up a lot better than “Monster Mash.” The song’s classic video has been spoofed by everyone from Britney Spears to “Weird Al” Yankovic.
2. ‘The Girl Is Mine’
Not every song deserves to hit No.
1. ‘Thriller’
The fact that “Thriller” didn’t hit No. 1 feels bizarre. No other music video mattered so much to American culture and yet the tune only peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. If Billboard counted sales of the video’s VHS as single sales, “Thriller” definitely would have hit No. 1.
Jackson (and Vincent Price) got the last laugh on this one. Everybody loves “Thriller.” It’s not just a popular Halloween song, it’s the Halloween song. It certainly held up a lot better than “Monster Mash.” The song’s classic video has been spoofed by everyone from Britney Spears to “Weird Al” Yankovic.
2. ‘The Girl Is Mine’
Not every song deserves to hit No.
- 4/30/2024
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Ignored, maligned and hammered out into an ‘Alan Smithee’ extended cut for TV, David Lynch’s outstanding Sci-fi epic arrives on 4K Ultra HD, finally achieving the visual opulence on home video that it had in 70mm prints at the end of 1984. The fractured, de-Lynched storyline can be argued over, but the amazing design and arresting characterizations never fail to impress — Lynch attracted a world-class cast of movie stars and used them well. Even if it’s described as a hundred fragmented scenes from a larger narrative, they’re superlative fragments. Lynch should have been authorized to make an alternate cut, his own completely personal ‘impressionist’ version of the Frank Herbert story.
Dune
4K Ultra HD
Arrow Video
1984 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 137 min. / Street Date August 31, 2021 / 59.95
Starring (alphabetically): Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino, Brad Dourif, José Ferrer, Linda Hunt, Freddie Jones, Richard Jordan, Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Silvana Mangano, Everett McGill,...
Dune
4K Ultra HD
Arrow Video
1984 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 137 min. / Street Date August 31, 2021 / 59.95
Starring (alphabetically): Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino, Brad Dourif, José Ferrer, Linda Hunt, Freddie Jones, Richard Jordan, Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Silvana Mangano, Everett McGill,...
- 8/31/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Toto had lots of reasons to be happy when they hit the road in 2018 for their 40th-anniversary tour. After years of slogging it out on the Eighties nostalgia circuit, playing too many casinos and state fairs to even remember, they were finally in high demand again thanks to a huge resurgence of interest in their 1982 hit “Africa.”
“We started playing theaters in America again,” says Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. “Then we went to Australia and played one of these kids’ festivals where we were the only ones onstage playing live.
“We started playing theaters in America again,” says Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. “Then we went to Australia and played one of these kids’ festivals where we were the only ones onstage playing live.
- 11/20/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Toto fans woke up yesterday to the news that the band was re-forming exactly one year after announcing an indefinite hiatus. “There is a refreshing, optimistic enthusiasm to step in to the future,” guitarist Steve Lukather said in a statement. “The hope is to move forward with the planned itinerary for Summer 2021 that will bring us back to our fans across the World.”
But this isn’t the same Toto that said goodbye in 2019. Founding keyboardist Steve Porcaro, who played with the group from their first decade and then returned for the previous decade,...
But this isn’t the same Toto that said goodbye in 2019. Founding keyboardist Steve Porcaro, who played with the group from their first decade and then returned for the previous decade,...
- 10/20/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Just one year after Toto announced their breakup following a gig in Philadelphia’s Metropolitan Opera House, the band has announced a reunion with a radically revised lineup.
Founding guitarist Steve Lukather and long-time vocalist Joseph Williams are returning to the fold, but founding keyboardists Steve Porcaro and David Paich are both out of the group.
Joining the band for this new era is Huey Lewis and the News bassist John Pierce, Snarky Puppy drummer Robert “Sput” Searight, and keyboardist/background vocalist Steve Maggiora. They will be joined by keyboardist...
Founding guitarist Steve Lukather and long-time vocalist Joseph Williams are returning to the fold, but founding keyboardists Steve Porcaro and David Paich are both out of the group.
Joining the band for this new era is Huey Lewis and the News bassist John Pierce, Snarky Puppy drummer Robert “Sput” Searight, and keyboardist/background vocalist Steve Maggiora. They will be joined by keyboardist...
- 10/19/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Weezer recruit “Weird Al” Yankovic and a band of doppelgängers for the video for their surprise hit cover of Toto’s “Africa.”
Yankovic plays a Rivers Cuomo replica in the video, which sees the faux-Weezer performing their version of the 1982 single against the blue backdrop of a television studio, recreating Weezer’s own “Undone (The Sweater Song)” video. Yankovic even delivers one of his trademark accordion solos during the rendition’s instrumental break.
Weezer previously enlisted Yankovic to perform an accordion solo when he guested on a performance of “Africa...
Yankovic plays a Rivers Cuomo replica in the video, which sees the faux-Weezer performing their version of the 1982 single against the blue backdrop of a television studio, recreating Weezer’s own “Undone (The Sweater Song)” video. Yankovic even delivers one of his trademark accordion solos during the rendition’s instrumental break.
Weezer previously enlisted Yankovic to perform an accordion solo when he guested on a performance of “Africa...
- 9/24/2018
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Halfway into Weezer’s über-ironic cover of Toto’s “Africa” at Wednesday’s Los Angeles concert, they leveled up. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic!” Rivers Cuomo exclaimed.
Yankovic came out with a serious look on his face, accordion in hand and doubled up Cuomo’s guitar solo. He then took the mic for a round of “Hurry boys, she’s waiting there for you” and joined in on the chorus. When they finished, Cuomo and Yankovic faced off with each other and shredded on their instruments.
Weezer...
Yankovic came out with a serious look on his face, accordion in hand and doubled up Cuomo’s guitar solo. He then took the mic for a round of “Hurry boys, she’s waiting there for you” and joined in on the chorus. When they finished, Cuomo and Yankovic faced off with each other and shredded on their instruments.
Weezer...
- 8/9/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Steve Lukather is still finding it hard to believe, after 42 years in the same rock band he started in Los Angeles with his teenage classmates, Toto is bigger than ever, thanks to Weezer’s unlikely cover of “Africa,” which has climbed to the top of both the iTunes sales and alternative airplay charts.
And now, Toto has taken on the challenge and is about to return the favor, with their own cheeky cover of Weezer’s “Hash Pipe,” which is being rush-released on Republic Records this Friday (August 10) after the idea originated with a fan at Universal Germany.
“This is like the weirdest, coolest thing ever,” Lukather gushes on the phone from Oakland, CA, where Toto was set to play at the historic Fox Theater, the fourth date of its North American “40 Trips Around the World” tour will run until November, marking four decades since the release of their self-titled...
And now, Toto has taken on the challenge and is about to return the favor, with their own cheeky cover of Weezer’s “Hash Pipe,” which is being rush-released on Republic Records this Friday (August 10) after the idea originated with a fan at Universal Germany.
“This is like the weirdest, coolest thing ever,” Lukather gushes on the phone from Oakland, CA, where Toto was set to play at the historic Fox Theater, the fourth date of its North American “40 Trips Around the World” tour will run until November, marking four decades since the release of their self-titled...
- 8/6/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
With the Yacht Rock revival in full swing, it was only a matter of time before someone tackled a cover of Toto’s “Africa,” the 1982 hit written by David Paich and the late Jeff Porcaro, inspired by a late-night documentary Paich caught on TV one night. The song hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, spurred by the Steve Barron-directed video starring Paich as a researcher in a library-turned-jungle, with the book he’s reading coming to life.
Like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in the finale of “The Sopranos,” “Africa” has taken on new life after being used on “Stranger Things” and as a ubiquitous Internet meme, with the likes of Dax Sheppard and Kristen Bell posting videos of themselves lip-synching to the song. Toto’s even collaborated on covers of “Africa” with Edm artists such as Skrillex and Aussies What So Not.
Now, responding to a teenage...
Like Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in the finale of “The Sopranos,” “Africa” has taken on new life after being used on “Stranger Things” and as a ubiquitous Internet meme, with the likes of Dax Sheppard and Kristen Bell posting videos of themselves lip-synching to the song. Toto’s even collaborated on covers of “Africa” with Edm artists such as Skrillex and Aussies What So Not.
Now, responding to a teenage...
- 6/22/2018
- by Roy Trakin
- Variety Film + TV
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, musical artists like Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Toto, Hall and Oates, and dozens of others regularly popped up on each other's records, creating a golden era of smooth-music collaboration.
And 10 years ago (June 26th, 2005), an internet phenomenon was born. In 12 short but memorable episodes — first via the the short-film series Channel 101 and then online — Jd Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons, Lane Farnham and their friends redefined an era and coined a term for the sultry croonings of McDonald, Fagen, et al.
And 10 years ago (June 26th, 2005), an internet phenomenon was born. In 12 short but memorable episodes — first via the the short-film series Channel 101 and then online — Jd Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons, Lane Farnham and their friends redefined an era and coined a term for the sultry croonings of McDonald, Fagen, et al.
- 6/26/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Justified, Season 6, Episode 12: “Collateral”
Written by Chris Provenzano and VJ Boyd
Directed by Michael Pressman
Airs Tuesdays at 10pm Et on FX
“I don’t give a shit about the Ballad of Boyd Crowder. I’ll be dead and gone’n that song gets sung.” – Boyd Corwder
As could reasonably be expected, “Collateral” hones in on Boyd Crowder, the man who should not be. It’s fascinating now to recall that Boyd wasn’t even supposed to survive Justified‘s pilot, “Fire in the Hole.” In Elmore Leonard’s original story, Boyd died. In the original conception of the series, Boyd died. At some point between Graham Yost watching Walton Goggins’ first dailies and the series getting picked up, all concerned decided that Goggins was simply too good to let go of, and here we are, one week from the series finale, and 76 episodes later, Boyd’s still kicking.
Written by Chris Provenzano and VJ Boyd
Directed by Michael Pressman
Airs Tuesdays at 10pm Et on FX
“I don’t give a shit about the Ballad of Boyd Crowder. I’ll be dead and gone’n that song gets sung.” – Boyd Corwder
As could reasonably be expected, “Collateral” hones in on Boyd Crowder, the man who should not be. It’s fascinating now to recall that Boyd wasn’t even supposed to survive Justified‘s pilot, “Fire in the Hole.” In Elmore Leonard’s original story, Boyd died. In the original conception of the series, Boyd died. At some point between Graham Yost watching Walton Goggins’ first dailies and the series getting picked up, all concerned decided that Goggins was simply too good to let go of, and here we are, one week from the series finale, and 76 episodes later, Boyd’s still kicking.
- 4/8/2015
- by Simon Howell
- SoundOnSight
From Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," take a look back at the albums which gained the most accolades in Grammy history.
Most Celebrated Albums In Grammy History'Back to Black' - Amy Winehouse
In 2008, Amy Winehouse claimed the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for her second album Back to Black. The album's smash single "Rehab" won three awards, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance,...
Most Celebrated Albums In Grammy History'Back to Black' - Amy Winehouse
In 2008, Amy Winehouse claimed the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Album of the Year for her second album Back to Black. The album's smash single "Rehab" won three awards, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance,...
- 2/12/2011
- Extra
Article by Dana Jung
Ah, the 1980s. Big hair, flashy clothes, and that new TV channel that only shows music videos. Exploitation films too were changing. Gone were the Excorsist- and Omen-inspired horror films of the 70s. Biker movies were passe. And socially relevant nurse and teacher dramas were being replaced by teen comedies and a new type of scary movie: the slasher film. In 1985, New World Pictures released Out Of Control, a somewhat strange combination of Lord Of The Flies and a John Hughes movie that is harder to classify. In some ways the perfect drive-in movie, Out Of Control contains violent action, teen romance, sex, nudity, and pop music. But there is an undercurrent of weirdness to the film that, intentional or not, implies some deeper meaning behind the exploitive aspects and makes it interesting to watch for its details. However, if you missed it at the drive-in...
Ah, the 1980s. Big hair, flashy clothes, and that new TV channel that only shows music videos. Exploitation films too were changing. Gone were the Excorsist- and Omen-inspired horror films of the 70s. Biker movies were passe. And socially relevant nurse and teacher dramas were being replaced by teen comedies and a new type of scary movie: the slasher film. In 1985, New World Pictures released Out Of Control, a somewhat strange combination of Lord Of The Flies and a John Hughes movie that is harder to classify. In some ways the perfect drive-in movie, Out Of Control contains violent action, teen romance, sex, nudity, and pop music. But there is an undercurrent of weirdness to the film that, intentional or not, implies some deeper meaning behind the exploitive aspects and makes it interesting to watch for its details. However, if you missed it at the drive-in...
- 10/20/2010
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Grammy Awards go down in Los Angeles this Sunday, January 31, but the biggest musical event of the next few days could actually come the day after. That's when Quincy Jones will be recording a new version of "We Are the World" that will be released as a charity single to benefit earthquake survivors in Haiti.
Jones is teaming up with Lionel Richie to organize the event, with "Crash" director Paul Haggis filming the session. A handful of singers are already attached to it (including Usher and John Legend), but the rest of the musicians who will show up to lend a hand (and a voice) have yet to be named officially. The original version of the song, recorded 25 years ago by an all-star lineup in support of relief in Africa, featured a veritable murderer's row of talent (along with a handful of "Oh yeah, that guy" entries). So let's...
Jones is teaming up with Lionel Richie to organize the event, with "Crash" director Paul Haggis filming the session. A handful of singers are already attached to it (including Usher and John Legend), but the rest of the musicians who will show up to lend a hand (and a voice) have yet to be named officially. The original version of the song, recorded 25 years ago by an all-star lineup in support of relief in Africa, featured a veritable murderer's row of talent (along with a handful of "Oh yeah, that guy" entries). So let's...
- 1/29/2010
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
Michael Jackson has reportedly converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel. According to The Sun, Jackson, who was raised a Jehovah's Witness, became a Muslim in a ceremony at a friend's house in Los Angeles. Jackson was recording his latest album at Toto keyboardist Steve Porcaro's home when he apparently decided to change his faith. A source said: "They began talking to him about their beliefs, and (more)...
- 11/21/2008
- by By Simon Reynolds
- Digital Spy
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