Quincy Jones said Socrates inspired Michael Jackson’s ‘thriller’

Michael Jackson’s Thriller draws influence from disco, funk, rock, pop, African music and other genres. Few people would be able to say that the album wouldn’t exist without a discussion of Socrates. This discussion on Socrates would not exist without a film adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.

‘The Wiz’ led Quincy Jones to produce Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’

In a 2009 article he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, Quincy Jones discussed the origin of Thriller. The album wouldn’t exist without The magicianan adaptation of The Wizard of Oz which featured Jackson as the Scarecrow. “In 1978, (director) Sidney Lumet pushed me to make music for The magicianand looking back, I’m so glad he did it,” Jones said.

“As Scarecrow, Michael immersed himself in the filming of The magician with everything he had, not only learning his lines but those of all the actors,” he added. “Before filming, Michael and I were working at my house and he asked me if I could help him find a producer to work with him on his first Epic solo album.” In the film, the Scarecrow quotes several philosophers.

Jackson had trouble pronouncing the name of a certain philosopher. “In rehearsal, during the part where the Scarecrow was pulling proverbs out of his stuffing, Michael kept saying ‘So-Crates’ instead of ‘Socrates,’” Jones recalls. “After about the third time, I took him aside and told him the correct pronunciation.”

Quincy Jones knew magic was about to happen with Michael Jackson

This correction led to an important moment in music history. “(Jackson) looked at me with these big wide eyes and said, ‘Really?’ and that’s when I said, ‘Michael, I’d like to produce your album,'” Jones recalls.

The producer was struck by the look of wonder in Jackson’s eyes. At that point, he knew they could both explore uncharted musical territory. Jones continued to produce Thriller And Bad, the two most important albums of the king of pop’s career. Jones and Jackson will forever be remembered as one of the most important musical duos of all time, even if Jones remained behind the scenes.

“Thriller” gave us 7 hit singles

Thriller was incredibly huge in the United States. We have no words to express the level of success he has achieved. Thriller topped the Billboard 200 for 37 weeks, remaining on the chart for a total of 629 weeks. T was by far the King of Pop’s biggest album in the United States.

The record produced two No. 1 singles: “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” Five other songs from the album became top 10 singles: the title track, “The Girl Is Mine”, “Human Nature”, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin'”, and “PYT (Pretty Young Thing)”. It’s a big deal for any album to make the top 10 with seven singles. Thriller is particularly impressive in this regard as there are only nine tracks on the disc! The only two songs Thriller they weren’t singles, they were “Baby Be Mine” and the album closer and “The Lady in My Life”.

Socrates had an indelible impact on the world and Thrillerhowever, by far, was part of that impact.