In Memoriam: Our Favorite Michael Jackson Videos

“Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”

Although Thriller was Michael Jackson’s greatest selling album, (indeed the greatest selling album of all time), it’s his previous album,  Off The Wall, that is our personal favorite. And “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” is one of the reasons why. It’s just bare bones Michael and yet he is so dynamic, so smooth. No one could touch him.

“Beat It”

There’s no question that “Beat It” was Michael Jackson’s breakthrough song. While he was already hugely famous when it was released, it was this song–what producer Quincy Jones called “an ambitious, black, rock-n-roll song,”–that heralded to the world the new Michael Jackson. The grown up Michael Jackson. We still remember the first time we heard it. We were eleven years old at a Girl Scout meeting listening to our FM radio Sony Walkman when it came on the air. From that day forward, for the rest of the year, all our friends talked about was Michael Jackson.

The Moonwalk

At this 1983 performance at The Apollo Theater for the 25th anniversary of Motown, Michael Jackson performed “Billy Jean” live for the first time ever. And it was on this night that he unveiled for middle America a strange, new dance called the moonwalk. The world would never be the same again.

The Pepsi Campaign

In 1984, Michael Jackson made headlines when his hair accidentally caught on fire during the filming of a commercial for Pepsi. It was the celebrity gossip story of the year and Michael successfully sued the soda company for $1.5 million in damages which he donated to the Michael Jackson Burn Center. (The anticipation for the campaign built by the incident was worth every penny, we’re sure.) Ironically, the ad most remembered is not the one that got Micheal burned, but this one featuring the Jackson 5 and a young Michael Jackson look-a-like played by a young Alfonso Ribeiro, AKA Carlton from The Fresh Prince.

“Rock With You”

Another great song from Off The Wall, “Rock With You” is quintessential mellow Michael Jackson before the more hard edged Thriller. But even mellow, Michael was hot. Plus this totally reminds us of the couple skate at Skateland. Great times.

“Thriller”

The video for “Thriller” first premiered during prime time on ABC, it was that huge. The first eight seconds featured a legal disclaimer telling the audience that Michael had no affiliation with the occult. Looking back, it was probably all a big PR move, but America was really that naive. The video is amazing on every level. Musically, narratively, and the special effects! No one had ever put this much time (13+ minutes!) and money into a music video before. And it remains, perhaps, the best ever made.

“We Are The World”

In 1985, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie decided to use their incredible  star power for good and wrote, “We Are The World,” then invited all their big, fat, superstar friends to sing on it. They called the group USA For Africa and donated proceeds from the sale of the single and album (which quickly rose to #1) to famine relief in Africa. The song was an overnight hit, though we actually preferred the British, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” which preceded it. The video for it is a priceless pop culture time capsule from the mid-80’s. Is that Eddie fucking Murphy???

“Scream”

By 1995, Michael Jackson had already started to go really crazy and was constantly mobbed by the press. It was at this time that he released the very angry, “Scream,” a duet with sister Janet. The video, (another primetime, network TV debut), was a stark, 2001: A Space Odyssey-inspired visual trip with a funky track to match.