Michael Jackson “Thriller” released on this date, November 30th, 1982. My dad went out on Christmas Eve that year to get this record for me as I think my 11 year old brain would have exploded if it was not under the tree on Christmas morning. Michael was my first celebrity crush, complete with life size posters on my bedroom walls (I don’t really count my brief manufactured crush on Paul McCartney earlier that year. I remember deciding that I was sick of the boys in my classroom and needed kind of boy obsession that didn’t include pimples and stinky feet. McCartney was a weird choice; he was 40 years old in ‘82 – older than my parents! – but perhaps a prophetic crush as he collaborated with Jackson on “The Girl is Mine.”). The following year my crush veered across the pond to Simon LeBon. Anyway, I have, along with 65 million and counting other people, Thriller in the vinyl collection (gatefold!).

Thriller is the best-selling album of all-time and spawned an astonishing seven top 10 singles: “Beat It,” “Billie Jean,” “Human Nature,” “PYT (Pretty Young Thing),” “The Girl is Mine,” “Thriller” and my favorite on the record “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.’” I always thought I misheard the words on that one but no, Michael really does say “You’re just a buffet, you’re a vegetable,” which to my mind is one of the weirdest set of Top 10 lyrics ever.