Thriller Steals the Show

The older boys at the Halloween party wanted Crank That Soulja Boy video, but the younger girls won out. Plus it was a young girls' house. One of my daughter's best friends. They wanted to go old school. They choose the On Demand video for Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

Come on, I mean Vincent Price rappin'. That dude has been dead for some time. OK, even though Michael looks more like the zoombie dude now, there is no doubt the man could dance.

My Halloween day started driving into work, listening to Sirius Hits 1 and listening Michael Jackson's "Thriller: as I prepared to exit the Garden State Parkway, exit 38. My car text read the year of release, 1982, making it a quarter of a century old. Looking up on Winklepedia, the Thriller video was released in 1983.

Sure there were bloody zombies and a boy at the party, full of "blood," half eaten from a pull over shark outfit, Scream and V for Vendetta masks, but none of the zombies looked as good as Michael Jackson's zombies in "Thriller." Nearly a quarter century old and that song and video are still fresh today. I guess "Thriller" is becoming the standard for Halloween, just as Nat King Cole's "Merry Christmas To You" is a Christmas standard.

The adults at the party, included a mom who was 10 when the video came out. She musta been amazed at the woman who must have been a teenager when the video came out. The way the mom danced, you know her and her girlfriends knew every move of the dance when they were young. Just like ridin' a bike.

Who says an old dog can't learn new tricks? I am a 49 year old dad with an 11-year-old daughter. I keep up with my daughter and am involved in her life. I know just about all her girlfriends and the parents and greet before-unknown parents all the time. I am a social animal; my daughter is too, but my wife is not. I was not always outgoing; college changed all that. My daughter has her doubts about whether her friends really like her, but I hope she gets a chance to understand that when you are invited to the party, you belong.

"Darkness looms at every corner." Growing up is scary. Reaching back to the past is fun and comforting. Michael, God Bless you. I hope you get your life back together. You have been a superstar since you were 5 and you need to kick back and rest. Put out a new album someday. Make a comeback. Crank That Soulja Boy right outta here. 'Cause you know the real score. No one, I mean no one, could dance like you. My daughter studied Michael Jackson in her sixth grade music class.

The girls at the party loved "Thriller."

Rock on, Michael, rock on.