"On November 30th, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” turns 40 years old. A special 2-disc anniversary edition of the album will be released at the end of the year and is available today for pre-order. Reserve yours now:
https://MichaelJackson.lnk.to/Thriller40thFA"
Release date: November 15, 2022.
Home - Michael Jackson Official Site
Thriller | Shop the Michael Jackson Official Store
Each week the estate has been releasing the name of one of the 10 unreleased & rare tracks that MJ recorded during the Thriller sessions. This is the list so far:
Behind The Mask
After hearing the original instrumental recording of this song by the group Yellow Magic Orchestra, Michael reached out to them to ask if he could create a version of the song with lyrics. They readily agreed and Michael wrote the lyrics and recorded the demo which he played at a listening session at his home studio attended by Quincy Jones, Rod Temperton and Greg Phillinganes at which Michael also played the demos for “Billie Jean,” “Beat It” and “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin.’” Unfortunately, “Behind The Mask” didn’t make the cut for the
Thriller album and, although Michael worked on the track over the years, a finished version wasn’t released until the
Michael album. But this original demo by Michael has never been release
She's Trouble
The songwriters, Terry Britten, Sue Shifrin and William Livsey, gave this song to Quincy for consideration on
Thriller. Although Michael demoed the song, it didn’t make the album and the songwriters then gave the song to other artists to record and release. This is the first time Michael’s demo is being released. Pre-order #Thriller40 now:
The Toy
This song was inspired by the Richard Pryor film of the same title. After not making the cut for the
Thriller album, Michael continued to work on the song. It first became “I Am Your Joy” and ultimately evolved into a song Michael continued to work on for years which was ultimately released on the album,
Michael and titled “Best of Joy.” Now for the first time, the original incarnation of this song is being released.
Got The Hots
This is another song written by Rod Temperton for
Thriller but it didn’t make the cut. It was ultimately included on certain versions of the
King of Pop compilation album released in various international markets in 2008, but one interesting note about this song is that the assistant engineer who worked on the June, 1982 sessions with engineer Brent Avril when this song was recorded is Nelson Hayes.
What A Lovely Way To Go
This was actually a song originally written by Michael in the late 1970s but revisited by him at the time he was writing songs for the
Thriller album. It didn’t make the album and had never been released until now
Sunset Driver
This was another song Michael originally wrote for the
Thriller album. Although Michael also considered it for
Bad, he never finished it but released it as a bonus track on
The Ultimate Collection in 2004. It was also one of the songs featured in the Ubisoft game, “Michael Jackson: The Experience.” The mixer on the original 1982 demo was Bill Bottrell who would go on to co-produce tracks on Michael’s
Dangerous album.
