The "Thriller" Dance

Now this is an interesting one. Have you seen the movie "Suddenly Thirty"? If you're an 80s buff, you should - lots of 80s culture and clothing and of course, the famous "thriller dance" scene.

In the movie, the lead character starts doing the dance from the Thriller music video and is joined on the dance floor by half the room, all of whom can also do the dance.

Now I was THERE in the 80s and I don't recall the Thriller dance becoming a line dancing phenomenon. We were still getting over the Madison.

Now Ms Pacman, who was a teensy bit ahead of me in the 80s so can relate to the 80s nightclub scene, might be able to recall some thriller moves on those dance floors but us Blue Light Disco kids were just doing the old side-to-side 80s classic move, presumably because anything more energetic would snap our solid hairstyles or burst us from our oh-so-tight jeans.

Either way, I have been trawling the internet for some instructions on how to do the "thriller dance" and here is what I found:

The scene from "Suddenly Thirty":


The original dance:


And last of all, this GEM! This guy has learnt the ENTIRE dance. I take my hat off to him - he is truly an 80s freak the like of which Ms Pac and I can only dream of becoming:

Thriller Dance and Elvis Costello

In reply to Little Red Corvette - yes, the Thriller dance was done in the 80's. What does this have to do with Elvis Costello you might say?
Well.....it's like this.....Wacko Jacko used elements of modern dance at the time to construct the moves with a few very special additions all of his own. (He isn't called Wacko Jacko just because of his ideas on cosmetic surgery you know...when the specialty of "Zombie dancing" shows up on your resume you have to scratch your head.)
I had done some Jazz Ballet in 1979 in a vain effort by my mother to make me more co-ordinated and active. Some of the dance can relate to those kinds of moves. Then I had a course on "How to be cool on the dance floor" in 1980. The music was "Pump It Up" Elvis Costello and I very clearly remember being required to do some of the steps we can now see in the Thriller dance. I guess as a distillation of the dances of the era, Jacko gets it pretty right and that is part of the reason he is so fondly regarded historically. It's all fingers-on-pulse stuff.

Last days of Choose Life

Track listing for the last two shows I did on Roxfm:

Choose Life 11/4/06

1. Say I love you - Renee Geyer.
2. Right on Track - The Breakfast Club.
3. Everybody needs somebody to love. - The Blues Brothers.
4. Do you believe in love - Huey Lewis and the News.
5. Hand on your heart. - Kylie Minogue.
6. The Popular View - Mondo Rock.
7. Driver's Seat. - Sniff N Tears.
8. New Moon on Monday. - Duran Duran.
9. Lullaby - The Cure.
10. Games people play. - Alan Parsons Project.


Choose Life 18/4/06

1. Black Man Ray - China Crisis.
2. China Girl - David Bowie.
3. Stand and Deliver - Adam and the Ants.
4. Too nice to talk to - English Beat.
5. Miss me Blind - Culture Club.
6. Rocket Love - Stevie Wonder.
7. Higher Love - Steve Winwood.
8. 80's mix - Ultimix (short 3 min version)

I think the second to last show was the best and that is why I listed both. I also had a listener call in and thank me for the show on the 11th. A closet 80's fan! Mr Anonymous at work!

Whip It - Devo