Report: Guy Who Sings ‘Thriller’ Has Bunch Of Non-Halloween Music, Too

CLEVELAND—Revealing a vast, forgotten catalog of legitimate pop compositions, a report released Thursday about novelty musical act Michael Joseph Jackson found that the man who recorded the perennial Halloween classic “Thriller” also had a bunch of non-Halloween music. “Jackson is, of course, exclusively known for his haunted hit ‘Thriller’ and singing spooky lyrics like ‘No one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike,’ but we’ve discovered that he was actually an extremely prolific, earnest musician, having released 10 full-length, mostly non-horror-related albums in his lifetime,” said report co-author Rebecca Rubin of Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Popular Music Studies, pointing out that while Jackson did record a number of lesser-known Halloween novelty songs—like one about a creepy man appearing in the mirror, or another about a woman haunted by the villainous “Smooth Criminal”—the vast majority of his catalog had no connection to the holiday. “Jackson seemed to like to keep a low profile, and even though photographs suggest he was committed to his ghostly Halloween look year round, it appears most of his songs do not begin with a werewolf howl. While today Michael Jackson is fondly remembered as a one-hit Halloween artist, we hope this discovery inspires people to look beyond ‘Thriller’ or even his trick-or-treating anthem ‘Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough’ and listen to his more serious works.” Representatives for the Jackson estate confirmed plans to upload his full catalog online to introduce music fans to songs other than his Halloween hit, which they revealed was originally performed as a joke.