Thriller 40

669 00:28:54,710 --> 00:28:56,700 And the culture would span all the way 670 00:28:56,900 --> 00:29:01,460 from kind of like this Broadway, you know, more theatrical world, 671 00:29:01,660 --> 00:29:04,500 and then there was this other element that was cultural, 672 00:29:04,700 --> 00:29:06,360 that was almost like gangsters. 673 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:20,560 You know, when you look at "Beat It" 674 00:29:20,740 --> 00:29:23,520 and the idea that the people of that era felt like, 675 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:25,730 "Oh, he's speaking to us and with us. 676 00:29:25,930 --> 00:29:28,650 He's rocking with us. He's making music for us. 677 00:29:28,850 --> 00:29:31,030 We can dance to his music." 678 00:29:44,620 --> 00:29:46,710 It was an incredible move to decide, 679 00:29:46,910 --> 00:29:49,420 "We're gonna have a rock and roll record 680 00:29:49,620 --> 00:29:50,630 on this thing." 681 00:29:50,830 --> 00:29:53,280 "Beat It" was straight up rock and roll. 682 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:54,996 Michael's idea with "Beat It" 683 00:29:55,020 --> 00:29:57,160 was to distance himself from Off the Wall, 684 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:58,700 from the dance, disco. 685 00:29:58,900 --> 00:30:00,336 And Michael wanted to stretch. 686 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:01,856 Creatively, he wanted to stretch. 687 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:04,316 They wanted a crossover hit across the board. 688 00:30:04,340 --> 00:30:06,290 Rock, R and B, pop. 689 00:30:06,490 --> 00:30:09,560 They called me to come in with Michael and Quincy 690 00:30:09,770 --> 00:30:13,110 to do the... 691 00:30:13,650 --> 00:30:15,626 They want to go rock and roll, let's do it. 692 00:30:15,650 --> 00:30:18,760 You know, so I did it with all... you know, all-all that, 693 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:20,646 doubled it and made it sound huge. 694 00:30:20,670 --> 00:30:22,670 And then I played the bass on it as well. 695 00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:24,580 I did play bass on that record as well. 696 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,330 So I sat with them and made that swing, 697 00:30:27,530 --> 00:30:29,386 and when Michael was dancing in the room, 698 00:30:29,410 --> 00:30:30,636 I knew I was in the pocket. 699 00:30:30,660 --> 00:30:32,016 When he wrote "Beat It," 700 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:34,690 he said, "I want a kind of guitar player on here 701 00:30:34,890 --> 00:30:39,840 that will attract young, white, teenage males." 702 00:30:40,050 --> 00:30:41,090 Eddie Van Halen. 703 00:30:41,590 --> 00:30:43,856 He said, "Well, what do you want me to do?" 704 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,000 And Quincy said, "Well, 705 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:46,290 I want you to be you. 706 00:30:46,490 --> 00:30:47,846 That's you right there." And he pointed 707 00:30:47,870 --> 00:30:49,806 to the famous, you know, Strat that he had. 708 00:30:49,830 --> 00:30:52,390 And he said, "I'm not gonna tell you what to play. 709 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:53,520 You go be you." 710 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:54,956 I mean, Eddie ripped 711 00:30:54,980 --> 00:30:56,746 these solos off one after the other. 712 00:31:10,960 --> 00:31:12,806 I remember, like, hearing 713 00:31:12,830 --> 00:31:14,300 the sound coming from Studio A, 714 00:31:14,500 --> 00:31:16,130 where he was doing the-the solo. 715 00:31:16,330 --> 00:31:17,380 It was so loud. 716 00:31:17,580 --> 00:31:18,680 I could... I just... 717 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:19,880 It was just so loud. 718 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:22,740 Bruce Swedien and Quincy brilliantly 719 00:31:22,940 --> 00:31:24,600 edited that solo together. 720 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:26,680 I mean, I think I probably just loved it 721 00:31:26,780 --> 00:31:28,616 'cause, at that moment, it was probably everything 722 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,730 that I ever loved in one song, you know? 723 00:31:30,930 --> 00:31:32,900 I've done way more time googling 724 00:31:33,100 --> 00:31:37,510 Lukather's tone on "Beat It" than, um, Eddie Van Halen's, 725 00:31:37,710 --> 00:31:39,720 because it's the tone that drives 726 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:41,336 the whole record... that's the riff. 727 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,260 It's the perfect way that, like, a rock guitar could ever sit 728 00:31:45,460 --> 00:31:47,680 over programmed drums in a... in a... 729 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:49,250 like, a funky groove. 730 00:31:49,450 --> 00:31:50,986 I thought his videos were incredible. 731 00:31:51,010 --> 00:31:52,846 I mean, first off, the guy could dance. 732 00:31:52,870 --> 00:31:54,176 I mean, just being in the room, 733 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:56,480 watching him groove while we're playing. 734 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:57,826 That short film... 735 00:31:57,850 --> 00:31:59,146 you see, this whole movie, 736 00:31:59,170 --> 00:32:01,396 it's about a big fight that's