. . . . T h r i l l e r B a b y .  o m . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  est .  2003
                                    T H E    O F F I C I A L    W E B S I T E  .  D E V O T E D    T O    T H E    G E N E R A T I O N     B O R N    1965 - 1980;   
                                                                                                                                                                                      .   O F F S P R I N G   O F   T H E   B A B Y B O O M E R S ;   TH R I L L E R B A B I E S 
                                                                                 THE   INTERNET 's   #1  SPOT   FOR   EVERYTHING   1980s   .  ( ORIGINATING  FROM  THE  EPIC - NOVEL  SIGNATURE  PLACE  by  JOSHUA  CRAWFORD )

                                                                                  T H E   THRILL    OF   THE   MONTH  .  . !    
                                                           O U R     F A V O R I T E     F E A T U R E     H E R E     A T    T H R I L L E R B A B Y .  C O M 
                W H E R E     W E     D E V O T E     A N     E N T I R E     M O N TH    TO    A     S E L E C T ED     V I D E O     C L I P   .
     T H A T     H O L D S     A R T I S T I C     A N D    C R E A T I V E     M E R I T     T H R O U G H O U T     T H E     A G E S   .  A S    S E L E C T E D    B Y
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             .    J O S H U A   C R A W F O R D
                                                  We slaute the rare, the obscure, and the memory that made growing up in the 1980s so much fun.
      Originally started on the ThrillerBaby MySpace page, this feature was a last minute addition. And then the people who represent the late Laura
            Branigan stopped by with their generous blessings, thanking us for featuring Branigan's THE LUCKY ONE  music-video as our JUNE 2008
                                                                                                                                          THRILL OF THE MONTH.
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The following video will mark HISTORY here at ThrillerBaby.com for being the first "modern" artist to land the coveted "Thrill-Of-The-Month!"
After surfing TV late one night a few weeks ago, I was a bit dumbfounded when I landed on VH1-Soul, which is the African-American offshoot of Vh1-Classic, and thought I had the wrong channel  (?); for how could it be that a WHITE man was singing on an otherwise BLACK music-video channel?
Right away, the graphics for the video, with remnants of late-70s/early-80s cheesy computer logos and silhouettes of stars in the sky that form the shape of the artist's face ... caught my attention. I could tell, whoever this was, was deeply inspired by that "ThrillerBaby MAGIC" of having grown up watching such images on TV. (Notice the opening credits right of the bat that resemble the THX sound logo from George Lucas.)
 My favorite part in the video is when the word "MAGIC" turns into a lightning-bolt.
 But what also caught my attention, was that for the first time in a VERY long time, neither the male featurted in the video, NOR the FEMALES, were half-way dressed with gold-chains around their bare necks while popping up in hot-tubs and pretending to know what the word monogamy means.
And the beat?
Well, it wonderfully reeks of Michael Jackson's golden years, combined with the vocal style of Marvie Gaye and Hall and Oates; with the later having been one of the early pioneers of having their WHITE music ... played on BLACK radio.
("I Can't Go For That" anybody?)
Soon, I was hooked, not only by the refreshing unusual video, but by the prestige and classiness of all that encompassed it, and only PRAYED the actual song would live up to its wonderfully-directed HYPE.
It did.
What was even more cool, is when the singer-songwriter revealed himself to be strangely familiar to looking like a very-young-version of the dad on the 1980's hit TV-series, Growing Pains.
Turns out, the singer-songwriter ... is the dad's SON!
And the most wonderful thing about this?
The son is a thrillerbaby  ... with two previous albums ... who has already worked with Michael Jackson and like myself, not only plays the piano, but launched himself at a relatively SLOW START for someone so talented, having literally waited a very long time in line ... to get that MAGICAL record-deal that would finally introduce his style to the rest of the world. A style that is so obviously inspired by the golden-age of any thrillerbaby, that for a moment, I literally thought I was watching some old early-80s movie. (I'm still waiting for that record-deal by the way.)
So here we go.
With a "bridge" midway through the song that simply states:

" I know sometimes sometimes you feel no hope ... 
But I’ve been down off that lonely road.
I took whatever gift he offered me ...
Because I knew that he would set me free " ...

 ... I can't help but wonder ... if this guy's inspiration ... doesn't come from a higher-source. (?)
And did anyone know that his dad, actor Alan, before landing his role of Jason Seaver on Growing Pains, wrote TV-themes?
(That's Alan singing, "Come and knock on our door!" from Three's Company, which conicidentally, is featured on the Signature Place soundtrack!)
And the songwriter's mother, Gloria Loring, (also an actress and singer) sang the great lost hit of 1986, "Friends and Lovers" with Carl Anderson.
So here's to you Robin,
you've got the magic ...
 ... now don't lose it by sinking into pop-star bliss!
(And yes, a very young Robin can be found on various episodes of The Wonder Years and Growing Pains.)
With strong influences by Kubrick's "2001" and Fred Astaire,
ThrillerBaby.com's the THRILL of the MONTH! for October, 2008 is  . . . (DRUM ROLL PLEASE!) ...


"MAGIC" by ROBIN THICKE !!! (Directed by Robert Hales and Thicke himself.)
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With June's (2008) highly anticipated re-release of the 1980 thrillerbaby classic film XANADU onto DVD (that contains the SOUNDTRACK to the film as well) in a delicious DVD/Soundtrack-COMBO, we couldn't help but be charmed at the opening sequence; as this beloved thrillerbaby film hit theaters one entire year before Mtv made its debut in August of 1981, and it certainly seemed to indicate that "visual music" was soon to come into the lives of many living-rooms with not only the invention of MTV a year later, but the VCR itself that barely existed in the typical household in the early part of the decade, but by the mid 80s, became affordable enough to exist everywhere, and elevate films to cult status like this one.
A box-office BOMB when first released, the beautifully choreographed film soon found its audience amongst US; the thriller-babies. And Jeff Lynne and his Electric Light Orchestra, (otherwise known as simply E.L.O.) sure made this 28 year old clip ageless in not only striking visuals which depict a sisterhood of muses on a mural wall that come to life and thrust Olivia Newton-John into the life of struggling artist, but in SOUND itself.
Issued as a single in May of 1980 and reaching all the way to #16 on "The Billboard HOT 100", this opening song for the film sounds just as FRESH as did back then. The film itself, would become legendary in that it popularized roller-rinks throughout America which became a major social scene for young thrillerbabies growing up in the 80s, and it remains a perfect example of how a box-office BOMB ... is proven to be "no bomb at ALL!" if it has a rockin' soundtrack that yielded five hit singles, and features visuals that look rather striking, even in this now common world of C.G.I.
How they did this, is just really cool; even by today's standards. (C.G.I. wasn't placed into films until the release of the 1982 film "TRON" which, by the way, will finally have its highly anticipated SEQUEL released to theaters in 2011; ThrillerBabies REJOICE!)
This "Thrill of the MONTH for September 2008" song will now become a part of history here on ThrillerBaby.com, as it will mark the very first time that we RE-NAME our monthly "ThrillerBaby VIDEO-of-the-month" on our ThrillerBaby MySpace page ... the easier and simple "THRILL-of-the-MONTH!" to coincide with our new ThrillerBaby.com WEBSITE that was launched in August of 2008 to much acclaim. So now, both the "THRILL-of-the-month" here on the site, will now finally match the same one featured on our MySpace page! (Too cool, yay?)
If you recognize the male actor at the tail-end of this video, it's Michael Beck from the 1979 thrillerbaby classic film  The WARRIORS. Seeing that both "The Warriors" and "Xanadu" are featured prominently in Signature Place which coined the word "thrillerbaby", we can't help but find THIS particular "THRILL-OF-THE-MONTH" ultimately APPROPRIATE !!!
So ... with that said ...
ThrillerBaby.com's the THRILL of the MONTH! for September, 2008 is  . . . (DRUM ROLL PLEASE!) ...

"I'M ALIVE" by ELO !!!
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We couldn't decide what our first ever THRILL OF THE MONTH for our newly revamped website that lauched in
      August 2008 should be. But after putting together the THRILLERBABY MOST WANTED  page on this site, we came across this hand-made clip 
at YouTube that we think not only takes you back to the 1980s, but also highlights a lost artifact from the period; thus killing two birds with one stone. CONGRADULATIONS ! ( DRUM-ROLL PLEASE . )
ThrillerBaby.com's the THRILL of the MONTH! for August, 2008 is  . . .

ThrillerBaby.com's the THRILL of the MONTH! for August, 2008 is 1981's ENDLESS LOVE  by Lionel Richie & Diana Ross  !   . . .
Pasted together by YouTube.com member "sbrenn" in the Netherlands from a rare WIDESCREEN PRINT (UNAVAILABLE IN THE U.S.) !
THANKS "SBRENN", NOW THRILLER-BABIES  THROUGHOUT THE WORLD SALUTE  YOU!   CONGRADULATIONS !
For more information about this month's pick, visit    Thriller Baby MOST WANTED !
To suggest a THRILL  OF  THE  MONTH, CONTACT  US !

THANK-YOU  FOR  VISITING  THRILLERBABY.COM's  the THRILL of the MONTH!    for    August,   2008
* TO  REWARD  YOURSELF  FOR  SURVIVING  YOUR  CHILDHOOD (AND  WE  KNOW  IT  WASN'T  EASY!) , 
WANNA  PLAY  A  QUICK  GAME  OF  SIMON ?
WE  THOUGHT  SO !

JUST  USE  YOUR  "MOUSE"  and  its "LEFT - CLICK - BUTTON"  TO  BRING  BACK  THAT  THRILLERBABY  IN  ALL  OF  US !
( And  STOP  the THRILL of the MONTH!   at  the  TOP  of  this  page  IF  IT  HASN'T  STOPPED  ALREADY  so  that  your  SOUNDS  don't  COLLIDE )

opyright . Joshua Crawford. All rights reserved.