Michael Jackson's "Thriller" Was Almost Called...

The following is adapted from my book, Michael Jackson, Inc.: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of a Billion-Dollar Empire, on the occasion of Halloween.

In the summer of 1982, Michael Jackson summoned Quincy Jones to the Westlake Recording Studio in Los Angeles to record the album that would become Thriller. But it was known by a different name at first: Starlight.

Veteran songwriter Rod Temperton initially gave that name to the title track (with a chorus of “STAR-light! Starlight sun…”) It probably w...