Why Michael Jackson's Biggest Success Was a Surprise

The release of the album that would become, by some measures, the most successful record in music history went unnoticed by TIME. When it was first released 35 years ago, on Nov. 30, 1982, there was no mention of Michael Jackson's Thriller in the magazine's pages.

But it didn't take too long for that to change, as the album sat atop the charts for weeks, selling enough copies to drive discussion of a boom across the entire record industry and the growth of music-video culture.