Annie Clements Music

Something More/Thriller

Posted on 17. Jun, 2008 by annie in Notebook

Ok, so for those of you who know me, you also know that I love Michael Jackson, particularly “Off the Wall” and “Thriller” era Michael Jackson. “Off the Wall” is one of my top 3 favorite albums to listen to from start to finish actually. Everyone should own it!

But let’s talk for a moment about “Thriller.”

Better yet, let’s talk for a moment about how to combine dance moves from Michael Jackson’s video for “Thriller” with the Sugarland hit song “Something More.”

Let me beef ya on the set-up.

Many an evening has been passed on a Sugarland tour bus involving dancing the night away to a certain dance mix from my iPod. “Thriller” (of course) made the mix cut so we as a band have had ample opportunity to practice all of M.J.’s moves from the classic video. It would be foolish to imply that we can even come close to Michael’s genius dance moves but we can all pretty much do the basics, like the “zombie shoulder shuffle” and the “scary T-Rex claw arms.” Classic moves.

So, we as a band (and at the time of this writing likely unbeknown-st to Jenn and Kristian) have decided to incorporate these classic moves into the breakdown section of “Something More,” our current set closer. The breakdown is the part of the song after the 2nd chorus when most of the band drops out and Jenn says:

“For the ladies…”

Then sings

“I get home, 7:30″ etc…

That’s when I mouth over Jenn:

“For the Zombies…”

Then we all kick off the Zombie Shoulder Shuffle, starting with the right shoulder. That’s your left shoulder if you’re watching from the audience. Obviously Travis the drummer is seated and can’t make the full rotation but he does the shuffle justice from the drum chair. Thad is having some trouble as he plays guitar all through this part of the song but he’s giving it a shot as only a zombie with an acoustic guitar can. Right around the lyric “But it can waaaaaiiit” is where we attempt to get in a quick Scary T-Rex Claw Arms move before we all come back in with the musical accents on “yeah cause riiiiight now…”

The point is, anyone who reads this MUST join in. It’s too late. You just read that sentence, which in my mind is a binding agreement. Now you HAVE to attempt dance moves from Thriller during this part of our show. I’ve given you all the instruction you need, but for further reference it’s recommended that you look up the video on You-tube.

Here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8

While you’re there you should also check out this crazy video of about 1000 Filipino prison inmates dancing along to the song as well.

Here’s a link!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o&feature=related

If they can do it, so can you! I plan on encouraging the band to incorporate these moves up until the fall tour at least, so if you’re out there this summer get with the program! After all, there’s gotta be something more… and that Something is dance moves from Thriller!