My First Five (Zac): Michael Jackson - Thriller

[This week we start up a new daily series featuring the first five albums that we each bought (more or less) as kids. Let us know your own list in the comments.]



This was the very first album that I picked out myself. I can still vaguely remember the trip to Kmart with my mom. That Kmart (long gone) is still legendary in my mind.

I played the cassette on an ancient portable tape player that belonged to my mom when she was younger. It was about the size of a shoebox, half as tall, brown and white with a handle on the end that slid out so you could carry it around. There was also an earphone jack. They only earphones we had were also vintage. It was just a single, huge, earbud-style thing. Stereo wasn't a concern back when this thing was made, I guess. I spent just about every waking hour listening to that cassette over and over. It's not like I had anything else to do or listen to.

I no longer remember much from Thriller, but I'm sure I could still sing along to it, with all my childishly misunderstood lyrics completely intact. "Mama say, mama saw, ma ma koo saw!" indeed.