Anthony Vincent of Ten Second Songs has reinterpreted the Halloween classic as if Tom Waits, Ozzy Osbourne and Stevie Wonder, among others, had sung it
More than three decades after Michael Jackson‘s Thriller became a worldwide smash – thanks to its genre-hopping amalgam of pop, rock and soul – a singer named Anthony Vincent has tested the versatility of the album’s ghoulish title track just in time for Halloween. Over the course of nearly five minutes, Vincent, who’s known as the voice of the style-bending YouTube channel Ten Second Songs, interprets “Thriller” as a punk, metal, soul, symphony, rap and blues songs. He also does stunning impressions of Jackson and the tune’s monologist Vincent Price.
In order, here are the musicians and personalities Vincent emulates: Michael Jackson, the Misfits (which the video points out is circa 1980, just to spotlight its Glen Danzig-ness), Marilyn Manson, Spice Girls (à la Scary Spice), Stevie Wonder, Ozzy Osbourne, Tom Waits, Oingo Boingo, Cannibal Corpse, “Monster Mash” singer Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (as on The Omen soundtrack), Rick Astley, Jack Skellington (from the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack), Rob Zombie, Harry Belafonte (Beetlejuice soundtrack), Tenacious D and Type O Negative.
He then takes a break and interprets Vincent Price’s rap first as Price, then as Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King’s It and as Twilight Zone host Rod Serling. The Ten Second Songs vocalist then finishes out the track in the styles of Busta Rhymes, Avenged Sevenfold and Robert Johnson.
Vincent also created a behind-the-scenes video to spotlight the making of his “Thriller” recording. The clip shows the singer getting made up for the video and rapping like Busta Rhymes, as well as some of the other impressions. “When I first did [a similar video for Katy Perry’s] ‘Dark Horse,’ this was a top suggested song,” he said.
Vincent’s “Sung in 20 Different Styles” series has so far included Ariana Grande’s “Problem,” Jason Derulo’s “Talk Dirty” and Linkin Park’s “In the End,” in addition to Jackson and Perry.
“I came up with the idea last November and wanted to do this with [Miley Cyrus’] ‘Wrecking Ball,’ but it was too late,” Vincent told Rolling Stone in March. “I wanted to pick the most random styles you could imagine. I listened to ‘Dark Horse’ and after I heard it, I immediately thought, ‘This is it. This is the one.’ And I got to work.”
SOURCE: Rolling Stone
