Michael Jackson’s “Invincible” came out on Oct. 30, 2001, which means it turned 25 this week. It was his final album of new songs, and it runs 16 tracks long.
Most people know the singles. Far fewer have played it all the way to the end.
That’s a shame on a night like this one, because the very last track is one of the spookiest things Michael ever put on record. It’s called “Threatened.” Michael wrote it with Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III and LaShawn Daniels, and he produced it with Rodney Jerkins.
Critics noticed the spooky feel. Slant Magazine called it the album’s “stand-out” and “a new millenium ‘Thriller,’ if you will.” Wikipedia’s page on the album says it was seen as a “Thriller redux.”
But the music isn’t what grabs you first. It’s the voice.
Before Michael sings a note, a calm, crisp man starts talking, like a host stepping in front of a curtain. If you grew up with a TV set in the living room, you’ll probably know that voice in about three seconds. Press play and see if you can name him before you read any further.
Michael’s “Threatened,” with the mystery voice at the very start
Got it?
That’s Rod Serling, the man who created “The Twilight Zone.” The show ran on CBS from Oct. 2, 1959, to June 19, 1964. Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of its 156 episodes, and he was also the show’s host and narrator, so his voice was the one viewers heard week after week. The album credit says it plainly: “Spoken Words: Rod Serling (from The Twilight Zone).”
The song opens with Serling saying, “Tonight’s story is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction.” And it signs off with him too: “What you have just witnessed could be the end of a particularly terrifying nightmare. It isn’t. It’s the beginning.”
If you want to see where it all started, here’s the show’s opening title sequence from 1959.
The original “Twilight Zone” opening from 1959
So how did Michael get him? He didn’t, not in the usual way. Serling had passed away in 1975, more than 25 years before “Invincible.” Every word you hear came from the old TV show. As Music Times put it, “Michael Jackson had a pretty solid record working with the voices of classic horror,” but this time “the pop star had to rely on a clip from The Twilight Zone when recording “Threatened” for 2001’s Invincible.”
Fans will remember Vincent Price’s spooky voice on “Thriller.” This time Michael found his partner on old tape.
And he didn’t stop at the opening and closing. In the middle of the song, a montage of Serling clips is cut together so the TV host almost sounds like he’s rapping.
Hearing Serling talk as himself, off the show, makes the trick even stranger. Here he is in 1959, the year “The Twilight Zone” first went on the air, sitting down for “The Mike Wallace Interview.”
Rod Serling talks with Mike Wallace in 1959
So if you’re putting together a Halloween playlist tonight, skip ahead to track 16. Michael saved his most famous guest for the very end of the album, and you’ll hear him the second the song begins.