It’s Halloween, Let’s Talk About That Other Song With Michael Jackson…
Beyond “Thriller,” the King of Pop contributed to Rockwell’s hit “Somebody’s Watching Me”
Artwork for Rockwell's "Somebody's Watching Me."
Without a doubt, modern Halloween is nothing without the yearly return of Michael Jackson’s timeless Halloween anthem “Thriller” into our streams of consciousness. Younger generations listen and learn about the song and why it indeed has become such a staple of the holiday (much like Mariah Carey and her “All I Want For Christmas” has done for Christmas).
But there’s another song that always manages to hover slightly behind Jackson’s own hit. Ironically enough, Jackson himself is the featured vocalist on the track’s chorus despite not actually getting a featuring credit on the song. “Somebody’s Watching Me” was the debut single by Rockwell aka Kennedy William Gordy, the son of legendary Motown founder and CEO Berry Gordy (and technically also the older brother of RedFoo from LMFAO and uncle to Sky Blu, his nephew).
Estranged at the time from his father, Gordy wrote and co-produced the single (along with Curtis Anthony Nolen) and had Jackson assisting on the vocals with brother Jermaine also offering background vocals.
The song released in January 1984, ironically enough, just one month after the John Landis-directed music video for “Thriller” became a bigger hit. While Jackson hit #4 with his Halloween opus and went on to become a cultural phenomenon, especially because of its 13-minute music video, “Somebody’s Watching Me” actually charted higher – reaching #2 on the charts (behind Kenny Loggin’s classic “Footloose” and Van Halen’s also equally classic “Jump”).
While Rockwell never really managed to replicate the success of his debut single, the song’s legacy has continued to expand, especially because of its creepy lyrics that immediately evoke the feeling of Halloween.
The song made a triumphant return to the charts in 2006 thanks to the Dutch remixers Beatfreakz who covered the song and released a video that seemingly was a mash-up of “Thriller” and “Somebody’s Watching Me” but performed by a wide array of misfit zombies and spoof versions of Michael Jackson that had appeared in years past in everywhere, from South Indian movies to home videos.
Whether he’s technically acknowledged for it or not, Michael Jackson’s legacy with Halloween goes beyond “Thriller” thanks to Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” – let the TikTok videos continue and both tracks continue to spook generations to come.
