The Postmodern Jukebox Formula — Part 2: The 1930s

(Listen to this episode of The Postmodern Jukebox Formula on Spotify here.)

Hey all, this is Scott Bradlee, and welcome to Part 2 of THE POSTMODERN JUKEBOX FORMULA. Today, I’m going to break down some of my favorite Postmodern Jukebox arrangements that take their inspiration from the classic sounds of the 1930s. I’ll be sharing some of the historic recordings that influenced their creation, and discussing the artists that created these groundbreaking records. For each one, we’ll listen to three tracks: the original version of a modern pop hit, a classic 1930s recording that that modern song somehow relates to, and then the resultant PMJ remake; you can think of that as what happens when the new song and the old song get thrown into a blender together.

Let’s kick things off with one of the most iconic songs of all time, which was released with arguably the greatest music video of all time: the 1984 Michael Jackson classic,“Thriller.”

Now, my philosophy when re-arranging a song as groundbreaking as “Thriller” is this: you never want to try to…