Vincent Price Would Be Proud: Angelenos Pull Off a "Thriller"

They pulled it off — the L.A. chapter of “Thrill the World” performed the Thriller dance on Saturday in front of crowds at Hollywood and Highland. And as you can see above, they did a pretty good job.

The LA Weekly was there, and files an extensive report. A highlight:

This Los Angeles chapter of “Thrill the World ’08″ — across the globe, dances in 91 cities in 12 countries took place the same day — was up and at ‘em at an hour that ought to make the dead crawl back into their tombs and whimper. In an attempt to hold the world record for the most people to do the “Thriller” dance at one time, dozens of aspiring zombie strutters gathered in the bowels of the shopping complex’s garage — level 6E to be exact — with coffee and donuts, makeup and hairspray, costumes and boomboxes to pump up, dress up, and get in last minute practice.
Just before 11 a.m., they began the lurch up to the bright plaza and took their places to the initial bewilderment, and giddy delight of wandering shoppers and tourists.

Check it out — including the photo gallery.

"Thrill the World" Comes to Hollywood and Highland

Caught this first on CreepyLA, Los Angeles’ Halloween blog: If you’re looking for a different way to celebrate the holiday, you might want to consider joining in on L.A.’s mass “Thriller” group dance.

The event is part of Thrill the World, a global effort to get as many people dancing the “Thriller” as possible.

Here in L.A., the group will be performing the dance sometime after 10:30 but no later than 11 on Saturday, Oct. 25. Wanna join in? You can’t just show up: They’re holding several rehearsals in the coming days, so that you can learn your part. Here are the upcoming rehearsals:

Tues Oct 21st: UCLA
@ Campus. Wilson Plaza or nearby. 3:30pm-6:30pm
center of campus UCLA, Westwood CA

Wed Oct 22nd: Santa Monica
@Virginia Avenue Park. Time: TBD
2200 Virginia Ave, Santa Monica, CA

Fri Oct 24th: Hollywood *FINAL PRACTICE!
@ Pan Pacific Regional Park. 5pm-7pm (we may stay later)
7600 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

It doesn’t take long to learn the dance, they say, and the event is, of course, free. More details here.

Radio Waves: The Return of Two Big Names to L.A. Radio?

Local talk radio legend Michael Jackson is about to make another run on the airwaves. According to his website (and as first reported by LARadio.com), Jackson will air from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saul Levine’s KMZT-AM (1260), which is about to switch to an all-talk format as KGIL-AM. Jackson writes:

The station is in Los Angeles and they are chaninging their call-sign from K-Mozart to KGIL. That’s a call sign which had a fine reputation for many years. We’ll be on the AM band at 1260, and as the newsreport had it, I’ll be filling some very familiar hours; 9-11 a.m. There’s a possibility, to be confirmed in a few days, that the program will be repeated between 4.00 and 6.00 pm. There’s lots to tell and as I learn more I’ll pass it on.

1260 AM has been playing classical music since February, when Levine flipped his FM station (105.1, now KKGO-FM) from classical to country. In the process, Levine moved the classical format to the 1260 AM signal.

But 1260 AM is hard to hear in much of Los Angeles county, and AM radio isn’t ideal for classical music anyway. 1260 AM has seen many format changes in recent years, from adult standards to showtunes to all-Beatles to news to country.

As for Jackson, the host most recently conducted a wide variety of interviews for all-news KNX, but ultimately left the station when he wasn’t given his own timeslot. He’s still best known for his unprecedented 32-year run on KABC-AM, as seen above in that promotional ad.

Meanwhile, another question making the local radio rounds: Is Los Angeles ready for the return of Don Imus?

Of course, the other question is, does Los Angeles care?

As talk of Imus’ return to radio continues, here in L.A. the buzz on radio boards has been a potential timeslot on KABC-AM. But that’s far from a sure thing — particularly because Imus doesn’t have a great track record in Los Angeles. His last syndicated stop here didn’t make any noise. And by the time he was forced off the air — for using a derogatory comment — Imus was only heard in the region on a tiny Inland Empire station.