No, I didn't buy this when it came out and on a day when this was released alongside such things also mentioned on Jeff Harris' website who usefully provides notes in his 'on this day in music history', I noted that neither track was something I was into at the time. However and firstly let me say that this Michael Jackson track and mega-single if you will is worthy of note in retrospect for a number of reasons. Whilst I did not care for Jackson's music I was always interested in Quincy Jones and latterly  Rod Temperton the songwriter, a Brit born in Cleethorpes, just south of Grimsby, in Lincolnshire! This fascinated me and speaks volumes about how great hits are made somehow. It is a great song and I really admire the musicality of it as well as the lyrics. The bass lines alone are astonishingly funky and the whole piece is a gem. Often referred to as 'The Invisible Man.' Temperton was the sole writer of multiple successful songs along with 'Thriller,' 'Off The Wall,' 'Rock With You,' [George Benson's] 'Give Me The Night,' [Michael McDonald's] 'Sweet Freedom,' [Heatwave's] 'Always & Forever' and 'Boogie Nights' to name just a few. Temperton died last year (2016) of cancer aged 66.   

On this day in music history: December 2, 1983 - “Michael Jackson’s Thriller” makes its television broadcast debut on MTV. Directed by John Landis (“National Lampoon’s Animal House”, “The Blues Brothers”), the nearly fourteen minute long short film based on the title track (written by songwriter Rod Temperton) to Michael Jackson’s blockbuster album becomes an immediate phenomenon. An homage to the classic horror film genre (particularly the Michael Landon film “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”, and director Landis’ “An American Werewolf In London”), the film stars Jackson with former Playboy model and actress Ola Ray. The films’ dance sequences are choreographed by MJ and famed choreographer Michael Peters (“Beat It”, “Running With The Night”), with make up and prosthetics designed by Oscar winning make up artist Rick Baker. Jackson’s signature red leather jacket is designed by costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis, the wife of Thriller’s director. Filmed at a cost of $500,000, the clip takes the art of the music video to another level, becoming the most celebrated and honored in the medium. MTV pays $250,000 for the exclusive rights to air the video, with Showtime paying an additional $300,000 to air it exclusively on their network for a certain period. Its impact is immediately felt, sending the album back to number one over the Christmas holiday, spending another seventeen consecutive weeks at the top of the Top 200. The “Thriller” short film is also released on home video as part of a full length documentary titled “The Making Of Michael Jackson’s Thriller”.  Originally released by Vestron Video, “The Making Of” sets video sales records (selling a total of nine million copies overall) winning a Grammy Award for Best Video Album in 1985. “Thriller” is inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library Of Congress in 2009 for its ongoing cultural and historic significance, making it the first time a music video has received an honor normally reserved for feature length films.

The video is something else and astonishing to note the production dn those who worked alongside Michael and Landis on this Rick Baker, Temeperton Quincy Jones et all. It makes me smile every time I see it and Muicahel was at his peak her both musically and physically, you know the he still looked black for all the work on his face that clearly had begun . . . . . . 

"I can thrill you more than any ghoul could ever dare try

Thriller, thriller night 
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller
I'm gonna thrill you tonight"

Michael Jackson, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Quincy Jones
at the Lucasfilm annual picnic at the Skywalker Ranch, 1982.
Though in retrospect find myself slightly worried about Jackson's companion here . . . .

I also respect the work of Chic's Nile Rogers and Jeff notes also that 'Le Freak' came out  on this day in music historyeven if some five years apart  
I didn't buy this either but appreciate Rogers' arrangement and also his guitar playing . . . . . 

On this day in music history: December 2, 1978 - “Le Freak” by Chic hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 5 weeks, also hitting #1 on the Hot 100 for 6 weeks (non-consecutive) on December 9, 1978. Written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers, it is the first number one single for the New York City based R&B/Funk band. The song is inspired by an incident when Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers are denied entry into Studio 54 on New Year’s Eve 1977 after being invited by Grace Jones. The duo encounter the discos’ notoriously brash doorman Marc Benecke, who brusquely tells them that they are not on the guest list. Upset at the rebuff, the pair go back to Rodgers apartment around the corner and jam, coming up with the song, which is initially titled “F*** Off”. Realizing that they’re on to something, the lyric is changed, from “f*** off” to “freak out”. Taking into mind the current popular dance “the freak”, they re-title the song “Le Freak”. Released in late September of 1978 as the first single from the bands’ second album “C’est Chic”, it becomes the largest selling single in the history of Atlantic Records, shifting an astounding six million copies in the US alone. The single is such a massive seller, eventually it is taken out of print for a time, with Atlantic and Chic fearing that it will impede on sales of “C'est Chic” which sells nearly two million copies. “Le Freak” makes further history on the Hot 100 when the record hits number one three times during its run on the charts. After it hits the top of the pop chart on December 9, 1978 it is bumped from the top by “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” by Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond returning to the top (on December 16, 1978) after being displaced by “Le Freak”. It holds on to the top spot for two more weeks over the Christmas holiday before being bumped from the top by the Bee Gees’ “Too Much Heaven” on January 6, 1979. Startlingly, two weeks later, Chic return to the top for the third and final time on January 20, 1979 for three more weeks. Regarded as a definitive recording not just of the Disco Era, but of 70’s music period, it is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2015. “Le Freak” is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

Of their respective genres these are amongst the best IMHO