the tv. you couldn't believe what you were seeing. >> i will say that the moonwalk was really one of the first viral moments that affected rock history. the next week, "thriller" started selling a million copies a week. >> i like michael jackson because he sing good, he is bad, he knows how to dance. >> he is so sexy and so gorgeous. >> he is exciting. >> michael jackson is the man of the '80s. >> mtv starts to get pressure from cbs records, which was michael jackson's label. >> rock and roll, in itself, really was the thing that broke a lot of rules. when you are very successful, you try to make your own rules occasionally. >> as the story goes, cbs essentially said we will pull every other artist we have on mtv if you don't play this. they had to be essentially blackmailed into doing it. ♪ it doesn't matter who is wrong or right just beat it ♪ >> he was the artist that mtv really needed. they didn't know they needed him, but, boy, when we started to see those michael jackson videos, was just unbelievable.