Thriller Joins Top US History Trove

Jackson hit album added to prestigious aural archives

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 15, 2008 12:13 PM CDT

(Newser) – Michael Jackson's Thriller has been added to the prestigious National Recording Registry's archive of the most important recordings in American history, Variety reports. The monster 1982 hit joins 24 other "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" new additions to the collection, including a 1925 recording of the first-ever broadcast to cross the Atlantic.

Some other national treasures preserved for posterity:

The 1977 recording of Earth sounds sent into space with Voyager
A 1959 recording of North Carolina folk songs
Harry Truman's speech to the 1948 Democratic National Convention
Roy Orbison's 1964 hit "Pretty Woman"
A 1945 broadcast of New York's Mayor LaGuardia reading comics to kids during a newspaper delivery strike

[Images (3)]

[Videos (2)]

A copy of the Voyager Golden Record, sent hurtling into deep space with NASA's twin Voyager spacecraft launched in August and September 1977, has been added to the National Recording Registry. (AP Photo/NASA)

Michael Jackson's 1982 album 'Thriller' has been added to the National Recording Registry's archive of culturally or historically important recordings. (AP Photo)

The recordings added to the National Recording Registry include some 1970s radio broadcasts from Ronald Reagan. (AP Photo)

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CBS takes a look (and listen) inside the National Recording Registry. (CBSNewsOnline)

New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia reads Dick Tracy and Little Orphan Annie comics over the air during a newspaper deliverymen's strike, 1945. (wnycradio)

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Thriller Joins Top US History Trove