>> when he does that moonwalk, if you were sitting on the couch by the end of it, you were on the floor in front of the tv. you couldn't believe what you were seeing. >> i would say 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 can sing good, he's bad, he knows how to dance. >> he's so sexy and so gorgeous. >> he's exciting! >> michael jackson is the man of the '80s. >> mtv starts to get pressure from cbs records, which was michael jackson's label. >> rock 'n' roll, in itself, was really the thing that broke a lot of rules. when you're 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's wrong or right ♪