#motown 25

[xosiren]

ᴍɪᴄʜᴀᴇʟ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ ᴅᴇʙᴜᴛᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴍᴏᴛᴏᴡɴ 25ᴛʜ ᴀɴɴɪᴠᴇʀꜱᴀʀʏ ɪɴ 1983

[offthewall1979]

"I could tell that people in the audience were really enjoying my performance. My brothers told me they were crowding the wings watching me with their mouths open, and my parents and sisters were out there in the audience. But I just remember opening my eyes at the end of the thing and seeing this sea of people standing up, applauding. And I felt so many conflicting emotions." - Michael Jackson, Moonwalk

[mj-loves-to-tour]

Michael Jackson's Thriller

[popgodz]

[dukeofdelirium]

my mom told me a story about how she watched this performance live with her family. all of them got dead silent when he did this. people believed the tape had somehow been manipulated and put in reverse. the next day, everyone was trying to do the moonwalk down the hallway at her highschool 🤣

The moonwalk is a dance technique that presents the illusion of the dancer being pulled backwards while attempting to walk forward. A popping move, it became popular around the world after Michael Jackson executed the dance move during a performance of “Billie Jean” on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever on March 25, 1983. It subsequently became his signature move, and is now one of the best-known dance techniques in the world.

[duranduratulsa]

michael jackson billie jean live first time moonwalk

80's Fest Historic Moment: Michael Jackson first moonwalk on Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever on May 16, 1983 #history #michaeljackson #ripmichaeljackson #moonwalk #motown #motown25 #80s #80sfest #durandurantulsas6thannual80sfest

[meetmeinmontana]

The Jackson 5 & Michael Jackson - Motown 25 Performance (Remastered)

[howardhawkshollywoodmusic]

89 25 Miles by Edwin Starr debuted Feb 69 and peaked at number six, scoring 912 points.

Ed was born Charles Hatcher in Nashville and was raised in Cleveland. He had 14 chart entries 1965-79. Two made the top ten.

[walkwithursus]

This performance at Motown 25 is arguably the most significant performance of Michael Jackson’s career. It was here that he unveiled the Moonwalk for the first time, astonishing fans and sparking a cultural and dance revolution. Michael originally didn’t want to attend the show and did so only under the stipulation that he could perform one solo song apart from the Jackson 5. While his performance stunned fans and was generally lauded as groundbreaking, Michael was extremely critical of himself and said that afterwards, the only thing he could focus on was the fact that he didn’t stand up on his toes for as long as he would have liked.

I love this performance #9 (8)

[natureshiner]

Michael Jackson's moonwalk dance move was first introduced to the world during his Motown 25 performance in 1983, instantly going viral. This unique move made Jackson a pop culture icon and revolutionized the dance world. The moonwalk became the most recognizable signature move of his career, which is still remembered and copied by millions of people today. #michaeljackson #shorts #viral

[lboogie1906]

The Supremes were the all-female singing group that was the leading act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Originating in Detroit in 1959 as the Primettes, the group was originally conceived as a sister act to the Primes, forerunner to the Temptations, by future Temptations member Paul Williams. The original members of the Primettes, all from the Brewster-Douglass public housing project in Detroit, were Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown.

McGlown was replaced by Barbara Martin, and the group, with Smokey Robinson’s help, got an audition with Motown Records. Motown founder Berry Gordy made them wait until they finished high school, and signed the four Primettes to a Motown contract in January 1961, changing the name to the Supremes. Martin left the group and Ballard, Wilson, and Ross carried the Supremes forward as the soon-to-be-famous trio. Their first #1 hit was “Where Did Our Love Go”.

Gordy made Ross the lead singer of the group; Ballard was replaced by Cindy Birdsong. The group’s name changed to Diana Ross and the Supremes highlighting Ross’s role as the lead singer. Some of their greatest hits were “Baby Love”, “Stop in the Name of Love”, and “Can’t Hurry Love”. The Supremes recorded 10 #1 hit singles (1964-67).

The Supremes were the first Black female performers of their generation to embrace a more feminine image, appearing on stage in detailed makeup and high-fashion gowns and wigs. They were extremely popular both domestically and abroad, appearing regularly on television programs such as Hullabaloo, Hollywood Palace, The Della Reese Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show, on which they made 16 appearances. In 1983, the Supremes trio returned to perform one song together for the TV special “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever.”

The Supremes achieved 12 #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 list and their worldwide popularity almost matched that of the Beatles at their peak.

#africanhistory365 #africanexellence

[offthewall1979]

[hello-nichya-here]

Girl.... Imma need all the tea abt Michael's brothers being leaches.

I do remember that one of them said that there wouldn't be no Michael Jackson without Jackson 5. BFFR. omg.

Just look at Spotify monthly listeners. I tend to compare artists who debuted at the same time and if they are still alive or not.

Marlon Jackson: 945

Jackie Jackson: 1'180

Tito Jackson: 15'148

Jermaine Jackson: 771'648

The Jacksons: 2'862'021

The Jackson 5: 8'607'046

Michael Jackson: 43'067'506

I know Spotify listeners aren't everything in terms of success or talent. Just look how Selena Gomez supposedly has more than Beyonce. But here I mean the gap is huge.

And the fact they NEEDED him for the Victory Tour otherwise no one would have showed up.

...Anon, I'm gonna be honest here, I completely forgot Jermaine wasn't the only of MJ's brothers to try and have his own solo career. And it says a lot that even though he was the most sucessful of MJ's brothers, he was nowhere near as relevant as he wanted to be - let alone as relevant as Michael.

Also, I know that showbusiness is cruel, especially to child stars, and the music industry is super unfair and buries really talented artists while promoting others that are not even good - but lets not kid ourselves here.

Like you said, the very fact that they had to drag him into that tour to make it relevant already says a lot - but there's even more to that. Michael decided, on his own, that this was going to be the LAST tour, and announced it at the last concert, without discussing it with anyone. He didn't just quit, he essentially ended the group.

They tried to carry on without him a few years later, and it went nowhere because nobody cared about them if Michael wasn't there. Meanwhile, he had random dancers/back-up singers stand in for his brothers whenever he'd ocasionally perform "his" old songs, and nobody except their mom ever complained. I strongly suspect some people didn't even notice - first time I watched some of the performances of the Bad Era, I sure didn't.

They had a reunion in 2001 - in some concerts to celebrate MICHAEL's career, with a moment dedicated to some Jackson 5/the Jackson's hits. They tried for a reunion and their own TV show in 2009 - the same time Michael's final tour was supposed to happen. When Michael died, all the interest in the projects of his brother's died too, with their proper reunion only happening a few years later... in a tribute to Michael.

But by far the biggest evidence that Michael didn't need them was Motown 25. He performed with his brothers, and even though he was obviously the star, they were still great, truly fucking awesome, you can clearly tell they are all giving it all their talent and energy.

Then he performed Billie Jean and did the moonwalk without a breaking a sweat and it was like his brothers never existed. Their big moment was Michael's warm up, and his big moment had him on stage by himself, singing the biggest hit of his SOLO career, overshadowing everything that came before it.

The only one of his siblings that ever managed to not be in his shadow was Janet. And even then, despite being HUGE, she was not KING OF POP huge. Probably because literally nobody else, before or since, could do what Michael did.

For fuck's sake, look at "We Are The World." Pretty much every famous singer of the decade was there, every single one of them giving it their all - and Michael is still clearly the star, because he wasn't just better than his siblings, he was better than everybody.

And I think that's the reason why his brothers never fully let go of all their envy. Pretty much everyone in that family exploited Michael for his money/relevance, but since his brothers were once his bandmates, they felt full on entitled towards not just Michael's money, but his career in general - because their time as a band was the most sucess they were ever gonna achieve, but it was quickly becoming just "Michael Jackson's early years, when he was not as famous as he is right now, but was already way more famous than his brothers will ever be." They were dependent on him, and were now being told "No, he won't let you all tag along forever."

Hence them demanding to be part of "Off The Wall" and getting mad when Michael didn't let them, making him tour with them singing the band's biggest hits instead of doing a tour for Thriller, fucking raiding his house for valluable stuff, using his money to buy mansions for themselves and raise their kids/pay child support, claiming that if things had been just slightly different their own solo careers totally could have been just as big as Michael's, etc.

It wasn't just that their sibling slowly became way better than them and eventually didn't need them to be sucessful. Michael NEVER needed them. He was always the star, the one people were more interested in, the one with the most talent, and eventually he realized that, if he continued letting his family pressure him into ignoring his own goals and focused on "paying his debt to his siblings (and father)" he was at best going to be held back forever so his brother's could stay relevant at his expense, and at worst he'd ruin his own career completely just so they could all fail together and his brother's egos would be spared.

Again, see how HE basically ended the band (or at least the version the public actually cared about). To them, it wasn't Michael going solo, it was him kicking them out. Like they would have TOTALLY made Thriller with him, or could have each done it on their own. Like his solo works are theirs by extention just because they used to do things as a group, and therefore they deserve the profit and the credit for something they were not involved in.

Joseph, of course, did not fucking help make the situation any better. I already mentioned all the physical abuse he put his children through during reharsals, but there's one more thing: he'd sometimes deliberately compare his other sons to Michael when they made a mistake while dancing or singing, to make them feel worse about themselves for not being as good as their brother. OBVIOUSLY that led to a ton of misplaced resentment towards their sibling for them, and to Michael feeling guilty about something that wasn't his fault.

Joseph is also the person who taught them their very warped idea of "family." He had always said that family was the most important thing in the world - because he was one of these parents who believed that, since he was responsible for them being alive, they owed him literally EVERYTHING and thus had to put up with EVERYTHING.

He wanted to beat them with a belt whenever they did anything wrong? They should just shut up and endure it, it's just discipline, and they wouldn't be going through that if they could just do what they're told.

He wants to control their careers, have "his share" of their money, and then use said money to cheat on their mother? Doesn't matter, he is still the man of the house if he's not the one making the money, and thus they owe him respect and shouldn't meddle on what he does with his life.

Michael is clearly depressed about all the trauma he was put through and the childhood that was stolen from him? Oh please, he should be thankful that he was made to work like a dog for most of his life, it's the thing that has allowed the whole family to live not just comfortably, but luxuriously - with his money. That he totally only made because of Joseph, so they really don't owe anything to Michael.

It's really no surprise that, after being raised by that man, Michael's brothers turned out the way they did. Their complaints were "God, he told me to buy a smaller house since I can't afford a mansion instead of buying said mansion for me, the watch he gave me for my birthday is only worth ONE million dollars instead of two, and he will only let us do a medley of our Jackson 5 hits during his show, not tour with us again, how selfish!" meanwhile Michael was complaining that since everyone, including his own family, was only ever thinking of how being close to him would benefit their image/lead to them making money, he was incredibly lonely and miserable.

Nine times out of ten, Michael helped his family out of "obligation" - because that's what they turned their relationship into. A transaction, a contract. Michael "paying his debt" to people that cared about his money and fame so much that they often forgot he was a person that, even after all they did, STILL loved them.

But I guess "We are totally responsible for his sucess, and in fact could have totally been just as famous" is a much more pleasant version of the story than "We completely failed our brother, and we should thank God everyday that he never fully broke free of this AWFUL family, because otherwise we'd be broke and even more irrelevant."

[alahnasarchive]

Diana Ross’ medley at the “Motown 25 TV Special” (1983)

[hit-song-showdown]

Year-End Poll #34: 1983

[Image description: a collage of photos of the 10 musicians and musical groups featured in this poll. In order from left to right, top to bottom: The Police, Michael Jackson, Irene Cara, Men at Work, Michael Jackson, Bonnie Tyler, Hall & Oates, Patti Austin and James Ingram, Michael Sembello, Eurythmics. End description]

More information about this blog here

Today's poll includes multiple songs off the soundtrack for the movie, Flashdance. We've seen songs from soundtracks featured on these polls, with You Light Up My Life and Evergreen coming to mind (plus songs from actual musicals). But instead of just diegetic ballads and showtunes, now we're seeing more songs marketing themselves around their connection to the films they were written for. As music videos are being shot more like movies and movies are being shot more like music videos, the meeting of these two worlds makes sense. Especially when music videos start to include actual clips from the movies, MTV was the place to get a wide audience for your music.

But not everyone could see the benefits right away. While MTV kicked off with a bang, their initial video rotation infamously featured no Black acts. The network's explanation was to insist that the exclusion wasn't based on race, but rather MTV's status as a "rock station".

1983 also marks the 25th anniversary of Motown Records and a television special (Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever) was broadcasted to mark the occasion. While the night is marked by more legends than I can list off, the notable performance for this blurb was Michael Jackson. After performing with the Jackson 5 for the first time since the 70's, Michael Jackson performed his new solo hit, Billie Jean. This number marks the public debut of the moonwalk, the musician's signature dance move that arguably cemented his status as a pop culture icon.

In hindsight, it feels ludicrous that an artist like Michael Jackson was initially unable to get on MTV. Fortunately, people at the time thought it was ludicrous as well. Both Rick James and David Bowie called out the network years before (with James being especially vocal in critiquing MTV for its exclusion of Black artists). But allegedly, Michael Jackson's record company found a way to get Billie Jean on the channel. To quote Walter Yetnikoff, the president of CBS Records at the time:

“I said to MTV, ‘I’m pulling everything we have off the air, all our product. I’m not going to give you any more videos. And I’m going to go public and fucking tell them about the fact you don’t want to play music by a black guy.’” (x)

Whether in response to Yetnikoff or not, Billie Jean aired on MTV March 10th, 1983, making it the first music video by a Black artist to be featured in heavy rotation on the channel. Later this year, the cinematic possibilities of the music video would be pushed further with the 13 minute video for Thriller. Michael was already a star without the push from MTV, and with how popular his videos were, it could be argued that MTV needed Michael as much if not more than he needed them. But while MTV's problems with race and representation were far from over, this moment helped pave the way for many other Black artists who will become iconic figures on the channel.

[duranduratulsa]

michael jackson billie jean live first time moonwalk

80's Fest Event of the day: Michael Jackson debuts the Moonwalk at the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special. #history #michaeljackson #moonwalk #billiejean #Motown25 #80s #80sfest #durandurantulsas5thannual80sfest