№ 01 · MOMENT
The Moonwalk Debut
Motown 25, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, March 25, 1983
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
★ LEGENDARY
← MICHAEL JACKSON
CARD N° 01 · MOMENT · ★ LEGENDARY
The Moonwalk Debut
Motown 25, Pasadena Civic Auditorium, March 25, 1983
№ 01 MOMENT
The Moonwalk Debut
Michael only agreed to perform at Motown's 25th-anniversary special if he could do one non-Motown song — Billie Jean. Berry Gordy reluctantly said yes. He learned the moonwalk the night before from teenage street dancer Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar, who had been doing a version of it on Soul Train.
▶ THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Billie Jean, Motown 25 (1983)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8zfvH4SDcU
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
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THE FACT
Michael only agreed to perform at Motown's 25th-anniversary special if he could do one non-Motown song — Billie Jean. Berry Gordy reluctantly said yes. He learned the moonwalk the night before from teenage street dancer Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar, who had been doing a version of it on Soul Train.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
What few people know is that the move wasn't invented that night and wasn't invented by Michael. The backslide had been performed by Cab Calloway in the 1930s, by Bill Bailey in 1955, and most directly by Jeffrey Daniel on the British TV show Top of the Pops in 1982. Michael studied the footage obsessively, refined it with his dance coach Daniel, and rehearsed it for weeks. On the night, he wore a single sequined glove (so it would catch the spotlight on his face during the pop-lock) and a black fedora borrowed from his father. Fred Astaire phoned him the next morning and said: 'You're an angry dancer. I'm the same way. I used to do the same kind of thing with my cane.' Michael said it was the proudest moment of his life.
▶
THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Billie Jean, Motown 25 (1983) — The full 5 minutes that changed pop performance forever.