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Michael Jackson · S4 E6
Motown 25 — The Moonwalk
One television moment. Billions of people. History made.
March 25, 1983, Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Michael Jackson is about to perform a song the label didn't even want on the setlist, and what happens next will be replayed for the rest of human history.
Jeffrey Daniel, the man who taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk, performs with Shalamar. Watch his footwork closely. This is where the moonwalk began.
A Night to Remember, Shalamar (1982)
"A Night to Remember" was released in 1982, the same year as Thriller. Jeffrey Daniel was one of the most electrifying movers in R&B, a Soul Train regular whose gravity-defying style drew attention from everyone in the music industry. Watch his footwork in this video: you are looking at the direct ancestor of the Pasadena moment that will soon change television forever.
Sources
Jeffrey Daniel interview, The Guardian, 2009
Nelson George, Thriller: The Musical Life of Michael Jackson, 2010
Pasadena Civic Auditorium
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was taped here on March 25, 1983, and aired on NBC on May 16 to 47 million viewers. This is the stage where the moonwalk happened.
The Performance
The Jackson 5 medley ends and the lights drop. Michael is alone on stage with a fedora, a single rhinestone glove, and a bass line pumping through the speakers. He performs "Billie Jean" with a physical precision that leaves the audience screaming so loud the audio distorts on the tape.
“"You're a hell of a mover. Man, you really put them on their asses last night."”
— Fred Astaire (phone call to Michael Jackson after watching Motown 25 on NBC, May 1983; recounted in Moonwalk, 1988)
TAP TO REVEAL: Michael Jackson almost didn't perform "Billie Jean" at Motown 25
Muscles, Diana Ross (1982)
Written and produced entirely by Michael Jackson for Diana Ross during the Thriller sessions. This slinky, synth-driven R&B track peaked at number ten on the Hot 100. The title is named after Michael's pet boa constrictor. At 24, while making the biggest album in history, he was simultaneously writing hit singles for one of Motown's greatest voices.
Who taught Michael Jackson the dance move he debuted at Motown 25?
The moonwalk has made Michael Jackson the most famous person on Earth. Now the numbers start arriving, and they will not make sense to anyone: 66 million copies and counting.
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