Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever
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Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever was a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, to commemorate Motown's twenty-fifth year of existence. The program was taped before a live studio audience on March 25, 1983, and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were a Temptations/Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion, Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", and an abbreviated reunion of Diana Ross & the Supremes, who performed their final #1 hit, "Someday We'll Be Together" from 1969.
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[edit] Performances
[edit] Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye, who ironically had left the label a year before to sign with Columbia Records and had a current hit with "Sexual Healing," agreed at the last minute to join the roster of other Motown legends to perform. When he came on, he played the piano and gave the audience a narrative of black music history before he stepped off the piano and sung his classic 1971 hit, "What's Going On", to thunderous applause.
[edit] Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" was a song he recorded for Epic Records in 1982, not a Motown song; he planned to attend and not perform on Motown 25 before he successfully negotiated his solo spot and the permission to sing a non-Motown song. His dancing performance received significant applause from the audience, especially when Jackson executed his trademark moonwalk for the first time. His Emmy nominated performance contributed to his Thriller album's success and his status as a musical and cultural icon of the 1980s.
[edit] Diana Ross & the Supremes
The unrehearsed Supremes reunion between Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong was cut short when Ross, frustrated by the fact that Wilson and Birdsong were taking the same steps forward as her instead of staying in the back, turned around and pushed Wilson towards the back of the stage. A few moments later, Motown labelmates such as Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, and others quickly filled the stage for an impromptu finale. Wilson invited Motown founder Berry Gordy to come down from the balcony and join everyone onstage, but Ross snatched her microphone away, and hissed "it's been taken care of", before inviting Gordy down herself.
By the time the reunion aired on May 16, the Ross/Wilson altercations had been excised from the special, but they were widely reported, resulting in bad publicity for Ross and a public perception of her as an egotistical diva.
[edit] The Temptations/Four Tops
The Temptations and Four Tops competed in a "Battle of the Bands" style event. The only original Temptations performing were Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams, as David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks had had a falling out with the group and Paul Williams had died in 1973. Joining Williams and Franklin were then-Temptations Dennis Edwards, Richard Street, and Ron Tyson. All of the original members of the Four Tops performed, with Levi Stubbs providing the lead vocals. The two groups performed "Reach Out I'll Be There", "Get Ready", "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)", "My Girl" and "(I Know) I'm Losing You", among other numbers. The joint performance was a success, and the Temptations and Four Tops toured together for two years following the special.
This "battle" later returned in a special at the Apollo theater.
[edit] Trivia
- Interestingly, Motown was founded in January 1959, meaning that a twenty-fifth anniversary special should have aired in 1984, not 1983. One could argue that Gordy's vision of what would become "Hitsville U.S.A." was conceived in 1958, considering the month of Motown's founding.
- Marvin Gaye's performance on the show, following his appearances in February 1983 on the Grammys and the NBA All-Star Game, was his final national television appearance before his murder a year later in 1984.
- Michael Jackson's concert performances of "Billie Jean" in the years since Motown 25 are always formatted on his performance on this special, from the opening pose with the fedora to the moonwalk routine in the song's bridge.
- According to the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, James Jamerson, a key component of the Motown sound, and member of The Funk Brothers who recorded many of the backing tracks to the Motown hits, had to buy a Motown 25 ticket from a scalper and sat at the back of the hall with the general public. By this time, Jamerson was ruined by alcohol and his career as one of the most in demand session players was virtually over. Jamerson died less than a year later from alcoholism.
- Linda Ronstadt performed "Ooh Baby Baby and "Tracks Of My Tears" with Smokey Robinson. She had hits with both songs and in 1976 her version of "Tracks Of My Tears" even went to #12 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart, a first for a "Motown" song.
[edit] References
- Posner, Gerald (2002). Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-375-50062-6.
- Wilson, Mary and Romanowski, Patricia (1986, 1990, 2000). Dreamgirl & Supreme Faith: My Life as a Supreme. New York: Cooper Square Publishers. ISBN 0-8154-1000-X.
