Motown 25

There have been a myriad of televised music related specials over the years. Sadly, many tend to disappoint or get watered down by the powers that be (or the “suits”) at the T.V. stations executive offices. While there have been iconic moments (e.g. Elvis and The Beatles debut’s on The Ed Sullivan Show), actual music specials, for the most part, don’t tend to dwell in our long term memories.

One of the exceptions to this was the “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” special that originally aired on May 16, 1983 (the show actually took placed at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on March 25, 1983 as a fundraiser for sickle-cell anemia). Not only was celebrating a record company most unique at that time - most of the artists who gotten their start at Motown, had left the company by 1983.

Organizing such an event was, according to DVD liner notes, a massive undertaking. But, the key to this show’s success was the amazing reunions that it was able to pull together – especially on the same night.

Seeing the regrouping of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Jackson 5, and The Supremes was amazing (even though the Supremes set was quite short and has been tainted by a reported onstage -and off camera - incident between Diana Ross and Mary Wilson).

Of course, the show is best known for Michael Jackson debuting the “moonwalk” during his solo “Billie Jean” segment. Jackson, who was already a huge solo star in early 1983, with “Thriller” having been unleashed on the world in December of 1982. But it was this moment which had the whole world talking the next day and helped catapult Jackson to the stratosphere of pop stardom.

As great as his solo moment was, the Jackson 5 reunion (first time in 8 years that the brothers performed with Jermaine Jackson) which preceded it was amazing as well. A killer medley of “I Want You Back” and “The Love You Save” (it was the end of the medley that Randy Jackson would join his brothers on stage) made way to an impressive “Never Can Say Goodbye ,“ (not seen in the original broadcast) and a very moving “I’ll Be There.” While the reunion did not live in people’s memories as the moonwalk debut did, it certainly should have.

A showdown between The Temptations and the Four Tops was another show stealer. Sadly David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks were not in the band this night (even though they had both participated in a Temptations reunion tour in 1982), Ruffin’s replacement, Dennis Edwards was on most main vocals this night. The groups each sang snippets of their biggest hits as a friendly showdown - which led to the groups singing part of the other bands songs and a groups hug finale.

Another standout this night was Marvin Gaye. Gaye, who was enjoying a career revival due to his then recent smash “Sexual Healing,” knocked the crowd out with a smooth and soulful rendition of “What’s Going On?” Sadly, Gaye’s life would end just a little more than a year after this show.

Motown 25 was the best celebration of a record company ever. Several other celebrations have worked well (the Atlantic Records 40 Anniversary in 1988 comes to mind – mostly due to a Led Zeppelin reunion), but did not have the overall impact this did at reviving interest in the Motown catalogue and history.

While Motown 25 is available as a single DVD, the 6 DVD Deluxe collector's edition box is recommended as you get 14 hours of bonus features, rare interviews, and rehearsal footage of both Stevie Wonder and Gaye.