May 16, 1983: Michael Jackson Overshadows the Motown 25 Special

May 16, 1983: NBC airs the special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever – a year ahead of Motown Records' actual 25th Anniversary. It was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, on March 25.

It was thought that the highlight might be the "Battle of the Bands" between the Temptations and the Four Tops, which led to a highly successful joint tour between them. Or it might be Smokey Robinson reuniting with his former group, The Miracles. Or it might be Marvin Gaye continuing his comeback, with a speech about the history of black music and a performance of his song "What's Going On."

Or it might be Diana Ross singing with The Supremes for the 1st time since 1969. She reunited with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who had replaced Florence Ballard in 1967. But the reunion was acrimonious.

 

But when Michael Jackson decided to sing his current single, the Number 1 song in the country at the time, it became one of those "Where Were You?" moments. I was at home in East Brunswick, and I didn't watch it.

Jackson had been a star since he and his brothers, as The Jackson Five, had their 1st Number 1 hit, "I Want You Back," in 1969. He had become a solo star with his 1979 album Off the Wall. He'd released Thriller, including "Billie Jean," the preceding November 29, making him bigger than ever. But this performance lifted him up to another level, the way appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show did for Elvis Presley in 1956 and The Beatles in 1964.

"Billie Jean" had hit Number 1 on March 5, and lasted 7 weeks on top, including the day of the special's taping. It had been succeeded for 1 week by "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners. That was succeeded, immediately the next week, by Jackson's next single, "Beat It," which had Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar, the 1st fusion of Motown and metal. "Beat It" was still Number 1 when the special aired.

When the Jackson Five were starting out, Michael said he wanted to wear a hat onstage, like his idol, the aforementioned Marvin Gaye. He was told no, because it was an "adult" thing to do. Apparently, women went crazy when Marvin took off his hat, and flung it offstage.

This time, as the opening notes to "Billie Jean" began, Michael put a hat on, and the girls screamed. He did some moves that no one had ever seen before, but became a standard part of his routine. Then he took the hat off, and flung it offstage. Then he started sliding backwards, which he called the "moonwalk."

He didn't invent it. Cab Calloway was seen using it on film in 1932. Suggesting it was already well-known back then, he said in 1985 that it was called "the buzz." Bill Bailey did it in the all-black 1943 film musical The Cabin in the Sky. In 1944, Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien did it in Meet Me in St. Louis. Around the same time, Marcel Marceau, the world's foremost mime, began doing something like it.

In 1958, Dick Van Dyke appeared on, of all things, The Pat Boone Show, and did a routine he called "Mailing a Letter on a Windy Corner," which included a move similar to the Moonwalk. And in 1969, just 4 months after Apollo 11 landed on the actual Moon, Judy the Frog taught a dance called "The Moonwalk" on the kids' show H.R. Pufnstuf.

During the special, Jackson wore a sequined glove on his left hand, but not on his right. In later appearances, he would wear one on his right, but not on his left. He later explained: "I felt that one glove was cool… Wearing two gloves seemed so ordinary."

A joke came out of this: "Did you hear the New York Mets signed Michael Jackson? Just what they need: Another guy who wears a glove on only one hand for no apparent reason." Actually, there had already been a Mike Jackson in the major leagues, pitching for 4 different teams from 1970 to 1973; and there would later be a Michael Jackson, pitching for 8 teams from 1986 to 2004, collecting 142 saves. But neither of them ever played for the Mets.

Before the special, Michael Jackson was as big as most stars ever get. After it, he was as big as the biggest stars ever got.

It would become a blessing... and, alternately, a curse.

In a 2012 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, Michael Jackson was played as a boy by Bentley Green, and as an adult by "Nice" Peter Shukoff, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist as Elvis Presley.

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May 16, 1983 was a Monday. The NBA was in the middle of its Conference Finals, but no games were played. The Philadelphia 76ers would beat the Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers would beat the San Antonio Spurs, and then the Sixers would beat an injury-stricken Laker team in 4 straight to win the title.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 3 and 4. The next night, the New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, New York, to win their 4th straight Stanley Cup. One dynasty was not quite ready to give way to the next. The following season, it did: The Isles' "Drive For Five" was ended in the Finals by the Oilers of Wayne Gretzky.

And there were 5 games played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Ron Guidry pitched a 3-hit shutout, giving up only a double to Lou Whitaker, and singles to Lance Parrish and Chet Lemon. For the Yankees, Ken Griffey Sr. went 3-for-4 with a walk, and Dave Winfield went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Darryl Strawberry, on his way to being named National League Rookie of the Year, hit a home run.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. An error by catcher Ted Simmons, with former Yankee top prospect Mickey Klutts at the plate, allowed Barry Bonnell to score the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Robin Yount went 1-for-5. Paul Molitor went 0-for-5, but did draw a walk.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The A's led 7-0 going into the bottom of the 9th, but the Twins nearly came all the way back: The inning began with back-to-back home runs by Dave Engle and Bobby Mitchell, followed by a walk, a strikeout, a groundout, a 2-run homer by Gary Gaetti, another walk, another 2-run homer by Mickey Hatcher, and a single, meaning the tying run was on base, before reliever Tom Burgmeier, replacing the melting-down Dave Beard, slammed the door. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.