Motown 25: Falling All Over Again


Is it possible to fall in love with Michael all over again? After watching Motown 25, I have to say that answer is an affirmative yes! Sure, the clips are on Youtube and have been around for years. But there's nothing like seeing the show again in its entirety, putting one's self back in 1983, and watching it like it was the very first time. Just for fun, I tried an experiment. I tried to pretend that I had forgotten everything I knew about Michael Jackson post-1983. I put myself completely back into that time period. I had never seen Michael do a moonwalk before; had never even heard of any such thing. What did I know about him? Only that he used to be in The Jackson 5, sometimes still sang with them, had had a hit album called "Off The Wall" and a new one with that really catchy song "Billie Jean" on it. And that is pretty much the extent of it. Yes, it was hard to pretend but I set my mental clock backwards. With no preconceived notions and no benefit of hindsight, I simply put myself in the moment.

All of the performers were fantastic. It was indeed a very special night. But even I was shocked at how my heart actually skipped a few beats when The Jacksons came out. My God, could anything or anyone be more drop dead gorgeous than Michael Jackson was in 1983? That suave new hairstyle; those huge, piercing eyes, that glittering rhinestone jacket that almost hurt my eyes to stare at; that swagger that proclaimed to the whole world, "I am here to conquer!" There was more than just something magical about Michael that night. You could feel the palpable electricity coming through the TV screen. It was like he was on fire!

Throughout the years, Michael would perform "Billie Jean" hundreds, if not thousands of times. The performance evolved, of course. The moonwalks became grander and smoother; eventually, everything about this set piece became bigger and bolder; splashier and more polished. Yet there is nothing like the magic of the first time. And Michael did indeed seem magical that night, like nothing earthly could touch him. We would never again see him quite like this-this magnetic, this hungry, this confident, this young.

But it was more than just seeing him solo. Watching it all again for the first time in thirty years, I was struck by the power of the brothers' "I'll Be There" performance, and during the opening medley, I came to appreciate anew just what a force The Jacksons could be as a unit. Michael and Jermaine's hugs did feel genuinely sincere, even if only for those fleeting moments, and I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed to see them all onstage together during the finale as everyone sang "Someday We'll Be Together Again." I would imagine that finale must be a very hard thing for them to watch now. I could understand why that moment made their parents so proud in the audience. I love Michael as a solo performer but a mother loves all her children, and that night, watching the six of them reunited, had to have been one of the high points of Katherine's life. It couldn't last. As Michael would sing years later, the moment was like a blazing comet "gone too soon.

I really didn't think watching this thirty-two year old performance-one I've seen hundreds of times via YT-could teach me anything new about Michael. I was wrong.

You really HAVE to watch Motown 25 in its entirety, to experience what that magnetic transition was like when Michael took the stage. Sheryl Crow said it best. You could feel the "molecules change in the room." You could feel it from your TV chair; that's what a powerful force he was that night.

The true testament of what a great performance that was? Thirty-two years later, in 2015, I had goose flesh watching it.

I can only imagine for those who were there, it must have felt like lightning had struck.

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