It’s one of the most famous dance moves of all time, and the man most associated with it did it for the first time for a television audience 35 years ago this week.
It happened on the NBC special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, which didn’t air until May but was taped in Pasadena, Calif. on March 25, 1983. The special was a celebration of all the great music produced by Motown Records over the years. Performances included Smokey Robinson reuniting with The Miracles, a Battle of the Bands between The Drifters and The Four Tops and Marvin Gaye performing “What’s Going On.”
But the thing that possibly changed the face of pop culture altogether was the Jackson 5 reunion, which gave way to Michael Jackson singing “Billie Jean” and debuting the Moonwalk, a move that would forever be tied to him.
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