Motown 25: Thirty Years Later

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, and Forever first aired back in 1983, and it was an event that almost everyone I knew watched. We had fewer options for television viewing then, of course, and a special featuring the greatest stars of Motown was too exciting to miss. The show provided an overview of the history of the famous recording company based in Detroit and demonstrated just how deep a cultural impact the acts from the label’s first twenty-five years had. It was a nice evening of nostalgia for those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s, in particular.

Recently, the special was rebroadcast—well, most of it anyway—on public television as part of a fundraising drive. I decided to revisit the program thirty-two years after that initial showing to see how well my memory of it has held up. Of course, it’s most famous for introducing the “moonwalk” to viewers when Michael Jackson wowed the crowd during his performance of “Billie Jean” from his then-new Thriller album. Oddly enough, that moment wasn’t even the best of the night from my perspective of more than three decades later.

·         Dick Clark showed up to talk about how black musicians had a lot of obstacles to overcome (i.e., racism, a word he didn’t or wouldn’t use) in order to become successful. For example, many stores that catered primarily to white customers wouldn’t sell albums that had black faces on them, leading to such atrocities as the album cover of This Old Heart of Mine by the Isley Brothers having a photograph of two white people canoodling on a beach. Crazy. (Clark didn’t mention but the clips revealed that his show American Bandstand made a big difference too. He showcased a lot of performers from Motown over the years and helped to make the label one that young people sought out.)

·         Dr. Johnny Fever (Howard Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Tim Reid) from TV’s WKRP in Cincinnati introduced a segment whose sole purpose seemed to be to give short shrift to some of the greatest early Motown artists. The broadcast only featured snippets of “Heat Wave” by Martha Reeves, “My Guy” by Mary Wells, and “Shot Gun” by Junior Walker. Almost all of those songs and singers made history, but they were definitely slighted by the producers of the show. I hope that they were allowed to perform the entire songs at the actual event, but for the sake of time, their moments were just reduced to thirty second clips. (By the way, WKRP in Cincinnati had ended more than a year before the Motown special was broadcast. Why were these two characters brought back for this event?)

·         After some clips of the kinds of dance moves for which Motown groups were noted—such as the Pips backing up Gladys Knight—the Temptations and the Four Tops gave a master class in synchronized moves. The sing-off between these two groups was one of the highlights that I recalled with pretty good accuracy. They had a lot of great songs, and they could still sing them beautifully.

·         Marvin Gaye was so sly and just so sexy. He talked to the audience about how music intertwines with history before launching into “What’s Going On.” It was a brilliant transition, and he performed the song with just a piano for accompaniment. A breathtaking moment.

·         The medley of songs by the Jackson 5 brought a smile to my face. They made such good music together, and the group was never quite the same after Jermaine left. He was back here and youngest brother Randy (Jermaine’s replacement) also joined in, making it the Jackson 6, I suppose. Randy, by the way, was very hot. He was wearing a torn shirt that left his nipple exposed many years before sister Janet’s Super Bowl fiasco. (Yet no one made a fuss about Randy’s nipple. Odd, isn’t it?) Another brother had on a sparkly, see-through shirt that was far too covered up by a jacket, but his body just couldn’t quite compare to Randy’s. No, I don’t recall that brother’s name. I could never keep all of the Jackson brothers’ names clear once I got past Michael and Jermaine (and, obviously, Randy).

·         Michael Jackson famously wanted to sing his new song “Billie Jean,” not just the old stuff with his brothers. He wanted to sell some records on his current label and apparently only agreed to appear if he could do his latest hit. During what is an obviously lip-synched performance, he moonwalks twice, but it’s only for a couple of seconds each time, not the lengthy moonwalk across the entire stage that I thought I saw originally. In retrospect, it’s not quite as astonishing an event as we might think, but it certainly signaled a change in the way that Jackson would be respected as an artist. The audience in the theater certainly enjoyed his performance; it’s one of the few ovations of the night.

·         I personally enjoyed the duet of Smokey Robinson and Linda Ronstadt on “Ooh Baby Baby” and “Tracks of My Tears.” Robinson reunited with the original Miracles early in the show, but hearing the blending of his and Ronstadt’s voices on these two classics was amazing. How bittersweet to watch this performance now that Ronstadt has lost the ability to sing due to Parkinson’s.

·         I love Diana Ross, and one of the highlights of my life in recent years was getting to see her perform live at the Hollywood Bowl. However, she was and is quite the diva. She got to anchor the final segment of the show. She was, of course, one of the members of one of the biggest groups in popular music history, the Supremes, later known as Diana Ross and the Supremes (there’s a sign of a growing ego). She showed up at the Motown 25 spectacular on her own first, though. She got to sing one of her solo hits before bringing out fellow former Supremes Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong to join her on “Someday We’ll Be Together.” She, however, remained the center of attention, even taking a few steps to block Wilson from the camera at one point before relinquishing lead vocals to her one-time rival. Birdsong, wisely, stayed out of the way of both Ross and Wilson.

·         Ross brought out everyone for the final moments of the special. It’s touching to see her reunited with Richard Pryor, her costar from Lady Sings the Blues. She’s also there with Michael and the rest of the Jackson 5, whom she “introduced” on their first recordings. She coaxed label founder Berry Gordy to join everyone on stage (although Mary Wilson had technically beaten her to it) even though she and most of the Jacksons and Gaye and a lot of the other acts had left the label to make more money. She seemed to think that she got to bring the Motown “family” together. Who else could have made such a reunion possible?

·         El DeBarge was apparently a much bigger deal than I remembered. He gets a prime spot of real estate during the closing number. DeBarge, his family’s namesake band, was popular for less than a decade, but he’s given more exposure than many of the greatest artists in the history of music.

I think quite a lot was cut in order to have enough time for all of the pledge drive nonsense. One of the prizes for pledging was the full version with additional bonus material. A lot of acts from the early years were not invited, and only selected artists were given time to perform. It’s a very hit-and-miss evening, to be honest, but thankfully, some of the reunions (the Jackson brothers, the Supremes) were captured on film since this would mark the last time they would, actually, be together.

Taking Stock: 2015

Favorite Film: I saw thirty-four feature length films and nine short films in the theater. Add another fourteen films on DVD, thanks mostly to my teaching an Introduction to Film Studies class in the fall, and you’ve got a pretty good year at the movies. I did, of course, watch dozens more on TV and streaming, far more than I’ve had a chance to watch in recent years. Of the theatrical films I watched, my favorite was The Martian, featuring a very loose, often quite funny Matt Damon as an astronaut stranded on the Red Planet. It’s Ridley Scott’s most accomplished and entertaining film in years, and watching Damon filming himself trying to survive alone was much more intriguing that a simple plot summary might suggest. It also features the best-ever use of David Bowie’s “Starman” in a movie.

Favorite Film (Runner-Up): Amy, the documentary chronicling the short life and career of British singer Amy Winehouse, is one of the best nonfiction films of the past decade. Notwithstanding the opportunity to witness her creating some of her most indelible songs, what I most admired about the film was how carefully it presented the events leading up to her premature death. Amy should be one of the finalists for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, and it should be a strong contender for the top honor. This is a documentary that is more riveting that the vast majority of fiction films out there.

Favorite Male Film Performance: Michael B. Jordan takes on the title role in Creed with such a sense of star power that he tends to eclipse Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in every scene that they share. Jordan plays the illegitimate son of Rocky’s famous first opponent, and he provides as much magnetism as Carl Weathers did in the original 1976 film. Hopefully, the franchise will now follow Jordan’s character, and we will have the opportunity to see this young actor continue to develop what will undoubtedly become an iconic role while continuing to headline the kinds of indie films for which he is also known.

Favorite Film Performance (Runners-Up): Chris Pratt in Jurassic World and Paul Rudd in Ant-Man rewrote the rules for being the kind of male lead that action-adventure/superhero movies should have. Pratt, already a star thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy from 2014, interjected a real sense of energy and humor into his role as dinosaur wrangler in the blockbuster sequel; it is no wonder that Bryce Dallas Howard’s ice princess role (and how annoying was it to have the female lead so stereotypically written) falls for him. Didn’t we all? And Rudd, who has always been one of my favorite actors, took on an unconventional role for himself and used his considerable charm to make a more complex, interesting superhero than most of the rest of the Marvel universe.

Favorite Female Film Performance: Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road takes a movie that is supposed to be centered around Tom Hardy’s title character and forces us to watch her instead (and miss her whenever she’s not on screen). It’s no small feat to steal a movie from Hardy, and the entire movie is a non-stop rush of adrenaline, so for Theron’s character to steal a group of enslaved women in order to rescue them from a terrible future and find her homeland after years of captivity. The Mad Max movies have a history of male-centeredness, but the plot to Mad Max: Fury Road turns that paradigm on its head. Theron, who has been underutilized in movies since her Oscar win for Monster, frankly, was the most compelling presence on screen—male or female—for me this past year.

Favorite Female Performance (Runner-Up): She has a relatively small part and only a few key scenes, but Phylicia Rashad really makes the most of them in Creed. As Mary Anne Creed, the wife of Apollo Creed, she has to navigate the difficult terrain of adopting his illegitimate child and trying to keep him from going into his father’s profession. She fails at that, of course, but the scenes where she watches her adopted son fight for the championship adds to the excitement of that sequence. Rashad has not been getting much attention from the awards groups, but her performance is one of those that makes one acknowledge what a true “supporting” performance is.

Favorite Book of Poetry: I only managed to read twenty-one books this past year, far fewer than in years past. To be honest, some of them were quite long and took a great deal of time to read. For example, I tackled a collection of Wallace Stevens poetry for the first time since graduate school, and given the complexity of his writing and the esoteric nature of his subject matter, I just couldn’t read it quickly. I did manage to reread one favorite book of poetry, Why God Permits Evil by Miller Williams. Williams died earlier this year, and his passing sent me to Amazon to find copies of his books of poetry. Why God Permits Evil was a book that I read for the first time back at Mississippi State as part of a Contemporary Literature class, and I had fond memories of it. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost it over the years with all of the moves to different residences, so I had to buy a new copy. It was definitely worth it, and I intend to be more careful in holding on to this copy.

Favorite Fiction Book: The Days of Anna Madrigal is a fitting finale to Armistead Maupin Tales of the City series (if it is, indeed, the last chapter). I kept reading with the expectation that the beloved transgender character of Anna Madrigal would die, and the rest of the residents and former residents of Barbary Lane would grapple with the loss. What I got instead was an uplifting, life-affirming story that delves into people’s pasts and provides some key historical contexts for many of the characters I have been following since I read my first Tales of the City book in 1990. I’ve never been to Burning Man, and to be honest, after reading this book, I’m not really inspired to go, but the description of it is certainly detailed with a great sense of affection.

Favorite Non-Fiction Book: The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” by Alan Light traces the development of the famous song from its writing through various significant interpretations of it over the years. Light does fine work examining and analyzing the ways that the song has been rewritten and deconstructed, and his discussion of the ways that Cohen, Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, k.d. lang, and a host of other people have changed the lyrics to suit their style is enlightening. I didn’t expect a book about just one song, no matter how famous, to be this interesting.

Favorite Non-Fiction Book (Runners-Up): I read two biographies this past year by noted gay men who were born in the South: Mama’s Boy, Preacher’s Son by Kevin Jennings and Mississippi Sissy by Kevin Sessums. Both reminded me why I was so adamant about leaving the South more than twenty-five years ago and why I determined that I would overcome my background and become a success. Jennings and Sessums have accomplished a great deal in the fields of education and journalism, respectively, and their stories will, I hope, serve as inspiration for future generations of young gay people, perhaps most especially those still living in the South.

Favorite Theatrical Event of the Year: I attended five theatrical productions this past year, three of them at my college and the other two by professional companies. The one that I enjoyed the most was a revitalized Twelfth Night that featured acrobats and a fantastic young singer in the role of Feste, the clown. I’ll admit that our college’s Theatre Arts Department does fine work, and my friends and I really enjoyed Clybourne Park and The Drowsy Chaperone too.

Favorite Event of the Year: This is a tough choice for 2015 because I had opportunities to see some great musical talents. Bette Midler put on the most fantastic show at the Honda Center in Anaheim. She sang most of her great hits and chose some songs like Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” to turn into new classics. Of course, she also understands what a sense of showmanship entails, and her backup singers were quite game for the fun. I’ve long been a fan of Midler’s and have owned almost every album she’s released, but this was the first time I had a chance to see her perform live. I went to the show with several friends, and getting to share the experience only heightened our enjoyment.

Favorite Event of the Year (Runners-Up): A couple of other events deserve special mention. The Boyfriend and I got to see Heart at the Hollywood Bowl in August after my first day back at school, and it was such a pleasure to sing along with Ann and Nancy Wilson’s songs from throughout their long career. They even did a couple of Led Zepplin songs for good measure, and they totally rocked the Bowl. And we finally got to see Culture Club at the Greek Theatre (with Boy George in fine voice), a group the Boyfriend only knows from their later years and Boy George’s solo career. A particular highlight of that evening was getting to see Caitlyn Jenner introduce the band; she walked out without any announcement, and it only took the crowd a few seconds to recognize her and go completely crazy. Boy George has grown fond of outrageous hats in recent years, so each reappearance on stage was cause for another round of aahs.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The Princess next door wakes up at 8 a.m. You know this because you are awakened by his typical annoying habit of playing his dreary music loudly enough for him to hear it over the shower—and for you to hear it clearly as well. He eventually leaves for work, but when he returns in the evening, he turns on the television in his bedroom, and it sounds like he’s listening to an old industrial film punctuated at times by loud car crashes.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Princess finally goes to sleep at about 2 a.m., or at least, the noise from next door quietens down at around 2 a.m. Oddly enough, he doesn’t play music in the morning (or, perhaps, he doesn’t take a shower that day). You and The Boyfriend go to a movie, do a little shopping, have a nice dinner, and return home to find a party next door in full swing. The noise level isn’t as loud as parties in the past have sometimes had, but other neighbors still complain because by midnight it’s still going on. Exhausted, you fall asleep with the thumping of the usual bad music associated with The Princess’ parties.

Thursday, December 34, to Wednesday, December 30, 2015

No noises from next door. The Princess and, apparently, Bigfoot, his roommate, are gone for the Christmas holidays. You are able to wake up when you please. You are able to go to sleep when you please. No loud music. No television. Nothing but the lovely peace and quiet you’ve come to associated with the Princess’ holiday visits to his trashy family in Texas. I have no idea where Bigfoot goes, but you have to assume it’s somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

Thursday, December 31, 2015

As you’re getting ready to go to a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s home, you hear the not-so-faint sounds of what seems to be an old-time industrial film punctuated by car crashes. The joy of the holidays has obviously ended. The Princess has returned, and he’s back to his old ways.

Friday, January 1, 2016

You get home at about 1:30 a.m. You’ve eaten well and had a few celebratory drinks, you’ve watched the ball drop in Times Square (on television, of course), and you’ve kissed and hugged everyone and wished them “Happy New Year.” You’re tired and want to sleep. You go to brush your teeth and hear what sounds like the same stupid movie that was playing in the morning. You wonder if there’s some long industrial film on an endless loop next door. You grit your teeth and think that at least he’ll have to go back to work on Monday, giving you a few hours during the day without his racket.