On May 16th,
1983 “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” debuted on NBC, reuniting groups
such as The Miracles, The Supremes and The Jackson 5 in celebration of
twenty-five years of Motown music. Perhaps best known for Michael Jackson’s
performance of “Billie Jean,” during which he introduced the world to the
moonwalk, this television special went on to win an Emmy Award and the George
Foster Peabody Award. For such a remarkable piece of music history, it is hard
to believe that this special show was unavailable to consumers until now.
Hosted by
Richard Pryor from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, essentially every living name
in Motown at the time appeared to have a hand in the celebration. After glowing
introductions by Pryor and other admirable guests such as Dick Clark, the famed
musicians took to the stage to perform a medley of their best-known melodies.
For instance, Stevie Wonder sang a mash-up of “Uptight,” “Signed, Sealed,
Delivered I’m Yours,” “My Cherie Amour,” “Sir Duke,” and “You Are the Sunshine
of My Life.” Other artists would play an entire song, such as Diana Ross’s
rendition of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” or Marvin Gaye doing “What’s
Going On.”
The DVD release
of the show comes with three discs, even though the entire broadcast can be fit
onto one. This is because of the extras included, from the performers
roundtable and making-of featurette included on the first disc to the hours of
bonus features on the remaining two discs. The second disc has more exclusive
interviews with producers and the director, along with a featurette and
rehearsal footage of Marvin Gaye performing “What’s Going On.” The third disc
includes additional interviews, as well as several reunion roundtables, shot on
location at the Pasadena
Civic Center
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7/10
Historical
Significance: 9/10
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