50 Moments that Changed the History of Rock & Roll, Michael Moonwalks...May 16th, 1983Issue 951 -- June 24th, 2004
Michael Moonwalks: Dance move makes "Thriller" the biggest album ever
May 16th, 1983
"I already thought 'Billie Jean' was one of the greatest records ever made when Michael performed on Motown 25," says Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "LA" Reid. "But when he slid across that stage, I could feel it was like an earthquake. I was always around break dancers who attempted things like that, but I hadn't seen anyone pull it off. It was as though he was some kind of robot."
Before his performance on the May 16th, 1983 television special celebrating Motown's twenty-fifth aniversary, Jackson had phoned his management office with a request. "Please order me a spy's hat, like a cool fedora -- something that a secret agent would wear," he said. Jackson was planning to perform "Billie Jean," which was in the middle of a six-week run at the top of the singles chart. He'd been rehearsing for weeks, but the night before the taping, he went down to the kitchen of his Hayvenhurst mansion in Encino, California, put on his spy hat, turned his stereo up loud and began practicing new moves. He later said he was trying to perfect a "break-dance step, a 'popping' type thing" that some hip-hop kids had taught him. "All I was really sure of was that on the bridge to 'Billie Jean,' I was going to walk backward and forward at the same time," he said, "like walking on the moon."
That performance of "Billie Jean" is one of the most electrifying dance routines in television history, but it was all just buildup for the few seconds during the bridge when he introduced the world to the moonwalk. Jackson later said that Fred Astaire phoned him the following day to say, "You're one hell of a mover." Astaire had even videotaped the show and analyzed Jackson's routine, step by step.
Jackson's Thriller, released in December 1982, was well on its way to record-breaking sales and its videos had opened up MTV for other black artists such as Prince. But the Motown 25 performance turned a hit into a phenomenon; five more Number One singles followed, and the album remained at the top of the chart for thirty-seven weeks.
Ultimately, Thriller sold 40 million copies worldwide and held the Guiness Book of World Records title for bestselling album. "At one point," claims Walter Yetnikoff, who was president of Jackson's label, CBS, at the time, "the Smithsonian was thinking of setting up a Michael Jackson wing. With Thriller, this young guy set the world on fire."
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