NBC 1983 Promo ("Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever")

Описание: This is a promo that aired on NBC in 1983 for the upcoming musical television special "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever", celebrating the twenty fifth anniversary of the founding of Detroit based record label Motown Records (incorporated January of 1959).

Taped at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California on March 25, 1983, the special aired on NBC two months later on May 16.

Hosted by Richard Pryor, the evening was filled with star studded performances and reunions with Motown artists of past and present.

Motown Vice President and solo artist Smokey Robinson reunited with his former group The Miracles, alongside his wife Claudette, Bobby Rogers and Pete Moore. (Original member Ronnie White was mourning the death of his wife).

There was also a "battle of the bands" segment featuring The Four Tops and The Temptations, each singing the group's classic hits. While all original members of the Four Tops showed up, Melvin Franklin and Otis Williams stood up as the only original members of the "classic five" lineup of The Temptations (Williams had a falling out with members David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks, while original member Paul Williams, who left the group in 1971, died in 1973). Former group members Dennis Edwards and Richard Street replaced Ruffin and Kendricks alongside new member Ron Tyson.

Marvin Gaye, who left Motown in 1982 for Columbia Records and had a big comeback hit with "Sexual Healing", gave a speech about black music history before launching into a performance of his 1971 classic "What's Going On?".

The Commodores, Motown's biggest selling group of the Seventies, reunited to perform the 1977 funk classic "Brick House". Former group member Lionel Richie, who departed the group a year earlier, taped a segment in where he performs the song "You Mean More To Me".

The biggest highlight of the night was the reunion of family group The Jackson Five, who acrimoniously departed Motown in 1975. All six Jackson brothers: Michael, Marlon, Jackie, Tito, Randy, and Jermaine (who stayed behind as a solo artist) reunited to perform a medley of their earlier hits such as "ABC", "The Love You Save", etc. Afterwards, Michael took to the stage to perform "Billie Jean", his current #1 hit single (and the only non-Motown song performed), where he debuted his signature dance move, the moonwalk. After that, sales for his album "Thriller" exploded, and Michael Jackson, in his breakthrough solo performance, cemented his place in pop music history. Shortly after the special aired, Jermaine Jackson ended up leaving Motown for Arista Records and would participate in a reunion tour with his brothers in the summer of 1984.

Another major highlight of the night was the reunion of Diana Ross and the Supremes, performing their farewell hit "Someday We'll Be Together", while calling all the performers to the stage. Ross was joined by original group member Mary Wilson and longtime member Cindy Birdsong, who replaced original member Florence Ballard in 1967 (she died in 1976).

Actors Howard Hesseman and Tim Reid reprised their roles as Dr. Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap from the 1978-82 CBS sitcom "WKRP in Cincinnati" in between segments.