Motown 25 - Yesterday, Today, & Forever (1983)

Motown 25: Yesterday,
Today, Forever was a 1983 television
special produced by Suzanne de
Passe for Motown Records, to
commemorate Motown's twenty-fifth
year of existence.Motown was founded in January
1959 , meaning that a twenty-fifth
anniversary special should have aired in
1984 , not 1983 . One could argue that
Gordy's vision of what would become
"Hitsville USA" was conceived in 1958 ,
considering the month of Motown's
founding.The show was also co-written by
de Passe along with Ruth Adkins Robinson
who would go on to write shows with de
Passe for the next 25 years, including
the follow up label tributesthrough
"Motown 40," Buz Kohan was the head
writer of the threesome.The program was
taped before a live studio audience at
the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in
Pasadena, California on March 25,
1983.This all-star reunion
features vintage sixties footage and
live performances by some of the greatest
Motown stars.Among its highlights were, a
Jackson Five reunion in which they sing
a medley of their hits, Michael
Jackson's iconic performance of "Billie
Jean " and a stellar Temptations / Four
Tops "battle of the bands".A
Contemplative moment of the show came
with Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about
black music history and his memorable
performance of " What's Going On
".This would be the last time that
Berry Gordon saw Marvin perform
live.The all-star line up also
includes the historic, albeit abbreviated
reunion with Diana Ross and The
Supremes, who performed their final #1
hit, " Someday We'll Be Together " from
1969 .Simply put, this program captures
the magic of Motown sound yesterday,
today, and forever. Host:
Richard Pryor Appearances: