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1983: uk media recognises michael's impact

83magic

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this uk panel show was done after the release of 'say say say' (not sure if that includes the video), and before the 'thriller' film. the guests compare michael to stevie wonder, and discuss the possibility of him surpassing him as the 'biggest black popstar'. they talk about michael as a visual artist in the new medium of music videos, his blending of musical genres with producer quincy jones, and his record sales.

i found the comments from leee john, the lead singer of 'imagination', to be the most insightful and positive. this was such a ground breaking, exciting, and wonderful time :) to think that they had no idea what was around the corner with the 'thriller' film🤩

ps: it's been awhile, and i didn't know how to post this as a video. the link works though. it's around 8 mins :)


www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMq3l4EPoks
 
Thank you for sharing! They really didn’t know what was about to come, you're right. It’s funny how they were expecting the album to “only” sell 12 million copies worldwide by the end of the year, when it ended up selling 21 million copies.

I suppose this footage must be from October 1983. Thriller had actually sold around 12 million copies worldwide by that point but the 8 million copies in the U.S. figure is indeed accurate.
 
dethorro said:
Thank you for sharing! They really didn’t know what was about to come, you're right. It’s funny how they were expecting the album to “only” sell 12 million copies worldwide by the end of the year, when it ended up selling 21 million copies.

I suppose this footage must be from October 1983. Thriller had actually sold around 12 million copies worldwide by that point but the 8 million copies in the U.S. figure is indeed accurate.
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glad you enjoyed it :)

it's especially impressive when you remember that the record industry was in a slump during that time. everything that michael done at that point helped to propel the album sales even further. this is why his record label initially saw no point in filming another short film. the album already surpassed expectations. quincy thought that michael would be lucky enough to match 'off the wall'. by the end of the year, michael would go on to be not only the 'biggest black popstar', but the biggest star full stop 🤩
 
filmandmusic said:
Wow that snippet of looking through the windows is fabulous
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it's special because 'top of the pops' was my favourite music show growing up. 'looking through the windows' is also my favourite jackson 5 song :) haven't been able to find the complete performance unfortunately. i noticed that michael's voice sounded kind of hoarse. he was avoiding the high notes. maybe his voice was transitioning?
 
@83magic

He sounds slightly hoarse too on the 1972 live at the Forum show, I guess growing up was the cause of that. Personally I love the way he sounded in 1972.
 
thought i would add the video since i learned how :)
 
83magic said:
it's special because 'top of the pops' was my favourite music show growing up. 'looking through the windows' is also my favourite jackson 5 song :) haven't been able to find the complete performance unfortunately. i noticed that michael's voice sounded kind of hoarse. he was avoiding the high notes. maybe his voice was transitioning?
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I love this snippet. It seems to be the only TOTP snippet available (apart from that one where audience members are dancing to a J5 song, some sort of 'competition'). But actual appearances by the J5, this seems to be it. I know the BBC has always been rubbish about their archives, wiping tapes which they really should have kept. It's so frustrating. I would love to see some of those J5 TOTP performances now that I'm trying to reclaim my memories of seeing the guys back then.
 
zinniabooklover said:
I love this snippet. It seems to be the only TOTP snippet available (apart from that one where audience members are dancing to a J5 song, some sort of 'competition'). But actual appearances by the J5, this seems to be it. I know the BBC has always been rubbish about their archives, wiping tapes which they really should have kept. It's so frustrating. I would love to see some of those J5 TOTP performances now that I'm trying to reclaim my memories of seeing the guys back then.
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this seems to be the most 'famous' jackson 5 'top of the pops' performance. even if they're technically singing a michael solo song.
this is my personal favouriteđź’ś
this song went on to be their first, and only u.k number one🏆 notice how they're already wearing the type of 'marching band/military' jackets? there seems to be more jacksons appearances on that show than jackson 5. they all came before the miming policy was put in place as well. i actually think the bbc has been very good at sharing their archives. i've seen plenty of material in great quality whenever they would air specials or repeat episodes.

this was on bbc four last yearđź’ś according to the bbc, this concert took place in finsbury park rainbow theatre, and not wembley.

we've gotten off topic though:LOL: this thread was supposed to be about the uk's reaction to michael's rapid success in 1983. what did you all think of the original video?
 
83magic said:
this seems to be the most 'famous' jackson 5 'top of the pops' performance. even if they're technically singing a michael solo song.
this is my personal favouriteđź’ś
this song went on to be their first, and only u.k number one🏆 notice how they're already wearing the type of 'marching band/military' jackets? there seems to be more jacksons appearances on that show than jackson 5. they all came before the miming policy was put in place as well. i actually think the bbc has been very good at sharing their archives. i've seen plenty of material in great quality whenever they would air specials or repeat episodes.

this was on bbc four last yearđź’ś according to the bbc, this concert took place in finsbury park rainbow theatre, and not wembley.

we've gotten off topic though:LOL: this thread was supposed to be about the uk's reaction to michael's rapid success in 1983. what did you all think of the original video?
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Oh my goodness!

Just real quick re BBC - yes, they've been pretty good about sharing stuff. That wasn't really my point. Back in the day they wiped tons of stuff that they really should have kept and there are too many unfortunate gaps in the record.

But enough of that. Thank you so much for these clips. Embarrassing confession - I've been searching for J5 TOTP, didn't even *think* of looking for Jacksons!!

Show You The Way To Go - one of my all-time faves. I remember this!!! OMG!! So happy to see it again. It is awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Michael is just KILLING it here!! I mean, it's TOTP for goodness sake and he's working that crowd. Go Michael!!

Eight Days A Week segment - yeah, it's pretty good. These sorts of things are always a bit rubbish because, of course, there's never enough time to discuss anything properly plus it's always a random collection of people not necessarily with any interest in whatever is being discussed. That said, they did actually give Leee John a decent amount of time to talk about Michael. Mel Smith was a bit of a plonker but he usually was; I was never very keen on him.

No, I liked it, I liked it a lot and as a tiny glimpse into how Michael was being talked about in the UK at that moment pretty useful. I can't remember if I saw it. Doesn't ring any bells. If it was an evening show I wouldn't have seen it as I would have been out at a gig. Leee John developed his points about Michael very well, stood up for Stevie, made points that other people wouldn't have done. No, this is gold. Lovely.
 
Just here to add how much I love “ show you the way to go” both live as on record. Lovely crowd interaction, especially love Michael’s vocal energy that comes right after the crowd interaction before the band breaks down one last time. Anyway supersong, loved it since the first tile I heard it when I was a kid, nice and laid back vibe. I have always been puzzled that this was their first and only nr 1 in the UK considering it didn’t do amazingly great in other markets.

Rocking Robin live as usual tops the album version
 
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