Ed Sullivan Show Lip-Sync

ArchieSmash

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I've been wondering for a while whether the performance on the Ed Sullivan show uses playback or not. There are various moments where Michael bounces his hand into the microphone and it vibrates rather intensely but no change in audio can be heard. Michael's brothers also seem too far from their microphones for the clarity heard. The Jackson 5 were relatively prone to lip sync for awards shows and the Ed Sullivan Show wasn't against it either but I can't be sure. Maybe it's well known that it's playback and I'm just out of the loop so I'd just like to know.

They obviously performed the songs afterward on tour completely live, I'm just not sure about this particular performance.
 
I've been wondering for a while whether the performance on the Ed Sullivan show uses playback or not. There are various moments where Michael bounces his hand into the microphone and it vibrates rather intensely but no change in audio can be heard. Michael's brothers also seem too far from their microphones for the clarity heard. The Jackson 5 were relatively prone to lip sync for awards shows and the Ed Sullivan Show wasn't against it either but I can't be sure. Maybe it's well known that it's playback and I'm just out of the loop so I'd just like to know.

They obviously performed the songs afterward on tour completely live, I'm just not sure about this particular performance.
I've been wondering for a while whether the performance on the Ed Sullivan show uses playback or not. There are various moments where Michael bounces his hand into the microphone and it vibrates rather intensely but no change in audio can be heard. Michael's brothers also seem too far from their microphones for the clarity heard. The Jackson 5 were relatively prone to lip sync for awards shows and the Ed Sullivan Show wasn't against it either but I can't be sure. Maybe it's well known that it's playback and I'm just out of the loop so I'd just like to know.

They obviously performed the songs afterward on tour completely live, I'm just not sure about this particular performance.
you mean invincible era, right?
 
There are two Ed Sullivan show performances. One in 1969 and one in 1970. So I don’t fully know which one you’re referring to but I can answer for both. 1969 is live on all songs. If anything is lipsynced, it’s possible the brothers’ backing vocals are. But Michael and Jermaine’s lead vocals are live. No doubt about that. I would be surprised if it was revealed otherwise. Now for 1970, it’s the same deal for the “I Want You Back/ABC” medley. But “The Love You Save” is obviously the same as the studio version so that’s 100% lipsynced.
 
There are two Ed Sullivan show performances. One in 1969 and one in 1970. So I don’t fully know which one you’re referring to but I can answer for both. 1969 is live on all songs. If anything is lipsynced, it’s possible the brothers’ backing vocals are. But Michael and Jermaine’s lead vocals are live. No doubt about that. I would be surprised if it was revealed otherwise. Now for 1970, it’s the same deal for the “I Want You Back/ABC” medley. But “The Love You Save” is obviously the same as the studio version so that’s 100% lipsynced.
I was talking about the first one, I totally forgot about the second one tbh. That one's pretty clear when it comes to what's live and what's not. I'm still not entirely convinced the first one is totally live. I'm basically 100% sure Jermaine is singing live for his bits and I'm basically 100% sure the group vocals on Stand! (and probably the other songs) are playback, it's the other stuff that bothers me. When Mike sings the second vocal run (I treat you ba-a-a-ad) he bops the microphone pretty damn hard but the sound is perfectly intact regardless. It's possible that it's a mix of live and re-recorded vocals like with Dancing Machine on Jimmy Carson.
 
I was talking about the first one, I totally forgot about the second one tbh. That one's pretty clear when it comes to what's live and what's not. I'm still not entirely convinced the first one is totally live. I'm basically 100% sure Jermaine is singing live for his bits and I'm basically 100% sure the group vocals on Stand! (and probably the other songs) are playback, it's the other stuff that bothers me. When Mike sings the second vocal run (I treat you ba-a-a-ad) he bops the microphone pretty damn hard but the sound is perfectly intact regardless. It's possible that it's a mix of live and re-recorded vocals like with Dancing Machine on Jimmy Carson.
The microphone thing is a good point. But here’s why I still find it hard to believe. This is the J5’s national TV debut where they’re obviously lipsyncing “I Want You Back”. This would have been Michael’s first time lipsyncing and you can tell he’s very awkward about it. His head is moving around the microphone like crazy. In the Ed Sullivan performance, his mouth lines up perfectly with his voice and he doesn’t slip up at all and it looks natural and it would have only been his second time lipsyncing. These performances were only two months apart.
 
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The microphone thing is a good point. But here’s why I still find it hard to believe. This is the J5’s national TV debut where they’re obviously lipsyncing “I Want You Back”. This would have been Michael’s first time lipsyncing and you can tell he’s very awkward about it. His head is moving around the microphone like crazy. In the Ed Sullivan performance, his mouth lines up perfectly with his voice and he doesn’t slip up at all and it looks natural and it would have only been his second time lipsyncing. These performances were only two months apart.
Excellent point, perhaps Michael was just nervous for that first performance because of the large crowd whereas the Ed Sullivan was on a small set. It would also be naiive to not mention that Joe wouldn't've been very happy with the first performance and would've made sure the next one wouldn't have the same problem if it were to be lip-synced.

The most likely explanation appears to be that some parts were dubbed in post, but not the whole thing. Maybe the microphone shaking was disruptive enough to the audio that they felt the need to dub it over.
 
I think the vast majority of tv shows are lip synched. Especially on live tv. There is no room for error on live tv. Top of the tops performances were always lip synched for example because they were promoting singles and you can't have a single sounding differently when performed. I'm talking about all artists here not just the J5
 
I think the vast majority of tv shows are lip synched. Especially on live tv. There is no room for error on live tv. Top of the tops performances were always lip synched for example because they were promoting singles and you can't have a single sounding differently when performed. I'm talking about all artists here not just the J5
All of these Top of the Pops performances are live vocals. I don’t disagree though. A lot of the time, when singles were promoted, they were lipsynced. American Bandstand and Soul Train are the go-to examples for this.
 
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@Hudson112
thanks so much for these links, I had only seen the destiny performance before. Vocals on all clips are awesome!
Interesting to see Michael already started doing some trademarks woo’s or shouts as early as 1977.
 
Soul Train occasionally had live performances, mostly during the earlier seasons. The reason shows like Soul Train & American Bandstand had lip syncing was because these were low budget programs and it was more expensive to film live performances. The show producers didn't have to worry about somebody playing a wrong note or singing out of key. It was also cheaper for the performer, like a solo singer didn't have to pay to bring a band, background singers, or instruments. It would have been impossible for someone like Barry White to bring all of his musicians to Soul Train because he had an orchestra and it was a small set and most of it was taken up by the dancers. I don't think Soul Train was set up to mic a large ensemble anyway. They would also shoot more than 1 episode in a day. Sometimes the artists would record a special "live" version to lip-sync to for Soul Train, this happened in the 1980s. Run-DMC was one act who did this. Midnight Special was mostly live, but it also had lip-sync.
 
Michael Jackson's fans went crazy and the yellow fence broke down in prag the 7th September 1996 before you were left into the main concert area. The where are the pictures and the video that I saw on YouTube a few years ago
 
All of these Top of the Pops performances are live vocals. I don’t disagree though. A lot of the time, when singles were promoted, they were lipsynced. American Bandstand and Soul Train are the go-to examples for this.
Damn Mike is a masterful vocalist. The vocals here are maybe the best ones the dude ever delivered.
What was up with his voice in his solo tours?0-0
 
Damn Mike is a masterful vocalist. The vocals here are maybe the best ones the dude ever delivered.
What was up with his voice in his solo tours?0-0
That made me laugh, Michael keeping all composed until at the last moment and then bam! Up he gets and explodes into mj moves lol. How I miss him Dam!
 
I think the vast majority of tv shows are lip synched. Especially on live tv. There is no room for error on live tv. Top of the tops performances were always lip synched for example because they were promoting singles and you can't have a single sounding differently when performed. I'm talking about all artists here not just the J5
Soul Train occasionally had live performances, mostly during the earlier seasons. The reason shows like Soul Train & American Bandstand had lip syncing was because these were low budget programs and it was more expensive to film live performances. The show producers didn't have to worry about somebody playing a wrong note or singing out of key. It was also cheaper for the performer, like a solo singer didn't have to pay to bring a band, background singers, or instruments. It would have been impossible for someone like Barry White to bring all of his musicians to Soul Train because he had an orchestra and it was a small set and most of it was taken up by the dancers. I don't think Soul Train was set up to mic a large ensemble anyway. They would also shoot more than 1 episode in a day. Sometimes the artists would record a special "live" version to lip-sync to for Soul Train, this happened in the 1980s. Run-DMC was one act who did this. Midnight Special was mostly live, but it also had lip-sync.
The Grammy Awards do not allow lip-syncing from 1989 onwards, because of 2 incidents.

The first had to do with the Milli Vanilli band when during their 'Girl You Know It's True' lip-synced performance the vocal refrain was stuck on a loop (at a 'CLUB MTV' show in 1989), which was described as one of the most humiliating incidents in the music history.

The second had to do with Michael Jackson, when towards the end of his 'Man In The Mirror' lip-synced performance (at the 1989 Grammy Awards), the audio playback malfunctioned, which led to embarrassing moments not just for the singer but also for the Grammy Awards ceremony itself.

These 2 incidents were the starting point for a zero-tolerance policy for lip-syncing of the Grammy Awards.
 
Didn't Mike perform on 1988 grammys?

Also I think the intention was to always turn his microphone on for the "I'm gonna make change" adlibs like he did on the Bad Tour.

It wasn't a "malfunction" the malfunction was the sound engineer didn't turn MJ's mic up enough at the right moment. The intention was to always sing those alibs live.
 
The second had to do with Michael Jackson, when towards the end of his 'Man In The Mirror' lip-synced performance (at the 1989 Grammy Awards), the audio playback malfunctioned, which led to embarrassing moments not just for the singer but also for the Grammy Awards ceremony itself.
It was at the 1988 Grammy's, not the 89' Grammy's. And the "embarrassing moments" were non-existent. Everyone praised that performance.
 
Wow you were there? what was the atmosphere like?
I am there often, when I visit the land of dreams at night. Everyone there is stunned by Michael’s performance.

In all seriousness, I’ve never heard anything but very positive reviews of that performance. Let’s not pretend that anybody had a problem with his microphone being off for 2 seconds.
 
The Grammy Awards do not allow lip-syncing from 1989 onwards, because of 2 incidents.

The second had to do with Michael Jackson, when towards the end of his 'Man In The Mirror' lip-synced performance (at the 1989 Grammy Awards), the audio playback malfunctioned, which led to embarrassing moments not just for the singer but also for the Grammy Awards ceremony itself.

These 2 incidents were the starting point for a zero-tolerance policy for lip-syncing of the Grammy Awards.

Lol what? Michael’s 1988 Grammy performance is considered one of the greatest performance at the Grammys. Do you ever not post nonsense?
 
The Grammy Awards do not allow lip-syncing from 1989 onwards, because of 2 incidents.

The first had to do with the Milli Vanilli band when during their 'Girl You Know It's True' lip-synced performance the vocal refrain was stuck on a loop (at a 'CLUB MTV' show in 1989), which was described as one of the most humiliating incidents in the music history.
Is this the same Grammys that gave Milli Vanilli an award for Best New Artist in 1990? 😂 Which is after 1989. Also what does this have to do with my comment about Soul Train/American Bandstand. They aren't award shows, they were music programs that came on once a week just like other ones like Shindig, Hullabaloo, Hee Haw, Solid Gold, etc. They also played records for the people on the show to dance to, it wasn't in person singers/bands the entire episode. They usually had 2 and sometimes 3 guests per episode, but the rest was just the audio. American Bandstand had "rate a record", where the studio audience would vote on a new song that was played. Many radio stations in the USA had similar vote on a song such as "rush it or flush it" & "kiss it or diss it". Soul Train had the Scramble Board where a couple of dancers would put the letters in order to win a prize. There were a lot of these kinds of music programs in many countires. That's why The Beatles started making promo clips (aka music videos), so they could send them to different countries to broadcast and they wouldn't have to travel to them to appear on the local music TV shows, which was more expensive and time consuming to do. In the 1970s, there were a lot of TV variety shows & specials, which was usually made around a music act with comedy skits (ig. Donny & Marie, The Carpenters, The Jacksons, Sonny & Cher, The Brady Bunch Hour, Flip Wilson, etc).

The Ed Sullivan Show wasn't music only, it was a variety show with puppets, actors, circus performers, stand up comedians, and other types of entertainers.
 
Is this the same Grammys that gave Milli Vanilli an award for Best New Artist in 1990? 😂 Which is after 1989. Also what does this have to do with my comment about Soul Train/American Bandstand. They aren't award shows, they were music programs that came on once a week just like other ones like Shindig, Hullabaloo, Hee Haw, Solid Gold, etc. They also played records for the people on the show to dance to, it wasn't in person singers/bands the entire episode. They usually had 2 and sometimes 3 guests per episode, but the rest was just the audio. American Bandstand had "rate a record", where the studio audience would vote on a new song that was played. Many radio stations in the USA had similar vote on a song such as "rush it or flush it" & "kiss it or diss it". Soul Train had the Scramble Board where a couple of dancers would put the letters in order to win a prize. There were a lot of these kinds of music programs in many countires. That's why The Beatles started making promo clips (aka music videos), so they could send them to different countries to broadcast and they wouldn't have to travel to them to appear on the local music TV shows, which was more expensive and time consuming to do. In the 1970s, there were a lot of TV variety shows & specials, which was usually made around a music act with comedy skits (ig. Donny & Marie, The Carpenters, The Jacksons, Sonny & Cher, The Brady Bunch Hour, Flip Wilson, etc).

The Ed Sullivan Show wasn't music only, it was a variety show with puppets, actors, circus performers, stand up comedians, and other types of entertainers.
But the Grammy Academy's National Board of Trustees actually decided to take that Best New Artist award back from the Milli Vanilli band.

Although the reason for their decision was not that lip-syncing incident, but the fact that in their 'Girl You Know It's True' album the band does not sing a single note on that album (i.e., the album is a fraudulent project).
 
Damn Mike is a masterful vocalist. The vocals here are maybe the best ones the dude ever delivered.
What was up with his voice in his solo tours?0-0
I mean you cant expect him to sound the exact same as he did in the early/mid 70s forever. This was also before any health issues. He still sounded great on the bad tour imo. This era should be focused on more though. His career was so long that there's so much they can still release. A destiny/triumph/victory tour should have been released by now.
 
I mean you cant expect him to sound the exact same as he did in the early/mid 70s forever. This was also before any health issues. He still sounded great on the bad tour imo. This era should be focused on more though. His career was so long that there's so much they can still release. A destiny/triumph/victory tour should have been released by now.
When he sings that snippet of DSTYGE on this is it rehearsals he sounds exactly the same as in 1979
 
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