Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever (1983)

Director


Main cast
Michael Jackson; Diana Ross; Lionel Richie

Genres
Music

Description
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever is a 1983 television special produced by Suzanne de Passe for Motown Records, 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 tributes—through "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,[1] and broadcast on NBC on May 16. Among its highlights were Michael Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean", a Temptations/Four Tops "battle of the bands", Marvin Gaye's inspired speech about black music history and his memorable performance of "What's Going On", a Jackson 5 reunion.


Similar movies

A Thanksgiving dinner brings a host of family together in a Harlem apartment, where a 24-year-old schoolteacher named Dorothy Gale (Diana Ross) lives with her Aunt Em (Theresa Merritt) and Uncle Henry (Stanley Greene). Extremely introverted, she has, as Aunt Em teases her, "never been south of 125th Street", and refuses to move out and on with her life.
Alison Ellwood’s intimate, meticulously crafted patchwork of rare archival material, concert footage, and unseen home movies explores the evolution and enduring popularity of one of America’s truly defining bands.
Divine Madness is a 1980 concert film directed by Michael Ritchie, and featuring Bette Midler during her 1979 concert at Pasadena's Civic Auditorium. The 94-minute film features Midler's stand-up comedy routines as well as 16 songs, including "Big Noise From Winnetka," "Paradise," "Shiver Me Timbers," "Fire Down Below," "Stay With Me," "My Mother’s Eyes," "Chapel of Love/Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Do You Want to Dance," "You Can’t Always Get What You Want/I Shall Be Released", "The E-Street Shuffle/Summer (The First Time)/"Leader of the Pack" and "The Rose".
An aspiring singer, Denise Waverly/Edna Buxton, sacrifices her own singing career to write hit songs that launch the careers of other singers. The film follows her life from her first break, through the pain of rejection from the recording industry and a bad marriage, to her final triumph in realizing her dream to record her own hit album.
In the early 1960's, a quintet of hopeful young African American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improve, turn pro, and rise to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.
A documentary that follows the former Tonight Show. Filmed during Conan’s ”Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” comedy tour, after his departure from the Tonight Show, takes viewers into an intimate journey of O’Brien’s life.
The Jacksons are your average working-class family in Gary, Indiana; but when their father discovers the kids have an extraordinary musical talent they form a band. Winning talent show after talent show they soon hit it big when Motown calls. From there they become the now famous Jackson 5. But along the way their success brings trouble and turmoil.
The true story of The Temptations, the Soul vocal group of the 1960s, as seen from the viewpoint of the last surviving member, Otis Williams. Beginning from their humble origins in the late 50s and continuing through the 90s and the deaths of the other 4 members.
Director Spike Lee assembles a wealth of archival footage, interviews with contemporary talents and family members, and Michael’s own words and image to create this insightful chronicle of the star’s early rise to fame. An in-depth look at a chapter of his career that is rarely examined, Michael Jackson’s Journey from Motown to Off the Wall allows audiences to travel with Michael as he gets his start at Motown, strikes a new path with CBS records, and forges a relationship with legendary producer Quincy Jones. An illuminated portrait emerges of how an earnest, passionate, hard-working boy would become the “King of Pop.”
Chronicles the rise and fall of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. Her late childhood, stint as a prostitute, early tours, marriages and drug addiction are featured.
Musical prodigy, Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) struggles to become a star while overcoming issues that are tearing her family apart. From an affluent Detroit area and daughter to a single mother (Whitney Houston), she tries to balance a new romance with music manager Stix (Derek Luke) while dealing with the unexpected challenges her new life will bring as she and her two sisters (Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter) strive to become a dynamic singing group during the Motown-era.
It's Friday and everyone is going to the hot new disco. The Commodore's are scheduled to play if Floyd shows up with the instruments and Nicole dreams of becoming a disco star. Other characters are there to win the dance contest, or to put a little excitement into a fifth anniversary.
Three teen girls in a Motown band embark on an emotional ride to hell and back.
Before Bad Brains, the Sex Pistols or even the Ramones, there was Death. Formed in the early '70s by three teenage brothers from Detroit, Death is credited as being the first black punk band, and the Hackney brothers, David, Bobby, and Dannis, are now considered pioneers in their field. But it wasn’t until recently — when a dusty 1974 demo tape made its way out of Bobby’s attic nearly 30 years after Death’s heyday — that anyone outside a small group of punk enthusiasts had even heard of them.
Two South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock 'n' roller, Rodriguez. The film won Best Documentary at the 85th Academy Awards.
Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead, until now.
In December 2006 a 22 year old Amy Winehouse traveled to Dingle to record a performance and interview for seminal Irish music TV series Other Voices. This is the story of that day. When Amy Came to Dingle is a gentle and fascinating portrait of one of musics most extraordinary talents, who passed away in July of this year. The programe steps back to a time and a place when vitality, promise and potential were Amys calling cards, before her personal troubles overtook her enormous musical achievements and tabloid headlines defined her life. Just before 9pm on December 3rd, 2006, Amy Winehouse took to the stage at St. James Church and in an emotional and personal performance she claimed the hearts of the tiny audience that packed the church to its rafters.
Depeche Mode 101 is a fascinating documentary codirected by the esteemed D.A. Pennebaker (The War Room, Down from the Mountain), focusing on backstage realities of art and business during the British synthesizer band's 1988 American tour. We see managers worrying over slow ticket sales for a stand at the Rose Bowl, observe sound checks at concert sites, get a tour of the group's multiple keyboard banks, and listen with some alarm to singer David Gahan describe his steroid-based throat treatments. There are plenty of performance clips, but for music alone, disc 2 in this package contains the uninterrupted Rose Bowl show, including the plaintive "Blasphemous Rumours," the exultant drama of "Stripped," and the dreamy "Somebody." Pennebaker's promotional video "Everything Counts" is also here, but don't miss the director's recent, touching, and informative interviews with the now 40-something, individual members of Depeche Mode. --Tom Keogh
A Reno singer witnesses a mob murder and the cops stash her in a nunnery to protect her from the hitmen. The mother superior does not trust her, and takes steps to limit her influence on the other nuns. Eventually the singer rescues the failing choir and begins helping with community projects, which gets her an interview on TV.
A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. 25th years of Phantom of the Opera marked with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall
Rock-and-roller Arnie Haynes returns to his hometown as a hero to the teenagers. However, the mayor and other concerned adults have banned him from performing in his hometown because they consider him and his music a negative influence on the youth. But with the help of disc jockey/publicist Alan Freed and fellow artists (including Bill Haley and the Comets and Little Richard), they hope to convince everyone that rock and roll is not as dangerous as the adults think.
An updated version of the 1980 musical, which centered on the students of the New York Academy of Performing Arts.
Danny Fisher, young delinquent, flunks out of high school. He quits his job as a busboy in a nightclub, and one night he gets the chance to perform. Success is imminent and the local crime boss Maxie Fields wants to hire him to perform at his night club The Blue Shade. Danny refuses, but Fields won't take no for an answer.
Cats is a pop-cultural phenomenon that has been performed on stage for more than 50 million patrons in 26 countries for almost 18 years, resulting in more than two billion dollars in ticket sales. Now that Cats has finally made it to the small screen, attention must be paid not just by fans of this critic-proof show, but also by those entertainment mavens who have somehow avoided it until now.
Two feuding rock stars get handcuffed together for 24 hours at a music festival where they are both due to perform.
A movie star helps a young singer/actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.
A dashing Mississippi river gambler wins the affections of the daughter of the owner of the Show Boat.
Elvis! Elvis! Elvis! Yes it's the King of Rock & Roll as never seen before in this collection of rare outtakes and negatives from the fabulous MGM vaults. "Elvis: The Lost Performances" includes footage which was filmed for "Elvis: That's the Way It Is" (1970) and "Elvis on Tour" (1972) but was never used in those films. Included are clips of Presely singing such hits as "Teddy Bear," "Heartbreak Hotel," "All Shook Up" and more.
The 135-minute DVD special from the 3 part miniseries that aired on The Hub in 2010. It combines performances from the smash hit tour with interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. Follow Taylor all the way from her early home videos to her 2010 gala performance.
In 2012 two members of anarchistic female band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in a Mordovian labor camp for "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". Russian film collective Gogol’s Wives follow each step of the feminist punk band’s battle against Putin including their first disruptive performances on a trolley bus, shooting a video about transparent elections, a controversial performance in a Red Square cathedral, and footage shot in a jail cell. Support comes from many corners including Madonna who painted the words "Pussy Riot" on her back and wore a balaclava during her Moscow show. The documentary portrays the grim state of present-day Russia, a country starkly divided between conservatism and anarchy. Pussy Riot believes that art has to be free and they're willing to take it to extremes. "Pussycat made a mess in the house," they say, and the house is Russia. The filmmakers do not seek to moralize, they simply edit events and leave viewers to draw their own conclusions.
Expecting the usual tedium that accompanies a summer in the Catskills with her family, 17-year-old Frances "Baby" Houseman is surprised to find herself stepping into the shoes of a professional hoofer -- and unexpectedly falling in love. The object of her affection? The resort's free-spirited dance instructor.
Janet and Brad become contestants on a game show... but wind up as captives instead.
Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager in charge Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack if offering to let him see the show from an unusual view point, after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered women. Bill suspects Eric of the crime, especially, after the second female lead Rita Ross told him she saw the women leaving from Eric's room. Then Rita is shot onstage with Eric's gun. Jack and Bill decide not to stop the show, but Bill preparing to arrest Eric. Is he on the right track ?
Home of the Brave is a 1986 American concert film directed by and featuring the music of Laurie Anderson. The film's full on-screen title is Home of the Brave: A Film by Laurie Anderson. The performances were filmed at the Park Theater in Union City, NJ, during the summer of 1985. The film included appearances by guitarist Adrian Belew, author William S. Burroughs (who famously briefly dances a slow tango with Anderson during one song), keyboardist Joy Askew, and percussionist David Van Tieghem. Also, Barry Sonnenfeld, who was early in his movie-making career, receives an early film credit for operating second projection camera on this film.
Showman Jerry Travers is working for producer Horace Hardwick in London. Jerry demonstrates his new dance steps late one night in Horace's hotel, much to the annoyance of sleeping Dale Tremont below. She goes upstairs to complain and the two are immediately attracted to each other. Complications arise when Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace.
Playboy Andy Mason, on leave from the army, romances showgirl Edie Allen overnight to such effect that she's starry-eyed when he leaves next morning for active duty in the Pacific. Only trouble is, he gave her the assumed name of Casey. Andy's eventual return with a medal is celebrated by his rich father with a benefit show featuring Eadie's show troupe, at which she's sure to learn his true identity...and meet Vivian, his 'family-arrangement' fiancée. Mostly song and dance.
Linkin Park and Incubus lit up this stage on 2012 as the Honda Civic Tour once again thrilled fans across the country. With Incubus returning to the stage for their second Civic Tour and Linkin Park energized from the release of their new album, LIVING THINGS, the bands combined forces to rock harder than ever before. They were joined onstage by MUTEMATH, an alternative rock band who brought their New Orleans charm to the tour.
Hailed by one music reviewer as "the grooviest, wildest, slickest hit ever to pound the screen," "The T.A.M.I. Show" is an unrelenting rock spectacular starring some of the greatest pop performers of the 60s. These top recording idols - representing the musical moods of London, Liverpool, Hollywood and Detroit - packed the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium with 2,600 screaming fans and virtually brought down the house. This is the cinematic record of that electrifying event.
Ample teen Tracy Turnblad wants nothing more than to be on the hip local TV dance program, "The Corny Collins Show" -- and when her dream comes true, her lively moves and bubbly personality meet with unexpected popularity. But after witnessing firsthand the terrible state of race relations in 1960s Baltimore, Turnblad becomes an outspoken advocate for desegregation.
Bob Fosse's semi-autobiographical film celebrates show business stripped of glitz or giddy illusions. Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider) is at the top of the heap, one of the most successful directors and choreographers in musical theatre. But he can feel his world slowly collapsing around him--his obsession with work has almost destroyed his personal life, and only his bottles of pills keep him going.
Hyderabadi Hiralal, who is also referred to as 'Hero' due to his obsession with Bollywood movies, drives an auto-rickshaw and often gets into fisticuffs. Things change when he meets with actress, Roopa, shows her around, and falls head-over-heels in love with her - so much so - when the unit leaves, he drives all the way to Bombay to be close to her. It is here that he will come to know that she has no similar feelings for him - and he will be thrown into contact with beautiful and manipulative actress, Sitara Devi, who has new and different role for him - one that will change his life forever.
The life of reclusive and eccentric Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson.
Recorded on Saturday April 19, 2003 when Silverchair brought the Across The Night tour to their hometown of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. The concert was staged in the ornate and venerable Newcastle Civic Theatre - within walking distance of the band's birthplace. Surrounded by friends and family the group finally got to perform songs from their landmark albums.
The CD/DVD/BD is a live recording of the Honda Civic Tour
A beautiful muse inspires an artist and his older friend to convert a dilapidated auditorium into a lavish rollerskating club.
The American comedian/actor delivers a story about the alternative Hip Hop scene. A small town Ohio man’s moves to Brooklyn, New York, to throw an unprecedented block party. Filmed with inspiration from the 1973 documentary Wattstax.
Perfect Square is a video recording of a concert by rock band R.E.M., filmed on 19 July 2003 at the Bowling Green in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was released in DVD format on the Warner Brothers label on March 9, 2004. This concert is perhaps most notable for a performance of the song "Country Feedback", which Michael Stipe opens by declaring it his "favorite song". The rendition features appended lyrics from another song, Reveal's "Chorus and the Ring", and a guitar solo by Peter Buck, neither of which are in the original. Other concert highlights include the appearance of two then-new songs, "Bad Day" (Also originally known as PSA when first written in the early 1980's) and "Animal", and the re-emergence of the long-lost song "Permanent Vacation". "Permanent Vacation" dates back to 1980, years before their first album, while "Bad Day" dates back to 1985.
Deanna Durbin is all grown up in Hers to Hold, the unofficial sequel to her "Three Smart Girls" films of the 1930s. Durbin plays Penelope Craig, the starry-eyed daughter of wealthy Judson and Dorothy Craig (Charles Winninger, Nella Walker). Developing a crush on much-older playboy Bill Morley (Joseph Cotton), Penelope stops at nothing to land the elusive Morley as her husband. Highlights include Durbin's renditions of "Begin the Beguine" and the "Seguidilla" from Carmen, and a captivating sequence that includes highlights from Durbin's earlier films, presented as home movies!
Broadway producer Earl Carroll was a Ziegfeld-like entrepreneur who staged lavish revues featuring attractive young ladies. Carroll's annual "Vanities" provided story material for three Hollywood films: Murder at the Vanities (34), A Night at Earl Carroll's (40) and Earl Carroll Vanities (45). This last film was produced by Republic Pictures, a bread-and-butter studio specializing in Westerns and serials; Republic had made musicals before, but few of them were expensive enough to allow for lavish production numbers. Earl Carroll Vanities is likewise rather threadbare, though some of the individual musical highlights aren't bad. The plot, such as it is, concerns financially strapped nightclub owner Eve Arden, who finagles Earl Carroll into staging one of his revues at her club.
This light-hearted musical romance follows the exploits of Nikki Martin (Lily Pons), a beautiful French opera star who stows away on an ocean liner in hopes of escaping her jealous fiancee. Once aboard, she joins an American swing band and falls in love with its leader (Gene Raymond), who, after hearing her sing, eventually comes to reciprocate her feelings. That Girl From Paris received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Sound, and includes musical highlights such as, "Seal It With a Kiss," "The Blue Danube," "Una Voce Poco Fa," and "The Call to Arms." Directed by Leigh Jason, this movie also features actors Mischa Auer, Frank Jenks, Lucille Ball and Jack Oakie.
Clarence Reid is a musician who wrote and produced romantic and spiritual songs for some of the greatest Southern soul and R&B acts of the 1960s and '70s. He is also the gonzo performer Blowfly, Clarence's freaky alter ego and the original X-rated rapper. "The Weird World of Blowfly" explores both sides of this hilarious and controversial artist, providing a rare, inside peek at the infamous linguist's daily life. Now 69-years-old, with a gold-spangled superhero costume and a catalog of the world's raunchiest tunes, Blowfly tours the world, still struggling for success and recognition after 50 years of making music. The film highlights both Clarence's and Blowfly's unique contributions to music history, including Top-10 R&B hits and what might be the world's first rap song, recorded in 1965.
Miranda Presley moves from New York to Nashville to become a song writer. At an unsuccessful audition she meets James Wright a promising newcomer. After only a few days they marry but start to quickly regret it. This is River Phoenix's last movie and you can see the end coming...
Rebecca's Uncle Harry leaves her with Aunt Miranda who forbids her to associate with show people. But neighbor Anthony Kent is a talent scout who secretly set it up for her to broadcast.
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
Married songwriters almost split up while putting on a big show.
In 1939, WBN, a fourth radio network, is about to take to America's airwaves. As if the confusion of the premiere night wasn't enough, Penny Henderson, the owner's secretary, must deal with an unhappy sponsor, an overbearing boss and a soon-to-be ex-husband who desperately wants her back. As the broadcast begins, a mysterious voice breaks the broadcast and suddenly members of the cast turn up dead. It's up to her husband Roger, to find out whodunit as the police chase him through the halls of WBN.
A look at what goes on backstage during the last broadcast of America's most celebrated radio show, where singing cowboys Dusty and Lefty, a country music siren, and a host of others hold court
Nicky and his friends find that their youth club is in danger of being flattened to make way for a new office block unless they can come up with £1500 to pay the new owner, the ruthless property tycoon Hamilton Black. To help raise the cash, Nicky records a song and his friends broadcast it via a pirate radio station, touting him as "The Mystery Singer" - the plan works and interest in their up and coming show is heightened by this new but unknown heart-throb. But Nicky has an even bigger secret and one that he cannot share, even with his girlfriend Toni... Hamilton Black is his father.
The Lone Rangers have heavy-metal dreams and a single demo tape they can't get anyone to play. The solution: Hijack an AM rock station and hold the deejays hostage until they agree to broadcast the band's tape.
A theatrical producer puts aside his own success to boost the career of a talented singer.

© Valossa 2015–2024