TV on DVD

Motown 25 collection filled with tunes, bonus materials

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever DVD collection
Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever DVD collection

What is it? Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, more than 16 hours on six discs from Time Life

When? Now

How much? $79.95

What is Motown? Only one of the most successful record labels in history. From its founding in 1959, the label presented groups and solo artists including Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson.

Motown 25, which aired on May 16, 1983, was a special celebration of Motown's 25th birthday and it was quite an achievement, gathering together just about every Motown star you could think of singing their biggest hits. It's a dream roster, really. And it should be remembered that at the time this special aired, many of these groups hadn't performed together in years so the reunions created quite a bit of excitement.

It's also remembered for being the place Michael Jackson introduced the moonwalk to the world (during his solo performance of "Billie Jean").

The whole thing is very, very 1980s (check out the clothes and hair on the backup dancers), but it's absolutely chock-full of singable, dance-able tunes from classic Motown. And as one of the bonus features explains, the sound has been remixed to 5.1 Surround Sound so watching and listening is very much a fresh experience.

What's in the set? More bonus features than a normal person could watch in a day.

To start off, there's uncut rehearsal footage of Gaye and Wonder preparing for the show.

There are several pieces with performers and producers reminiscing about The Temptations and Four Tops, Gaye, The Miracles and Robinson.

Several round tables have producers, performers and songwriters discussing the show, how it came about and what it was like to put it together. Most of them are recent, but the songwriting round table is from 1983.

Then there are the featurettes that cover the making of the show, what it was like to work at Motown, the success and impact Motown had and the distinctive Motown sound.

In addition to that, there are interviews with a very long list of producers, writers, executives and performers about the show and Motown in general.

In all, it's about 14 hours' worth of bonus content aside from the two-hour show itself.

There's also a good-size collector's book full of photos, call sheets and essays and a reproduction of the night's program. It's all kept in a box that's as sparkly as Michael Jackson's glove.

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Style on 10/09/2016

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