Just to take a break on a different subject, I thought I’d share something that my friend Cheryl Levenbrown in New York posted on Facebook. It’s a link to a blog post with a couple of interesting videos tracing the history of Michael Jackson’s Moonwalk. Its lineage goes back to Cab Calloway in the 30s.
I’m not what you’d call a Michael Jackson fan, and I’m certainly not the dance connossieur that my wife and daughters are, but I always did find the Moonwalk pretty impressive. It seemed to defy gravity and time simultaneously, as though we were looking at film of someone in near-zero gravity, and the film was being run backward. Or something. Basically, it didn’t look possible.
And while Jackson added his own refinements and earned the distinction of uniqueness in this area, everything has roots. And these videos show the roots.
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Brad, many thanks for a wonderful break from the Sanford shuffle!
Have to share this.
We were in San Francisco when the Sanford news broke, in fact the story changed from lost to Argentina during breakfast for us (thanks to state.com). All the Californians wanted to “share” the news with us.
Left for LA next morning; several people eager to show us cover of LA TIMES, with Sanford. After lunch, Jacko dies, people forget Sanford, and people don’t care where we’re from.
Unfortunately, really screwed up our Hollywood tourist thing.
Funny story, at least told out there: The day Jackson died, they were having move premiere at Graumann’s (Bruno), and covered Jacko’s star. All the early morners were mourning at the wrong Michael Jackson’s star.
They moved the next day, thoroughly snarling traffic. We got about 5 minutes on the Walk of Fame.
Safely home now.
Jackie Wilson did a version of the moonwalk on a couple of videos in his early career. Jackson paid homage to Wilson with some of the moves he incorporated into his videos.
I too am pleased that we can take a break from the Sanford Saga albeit due to the unfortunate death of Michael Jackson.