One of the things that has always disappointed me is how and where cats get their information... I mean media-made lies... about where Michael Jackson really got his moves from. Sure MJ's dances were inspired by and included the likes of Bob Fosse, Fred Astaire, Bill Bailey, Sammy Davis, Jr. and others. I mean the man had framed photos of them all in his bedroom (if you really paid attention). But one name that was overlooked, even forgotten was the man who not only choreographed a lot of MJ's moves, but even so far as consulted MJ's production company, MJJ Productions. When you do the math, MJ was inspired by all of these dancers closer to his early 20's. At the end of the day, it was Jeffrey Daniel who received the paychecks to choreograph.
Jeffrey Daniel first came into the spotlight as a dancer on the US TV show Soul Train. From Soul Train evolved Shalamar - a band that sold 25 million albums world-wide with hit records such as "A Night to Remember", "Friends" and "There it is". With Shalamar he introduced West Coast Street Dance into Europe and started a huge dance craze - body popping, robotics, locking and whacking with his amazing skills as a dancer. After 7 years, millions of album sales and tours around the world, Shalamar performed at London's Wembley Arena and the original line-up then went their separate ways.
Jeffrey took on the role of 'Electra' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new West End musical 'Starlight Express' and linked up with Michael Jackson to rack up some dance and choreography credits.
JD is the man that taught Michael Jackson the Moonwalk and later went on to choreograph "Bad" and co-choreograph "Smooth Criminal."
As a special added bonus, I've included the same Shalamar record that features a few versions of the hit song, A Night to Remember. Took a minute for me to recognize the tune but, then I remembered hearing this song alot when I was a little kid at family cookouts and roller-skating parks!
click the above title for dwnld. link. enjoy!
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