Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar Fan Group
A group for fans of Jeffrey Daniel (often misspelled as Jeffrey Daniels) (born 24 August 1955, Los Angeles, California), an American choreographer,...
Jeffrey Daniel of Shalamar Fan Group
A group for fans of Jeffrey Daniel (often misspelled as Jeffrey Daniels) (born 24 August 1955, Los Angeles, California), an American choreographer,...
- A group for fans of Jeffrey Daniel (often misspelled as Jeffrey Daniels) (born 24 August 1955, Los Angeles, California), an American choreographer, musician, singer and dancer, most notable for being a member of the soul vocal group Shalamar (selling 25 million albums worldwide), and for being the first man to do the 'moonwalk' on UK television and for teaching the moonwalk to Michael Jackson. The influence of Jeffrey Daniel and the American 'Soul Train' T.V. dancers is evident in the moves of Usher, Justin Timberlake, and Sisqo. This generation of stars were in turn influenced by Michael Jackson. Jackson was a big fan of 'Soul Train'. He soon met, learned from, and later hired dancer/choreographers from the Soul Train T.V. show. One of those young dancers was 17 year old Jeffrey Daniel. Jeffrey Daniel became a renowned and respected pioneer of the West coast Street Dance movement. He and his peers took a style of dance from the streets and clubs to the mainstream music and media world. The world saw a fusion of Jazz, Popping, Locking, Robotics, Wack, House and Hip Hop merged into effortless sequences. During his career he has taught, worked and ranked alongside other friends and dance pioneers such as Shabba Doo, Casper Geron, Poppin Pete and The Electric Boogaloos. Jeffrey gives great credit to a man that inspired him, the original dance 'Locker' Don Campbell, one of the earliest 'Soul Train' dancers. He also gives thanks to Cleveland Moses Jr., his partner in crime on 'Soul Train', and to Tyrone Proctor, who was the premier 'Wack' dancer who taught Jeffrey the style of dance known as 'Wacking'. It was on Soul Train whilst doing a routine dressed in black that Jeffrey and Geron 'Casper' Canidate and Derek 'Cooly' Jackson first performed the moonwalk on US television. Michael Jackson later worked with both Jeffrey and Casper and they taught him the moonwalk. Jeffrey and his 'Soul Train' dance partner Jody Watley, (whom he had known as a since she was 12 years old from church) along with Howard Hewett, became the world famous soul funk group - Shalamar. They had a multitude of hits such as 'Night to Remember', 'I Can Make You Feel Good', 'In The Socket', 'There It Is', 'Take That To The Bank', 'Make That Move', 'Friends', 'For The Lover In You', 'Uptown Festival' and others. Jeffrey performed a body popping and locking routine which saw the debut of the moonwalk in the U.K. on 'Top of The Pops' (see 'Links'). This episode alone gained more viewers than the UK's most watched soap opera 'Coronation Street'. In the 80's, Jeffrey became something of a style icon with his ever-changing hairstyles and unique dress sense. He was often seen on the London club scene with Bananarama, Wham, Culture Club, etc. After 7 years and 25 million album sales, and tours around the world, Shalamar performed at London's Wembley Arena and went their separate ways and Jeffrey took on the role of 'Electra' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's new West End musical 'Starlight Express', which involved wild costumes with complex choreography on roller skates! Jeffrey then began working with Michael Jackson who had always been a fan of Jeffrey's dance style since watching him on 'Soul Train'. He was hired as co-choreographer on the 'Bad' and 'Smooth Criminal' videos in which he also starred with his ' dance brother'. He was later employed as a creative and choreography consultant on his world tours and the Michael Jackson video 'Ghosts'. Jeffrey's music and dance expertise was then employed when he became a consultant at the MJJ Productions record label to whom Browstone, 3T and Men of Vision were signed. Michael Jackson flew Jeffrey back to live in the USA from Japan where Jeffrey had taken up residence since leaving the U.K. Today Jeffrey has bases in Osaka Japan. in London and in the USA. He has become a fluent speaker and writer of the Japanese language with a fair grasp on Cantonese. He still continues to perform, choreograph, produce, and compose with the biggest names in showbusiness. He has worked with Babyface, LL Cool J, Paul McCartney, Vanessa Williams and many others. As president of 'J-pan Soul Ltd' (his recording and development company) he continues to seek, groom, and refine new talent for the music world. Jeffrey reunited with Howard Hewett and new Shalamar member - Carolyn Griffey (daughter of Dick Griffey CEO of SOLAR records) for two UK Arena tours in 1999 and 2003, and then again in 2005 for the U.K. T.V. show 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' (see 'Links').
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Category
Digital -
Created
Friday, 26 March 2010 -
Group admin
Tony Stanley