With a biopic hitting screens, David Remnick urges you to spend 18 minutes watching the real James Brown on a night when he was relegated to opening act status: “When it comes to James Brown, the real thing, in its most thrilling, compressed, erotic, explosive form, just eighteen minutes long, is also arguably the most electrifying performance in the history of postwar American music.”

+ Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean at the Motown 25th Anniversary wasn’t too bad either.

+ The James Brown buzz will have a lot of people replaying Eddie Murphy’s impersonation from the Delirious tour.