Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955)[1][2] is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer, most notable for being a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar.
[4] The song was a hit in 1982, almost a year before Michael Jackson moonwalked on the Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever television broadcast; he was a fan of Soul Train[5] – on which Jeffrey Daniel had been a back-up dancer.
[6] Daniel gives credit to a man that inspired him, the original dance 'Locker' Don Campbell, one of the earliest Soul Train dancers.
He also gives praise to Cleveland Moses Jr. his partner on Soul Train and to Tyrone Proctor who was the premier 'Waack' dancer who taught Daniel the style of dance known as 'Waacking'.
It was on Soul Train[7] whilst doing a routine dressed in black that Daniel and Geron 'Caszper' Candidate and Derek 'Cooley' Jackson/Jaxson[8] first performed the moonwalk on U.S. television.
Soon after, Daniel 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.
[9] Former Shalamar band-mate and dance partner Jody Watley stated in 2010 that she and Daniel had a tumultuous relationship that included emotional and physical abuse.