Original moonwalkers: Bill Bailey, Jeffrey Daniel and ... Dick van Dyke?

I snapped this pic outside a dance class in west London

It's hard to innovate. Every time I think I've come up with a "new" step combination I'll realise much later that I've actually ripped it off someone I saw on YouTube/took a lesson from. Sigh. The trick, I've discovered, is to just do a move so well, and so publicly, that everyone assumes it's "yours". For example, if I say "moonwalk" you say Neil Armstrong Michael Jackson, right?

You're not wrong, but you're not quite right either.

From c.1955, Mr Bill Bailey:



And this is Jeffrey Daniel, in his days as a member of Shalamar, representing the whole group and their hit A Night to Remember on Top of the Pops back in 1982. This performance was a year before Michael Jackson, one of Jeffrey's biggest fans, did the moonwalk on TV:



Jeffrey is still going and teaching! He hops off the couch at about 3:49:



Website: www.jeffreydaniel.com

But the moonwalk isn't just for cool guys:



Stupid old joke alert!

"Dear Sir:

Several years ago, I entered your office determined to become an actor. You refused to represent me unless I changed my name, saying that although I was handsome and talented, no theatre would put my name on a marquee and I would never get work. I objected, saying my name had been proudly carried by men in my family for generations, and I stormed out of our meeting in a rage.

However, in the weeks following I reconsidered. After much reflection, I decided to heed your advice. Now I am a famous actor with many roles and known to millions worldwide. Having achieved this fame and fortune, it is often that I think back to my meeting with you and your insistence that I change my name.

I owe you a debt of gratitude, so please accept this check with my humble thanks, for it was your idea that I change my name from Coque Von Lesbian.

Very sincerely yours,
Dick Van Dyke