Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye
Photo Courtesy of Charlie Gillet

Known for a three-octave vocal range, pioneering the soul and R&B movements, and his prolific output of recorded material, Marvin Gaye is considered one of our most influential musicians. Songs like “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” and “Sexual Healing” continue to be major sources of inspiration for modern artists, and of course these tracks only scrape the edge of the barrel when examining Gaye’s extensive catalogue throughout the past half-century. Taken from the world at the age of 44 during an altercation with his father, it wasn’t until three years later when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It’s hard to believe that 28 years have passed since Marvin Gaye’s death, perhaps because his legacy has upheld such prominence, but also because his songs sound as fresh as they ever have, cementing a respected place in the history of music.

—Jon Schober


From Our Blog

Marvin Gaye's Here, My Dear: A Lesser-Known Classic

Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

The canonical classic Marvin Gaye album is, of course, What's Going On, and with good reason — it's a sweeping statement that's both personal and political, with Gaye's songwriting agonizing over the tumultuous cultural climate of the late '60s and early '70s, his voice charged with social and political anxieties and aching with desperation. But dig a little deeper into Gaye's catalog, and you'll find more than a few other excellent full-lengths in Gaye's catalog, and none seems to enthrall his fans and followers more than the emotionally abrasive, disco and funk-tinged double-disc masterpiece Here, My Dear.


Shortly before the album was recorded, Gaye was embroiled in court proceedings while divorcing his first wife, Anna Gordy (the sister of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy). Not wanting to pay traditional alimony payments — his extravagant lifestyle had left him nearly broke — Gaye worked with his lawyers to secure a deal allowing Gordy to claim a a fraction of the royalties on the sales of his next album.


Gaye always planned to make the album a symbol of rejection directed at Gordy, initially claiming he would toss off a trite, filler-filled LP using as little time and effort as possible. Instead, the album became quite the opposite: a deeply personal, wounded epic chronicling his and Gordy's relationship and divorce and the aftermath from both.


The result is one of the most tortured and spiteful albums in the history of popular music. Panned by critics at the time for its uncommercial songwriting and sprawling, meandering two-LP format, Here, My Dear has since become a critical and cult classic. Its tracks range from the lush, raw-nerve funk of "Anger" and the wistful "When Did You Stop Loving Me When Did I Stop Loving You" to the out-there disco-funk meanderings of "A Funky Space Reincarnation" before finishing with "Falling In Love Again," a surprisingly tender ode to his second wife, Janis (whom he would divorce a year after the album's release).


So if your knowledge of Gaye is limited to What's Going On or his amazing run of '60s Motown hits, take some time to dig deeper into the darker side of his brilliance with his late-career triumph Here, My Dear. It's a rich and rewarding album that reveals even more dimensions of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century.



Video: Marvin Gaye Sings the National Anthem

Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye is the first of 89.3 The Current's four featured artists for Black History Month, and we're celebrating by playing great tracks from throughout his career on the air all week, and also discussing his music and life on the blog all week. Let's get it started with this video of his amazing performance of the National Anthem from the 1983 NBA All-Star Game.



Today In Music History: Marvin Gaye Scores His First #1


Birthdays:

Bassist Cliff Williams of AC/DC is 62.
Singer-guitarist Mike Scott of The Waterboys is 53.
Singer-whistle player Peter "Spider" Stacy of The Pogues is 53.


Today in:

1968 - Iron Butterfly's epic dirge, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" went Gold. The 18-minute long, bass-riffing track would become a classic of stoner rock, and it seemed like everybody oned a copy, regardless of their weed-smoking habits.
1977 - The movie Saturday Night Fever opened in New York, helping to officially usher in the age of disco.
1980 - Fans around the world paid tribute to John Lennon, six days after he was shot to death in New York City. Hundreds of silent vigils were held at 2 p.m. Eastern time for ten minutes at the request of Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono. In New York City alone, 100,000 converged in Central Park for the occasion.
1984 - Madonna had her first number-one hit when "Like a Virgin" hit the top of the Billboard singles chart.


History Highlight:

Today in 1968, after breaking into the Top 10 a few times, Marvin Gaye finally scored his first #1 single with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, the single was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, then by Gladys Knight & the Pips, but Gaye's version is the one that considered a landmark pop music recording, often given credit for creating the sub-genre known as "psychedelic soul."

Marvin, You're Still Missed, and Always Will Be

Today In Music History:

1939 - Marvin Gaye was born.
1947 - Emmylou Harris was born.
1961 - Keren Jane Woodward (Bananarama) was born.
1977 - Fleetwood Mac's "Rumors" was #1 (where it stayed for 31 weeks.)
1987 - Buddy Rich died.
1998 - Rob Pilatus (Milli Vanilli) was found dead in a German hotel.

Marvin Gaye would have been 70 today - he was born this day in 1939 in Washington D.C. With solo hits including "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and his duets with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, he was crowned "The Prince of Motown." Marvin's crowning achievement is considered to be his concept album What's Going On, featuring it's groundbreaking title track, which hit #1 in the Billboard charts. Today, I featured another track with a similar feel from the album, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)."

Looking for more Marvin Gaye?

Check out all of the Marvin Gaye songs we have in our playlist, or make a request.


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