21 May 2021

Back in time…

Artist: MARVIN GAYE
April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984

Album: WHAT’S GOING ON – his 19th LP
Released: 21 May 1971 – 50 years ago today
Score: Platinum in the UK / Gold in the US

Rolling Stone (Vince Aletti): “Ambitious, personal albums may be
a glut on the market elsewhere, but at Motown they’re something new.
The album as a whole takes precedence, absorbing its own flaws. There
are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I’ve always
admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn’t expect that he would be one of them.
Guess I seriously underestimated him. It won’t happen again.” Score: 5/5.

Singles: What’s Going On / Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)

– WHAT’S GOING ON –

– MERCY MERCY ME (The Ecology) –

Stream album…

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MARVIN GAYE: All Albums

Band: STEVE MILLER BAND
Active: 1966–present

Album: FLY LIKE AN EAGLE – 9th LP
Released: 20 May 1976 – 45 years ago
Score: #11 in the UK / #3 in the US

All Music (Stephen Thomas Erlewine) Steve Miller had started to
essay his classic sound with The Joker, but 1976’s ‘Fly Like an Eagle’
is where he took flight, creating his definitive slice of space blues.
The key is focus, even on an album as stylishly, self-consciously trippy
as this, since the focus brings about his strongest set of songs (both
originals and covers), plus a detailed atmospheric production where
everything fits. Score: 4/5.

Singles: Rock ‘N Me / Take The Money And Run

– ROCK ‘N ME –
(Striking live rendition)

– TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN –
(From the same concert)

Full album…

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STEVE MILLER BAND: All Albums