The late great soul man MARVIN GAYE (1939-1984) released his most
successful single LET’S GET IT ON (almost 263 million stream on Spotify) 50 years ago, on 15 June 1973. It was the title track of the same named LP,
his 13th.
It sold, only in the US, more than 10 million copies.
Strangely, it peaked at #31 in the UK.
Let’s get it on
Ah, baby, let’s get it on
Let’s love, baby
Let’s get it on, sugar
Let’s get it on, woo hoo
The late great soul giantMARVIN GAYE recorded I Heard It Through The Grapevine (more than 287 million streams on Spotify) his first Number One in the US on this day
in 1967.
The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was first recorded by soul group The Miracles without success. It was Gaye who made it world famous, as we know it.
The late soul icon MARVIN GAYE (1939-1984) released his first post-Motown LP MIDNIGHT LOVE on 8 November 1982, 40 years ago. His most successful one, thanks
in great part to its huge hit SEXUAL HEALING (more than 308 million strems on Spotify).
Rolling Stone wrote: “This record, which has become the biggest crossover hit of the
singer’s career, is a comeback for Gaye, whose last couple of albums, despite their funkster
defenders, committed the unpardonable sin of tedium. The album has the rhythmic tension, melodic delicacy and erotic resilience of Gaye’s greatest music, and it extends those attributes by applying contemporary synthesizer gimmickry judiciously and soulfully. Gaye plays about eighty percent of the instruments here himself, and his synthesizer work, as well as his drumming, is a revelation. And everything here, including the ribald greeting-card verse
of the lyrics, underscores the relentless erotic obsession that’s at the core of Gaye’s concerns.” Score: 4/5.
At the age of just 12, the little phenomenon STEVIE WONDER released
his scintillating debut single 60 years ago today. A soul earworm with Wonder‘s peppy voice, vivid harmonica play, warm organs, and yes, Marvin Gaye on drums.
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)
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)
Star studded supergroup THE JADED HEARTS CLUB featuring Muse‘s Matt Bellamy, Miles Kane, Blur’s Graham Coxon and Jet’s Nic Cester have another steamy sixties
cover out. After their take on The Isley Brothers‘s Nobody But Me the picked a Marvin Gaye song.
‘THIS LOVE STARVED HEART OF MINE (IT’S KILLING ME) is a Gaye song which was released from the vaults of Motown in 1994. It’s sung now by Nic Chester who said: “Learning to sing a song like this and giving it the respect it deserves meant really studying
it with microscopic detail and then trying to forget it all again. The ease at which Marvin navigates his way through all the phrasing is so unbelievably effortless, I loved looking
at the work of someone that talented. You really recognize and appreciate the soul
of the man.”
Watch the late great voice Amy Winehouse and Modfather Paul Weller covering Marvin Gaye classic ‘I HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE’ together. Gripping performance!
