It was thirty years ago today.
1st April 1984, Marvin Gaye died, at the hands of his father. 1984 was a strange year for me. I read somewhere last week that "all good things happened in 1984". Well, I was eight years old in the summer of that year, but for me, not that many good things happened. Both of my granddads died within about six weeks of each other, which meant that Easter was quite miserable, and although I recall happy summer holidays, I guess that my parents had a pig of a time.
But I did hear 'I Heard it Through the Grapevine' for the first time, shortly after Marvin died. I was seven years old at the time, and so I knew nothing. But I knew I liked grapevine. That was one good thing that happened for me in 1984.
It seems that Marvin was in a mess in 1984, warring with his father. He was formerly a big drug user, particularly cocaine, and a row with his father - Marvin Sr. - escalated, which led to him being shot, his father using a gun that was a gift from his son. Marvin died a day before his 45th birthday.
Marvin Gaye peaked before my time. He made his name with Berry Gordy's great Motown organisation (he married Gordy's sister Anna in 1964), scoring early hits with the likes of 'Hitch Hike' and 'Pride and Joy'. But his biggest hits were duets with others. 'It Takes Two' with Kim Weston made the US top twenty, and was his first hit in the UK.
He went on to have his biggest success with Tammi Terrell, on tracks such as 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' and 'Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing'. Disaster struck in 1967, as Terrell collapsed in Gaye's arms on-stage. She was rushed to hospital to be diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. It ended her career as a live performer, though she continued to record.
Tammi Terrell's illness devastated Gaye, and he became disillusioned with the music industry believing himself to be nothing more than a "puppet" for Berry and Anna Gordy, though the following year, he had his biggest hit with grapevine, which topped the charts in many countries including the US, selling four million copies.
During the 60s, Gaye was seen more as a singles artist, churning out hit after hit for the Motown machine, but as the 60s drew to a close, Gaye was becoming more concerned by social and environmental issues. And when his close friend Tammi Terrell finally succumbed to brain cancer in March 1970, leaving Gaye heartbroken, and following her funeral, he isolated himself from the music industry for a spell.
He finally returned to recording in June 1970, putting together 'What's Going On', a song inspired by his friend Renaldo Benson of the Four Tops witnessing an act of police brutality, and his own growing concern with urbanisation and civil rights. Initially, Berry Gordy refused to release it as a single, believing the song to be "too political". Gaye responded by going on strike. 'What's Going On' was eventually released the following year, becoming a massive hit, and selling two million copies. He followed this by recording his first great album, What's Going On which became a major commercial and critical success.
The success of What's Going On saw Gaye secure a record-breaking $1million contract with Motown, which - at the time - was the most lucrative deal for a black recording artist. He followed the album with the soundtrack for the film Trouble Man. Again, this was well received, and in 1973, he released Let's Get it On to great acclaim, the title track becoming a big worldwide hit.
By the mid-70s, Gaye's relationship with Anna Gordy was deteriorating, but his star was soaring, the albums I Want You and Live at the London Palladium again selling millions, as did his single 'Got to Give it Up'.
Gaye and Gordy divorced in 1977, and the following year, he released Here, My Dear a suite inspired by the fallout from his marriage to Gordy, and intended that a proportion of the royalties would contribute to his alimony payments. Ironically, the album was a failure, and he fled to Maui to record a disco album, a project that quickly fell apart.
As well as dealing with a broken marriage to his boss' sister, Gaye was also fighting cocaine addiction and serious financial problems, owing the IRS over $4.5million in unpaid taxes. He relocated to London, and recorded the unsatisfying In Our Lifetime? which Gaye was unhappy with. He was outraged when Motown released it without his consent in 1981.
The same year, Gaye began a comeback tour, and he also began to relent on his use of drugs. He also planned a musical comeback, and successfully negotiated his release from Motown, signing with Columbia. In 1982 Gaye was back in the groove, and he made his first post-Motown recordings, releasing the massive single 'Sexual Healing', and in 1983, issued the album Midnight Love.
Gaye had rediscovered his mojo, but just a year later, he was dead.
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In 2014, Gaye's music is as relevant as it has ever been. 'Got to Give it Up' has been sampled by many including the Bins, and the messages of environmental degradation, social oppression and violence he conveyed through What's Going On prove that the more things change, the more they stay the same: in 1971, Marvin Gaye sang, "how much more abuse from man can She stand?"; yesterday the IPCC published their latest call-to-arms on climate change, which suggested that She will not be able to stand much more.
Marvin Gaye was ahead of his time.
Following Gaye's death, he was much mourned, particularly amongst black musicians and artists he influenced. The following year, a Lionel Ritchie-less Commodores released 'Nightshift' which celebrated both Gaye and Jackie Wilson, proclaiming that Marvin was a friend of theirs.
He was also a friend of mine.
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