In honor of Marvin Gaye’s birthday, I’m gonna run my 15 favorite Marvin records. As I think about it, I guess I’m kinda surprised I haven’t done this before. At any rate, before I get started, I’ll say right up front that my favorite Marvin album is Here, My Dear. For as powerful as the other three in the four-pack (What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On, and I Want You) are, for my money, nothing’s really fooling with Here My Dear. The songs that explain that are listed below.
15. Sanctified Lady In spite of the title, I don’t think I could ever get away with playing this song in front of my mother. Especially not when the word that was originally supposed to be in the title leaks through a couple times.
14. Got To Give It Up - Simply one of the all-time party jams. Ever.
13. A Funky Space Reincarnation - For some reason, this and Got To Give It Up are always connected in my mind. I’ve never actually put them next to each other on a playlist, but for some reason, I think it would work.
12. After The Jam - I actually got to know this song via the Foreplay version, which I like because of the piano solo, but El can’t fool with Marvin. Not on this song.
11. Distant Lover (Live) - For the most part, I prefer studio albums to live albums because the audience reminds me that I wasn’t there. In the case of this song, though, what the audience does is demonstrate how much control Marvin had. He completely DESTROYS this audience. Not to mention the lady that screams right through the speakers at 4:34.
10. All I Need To Get By - Thank Meth and Mary J. for this.
9. Since I Had You - I used to listen to this song on repeat for hours at a time. Not for any nostalgic reason, just because I liked the way the song ends.
8. Let’s Get It On - The Jan story that accompanies this song knocks it down a couple notches for me, as does the way the song changed its original meaning. Nevertheless, this is mean! There’s a reason so many people love this song. I do too, just not as much as a lotta people. And not as much as another song on this album.
7. Mercy, Mercy, Me - I just love this track. Period. The whole album, in fact, but this record in particular demonstrates the smoothness of Marvin’s voice.
6. T Plays It Cool - One of my favorite instrumental jams in life.
5. Is That Enough Starting with the two towering songs that make Here My Dear my favorite Marvin album, this song is just about perfect. No chorus, no traditional strong structure, nothing. And he was MAD! But still mad artistic.
4. Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) - Of course this song should be in the top three, and if this were a more typical list, it would be. But this is a list of my personal favorites, and while I like this song, the other three, I like more.
3. You Sure Love to Ball - This is THE slow jam from the Let’s Get It On album. No pun intended, but there’s not many slow jams that could eff with this. At all. It’s songs like You Sure Love to Ball that demonstrate the tremendous dropoff in R&B songs. While this song is certainly over-the-top, it’s still under control. Similar songs of today would just be flat-out raunchy. (Or else I just like Marv better, so it doesn’t bother me as much.)
2. You Can Leave, But It’s Going To Cost You - This is the song that made me love Here My Dear. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing is really beating this song. Especially not if there were a playlist of break-up songs. This is just…the truth. As with many of the songs on Here My Dear, it’s unencumbered by choruses, or even rhymes. It’s just straight-forward stream-of-consciousness-type goodness. Naw. Not goodness. Bestness.
1. Song #3 [Instrumental] - It’s kinda ironic that my favorite Marvin Gaye song would be an instrumental, and honestly a part of me thinks I should demote it to number two just because, but truth is truth. And the truth is, this is that jawn for me.
I’m assuming that most people have heard all of these, but if not, I’ma try to get up on some new technology so everybody can hear the top 12.
and here’s the tape. Let me know if it’s actually audible.
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