Weekend Breakthrough Music

 

Released a week apart in July 1962 (July 17 and 23, respectively),  Mary Wells' "You Beat Me To The Punch" and Marvin Gaye's "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" became breakthrough hits for both Motown legends.  The former was the first number 1 hit on the R&B charts for Wells (born May 13, 1943), while Gaye had his first top 10 R&B hit with the latter.  Both songs featured The Funk Brothers, who backed up nearly every Motown recording for more than a decade.  Smokey Robinson and fellow Miracle Ronald White wrote "You Beat Me To The Punch," while Gaye co- wrote "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow."  Also, Gaye played both drums and piano and had vocal backup from members of Martha and the Vandellas on the recording.  Lots of talent in those recording studios!  Hope you enjoy.

Weekend Music

The classic Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On," recorded in 1971, has obvious resonance in these times.  This is an official Gaye video that was done last year, showing images of Detroit and Flint, MI, and the social, political and ecological issues faced by people in 1971 and today.  Since this was shot before the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd murder, maybe someday the producers will update it again. You can read more about the making of this updated video here.

The song itself -- co- written by Gaye, Motown songwriter Al Cleveland, and the Four Tops' Renaldo Benson -- was cited by Rolling Stone magazine twice as "the fourth greatest song of all time." We won't argue with that.  Hope you enjoy.

Weekend Music

Those of us of a certain age know where they were and what they were doing on another Friday, November 22, back in 1963.  It was the day many of us first realized how fragile life is, as we also lost our innocence about the world around us.  Obviously, it's a date we'll never forget.

"Abraham, Martin and John" was written five years after the events of that day by Dick Holler, shortly after the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy.  It was originally recorded by Dion DiMucci and became a top ten hit in 1968.  The version we're selecting is by Marvin Gaye and was included in his 1970 album "That's The Way Love Is," but never released as a single. 

Weekend Mercy Song

The early '70s is seen as a time when much of the modern environmental movement became a political force with which to be reckoned, with the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970 and the passage of landmark legislation affecting air and water quality, land use, hazardous waste, and endangered species. Not insignificantly, the first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970.

Popular culture was also taking its awareness and airing of ecological concerns to a new level, not the least of which was soul superstar Marvin Gaye in his groundbreaking album, "What's Going On," released on May 21, 1971. (Gaye, who would have been 78 this Sunday, was tragically murdered by his father on April 1, 1984.) One of the great songs in his catalogue, composed by Gaye, was from that album. "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" dealt with ecological degradation, a real departure from the songs generally being churned out by his record label Motown at the time. One wonders what he would think about the future of the ecology now that we've turned the keys over to a bunch of environmental vandals. Forty-six years later, the song stands as a poignant reminder that some battles are never over.