Artist: Marvin Gaye
Album Title: What's Going On
Label: Motown
Bones:
Summary: M. Gaye 1 B. Gordy 0
Reviewed By: 'Disco' Stu McPhee

Going under the assumption that nearly everyone who has at least a passing interest in soul music owns this record then I guess I'm talking exclusively to the members of the Klux Klux Klan which in that case: I have no chance of winning you over. Though if you're of the opinion that Usher is the ducks nuts then sit down my son and I shall tell you a tale.

I won't bore you with the details of how great the songs are for they really speak for themselves. The trio of singles in 'Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)', 'Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)' and the title track have been endlessly analysed by experts over the years that the two bit opinions of a twenty-something white guy from Australia means very little. Suffice to say that if the rest of the album were bulked out with filler then it would still rank among the better Motown releases.

For you see, up until the release of 'What's Going On', Berry Gordy's Motown empire really didn't do albums. Sure, LP's were released but they were just the singles with added bonus tracks to get more value for the consumer. Gordy's philosophy was survival, one hit single at a time. Bizarrely, Gordy didn't hear a hit single in 'What's Going On'. It was only after Gaye threatened to stop recording anything that the single was reluctantly issued in January 1971 and the rest they say is the future of soul music. An album was then recorded following the narrative from the single using members from the now famous Funk Brothers.

Gaye, who was coping with the breakdown of his marriage to Anna and the tragic passing of duet partner Tammi Terrell (who collapsed into his arms onstage), wanted to express his thoughts on the problems in the world rather than the lines fed by the in-house writing team that was admittedly wearing a tad thin by the 70s. The album, a loose concept piece and in fact a two sided suite, dealt with the universal themes of the stalemate in Vietnam, the decay of urban living (particularly in Detroit) and drug use. Sadly those themes are as current today as they were 35 years ago.

Whether Gordy liked it or not, the blueprint for soul music was made and it already had other Motown artists thinking. Not long after, Stevie Wonder (having just turned 21) had Gordy over a barrel when he demanded more control over his recordings. The subsequent result was Wonder's near perfect run of five albums that rates up there with The Rolling Stones' 68-72 output. A similar situation occurred in 1975 when the Jackson 5 looked for more creative input. This time Gordy let them go and by doing so subsequently lost one of the biggest male artists of all time.

Even though Gaye enjoyed similar critical success with 1973s 'Let's Get It On', he would never make as big a statement about the world we live in than on 'What's Going On'. But then never has anyone else for that matter.