Post by timmy84 on Mar 4, 2006 21:05:22 GMT -5
-What do Marvin, Harvey Fuqua and Jermaine Jackson all have in common? Each legendary soul singer married a member of Berry Gordy's family (Marvin & Harvey married Berry's sisters while Jermaine married Berry's daughter Hazel).
-Marvin discovered legendary soul/funk band Frankie Beverly & Maze when they were known as Raw Soul in 1976. Gaye insisted the group changed their name and later the next year asked them to join him on the road as his opening act breaking them to the forefront of R&B in the process. Maze later released a tribute song to their friend and mentor in 1989's "Silky Soul".
-Marvin Gaye listed Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Nat "King" Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke as his musical heroes.
-Marvin's only daughter, Nona, introduced him to a national audience on Soul Train in 1982. Nona would later follow in his father's footsteps and perform on the show in 1992.
-Before he became known for leading funk band Raydio and the title track to the movie, "Ghostbusters", Ray Parker, Jr. served, for a smart time, as Marvin's guitarist on the I Want You album. Parker also played guitar for Stevie Wonder.
-Marvin Gaye was a huge fan of boxing and was best friends with legendary boxers Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Kenny Norton and George Foreman.
-Marvin Gaye was once asked to play soul great Sam Cooke in a proposed film of the singer around 1965, but he declined, saying he didn't wanna play such a role because Cooke had recently died tragically in the end of 1964. To this day, there has been no planned film on Sam.
-Marvin owned a house in Senegal, West Africa sometime in the mid-to-late-'70s.
-Marvin was second cousins with Motown recording artist and soul singer Donnie.
-The name of the hospital Marvin was born was Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C.
-Even during the early years of his instant fame in the mid-'60s, Marvin made interviewers nervous when he asked serious questions that went beyond music including politics and race. Marvin also carried the biography of Malcolm X with him on some occasions.
-Despite their indifferences toward each other, Marvin & Diana Ross often performed whenever Marvin was around. One night while Diana was performing in Brussels, Belgium in 1982, she spotted Marvin in the audience and brought him onstage to the clamor of cheers from the crowd. The singers then began singing songs from their Diana & Marvin album. This was captured in Diane's video for her Gaye tribute single, "Missing You".
-Despite composing much of the hit songs for them, Ashford & Simpson didn't write nor produce Marvin & Tammi's hits "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" and "If This World Were Mine". The latter song was written solely by Marvin Gaye and would be one of the classic soul standards of all time famously revamped by Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn.
-Marvin walked around with bunions on his feet getting Smokey Robinson to call him 'Dad' despite just a 12-month difference between them.
-Marvin surprised a Los Angeles audience for Stevie Wonder by performing alongside Diana Ross on the gig in 1979.
-Marvin's tragic 1984 death at the hands of his minister father inspired a similar scene in Spike Lee's 1991 film, "Jungle Fever", where Samuel L. Jackson's character had a heated argument with his father, played by Ossie Davis, while his mother, played by Ruby Dee, tried to stop the fight. Samuel's character is shot and killed by Ossie's. The name of Samuel's character: Marvin. Ironically, Samuel's character was also a drug addict.
-Despite their pending divorce, Marvin & Anna often chilled out at their Los Angeles mansion. Attorney Curtis Shaw recounted on Marvin's documentary about how when Marvin & Anna saw each other, they'd greet each other and then after a while, Curtis would be allowed in. Curtis said he found the scene bizarre considering Marvin & Anna's supposed 'nasty' divorce court battle.
-Marvin Gaye supposedly made a cameo in 1972's "Trouble Man" possibly playing himself singing the title track.
-Marvin was best friends with comedian and activist Richard Gregory (I had to say it like that 'cause y'all would replace what he's known as and retitle it "Thingy" like you did RICHARD Clark, lol).
-Marvin filmed an entire concert for a special airing of The Midnight Special in 1974 that was also a documentary peeking into Marvin's personal life.
-Marvin recorded duets with Motown singer Oma Page though the songs were never released after Page suddenly left the label. These duets remained unreleased until it was issued in a 1990 best-of featuring Marvin's duets with acclaimed female singers including Mary Wells, Kim Weston & Tammi Terrell.
-Marvin inspired the Isley Brothers into making "Between the Sheets", which was composed to fit Marvin's "Sexual Healing". "Between the Sheets" would hit #3 on the R&B singles chart marking the group's first top 10 single on the R&B charts since "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)". The Isley Brothers also recorded two of Marvin's smash '60s hits "That's the Way Love Is" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" though Motown has never issued the group's version of the latter.
-Marvin Gaye & Gladys Knight each performed their own versions of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" during a televised performance in 1982 in Europe. Marvin even became a 'Pip' dancing alongside other Pips while Knight sang her version. Marvin & Gladys sung together on Marvin's version.
-Jermaine Jackson said Marvin Gaye was his biggest idol.
-Pop star Cyndi Lauper was a big fan of Gaye and had wanted to do a duet version of "What's Going On" but Gaye died before Lauper retooled the song and released it as a single in 1986. Lauper's version reached #12 on the pop singles chart.
-Marvin is referred to by name on Spandau Ballet's hit 1983 ballad, "True".
-British "blue eyed soul" singer Paul Young covered Marvin's 1963 standard, "Whenever I Laid My Hat (That's My Home)". His version became a hit around 1982-83.
-Marvin's version of "Grapevine" is one of the most covered tunes in rock music history. The song has been covered by the rock/soul groups Temptations, Cleerdence Clearwater Revival, Rare Earth, the Slits (an all-female punk band), funk legend Roger Troutman, and the California Raisins.
-Marvin's "Grapevine" re-charted in the UK in 1986 after airing of the song was featured on a commercial for Levi's Jeans. The song peaked at #8 on the UK singles chart. It's Gaye's only #1 on the UK singles chart.
-Marvin acted in two films, "The Ballad of Andy Crocker" (1969) and "Hot Chrome & Leather" (1971). He played a small role in the former and one of the starring roles in the latter.
-Like Elvis, 2Pac, Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke, John Lennon and Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye has found charted life posthumously. Marvin charted five hit singles after his passing: "Sanctified Lady", "It's Madness" (both 1985), "My Last Chance" (1991), "Music" (2001) with rapper Erick Sermon and a revamped Stepper's version of "Let's Get It On" (2005).
-As a solo artist, Marvin Gaye had one of the longest charting spans in music history: 43 years (July 1962 - February 2005). He scored over 60 hits in his lifetime in 21 years and 5 posthumous hits after his passing.
-Marvin Gaye accomplished a rare feat after releasing 1966's The Moods of Marvin Gaye when the album yielded SEVEN Top 40 R&B hit singles and FIVE Top 40 POP hits. A rare feat for a black or white artist to achieve at the time. The only other solo artist to achieve such a feat was Elvis Presley. The album yielded 2 #1 R&B and Top 10 Pop hits.
-Marvin became the first solo artist since Elvis Presley to accomplish scoring 3 consecutive #1 Billboard hit singles with his What's Going On album. He became the first R&B artist to accomplish the feat scoring three consecutive #1 R&B hits and setting an overall record of having more than 3 Top 10 pop hits off one album. Michael Jackson would break that feat nearly a decade later with Off the Wall (1979; 4 Top 10 pop singles).
-Marvin had his own publishing company called Bugpie Music.
-Marvin loved to play sports including basketball mostly.
-Marvin was an avid motorcycle driver.
-Marvin discovered legendary soul/funk band Frankie Beverly & Maze when they were known as Raw Soul in 1976. Gaye insisted the group changed their name and later the next year asked them to join him on the road as his opening act breaking them to the forefront of R&B in the process. Maze later released a tribute song to their friend and mentor in 1989's "Silky Soul".
-Marvin Gaye listed Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Nat "King" Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Billy Eckstine, Ray Charles and Sam Cooke as his musical heroes.
-Marvin's only daughter, Nona, introduced him to a national audience on Soul Train in 1982. Nona would later follow in his father's footsteps and perform on the show in 1992.
-Before he became known for leading funk band Raydio and the title track to the movie, "Ghostbusters", Ray Parker, Jr. served, for a smart time, as Marvin's guitarist on the I Want You album. Parker also played guitar for Stevie Wonder.
-Marvin Gaye was a huge fan of boxing and was best friends with legendary boxers Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Kenny Norton and George Foreman.
-Marvin Gaye was once asked to play soul great Sam Cooke in a proposed film of the singer around 1965, but he declined, saying he didn't wanna play such a role because Cooke had recently died tragically in the end of 1964. To this day, there has been no planned film on Sam.
-Marvin owned a house in Senegal, West Africa sometime in the mid-to-late-'70s.
-Marvin was second cousins with Motown recording artist and soul singer Donnie.
-The name of the hospital Marvin was born was Freedmen's Hospital in Washington, D.C.
-Even during the early years of his instant fame in the mid-'60s, Marvin made interviewers nervous when he asked serious questions that went beyond music including politics and race. Marvin also carried the biography of Malcolm X with him on some occasions.
-Despite their indifferences toward each other, Marvin & Diana Ross often performed whenever Marvin was around. One night while Diana was performing in Brussels, Belgium in 1982, she spotted Marvin in the audience and brought him onstage to the clamor of cheers from the crowd. The singers then began singing songs from their Diana & Marvin album. This was captured in Diane's video for her Gaye tribute single, "Missing You".
-Despite composing much of the hit songs for them, Ashford & Simpson didn't write nor produce Marvin & Tammi's hits "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" and "If This World Were Mine". The latter song was written solely by Marvin Gaye and would be one of the classic soul standards of all time famously revamped by Luther Vandross & Cheryl Lynn.
-Marvin walked around with bunions on his feet getting Smokey Robinson to call him 'Dad' despite just a 12-month difference between them.
-Marvin surprised a Los Angeles audience for Stevie Wonder by performing alongside Diana Ross on the gig in 1979.
-Marvin's tragic 1984 death at the hands of his minister father inspired a similar scene in Spike Lee's 1991 film, "Jungle Fever", where Samuel L. Jackson's character had a heated argument with his father, played by Ossie Davis, while his mother, played by Ruby Dee, tried to stop the fight. Samuel's character is shot and killed by Ossie's. The name of Samuel's character: Marvin. Ironically, Samuel's character was also a drug addict.
-Despite their pending divorce, Marvin & Anna often chilled out at their Los Angeles mansion. Attorney Curtis Shaw recounted on Marvin's documentary about how when Marvin & Anna saw each other, they'd greet each other and then after a while, Curtis would be allowed in. Curtis said he found the scene bizarre considering Marvin & Anna's supposed 'nasty' divorce court battle.
-Marvin Gaye supposedly made a cameo in 1972's "Trouble Man" possibly playing himself singing the title track.
-Marvin was best friends with comedian and activist Richard Gregory (I had to say it like that 'cause y'all would replace what he's known as and retitle it "Thingy" like you did RICHARD Clark, lol).
-Marvin filmed an entire concert for a special airing of The Midnight Special in 1974 that was also a documentary peeking into Marvin's personal life.
-Marvin recorded duets with Motown singer Oma Page though the songs were never released after Page suddenly left the label. These duets remained unreleased until it was issued in a 1990 best-of featuring Marvin's duets with acclaimed female singers including Mary Wells, Kim Weston & Tammi Terrell.
-Marvin inspired the Isley Brothers into making "Between the Sheets", which was composed to fit Marvin's "Sexual Healing". "Between the Sheets" would hit #3 on the R&B singles chart marking the group's first top 10 single on the R&B charts since "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time For Love)". The Isley Brothers also recorded two of Marvin's smash '60s hits "That's the Way Love Is" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" though Motown has never issued the group's version of the latter.
-Marvin Gaye & Gladys Knight each performed their own versions of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" during a televised performance in 1982 in Europe. Marvin even became a 'Pip' dancing alongside other Pips while Knight sang her version. Marvin & Gladys sung together on Marvin's version.
-Jermaine Jackson said Marvin Gaye was his biggest idol.
-Pop star Cyndi Lauper was a big fan of Gaye and had wanted to do a duet version of "What's Going On" but Gaye died before Lauper retooled the song and released it as a single in 1986. Lauper's version reached #12 on the pop singles chart.
-Marvin is referred to by name on Spandau Ballet's hit 1983 ballad, "True".
-British "blue eyed soul" singer Paul Young covered Marvin's 1963 standard, "Whenever I Laid My Hat (That's My Home)". His version became a hit around 1982-83.
-Marvin's version of "Grapevine" is one of the most covered tunes in rock music history. The song has been covered by the rock/soul groups Temptations, Cleerdence Clearwater Revival, Rare Earth, the Slits (an all-female punk band), funk legend Roger Troutman, and the California Raisins.
-Marvin's "Grapevine" re-charted in the UK in 1986 after airing of the song was featured on a commercial for Levi's Jeans. The song peaked at #8 on the UK singles chart. It's Gaye's only #1 on the UK singles chart.
-Marvin acted in two films, "The Ballad of Andy Crocker" (1969) and "Hot Chrome & Leather" (1971). He played a small role in the former and one of the starring roles in the latter.
-Like Elvis, 2Pac, Donny Hathaway, Sam Cooke, John Lennon and Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye has found charted life posthumously. Marvin charted five hit singles after his passing: "Sanctified Lady", "It's Madness" (both 1985), "My Last Chance" (1991), "Music" (2001) with rapper Erick Sermon and a revamped Stepper's version of "Let's Get It On" (2005).
-As a solo artist, Marvin Gaye had one of the longest charting spans in music history: 43 years (July 1962 - February 2005). He scored over 60 hits in his lifetime in 21 years and 5 posthumous hits after his passing.
-Marvin Gaye accomplished a rare feat after releasing 1966's The Moods of Marvin Gaye when the album yielded SEVEN Top 40 R&B hit singles and FIVE Top 40 POP hits. A rare feat for a black or white artist to achieve at the time. The only other solo artist to achieve such a feat was Elvis Presley. The album yielded 2 #1 R&B and Top 10 Pop hits.
-Marvin became the first solo artist since Elvis Presley to accomplish scoring 3 consecutive #1 Billboard hit singles with his What's Going On album. He became the first R&B artist to accomplish the feat scoring three consecutive #1 R&B hits and setting an overall record of having more than 3 Top 10 pop hits off one album. Michael Jackson would break that feat nearly a decade later with Off the Wall (1979; 4 Top 10 pop singles).
-Marvin had his own publishing company called Bugpie Music.
-Marvin loved to play sports including basketball mostly.
-Marvin was an avid motorcycle driver.
But this info is also for those that are not SO familiar with some of the stuff Marvin did, ya dig? 
