Marvin Gaye - What's Going On & Let's Get It On

The great Marvin Gaye was a man of many moods. During the 1960's he was more of a traditional Motown man, a great singer and equally great songwriter. He was the label's best selling solo artist during the decade and dubbed "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul", because of a magnificent voice and hits such as "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)".

Fast forward to 1971, and Marvin releases the album What's Going On, a masterpiece of reflecting soul music, vastly different in sound from his earlier effort, and even more different in theme. The album is told from the point of view of a Vietnam War veteran returning home and seeing injustice, suffering and hatred everywhere around him, a social commentary that rang true across the world and still does.

On his next album, Let's Get It On, released two years later, he returns as a sex god. The title track is possibly one of the most sexually loaded songs of all time, a great recording, smooth as silk. It set an immidiate standard for all soul singers to come wanting to bed their female audiences. It's simply as sexy as it gets.

So who do you prefer? Marvin the social commentator or Marvin the sex god? Here's a bit of both:


What's Going On


Let's Get It On