ONE GEM OFF MARVIN GAYE`S FINALE WHICH EVEN THE SOUL LOVING CRITICS KEEP IGNORING

https://youtu.be/NVdrIbQRp54?si=3qvhbBi0R0g4TjtX

Marvin Gaye was a walking contradiction in a personal sense, the magic of his lyrics never represented the personal demons which were tearing his world apart away from the spotlight, which was only made worse by a procrastinated addiction to crack cocaine and a heap of other narcotic nasties, not to mention a poisonous and eventual fatal association with his estranged father.

 

Shot dead in Los Angeles at the age of 40 by his own father in 1982, that`s how his personal legacy reads but of course Gaye made some of the best Motown and MT inspired soul ever recorded. 

Ironically, his most successful and identifiable song, the raunchy and provocative SEXUAL HEALING, come off an album which wasn`t on the Motown label, rather Columbia. 

His last album, MIDNIGHT LOVE. Motown by
this stage had grown so weary of Gaye`s debauchery and drug induced madness that they had washed their hands of him, perhaps the introduction of Columbia into the Gaye soundscape allowed a bit more pop and soft rock to come into play for what it would be the final recording before his tragic death. 

For my liking, apart from the song SEXUAL
HEALING, the album is somewhat muddled, lacking real focus, almost epitomising the disorientation going on in his Gaye`s life around that time. 

The title track is considered by many music critics to be the only above average song besides SEXUAL HEALING. 

Personally I disagree, I think it`s a bit of a lemon, well okay, just very uninspiring. 

The one song besides HEALING which I think is above average is the rompous JOY, a swinging, churning funked up rhythm and bluesy like classic featuring some `inspiring` synthesiser and Fender Rhodes from MG himself and a screamer of a tenor sax solo from Bobby Stern. 

JOY set the new soul benchmark for Gaye and his admirers. Gaye ironically never found any joy himself.