Monday, March 23, 2009

Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" Live



There are a few songs that I would love to jump in my DeLorean and go back and watch LIVE around the time they came out. (#1 MAZE AND FRANKIE BEVERLY "WE ARE ONE"!) But I happen to peep this on the good ol' youtube, and thought about how evoking it was.
A song that speaks to civil rights issues both in America, and around the world, “What’s Going On” is one of the most widely appreciated protest songs of all time. It reached #2 for three weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 for five weeks on the Billboard R&B charts. From the Detroit Metro Times - “Berry Gordy didn’t want to release this, deeming it “uncommercial.” The Motown chief finally relented when Gaye — who co-wrote it with Four Top Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Motown in-house songwriter Al Cleveland — threatened to permanently stop recording. His determination not only paved the way for black artists to pursue more personal and sociopolitical songwriting agendas, but along with Stevie Wonder’s “emancipation,” it changed Motown’s whole game. The song is as relevant and poignant today as it was the day it was written.
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