The disco references from Marvin Gaye Biography

**remicks** · April 24th, 2006, 01:25 AM

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----- " In March 1977 , just as GOT TO GIVE IT UP , his first disco-style single, made it to number one in both the pop and R&B charts, his divorce from Anna became final."

.............................................. that's --- it!! ....... :P :P :P :P :P :P :P

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From
TROUBLE MAN
The Life and Death of Marvin Gaye

Book's very weak in many spots . That was a huge #1 record for Marvin... the lone standout during a lengthy sparse creative period . Yet , that's the length of discussion about its fruition.

**Disco Funk** · April 24th, 2006, 08:31 PM

Got To Give It Up is such a cool song. But it's even better because it doesn't have your favorite addition - strings! :) It's a very raw dance tune. Bunny Sigler liked it enough to record his own version called 'Let Me Party With You'.

Incidentally, Marvin Gaye did go on to record other disco/dance tunes, like 'Funky Space Reincarnation' and that other cut on that same album that sounds like FSR (I can't remember the name of it). He also participated on the Pops We Love You project.

Disco Funk

**ol'skinflint** · April 24th, 2006, 08:44 PM

I thought I was the only person who noticed the resemblance between those two songs. I've been listening to Marvin a lot lately. Guy had a hard life. I once taped a very intimate special on his life from A and E, and someone stole it. It mentioned that his father liked to wear women's clothes, and that Marvin had a party at his house once and covered an entire coffee table with cocaine. Passing guests would just toot and keep going. And apparently Marvin hated paying income taxes so much that he wrote obscenities on the back of the checks he wrote to the IRS. And the guy who played that incredible bass on "What's Going On?" was so drunk that he recorded his parts lying on the floor. I heard that there was a movie planned on Marvin's life, but that was a couple years ago and I haven't heard anything about it since.

**remicks** · April 25th, 2006, 02:25 PM

Originally Written by Disco Funk

Got To Give It Up is such a cool song. But it's even better because it doesn't have your favorite addition - strings! :) It's a very raw dance tune.
Disco Funk

:lol:

Good grief !! I can't help it if most of the great disco songs were great largely because of their wonderful use of strings !!!!

And luckily ....... many great ones also didn't ..... I'm not into the formula concept ....
I likes the variety ! :D

GOT TO GIVE IT UP ---- yes raw is a very good word .... it feels like you're partaking in a fun party .... but at a very private fun party 8) .....

I love that it doesn't have strings ...its all about the low end ..... this is a sultry party where the lights are kept dimmed and you're off in a corner .....

When i got to this part of the book .... which i was looking forward to ... I couldn't beieve that there was NO information about it whatsoever :evil: I suspect the author rushed past it .... because after all ..... it was disco :evil:

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all*that*glitters* · April 29th, 2006, 02:36 PM

'Got to give it up' didn't do much for me besides that it holds a few catchy bars and funky rhythm but overall it sounds like a stretched non-stop jam without any direction. Yawn!

'sexual healing' has always been Gaye's very special Disco song to me, probably his best. The crisp and minimal drumpatterns, the sensual voice and mood of the tune definitely make this a standout track comparable to 'rock your baby' by George McRae.

all*that*glitters*

**remicks** · April 30th, 2006, 12:58 PM

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**remicks** · April 30th, 2006, 02:20 PM

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ATG : Did you have the pleasure of hearing this song in clubs back in the day ?? Those growling low ends counterbalanced by Marvin's high voice ..... ..... Dark and sexy ..... :8) .
GTGIU was one of those songs that just transformed the place from the first drum kick on. It let the floor groove in a very different way than other songs ....
I think it was its club appeal that carried it to #1 on Billboard's HOT 100 . :8)

SEXUAL HEALING ... another one of Marvin's crown jewels , was much lighter in spirit ..... more breezy ...... and I loved it too. This is one where you can take two 45's and go back and forth with it forever : "ba beee .... "
... amazing that no 12" was mixed for this one :evil:

For me they're almost neck and neck .... both great .... but because of the way GOT TO GIVE IT UP's gritty sound added a wonderful dirty low down to the club scene ......... I'm more partial to it .... :D

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From Marky's THE WAY WE WERE thread

1975: (3wks) "EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD" - Consumer Rapport
1976: (3wks) "WHERE THE HAPPY PEOPLE GO" LP - Trammps
1977: (1 wk) "GOT TO GIVE IT UP" - Marvin Gaye
1978: (4wks) "IF MY FRIENDS COULD SEE ME NOW/ GYPSY LADY/ RUNAWAY LOVE" - Linda Clifford
1979: (1 wk) "RING MY BELL" - Anita Ward
1980: (4wks) "LOVER'S HOLIDAY/SEARCHING/ GLOW OF LOVE" - Change

8) 8) The disco's played Marvin's GOT TO GIVE IT UP to #1 8) 8)

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all*that*glitters* · May 1st, 2006, 09:09 AM

yes, I had the pleasure of hearing 'sexual healing' first time when it came out. I remember playing it from 45 rpm 7" early evening and it filled the floor for sure. Combined with tunes like 'love to love you baby' or Barry White / Love Unlimited it surely worked wonders on a dancefloor.

Don't forget that Disco in the beginning was not all about High Energy or 120 BPM all night long. Much slower BPM's were very popular with the dancers. The concept of high speed Disco all night is definitely boring. Remember High Energy??Or Italo Disco?? I always experienced a welcome response from the dancers when I played downtempo tracks like 'sexual healing' only to pitch things up again or to change the mood in the room.

"got to give it up" always worked well from the start of the song but after 7 or 8 minutes or so dancers got bored (well, at least at the club where I worked). But I agree; 'got to give it up' is great although on the long side. I think a good edit would have done the track justice. And yeah...why 'sexual healing' was never available as an extended mix on 12" remains a mystery to me as well. Wasn't there an instrumental of 'sexual healing'?? I remember some rap in the early 80's over it but maybe it's just my imagination...

all*that*glitters*

**discokicks** · May 1st, 2006, 10:11 AM

Originally Written by all*that*glitters*

Wasn't there an instrumental of 'sexual healing'?? I remember some rap in the early 80's over it but maybe it's just my imagination...

all*that*glitters*

There's an instrumental on the flip of the 7". I remember there was a 12" of it as well but it wasn't an extended mix.

all*that*glitters* · May 2nd, 2006, 10:34 AM

Originally Written by discokicks

There's an instrumental on the flip of the 7". I remember there was a 12" of it as well but it wasn't an extended mix.

I know of the instrumental on the Columbia 7" of 'sexual healing'
but I mention this rap version over the same (?) instrumental that came out around 1983?? shortly after the original of 'sexual healing'.
Maybe this was an Italian or Belgian bootleg but it sounded like an answer song to Gaye's hit. It was played a lot over here in the clubs but I've never heard it on the radio or seen it in the shops
all*that*glitters*

**remicks** · May 4th, 2006, 11:31 AM

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The single's "B" side is a terrific instrumental . Marvin's vocal on it is just him going "Bayy Beee" ..... Listening to it , its apparent that there was plenty to work with to comprise a wonderful longer version.

Don't forget during this period though , disco was dead as far as some of these labels were concerned . A disco/dance remix 12" for Marvin ?? Surely some at Columbia suggested it .... but it got vetoed by those who knew better :P And, of course, they wanted that single to sell the rest of that flimsy album Columbia had paid big bucks for to bring Marvin to their label ...

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Here's something intriguing from the biography :

---- Clarence Paul , who maintained his friendship with Marvin through the Los Angeles years met up with him the week before his death and found him in a terrified state . In the months before his own death he told Elaine Jesmer that Marvin was into a “weird sexual thing” during his final months and that it was something so bizarre that he could not tell anyone about it’. he also felt that his fears of being assassinated were somehow connected with this, ‘it was really a bad ’thing whatever it was “ says Jesmer, “Clarence told me that it really scared him , and not much scared Clarence.”

:-?

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all*that*glitters* · May 4th, 2006, 03:42 PM

[quote="remicks"]*****

A disco/dance remix 12" for Marvin ??
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the instrumental on the B-side of 'sexual healing' mixed as an introduction to the vocal version; a dj's tool and a dancer's dream. It was still handy in those days to have 2 copies of the 45 as it was not available on 12".

Wasn't 'sexual healing' a big clubhit before it actually crossed over to radio?

all*that*glitters*

**Disco Funk** · May 7th, 2006, 09:27 AM

Originally Written by all*that*glitters*

'Got to give it up' didn't do much for me besides that it holds a few catchy bars and funky rhythm but overall it sounds like a stretched non-stop jam without any direction. Yawn!
all*that*glitters*

I agree that the song is really a 2 parter, with the first half being the musically appealing half, while the second half meanders on. But that was more for the club play crowd, but in small pieces, not straight through.

Disco Funk

all*that*glitters* · May 13th, 2006, 08:27 AM

although 'got to give it up' has it's moments I prefer another dance tune of 'Here, my dear'; 'a funky space reincarnation'. The 12" version is extended to 8'. 15" and has these cue-in grooves, surely this record comes as close being a Disco remix of a Marvin Gaye track.
It was released in Holland as the A-side of the 12" with 'got to give it up' as B-side. I remember dj's who played mostly the first half of the B-side but the crowd seemed to prefer the A-side and not just because of it's length

all*that*glitters*

**Disco Funk** · May 13th, 2006, 04:08 PM

Funky Space Reincarnation sort of suffers from the same problem that Got To Give It Up suffered - a great first 3 or 4 minutes, with the last section just sort of meandering along without much direction. And FSR during that second have even loses the groove that pulses in the first half. It just sort of fizzles out.

Similar songs (non-Marvin Gaye) that disappoint me because of that style of arrangement include The Jackson 5's 'Hum & Dance Along' (I usually stop the song once it goes into that boring tribal tom drum section); Booker T & The MGs 'Melting Pot' (awesome groove, which then drops completely in the second half); and Herbie Hancock's 'Hang Up Your Hangups' (incredible groove through most of the song, with the last few minutes or so going off in a weird unfunky groove).

Disco Funk

**Nano** · May 14th, 2006, 04:31 PM

Originally Written by all*that*glitters*

although 'got to give it up' has it's moments I prefer another dance tune of 'Here, my dear'...

all*that*glitters*

Actually, "Got to Give it Up" came not from HERE, MY DEAR (1978). It's featured on the last side of the double LP LIVE AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM (1977). It's the only studio track there, featured as a bonus for fans wanting new material.