"What's Going On" - Marvin Gaye

This album is one of the most important and influential of all time and thankfully it's also one of the most enjoyable. Marvin Gaye had been a part of the Motown hit factory of the 1960's, releasing hit singles such as "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" along with his duets with Tammi Terrell (such as "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough"). But popular music in the late 1960s/early 1970s was shifting from an emphasis on singles to an emphasis on albums. Motown was still a singles-oriented company during this period, but Marvin Gaye felt constrained by this. He wanted to record and release an album that wasn't just a random collection of hit singles and filler. He wanted to record what we now call a 'concept album'. Berry Gordy (president of Motown) did not think that this was a good idea and it took Marvin Gaye sticking to his guns and many months of arguments before the album was released.

The album ended up being a huge hit and helped lead to a greater emphasis on albums in Soul music and it also produced three hit singles! The first and biggest hit and lead-off track on the album is the title song, "What's Going On". This track, with its the jazzy sax riff is probably my favorite song on the album. One of the most powerful tracks on the album is "Save The Children" a song with an absolutely majestic melody and a haunting tale of desperation and redemption. The album is just as topical today as it was when it was released over 40 years ago and is well worth listening to repeatedly.

One very positive outcome resulting from this album's strong sales was that Stevie Wonder was given the freedom to record entire albums, leading to masterpieces such as "Innervisions," "Songs In The Key Of Life" and many more. Other Black artists would also release albums that were not at all singles oriented, such as Isaac Hayes' "Hot Buttered Soul" a hit album that had only five songs; two clocking in at over 10 minutes! Unfortunately Motown would no longer set trends but only follow them during the 1970s and the number of Motown hits declined, though there were still some dependable hitmakers (i.e. Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Commodores).