Marvin Gaye

Through his work is widely influential, it eventually became a neo-soul cliche to cite Gaye, Stevie Wonder, or Donny Hathaway as an influence, regardless of whether or not the citing artists' music actually reflected the qualities and creatvity inherent in Gaye's work. War Party was supported in fall 2004 by the Mock the Vote tour. In addition, Gaye's music was often used as one of the reference point for what became known as nu soul or neo soul in the late-1990s: a nostalgic-based sound that seeks to duplicate a 1970s soul music feel, while adding hip hop and contemporary R&B elements to the mix. Dave Brockie has said "...basically GWAR pledges support to the powers who support the war, and we make such a right-wing statement that the right wing would be ashamed to have us." GWAR still has more gratuitous violent imagery in "Womb With a View" and "Bonesnapper" and retains some trademark silliness in the Beefcake hollered french punk song "The Bonus Plan". As noted, Gaye helped gave rise to the "singer/soulwriter" in Black music. War Party is the most political GWAR album since America Must Be Destroyed tackling such subject matter as the 2004 american election and the war in Iraq in such songs as "Bring Back the Bomb", "The Krosstika", "War Party", "The Reaganator" and "Can't Kill Terror". The "What's Going On" cover also featured Marvin Gaye's only daughter, Nona Gaye, a successful singer and actress in her own right. War Party continues the decidedly more metal focus reintroduced in Violence Has Arrived.

Diddy, ?uestlove, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani[3] (http://www.aaaw.org/press/pr_10_22_01.html). Their new album is called War Party and was released October 26, 2004. Blige, Bono, Destiny's Child, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Aaron Lewis, Nas, *NSYNC, P. After Violence Has Arrived, Gwar switched labels from Metal Blade to DRT Entertainment. The single, which was also a reaction to the September 11, 2001 tragedy, featured contributions from a plethora of stars, including Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Gwar takes on more "medieval" themes this time around, such as torture ("The Wheel") and conjures up some truly ugly imagery in songs such as "Licksore", "Beauteous Rot", and "The Apes of Wrath". Two years later, in October 2001, an all-star cover of "What's Going On", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was issued as a benefit single for Artists Against AIDS Worldwide. Violence Has Arrived (2001), re-attains the brutal focus of their earlier albums. It is similar to Scumdogs, in that Brockie is now the dominant voice of the band again, and the theme is centered on generalized carnage.

In 1999, the R&B world paid its respects to Gaye in a tribute album, Marvin Is 60. This album is mostly a collection of gruesomely funny jokes ("Fucking an Animal" and "Nitro Burning Funny Bong"), and contains a bit less brutality than their previous works. Marvin Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. "Short History of the End of the World" and "Jagermonsta" are excellent examples of thrash-punk, while Mike Derks lends his vocals to the almost sensitive ballad, "Mary Anne". Former Motown alum Diana Ross also paid tribute with her Top 10 pop single "Missing You" around the same time. The band once again offers the funny ("Fishfuck") the gross ("Babyraper"), and the weird ("Penile Drip", in which Oderus does his best Brak impression). A year after his death, The Commodores made reference to Gaye's death in their 1985 song "Night Shift". As detailed within the liner notes, Gwar meets a new alien warrior, Scroda Moon (Hunter Jackson) who has to find the pieces of a broken tablet which, when put together, will allow them access to a Portal Potty (or a giant, magical toilet) that can warp them off Earth for good.

In 1983, the British group Spandau Ballet recorded the single "True" as a partial tribute to both Gaye and the Motown sound he helped establish. This a whimsical album full of punkish potboilers, taking a note from Primus in its surrealistic goofiness. Even before Gaye died, there had already been tributes to the singer. Gwar returned in 1999 with We Kill Everything, which hearkens back to their hardcore roots. died of pneumonia in 1998. A few more jokes ("Scallop Boat", "Gonna Kill U", "I Suck on My Thumb"), round out the album. Marvin Gay, Sr. "In Her Fear" is Oderus's swan song, and Beefcake the Mighty gives a memorable ballad in "Hate Love Songs".

After some posthumous releases cemented his memory in the popular consciousness, Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. which is worthy of mention. kill him instead of having to commit suicide. Hunter Jackson also returns in "The Private Pain of Techno Destructo", and there is an odd ballad about the rotting corpse of Sammy Davis Jr. On April 1, 1984, one day before his forty-fifth birthday, Gaye was shot and killed by his father in an argument, becoming a famous victim of filicide. Gaye's relatives claimed that he had purposely pushed his father to the edge so that he could have Marvin, Sr. It is perhaps most notable as their longest album, and also as the album that contains Stampe's solo number: "Don't Need a Man". He threatened to commit suicide several times after numerous bitter arguments with his father, Marvin, Sr. There are likely more styles experimented with here than on any other album.

Gaye's refound fame pushed him even deeper into drug addiction and he attempted to isolate himself by moving into his parent's house. It can be best described as Gwar's bid for musical expansion. Midnight Love included "Sexual Healing", one of Gaye's most famous songs, and his final big hit. Bungle. He negotiated a release from the label and signed with Columbia Records in 1982 and released Midnight Love the same year. The band on Carnival of Chaos (1997) seems to be influenced even more by Faith No More and Mr. When Motown issued the album in 1981, Gaye was livid: he accused Motown of editing and remixing the album without his consent, altering the album art he requested, and removing the question mark from the title (rendering the intended irony imperceptable). Finally, the instrumental "Surf of Syn" shows the technical side of the band in full force.

In Europe, Gaye began working on In Our Lifetime?, a complex and deeply personal record. In the closer, for once, Gwar actually shows a serious side in detailing their problems with protestors (the ballad, "None But the Brave"). Tax problems and drug addictions haunted him, and after failing to get Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson to loan him money to take care of the tax issues, Gaye was forced to move to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1981. in "Think You Oughta Know This", and there is an energetic duet between Oderus and Slymenstra in "Fire in the Loins". After a failed single and a rapidly failing new marriage to a teenage girl, Gaye moved to Hawaii. In other news, Drakulich does a mock-rapping bit as Sleazy P. The result was 1978's Here, My Dear, a deeply personal album that so clearly detailed the sour points of Gaye's former marriage that Anna Gordy considered suing him for invading her privacy. The highlights of the album include "Dirty, Filthy" (a rousing comedy anthem), the title track, and "Meat Sandwich".

As part of the divorce settlement, Gaye agreed to record a new album and remit a portion of the royalties to Anna as alimony. As it could be supposed, the concept is about the ridicule of Christianity (especially in the song, "Martyr Dumb"). Gaye released I Want You by himself as his marriage finally ended in 1975. But Syn is drawn to Slymenstra's alien baby, for a reason that is left for the listener to uncover.. Gaye refused to sing if he couldn't smoke in the studio, and the duets album was recorded by overdubing Ross and Gaye at separate studio session dates. Syn is representing the Warrior Pope, who is demanding that all bow down to him and obey his insane whims. Gaye, a longtime marijuana user, refused to put out his joints out for the pregnant Ross, who immediately complained to Berry Gordy about the issue. However, it turns out that the comet is actually Cardinal Syn, a robotic agent of harsh Catholic dogma.

Gaye teamed up with Diana Ross for Diana & Martin, an album of duets that began recording in 1971, while Ross was pregnant with her first child, Rhonda. An AIDS-like plague has crippled the masses, who await the meteor's arrival and their subsequent death. 1973's Let's Get It On was a sexually and romantically charged album that was very successful on the charts and remains "a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy." [2] (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4sj20r8ac48n). Meanwhile, a comet hurdling towards planet earth is inciting the populace to revolt, and anarchy has set in all over the globe. It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices." [1] (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ui6xlfwe5cqu~T1). The story involves Oderus and his alien sister Slymenstra being forcibly mated with the aid of rogue space aliens. What's Going On became one of the most memorable soul albums of all time, and, based upon its themes, the concept album became the next new frontier for soul music. While This Toilet Earth was highly eclectic in instrumentation, RagNaRok (1995) contains the most varied vocal stylings, as the majority of the band lends their lungs to the tracklist. RagNaRok is essentially a heavy metal album and it is spiced with a story about the end of the world.

Gordy eventually gave in, certain that the record would flop; What's Going On ended up having three Top Ten singles. "Jack the World" was also featured in the Beavis and Butthead video game for the Sega Genesis. Gaye stood his ground; he wanted to be able to express himself, and not Gordy's or Motown's version of himself, on record. Skulhedface was the movie released to document this album. He considered the record far too political and unfamiliar in sound to be commercially successful. It is a blend of chaotic styles that is reminiscent of Faith No More and Frank Zappa. When Gaye delivered the album and single for release, Berry Gordy refused to release the album. As for the music, it is varied and ranges from poppy ("Jack the World") to gruesome ("Sonderkommando") to goofy ("Pepperoni") and to the unmentionable ("B.D.F.").

The partygoers are portrayed by Mel Farr and Lem Barney of the Detroit Lions, whose acquantances Gaye had made during his short-lived football career. must regain their Jizz and catch the maggot in time. On the finished track, as Gaye musically ponders on the state of the world, a party can be heard going on in the background, from which Gaye's voice is purposefully detached. Skulhedface disguises herself as an evil executive for the Glomco corporation, and uses propaganda to turn Gwar into sickeningly cuddly cartoon characters. Meanwhile, Gwar discovers that the World Maggot is their only opportunity to escape Earth, but Skullhedface stands in their way. Oderus & Co. Four Tops member Renaldo "Obie" Benson and songwriter Al Clevland wrote an initial rough version of the song, which Gaye took and collaborated with them to finish. Her midget slave Flopsy and she then create a creature made up of the melded parts of evil historical figures (such as Hitler) called the Flesh Column. The album's first single, also titled "What's Going On", addressed the political and social troubles of the world in a soulful, introspective way, contrasting to the more dramatic socially concious records made by Sly & the Family Stone and The Temptations over the previous three years. In retaliation, she travels to Antarctica, encounters Gwar while they are hibernating, and steals their Jizmoglobin, or life force.

Gaye was inspired to write about the war by his brother, Frankie Gay, who had just returned from the front lines. Storywise, the enemy is now Skulhedface, an alien queen who was deformed in a Synnite Warrior raid on her planet centuries before. The record was among the first soul records to place emphasis on political and social concerns such as environmentalism, political corruption, drug abuse, and the Vietnam War. The music and artwork is almost cartoonish when compared to the previous albums, and the instrumentation has expanded to include horns (in the opener, "Saddam a Go-Go") that reinforce the goofiness. What's Going On was a politically-charged and deeply personal Motown album, notable for including elements of jazz and classical music. In 1994, Gwar released what was to be one of their oddest and most bittersweet albums. It was the first album to be censored, due to their gain in popularity as a result of MTV exposure. As a result, he began recording the tracks that would eventually comprise his best-known work, What's Going On, handling all of his own production and most of his own songwriting. The single "S.F.W." (a staple of their live shows) was supposedly released on this album as a bonus track, but this has been discounted by the band.

He tried various spirit-lifting diversions, including a short-lived attempt at a football career with the Detroit Lions, but continued to feel pain with no form of self-expression. This album was followed by The Road Behind, an EP that contained that single and a riveting live version of "Have You Seen Me?" (which contained a notorious Ween sample at the end). Gaye subsequently went into self-seclusion, and did not record or perform for nearly two years. A video, Phallus in Wonderland, was released as a supplement to the album's storyline. Tammi Terrell died of brain cancer on March 17, 1970. Musically, it is a mix of rock and roll and blistering sludge metal, and it is even harsher-sounding than the previous album. Meanwhile, Gaye's marriage was crumbling and he continued to feel irrelevant, singing endlessly about love while popular music underwent a revolution and began addressing social and political issues. Other songs of interest include "Have You Seen Me?", "Poor Ole Tom", and "The Road Behind".

Terrell's illness began a depression in Gaye; when his Norman Whitfield-produced "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" hit #1 on the US pop charts for seven weeks in 1968/1969 and became the biggest seling single in Motown history to that point, he refused to acknowledge his success, feeling that it was undeserved. Gwar marches out to battle, and you can take the story from there. By the time on the final Gaye/Terrell album, Easy, in 1969, Terrell's vocals were performed mostly by Valerie Simpson. Meanwhile, the Morality Squad has enlisted the help of Father Bohab (a Catholic priest) to crucify Gwar in the media. Half of the songs on You're All I Need were actual Gaye/Terrell duets, but the other half were Terrell solo songs with Gaye's vocals overdubbed onto them. The story then shifts to Gwar headquarters in Antarctica, where Oderus's slaves are ordered to shoot up a dinosaur egg with crack. The result is the mighty Gor Gor, a Tyrannosaurus Rex that wreaks havoc on America. Motown decided to try and carry on with the Gaye/Terrell recordings, issuing the You're All I Need album in 1968, which featured the hits "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By". The opening song, "Ham on the Bone" (which has a nod to grindcore) explains this robbery.

She was later diagnosed with a brain tumor, and her health continued to deterirate. Brockie was revolted by this attack on his rights and so he created a concept album revolving around an elite "Morality Squad" that attacked the members of Gwar and stole Oderus's penile attachment (aka Cuttlefish of Ctulu, a phallic hellbeast that normally dangles from his crotch). On October 14, 1967, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage while they were performing at the Hampden-Sydney College homecoming in Virginia. The controversy revolved around Brockie's rubbery penis adornment. Real life couple Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson provided the writing and production for the Gaye/Terrell records; while Gaye and Terrell themselves were not lovers, they convincingly portrayed lovers on record. Their second major-label recording in 1992 was inspired by Dave Brockie's fight with police officers while touring. Terrell and Gaye in particular had a good rapport, and their first album together, 1967's United, birthed the massive hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love". This album is viewed by many as their ultimate masterpiece.

A number of Gaye's hit singles for Motown were duets with female artists such as Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell; the first Gaye/Wells album, 1964's Together, was Gaye's first charting album. The rest of the album is centered around twisted jokes about insane medical practices/sexual perversion. He wanted instead to be a pop singer in the vein of Nat King Cole or Frank Sinatra, but settled for a blend of the styles of those artists and performers such as Jackie Wilson and his role model Sam Cooke. Other references include history ("Vlad the Impaler") and mythology ("Horrors of Yig"). "Pride and Joy" (1963) became a smash hit, but Gaye was discontented with the role he felt Motown Records kept him locked in, as a romantic balladeer and crooner, aiming always for chart success in the singles market. As well, "Black and Huge" is basically a love song by a sterotypically well-endowed African-American expressing his lustful intentions towards a white girl in the line "You know I'm just a limp Mega-Prick, I'm looking for a stupid white chick". 1963's "Hitch Hike" and "Can I Get a Witness" were also minor hits. Examples include "Slaughterama" (which involves Gwar killing hippies and skinheads) and the opening track, "Salaminizer", which was inspired by/based off a song by the breakthrough rap group NWA.

The single was written by Smokey Robinson, who created the title as a sly reference to the sometimes moody Gaye. The songs are more socially relevant in this album as well. Marvin Gaye's first three Motown singles were all unsuccessful; he fnally scored a minor hit with his fourth attempt, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", in 1962. in the song, "Maggots"). Not only part of the Motown family, he also became part of the Gordy family when he married Berry Gorsy's sister Anna in 1961. Gwar began to experiment with samples to some degree (e.g. Popular and well-liked around Motown, Gaye already carried himself in a sophisiticated, gentleman-like manner, and had little need of training from Motown's in-house Artist Development director Miss Maxine Powell. The production is very refined compared to the independent first attempt.

2", and co-wrote Marth & the Vandellas' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street" and The Marvelettes' 1965 hit "Beechwood 4-5789". As the title implies, it is a concept album about the Scumdogs' reign of terror on planet Earth. Most notably, he is the drummer on Little Stevie Wonder's 1963 #1 hit "Fingertips--Pt. Gwar's first album on Metal Blade Records was released in 1990. As a session drummer and part-time songwriter, Gaye worked with The Miracles, The Contours, Martha & the Vandellas, and other Motown acts. (In another reference, the liner art does a stab at Picasso's Guernica, which is renamed Gwarnica.). of Motown Records. Jacques-Yves Cousteau makes a bizarre cameo as well, in a song that could possibly be influenced by Dadaism.

After a concert in Detroit, Michigan, Gaye was recruited for a solo career by Berry Gordy, Jr. The famous "Gwar Theme" is a memorable car-eating anthem. "Mama Loocie", relased in 1959 on Chess Records, was Gaye's first single with the Moonglows. Hunter Jackson makes his first appearance in "Techno's Song" and "I'm in Love (With a Dead Dog)" showcased a tender episode in canine-alien relations. With Bo Diddley, The Rainbows released a single, "Wyatt Earp" in 1958 on Okeh, and were then recruited by Harvey Fuqua to become The Moonglows. Gwar's angle is that of a morbid punk band (a la The Mentors), with songs deriding the USA (such as "Americanized" and "Ollie North") as well as those of general grotesqueness ("Slutman City", "Bone Meal"). After high school, Gaye joined the United States Air Force and then, after being discharged, joined several doo wop groups, settling on The Rainbows, a popular local group in D.C. In 1988, their first album, Hell-O (Shimmy Records) was released.

Gaye got his start singing in the church choir, later learning to play the piano and drums to escape from his physically abusive father. Gwar fans are known as Bohabs. The church has very strict codes of conduct and does not celebrate any holidays. Gwar was/is primarily a band of former art students, and this is reflected in the obscure references made in some of their songs. Gaye was born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (He later added the "e" to imitate Sam Cooke, who did the same) in Washington, D.C., the son of the Reverend Marvin Gay, Sr., an ordained minister in the House of God, a conservative Christian sect which takes some elements of Pentecostalism and Orthodox Judaism. Band members and associates often have cookouts at their house, dubbed "Gwar-BQ's." The video for "Saddam a Go-Go" from This Toilet Earth appeared in the hit movie Empire Records. Kelly. Gwar were banned from performing in their home city due to their raucous stage performances; since then they have appeared under the pseudonym Rawg.

This achievement would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in Black music, such as Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Babyface, and R. Simpson to your garden-variety redneck. Subsequent releases proved that Gaye, who had been a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. Another hallmark of Gwar's live show is their mock executions of media icons, ranging from O.J. Gaye forced Motown to release his 1971 album What's Going On, which is today hailed as one of the best soul albums of all time. Their costumes are generally made of foam latex, and they further the gimmick in concerts by dousing blood and gore on their audiences. Along with Stevie Wonder, Gaye is notable for fighting the hitmaking but creatively restrictive Motown record-making process, in which performers and songwriters/record producers were generally kept in separate camps. Entitled Scumdogs of the Universe, it featured a plot involving intergalactic barbarians. Jackson and Brockie combined these ideas, and since then the gimmick used by Brockie's band (re-dubbed Gwar) has been dressing up as alien warriors.

His best records are still highly regarded, and he is often cited as one of the finest singers of his era. Jackson was working on a movie at the time the two met. Marvin Gaye (Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr.) (April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an African American pop, soul and R&B singer who gained international fame during the 1960s and 1970s as an artist on the Motown label. The band was the result of the linkup between Hunter Jackson and Dave Brockie, the singer for a punk band called Death Piggy. New York/Philadelphia: Basic Civitas. ISBN 0-465-01769-X. Gwar are probably best known for their elaborate fantasy and horror inspired stage shows which have sometimes run afoul of obscenity statutes. Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves, and Demons of Marvin Gaye. Gwar is a novelty rock/heavy metal/punk band that was formed in 1985-1986 in Richmond, Virginia.

Dyson, Michael Eric (2004). Armstrong. New York: Harmony Books. Kepone. The Top 100 Rock 'n' Roll Albums of All Time. Death Piggy. Gambaccini, Paul (1987). X-Cops.

ISBN 030681191X. DBX. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press. Nippleus Erectus (old drummer character-???). Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye. Techno-Destructo (GWAR Enemy - Hunter Jackson). Ritz, David (1986). Musel (keyboards - Dave Musel).

ISBN 037-550062-6. Sexecutioner (vocals - Chuck Varga). New York: Random House. Martini (manager - Don Drakulich). Motown : Music, Money, Sex, and Power. Sleazy P. Posner, Gerald (2002). Slymenstra Hymen (GWAR Woman, vocalist - Danyelle Stampe).