In this year’s rendition of the Soundtrack we are spending a lot of time in the 1960s. One reason is because the 1960s were a time of social change. Rock & Roll had shed its image as a trend in music and was now solidly ingrained as the music for generations to come.
Protest songs were all over the radio. As part of that responsibility, Soul, Rock, and R & B artists that had focused on love songs joined the revolution to change the world. One of those artists that jumped on the bandwagon was Marvin Gaye.
Marvin Gaye was a soul singer-songwriter with Motown in the 1960s and 1970s. Motown liked mainstream topics. After a disagreement with Motown, he produced his own records that often-addressed controversial themes.
His album What’s Going On, addressed social issues. The title song for the album is sung from the point of view of a war veteran returning home from Vietnam only to be faced with hate, suffering, and social injustice. The very things he risked his life trying to eliminate. His songs also raised other issues like damage to the earth’s ecology, poverty, and drug abuse.
The song What’s Going On was initially deemed too political by his Motown label, resulting in a disagreement between Gaye and Motown. It was eventually released in 1971 and reached No. 1 on the R&B charts within a month. It also reached the number one on Cashbox's pop chart for a week and reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, selling over two million copies.
When you listen to the song today you realize the song was far ahead of its time.
Here’s What’s Going On
Joe Domino is a Realtor® serving the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Need more information? Or to Search for your next home, visit www.Scottsdale-AZHomes.com
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