Get Down On It:
Jean Knight - Mr Big Stuff
Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up
The Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child
Al Green - Tired of Being Alone
Shirley Brown - Woman to Woman
Joe Tex - I Gotcha
A Taste of Honey - Sukiyaki
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Firecracker
Five Star- All Fall Down
Eddie Kendricks - Happy
Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady
Al Green - Love and Happiness
The Staples Singers Come Go With Me
Sly & the Family Stone - Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)

And as no Soul Train post would be complete without a line dance: Temptations - Papa Was A Rolling Stone [more inside]
posted by y2karl on Dec 21, 2012 - 46 comments

In 1966, Motown songwriters Barrett Strong and Norman Whitfield wrote a song about Strong's relationship troubles, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles recorded it. Motown CEO Berry Gordy thought the song was "horrible" and shelved it. The song was "I Heard it Through The Grapevine." [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha on Apr 19, 2010 - 41 comments

His father was a minister in the Apostolic Church, but, after a series of arguments about his son's womanizing and heavy cocaine use he ended up shooting his own son down. The biggest of Motown's solo artists. Marvin Gaye often struggled with his brother-in-law, Berry Gordy over his desire to pursue different creative choices rather than following the tried and tested commercial formula. [more inside]
posted by PeterMcDermott on Sep 18, 2007 - 32 comments

"Window in the Sky" is a YouTube style video synch mash-up done on a professional budget with the magic of copyright clearances. "It's a triumph of postmodern reconstruction" says the Washington Post.
posted by stbalbach on Jan 29, 2007 - 160 comments

You might know Ernie Barnes from Sports Illustrated, or from a Marvin Gaye album cover. He has a powerful 9/11 painting. This past February he was named “America’s Best Painter of Sports” by the Board of Trustees of the American Sport Art Museum.
posted by ashbury on May 5, 2004 - 11 comments

Immortal classics I remember as if it were today when I first listened to Marvin Gaye's "Whats Going On" when it first came out. This album has never tired. "What's Going On was the first album out of Motown to include the printed lyrics of the songs in the album liner. Marvin Gaye had something to say and he wanted to make sure people got the message. Thirty-one years later, we're still getting it." Always bewildering why an album becomes immortal.
posted by Voyageman on Mar 29, 2002 - 14 comments

Bono, Fred Durst and P Diddy cover Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On". More Music From Hell news, even if the proceeds are for World AIDS Day and AIDs research."I just thought, you know, we're the usual suspects. Don't come to us. We're too right on," Bono said backstage at the VMAs. "Go raid the pop charts. Go ask Britney Spears. Go ask Jennifer Lopez. Go ask 'NSYNC. Go ask the rappers, the hip-hop guys like Ja Rule or Nelly or DMX...The Global AIDS Alliance originally asked Bono and Wyclef Jean to record the song; however, Bono had other ideas.
posted by BarneyFifesBullet on Sep 10, 2001 - 10 comments