What Were Marvin Gaye’s 5 Biggest US Hits?

Like many of the finest musical artists of all time, Marvin Gaye’s career spanned several different stylistic eras. He shined in the 60s as Motown’s smoothest vocalist. In the early 70s, he reinvented himself as a social warrior. Late in his career, he reigned as the ultimate seducer and lover man. The amazing thing is he reigned on the pop charts during every one of those periods of time. With that in mind, let’s take a look back at Marvin Gaye’s five biggest US hits.

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“Sexual Healing” – No. 3 in 1982

Gaye’s commercial prospects dimmed significantly in the early 80s. At the same time, his personal life, dicey at the best of times, had cratered. David Ritz, a journalist who was writing Gaye’s biography, visited the artist in Belgium. According to Ritz, he noticed Gaye’s predilection for pornography and suggested he needed, as the title says, “Sexual Healing”. While the songwriting credits have long been disputed, what can’t be denied is how Gaye sank his teeth into this track, his last big chart hurrah before his death in 1984.

“What’s Going On” – No. 2 in 1971

Gaye deserves eternal credit for following his artistic heart with the What’s Going On project. Considering the label that had made him a star didn’t want him to do it, the risk to his commercial standing was massive. But the artist clearly understood that there need not be an inherent separation between music that made you think and music that made you groove. His vocal performance on “What’s Going On” drips with wounded empathy. And the common-sense wisdom of the lyrics remains forever relevant.

“Let’s Get It On” – No. 1 in 1973

This might just be one of Marvin Gaye’s most memorable hits. Those opening three wah-wah guitar notes have permeated the culture to the point that they’re now instantly associated with profound intimacy. That probably wouldn’t happen to the same extent without Gaye leading the way with his vocals. He asserts, he pleads, he cajoles, he coos. The mood veers back and forth from playful to urgent, all on a moment’s notice due to his whims on the microphone. To think that “Let’s Get It On” began as another song that was intended to show off Gaye’s political conscience… Once he diverted it to the bedroom, classic status followed.

“Got To Give It Up” – No. 1 in 1977

Gaye initially viewed disco music with a great deal of skepticism. After some prodding from his Motown bosses and others, he realized that there was a way to put his own stamp on it. He walked away from it all with his second US no. 1 and one of the genre’s finest moments. He framed “Got To Give It Up” as a kind of answer record to the hit “Disco Lady”. Most of that gets lost in translation, but it doesn’t matter. This track is all about feeding Gaye a strutting rhythm and letting him work his inimitable magic over it. And that’s more than good enough.

“I Heard It Through The Grapevine” – No. 1 in 1968

So much was working against Gaye’s rendition of this Motown standard. For one, Gladys Knight & The Pips had already produced a frantic rendering of it that was a major hit. In addition to that, Gaye himself balked at the fact that producer Norman Whitfield insisted that he test the higher limits of his register. It stood as nothing more than an album cut for a while before DJs got wise to its brilliance. The Funk Brothers’ groove sinks deep into the listener’s gut. That leaves it to Gaye to evoke the bottomless angst that the narrator’s mistrust causes him.

Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns