Motown released the first Marvin Gaye record "(I'm Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over" in 1961; a single that was intended for (radio) promotion for the singer's debut album. The officially released single “Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide” followed a week later. Gaye had his first real hit in 1962 with “Stubborn Kind Of Fellow,” which he co-composed and in which he joked about his alleged stubbornness.
This laid the foundation for an enormous series of chart successes: "Pride And Joy", "Can I Get A Witness", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "Ain't That Peculiar" are all Motown classics from 1963 to 1965 that are still played regularly today after all these years. The duets he recorded with Kim Weston (“It Takes Two”) and especially with Tammi Terrell were certainly at least as good. He achieved his biggest hit in 1968 with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”. "What's Goin' On" from the album of the same name became a number 1 hit in the US and the album is considered a masterpiece and is widely regarded as one of the most important albums in pop history.
The artistically and commercially very successful "Let's Get It On" from 1973 was primarily a musical ode to Mavin's new muse Janis Hunter. The success that “Sexual Healing” experienced gave it another boost in 1982. Suddenly Gaye, who was already on the way to obscurity, was a celebrated star again and that was certainly a state of affairs that Gaye greatly enjoyed.
The pop world lost on January 1st. April 1984 one of the most important soul singers to ever walk the earth. Gaye left behind a series of fantastic hits, as well as a whole handful of other tracks, all of which deserve the title of masterpiece, all brought together on this album.