Untold Heros & heroines: Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye’s extraordinary career matched his extraordinary life, a mixture of blessings and banes, dazzling success and inscrutable pain. His biography and discography are twin reflections of the same dualty: the artistic and personal struggle to heal the split between head and heart, flesh and spirit, ego and God. Meanwhile, the music lives on for the pleasures of its beauty and the marvel that was Marvin’s voice.
Marvin’s work divides along decades – the sixties when he hit as a commercial if somewhat rebellious artist, a brilliant product of the Motown assembly line; the seventies when he matured as an independent force, a self-produced self-reflective auteur who both rose to the challenge and fell to the temptations of his times; and the early eighties when, for a brief moment, he came roaring back on the scene for the final, tragic act of his spectacular drama.







Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and instrumentalist with a three-octave vocal range. Starting as a member of the doo-wop group The Moonglows in the late fifties, he ventured into a solo career after the group disbanded in 1960 signing with the Tamla subsidiary of Motown Records. After starting off as a session drummer, Gaye ranked as the label's top-selling solo artist during the sixties.

Because of solo hits such as "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)", "Ain't That Peculiar", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and his duet singles with singers such as Mary Wells and Tammi Terrell, he was crowned "The Prince of Motown" and "The Prince of Soul".

His mid-1970s work including the Let's Get It On and I Want You albums helped influence the quiet storm, urban adult contemporary and slow jam genres. After a self-imposed European exile in the early eighties, Gaye returned on the 1982 Grammy-winning hit, "Sexual Healing" and the Midnight Love album before his death. Gaye was tragically shot dead by his father on April 1, 1984. He was posthumously inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

In 2008, the American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Gaye #6 on its list of The Greatest Singers of All Time, and ranked #18 on 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Marvin Gaye, Jr. was born at 12 p.m. on April 2, 1939 at Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C.. His father, Marvin Gay, Sr., who was originally from Lexington, Kentucky, was a minister at the House of God. It advocated strict conduct and mixed teachings of Orthodox Judaism and Pentecostalism. His mother, Alberta Cooper, from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, was a domestic and schoolteacher.

The eldest son of Gay Sr.'s children, Marvin has a half brother, Michael Cooper ( 1935) and an older sister Jeanne ( 1937), younger brother Frankie (1942–2001), and sister Zeola "Sweetsie" ( 1945). Marvin's parents raised their children at the southeast section of D.C. at the Simple City projects and, after Marvin turned 14, lived in the segregated section of Washington, D.C.'s Deanwood neighborhood in the northeastern section of the city. As a teen, he caddied at Norbeck Country Club in Olney, Maryland.

As a child, Gaye sang and played instruments in the choir in his father's church. During his high school years, he listened to doo-wop and joined the DC Tones as a drummer and pianist with his best friend Reese Palmer. After dropping out of 11th grade at Cardozo High School, Gaye joined the United States Air Force in hopes of becoming an aviator. After faking mental illness,[9] he was discharged. His sergeant stated that Gaye refused to follow orders.






Returning to D.C., Gaye rejoined his childhood friend Reese Palmer who had formed The Marquees and Bo Diddley signed them to Okeh Records, where they recorded "Wyatt Earp", with "Hey Little Schoolgirl" as its B-side. It received moderate success. Harvey Fuqua, of the R&B/doo-wop group The Moonglows, recruited them, after the break up of the original members to be The New Moonglows. Gaye and the group sang background on records by Chuck Berry and Etta James and had a modest hit with "The Twelve Months of the Year". "Mama Loochie" (1959) was Gaye's first lead single.

After the Moonglows disbanded in 1960, Fuqua brought Gaye to Detroit and he was signed to the local Anna Records label, founded by Gwen Gordy. After Motown Records' Berry Gordy absorbed Anna, Gaye was moved to Motown's Tamla subsidiary. Upon signing to Tamla, Gaye found out that Fuqua had sold 50% percent of his stake in the singer to the label. Gaye worked as a session drummer for The Miracles, The Contours, Martha and the Vandellas, The Marvelettes and others, notably on The Marvelettes' 1961 hit, "Please Mr. Postman" and Little Stevie Wonder's live version of 1963 hit, "Fingertips". Both singles reached number one of the pop singles chart.

After signing with Motown as a solo artist in 1961, Gaye changed his name from Marvin Gay to Marvin Gaye, later stating he added the 'e' because it "sounded more professional". His author and best friend David Ritz insisted Gaye added the 'e' to separate himself from his father, and to imitate R&B singer Sam Cooke, who also added an 'e' to his name. Gaye and Berry clashed over music to record. Though with help from Gaye's girlfriend, Gordy's sister Anna, Berry allowed him to record a standard album.






Gaye scored his first hit single "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" in September. The song, co-written by Gaye, was an autobiographical pun on his nonchalant, moody behavior. Produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson with background vocals supplied by Martha & The Vandellas, the recording became a hit on the Hot R&B Songs chart.
The single would be followed by his first Top 40 singles "Hitch Hike", "Pride and Joy" and "Can I Get a Witness", which charted for Gaye in 1963. The success continued with the 1964 singles "You Are a Wonderful One", "Try It Baby", "Baby Don't You Do It" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", which became his first signature song.
Gaye contributed to writing and playing drums on the 1964 hit by Martha and the Vandellas, "Dancing in the Street". His work with Smokey Robinson on the 1966 album, Moods of Marvin Gaye, spawned consecutive top ten singles in "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar". Due to this success and the singer's well-crafted image, Gaye became a favorite on the teen shows American Bandstand, Shindig!, Hullaballoo and The T.A.M.I. Show. In August 1966, he became just the second Motown act to successfully perform at the Copacabana, though due to label friction, a live album cut from the performances set to be released in 1967 was shelved for nearly 40 years.


However, it was Gaye's work with Tammi Terrell that became the most memorable. Terrell and Gaye were a good standing duet at the time and their first album, 1967's United, birthed the hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Your Precious Love".
Real-life couple Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson provided the writing and production for the Gaye/Terrell records. While Gaye and Terrell were not lovers — though rumors persist — they portrayed lovers on record. Gaye claimed that for the songs he was in love with her. On October 14, 1967, while in concert at the homecoming for Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia, outside the college town of Farmville, Tammi Terrell collapsed in Gaye's arms. She was rushed to Southside Community Hospital, where she was later diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor.[13] Contrary to popular belief, the concert was not at Hampton University. The chairperson of the event recounted the events on WFLO FM radio in Farmville in April 2007 for the anniversary of Marvin's passing.
Motown decided to carry on with Gaye/Terrell recordings, issuing the You're All I Need album in 1968, which featured "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By". By the final album, Easy in 1969, Terrell's vocals were mostly by Valerie Simpson. Two tracks on Easy were archived Terrell solo songs with Gaye's vocals overdubbed.








Terrell's illness put Gaye in a depression; he refused to acknowledge the success of his song "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (About this sound sample, released in 1967 by Gladys Knight & The Pips (his was recorded before, but released after theirs), his first #1 hit and the biggest selling single in Motown history to that point, with four million copies sold. His work with producer Norman Whitfield, who produced "Grapevine", resulted in similar success with the singles "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" and "That's the Way Love Is". Meanwhile, Gaye's marriage was crumbling and he was bored with his music. Wanting creative control, he sought to produce singles for Motown session band The Originals, whose Gaye- produced hits, "Baby I'm For Real" and "The Bells", brought success.






Tammi Terrell died of a brain tumor on March 16, 1970. Gaye was so emotional at her funeral that he talked to her lying in state as if she were going to respond. He went into seclusion and did not perform in concert for nearly two years. Gaye told friends he had thought of quitting music, at one point trying out for the Detroit Lions (where he met acquaintances Mel Farr and Lem Barney), but after the success of his productions with the Originals, Gaye entered the studio on June 1, 1970 and recorded "What's Going On", "God Is Love", and "Sad Tomorrows" - an early version of "Flying High (In The Friendly Sky)". Gaye wanted to release "What's Going On", but Gordy refused, calling the single "the worst record I ever heard". Gaye threatened to leave Motown unless the record was released. Gordy eventually relented and the song was released with little publicity in January 1971. Despite no backing from Motown, the single became a hit, peaking at number-one on the Billboard R&B charts for five weeks.[14][15] It is also rated the fourth best song of all time by Rolling Stone. After the single's success, Gordy requested an entire album of similar tracks.
Gaye performing live at the Oakland Coliseum during his 1973-1974 tour

The What's Going On album became one of the highlights of Gaye's career and is his best-known work. Both in terms of its funk and jazz-influenced sound and personal lyrical content, it was a departure from his earlier Motown work. Two more of its singles, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", became Top 10 pop hits and #1 R&B hits. The album became one of the most memorable soul albums and, based upon its themes, the concept album became the frontier for soul music. It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices"

Gaye decided to switch from social to sensual with Let's Get It On in 1973. The album was a departure for its sensual appeal. Yielded by the title track and tracks such as "Come Get to This", "You Sure Love to Ball", and "Distant Lover", Let's Get It On became Gaye's biggest selling album during his lifetime, surpassing What's Going On. Also, with the title track, Gaye broke his own record at Motown by surpassing the sales of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The album would be hailed "a record unparalleled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy."

Gaye began working on his final duet album, this time with Diana Ross for the Diana & Marvin project, an album of duets that began recording in 1972, while Ross was pregnant with her second child, Tracee Ellis Ross. Gaye refused to sing if he couldn't smoke in the studio, so the album was recorded by overdubbing Ross and Gaye at separate sessions. Released in fall 1973, the album yielded the US Top 20 hit singles "You're a Special Part of Me and "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" as well as the UK versions of The Stylistics's "You Are Everything" at #5 and "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" at #25, respectively.

In 1976, Gaye released the I Want You LP, which yielded the title track as the number-one R&B single, and the modest charter, "After the Dance." Album tracks such as "Since I Had You" and "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" geared Gaye towards more funky material. The following year, Gaye released the funk single, "Got to Give It Up, Pt. 1", which became a simultaneous number-one US hit. The single was featured on his Live at the London Palladium album, which partially helped in the album selling over two million copies, becoming one of the top-selling albums of that year. During the same period, Gaye was honored by the United Nations for his charitable work.

On the advice of Belgian concert promoter Freddy Cousaert, Gaye moved to Ostend, Belgium, in early 1981 where he enjoyed a brief period of sobriety from drug abuse. Still upset over Motown's decision to release In Our Lifetime, he negotiated a release from the label and signed with Columbia Records in 1982, releasing the Midnight Love album late that year. The album included "Sexual Healing", which was Gaye's last hit. He wrote it during his 2 month stay in the village Moere, near Ostend. Gaye's friend and lawyer Curtis Shaw calls this Moere-period "the best thing that ever happened to Marvin". The video clip of "Sexual Healing" is recorded in the Casino-Kursaal in Ostend.

The single reached number one on Billboard's R&B chart, where it stayed for ten weeks, later crossing to number three on Billboard's Hot 100. The single sold two million copies in the U.S. earning a platinum certification. The song also gave Gaye his first two Grammy Awards (Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, Best R&B Instrumental) in February 1983. It was nominated for Best R&B Song but lost to George Benson's "Turn Your Love Around".








The following year, he was nominated for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance again, this time for the Midnight Love album. In February 1983, Gaye performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the NBA All-Star Game, held at The Forum in Inglewood, California, accompanied by Gordon Banks who played the studio tape from stands. In March 1983, he gave his final performance in front of his old mentor Berry Gordy and the Motown label for Motown 25, performing "What's Going On". He then embarked on a U.S. tour to support his album. The tour, ending in August 1983, was plagued by health problems and Gaye's bouts with depression, and fear over an attempt on his life.

When the tour ended, he isolated himself by moving into his parents' house. He threatened to commit suicide several times after bitter arguments with his father. On April 1, 1984, Gaye's father fatally shot him after an argument that started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents. Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun that Marvin Jr. had given him four months before. Marvin Gaye would have turned 45 the next day. Marvin Sr. was sentenced to five years of probation after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after it was revealed that Marvin Sr. had been beaten by Marvin Jr. before the killing. Doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor but was deemed fit for trial. Spending his final years in a retirement home, he died of pneumonia in 1998.

In 1987, Marvin Gaye Jr. was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was also inducted to Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1989 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990.

Untold Heros & heroines: Tyson Beckford

Beckford was born on December 19, 1970 to a Black Jamaican father of Panamanian descent and a Black Jamaican mother with some Chinese heritage. He grew up in Rochester, New York and attended Bay Trail Middle School in nearby Penfield, New York. He then graduated from Pittsford Mendon High School in the affluent suburb of Pittsford as a participant in the Urban-Suburban Program, a busing program designed to give educational opportunities to urban youth in the city's surrounding suburban school districts. Beckford was a member of his high school football and track teams.

In 1992, he was recruited to hip hop magazine The Source by a talent scout, Jeff Jones, who has been credited with 'discovering' Beckford in New York City. In 1993, Beckford was recruited by Ralph Lauren as the front model for the company's Polo line of male sportswear.


















Beckford was named "Man of the Year" in 1995 by the cable television music channel VH1 & one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine. He is represented by Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, California, and Independent Models in London, England. He was ranked at #38 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the '90s.[2]

In 2003, he appeared on the ABC network's celebrity reality game show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. In September 2008, he supported the National RESPECT! Campaign against domestic violence, recording a voice message for the Giverespect.org Web site, speaking about the importance of respect for others.[3]

Beckford is currently co-hosting the modeling contest Make Me a Supermodel on the television channel Bravo with fellow supermodel Niki Taylor. The show has chosen Nicole Trunfio to join Beckford as a mentor to the model contestants for the show's upcoming second season. New judges include designer Catherine Malandrino, model Jenny Shimizu, photographer Perou and model scout Marlon[4].

Beckford judged and mentored the contestants of the first few episodes of the Australian version of Make Me a Supermodel, with model and former Miss Universe, Jennifer Hawkins










In June 2005, Beckford was injured in a car accident near his home. His vehicle caught fire, and Beckford was able to pull himself out before it became fully engulfed in flames[5]. Tyson claimed the accident had a profound effect on his spirituality on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Beckford has been a resident of the New Jersey communities of Edgewater[6] and West New York[5].

Tyson has a 10-year-old son, Jordan, from a previous relationship with designer April Roomet, who appears on the E! television program, "Candy Girls".[7][8].

Beckford owns a custom tuned 2004 Nissan 350z which puts out 625 HP @ 6,000 RPM. He also recently purchased a Nissan GT-R[

Death of the black model: Naiomi Campbell

Death of black models keeps Naomi Campbell going

Posted Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:13am AEST
Campbell was the first black model on the covers of French and British editions of Vogue.

Campbell was the first black model on the covers of French and British editions of Vogue. (AFP)

British supermodel Naomi Campbell says she refuses to retire after more than two decades on the world's catwalks because there are still too few black models in the fashion industry.

While many of her colleagues of the late 1980s - like Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington - have moved on from the runways, the 38-year-old icon continues to turn heads at the world's leading fashion shows.

"I'm very grateful for my career, but I worry for the girls after me for the opportunities they get - the way they get treated. And this is one of the reasons I still do what I do," she told Reuters in a weekend interview in Nigeria.

Campbell, who as a teenager was the first black model to grace the covers of the French and British editions of Vogue magazine, said many fashion designers still favoured fair-skinned models over their dark-skinned counterparts.

"I don't do so many shows anymore, but I do count how many girls of colour they use in the shows," Campbell said.

"It happens to be last year New York was the worst. Now at Paris Haute Couture there was only one black girl out of all the shows. It cannot be a trend."

Italian Vogue decided to use mainly black models in its July edition to highlight the problem.

"For me, it is something that is history-making. Something that I'm going to keep forever," Campbell said about the magazine, which has a photo of her on one of four different covers.

The magazine also includes Tyra Banks, Iman, and other black actors, models and singers.

Focus on Nigeria

Campbell travelled to Abuja and Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos over the weekend to help kick off a series of summer concert and fashion shows. It was her first trip to Nigeria, a developing country of 140 million people.

My mother's love

My mother's love gives me the reason to keep dreaming.
Just knowing that she care, keeps me believing in myself.
That's what makes her so wonderful and special.
She shares her love so unconditionally,
and I than God for blessing me with a mother like you.

A-list players: or, pretend to live like one! Part 2

True celebrities can't live past this point:

paparazzi, avoiding jail, planning a wedding for fun, or profit, raising a baby and never seeing, touching or knowing the child's name, killing a magazine cover story before it hit the news stand- even though the allegories are true, finding the best doctors to score the best prescription drugs, dodging airport security, jury duty, drafting the best entourage.




If you're not an A-Lister, or at least the very less, C-Lister, or maybe the level of an 'American Idol' hopeful starlet reject who is pouting and gouging her way into a certain status, then today's blog is for you.


The Assistant: The best dollar you'll invest!


A-Listers requires at least one assistant, most of their peers may boast three support aids, for the 'Gag-over-me-I'm-more-important-than-you' look to bring to any spotlight festival. An A-Lister can not live, or move without their assistant, if it's to gofer a pizza at 2 AM feeding, cleaning bath rings from the tube after an evening soak, or hiding their employer's secretly gay spouse's lover.


When an A-List player hires an assistant:


Most A-List celebrities approach 'The help Co,' who interviews and screen candidates for past criminal history, such as: shop lifting, or terrorist threats. Beyonce' have plucked assistants from her own family. For you C-Listers you may want to try searching your neighborhood, and make sure your new candidate can also double as your body guard, of course, having a 187 on his rap sheet wouldn't hurt either.....he'll work for a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, cookie and and apple combo, you can save yourself $61,000 annually, that is, and for a C-Lister, that's your life savings.


ON OUR NEXT LUNASOUL BLOG, WE'LL DISCUSS: 'CRISIS, IN A C-LISTER'S LIFE'

Untold Heros & heroines: Redd Foxx

Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side. His mother was half Seminole. His father, an electrician, left the family when Foxx was four. He was raised by his mother, his minister, and his grandmother. He briefly attended DuSable High School with future Chicago mayor Harold Washington, but never graduated.

In the 1940s, he was an associate of Malcolm Little later known as Malcolm X. In Malcolm's autobiography, Foxx is referred to as "Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher on this earth." Foxx earned the nickname due to his reddish hair and complexion. His stage name surname was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.

Redd Foxx then continued his career as a plumber, getting acting jobs where he could.










Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television situation comedy Sanford and Son, which premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons, the final episode airing on March 25, 1977.









On October 11, 1991, during a break from rehearsals for The Royal Family, he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set. Reportedly, co-star Della Reese and the rest of the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic "Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you!" fake heart attack routine he made famous on Sanford and Son, even going as far as collapsing to the floor, although that was not part of the usual schtick.[10] However, this heart attack was real, and Foxx never regained consciousness.

Black beauty!

The bad





the bold





the beautiful

Donyale Luna - FIRST black super model to grace the cover of Vogue in 1966.

Forever !

Love can express itself without saying a word.
Love can bring about happiness with just a simple smile.
Love is everything we think it cannot be.
Love has a way of doing things to make us understand.
love has a way of telling us when we're wrong, or when
we're right.
Love can take us to places in our heart where we've never
been before.
It can take us places where only love can go,
and I would give anything just to be with you.
Somewhere special



I sit in the quietness of the night with thoughts
of you flow through my head, straight to my heart.
Like a river finding it's way to the ocean so deep,
my feelings for you reaches to no end.




Why should you let something like me not being there, make you sad?
When you know I'll be there in a short while. Shouldn't that keep
you company until i arrive?
You might not know it, but I'm always there with you, together as one!

You brought a shadow to my life,
unto the shadow of our life,
unto the shelter of my life.
I wish you could shelter me,
but, I never thought I'd
see the day.....

Untold Heros & heroines: Tammi Terrell

Born Thomasina Montgomery, she caught the eye (and ear) of Mr. James Brown in 1962, recording “If You Don’t Think” and “I Cried” for his short-lived Try Me imprint. A year later, a charmed Barry Gordy signed her to Motown records. This began her collaborations with Marvin Gaye, who, in a haze of depression, was said to have stopped recording for two-years after her death. But it would be their iconic duets (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, “Your Precious Love”, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing”) that Terrell would be most remembered by today.

Tammi Terrell collapsed onstage in 1967, falling into Marvin Gaye’s arms while performing at Virginia's Hampton-Sydney College. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and died shortly after. She was 24.

Untold Heros & heroines: Gloria Hendry

Hendry began her acting career in the 1968 Sidney Poitier film For Love of Ivy.

She is perhaps best known for portraying the Bond girl, Rosie Carver in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. In that film, she became the first African American woman to become romantically involved with 007. She is not, however, the first African-American Bond girl; that title went to Trina Parks. When the film was first released in South Africa, her love scenes with Roger Moore were cut out because it was prohibited by the Apartheid government.

She later starred in several 1970s blaxploitation films, including the 1973 film Black Caesar and its sequel, the 1974 film Hell Up in Harlem. She also portrayed the martial arts expert, Sydney, in Black Belt Jones.

Real men do not love
Million of women at
once.....
He loves his woman
a Million ways!

What is life without love?
What is hope without happiness?
What is happiness without dreams?
What is love without the desire to share
these things with someone special?
A life not worth living!

What is love?

What is life without love?
What is hope without happiness?
What is happiness without dreams?
What is love without the desire to share
these things with someone special?
A life not worth living!

Thought for the day........

A real man does not love
Millions of women at
once......
He loves his woman in
Millions of ways!

A-List players: Or, pretend to live like one!

I'm here to offer help to live like an A-List celebrity player, but at a discount level. If you're just a regular 'Joe with a job,' or 'Hazel the house wife,' then this information will contain simple, comprehensive plan of actions on how to be an A-List player of the non-hollywood elite. If you're expecting the velvet-rope treatment, being ambushed by Ashton Kutcher and his 'Punk' crue, or the paparazzi ground assaults......well, it ain't about to happen! But one thing my advice will help with, is how to get by living your life in the GLAM life , at a discount on a budget.
In blogs to follow up this introduction, i will carry you through all the steps of the hollywood game living like Alec Baldwin, on an Archie Bunker budget.
So, stay tune to the next GLAM blog.....at the same GLAM page.......at the same GLAM time.