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R.I.P. Marvin Gaye – Here Are His Best Songs

When the singer was killed on his 45th birthday in 1984, he was at the pinnacle of his career.

Marvin Gaye

Photo by Eugene Adebari/Shutterstock

On this day in 1984, Marvin Gaye was shot and killed at the apex of his career.

Since his early days in Motown's ranks, Gaye was always a tastemaker. Initially a reclusive drummer, Gaye quietly emerged onto the 1960s Motown scene with a handful of early doo-wop hits. When crooning began to dominate mainstream radio, Gaye shifted with the tide and positioned himself as a crooner in his own right with hits like "My Funny Valentine and "How High The Moon." He then naturally dove into the world of R&B before pivoting for a brief stint in psychedelia with an acclaimed reimagining of Dion and Beatles songs. As the 70s brought on disco and sly funk, Gaye curated his own material to add to the exploding genre.

All of it was so naturally Gaye. He was an unstoppable musical polymath who could easily switch with the times, making his senseless murder on his 45th birthday all the more depressing. His endless musical cache about societal ills and personal heartbreak would eventually inspire the talents of Drake and The Weeknd, just to name a few. In honor of the legendary singer, here are a few of his best moments.

How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)

A 1960s Motown classic, this infectious jam came after a seemingly abundant number of smash hits from songwriters Brian Holland and Eddie Holland, and the way Gaye sings it with a glint in his eye became almost more iconic than the earworm itself. "Try as they might, no other vocalist could combine those two sensibilities as Gaye does here," wrote Stereogum, "bringing to life the guy that you wanted to bring home to meet mom and then sneak off to the bathroom for a quickie before dinner is served."

That’s The Way Love Is

Another earworm, "That's the Way Love Is" wasn't written for Gaye, but the soul for which Gaye calls out "that's the way love is, babe" would suggest otherwise. A lot of Gaye's early work through 1970 wasn't written by the balladeer, but his ability to elevate lyrics with emotional transparency became a niche, if not extremely marketable, talent for Gaye. On this cover of the Isley Brothers hit, Gaye enlists the help of the Funk Brothers to turn the track into a bouncy R&B smash.

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

While Gladys Knight's rendition turned the soulful ballad into a funky chart-topper, Gaye's arresting rendition of "I Heard It" will always remain superior. While Motown head Berry Gordy preferred Knight's interpretation, Gaye's rendition surprisingly caught the attention of radio DJs, who spun the track so much Gordy allowed Gaye's version to be released as a stand-alone single. Over 50 years later, and the track remains as raw and powerful as ever. The scarcity of its arrangement allows Gaye's backing string section to soar, while Gaye sings frankly about budding infidelity as if he's experiencing the roller-coaster of heartbreak in real-time. The song would go on to be Gaye's first US smash.

Marvin Gaye - Lets get it on

While Gaye's legendary love-making anthem was originally billed to him by Ed Townsend as a religious ballad, Gaye reworked it into the classic love-making hit we all know and adore. Lyrically inspired by Janis Hunter, Gaye's eventual wife, "Let's Get It On" was crammed onto so many sex playlists that it became a cliche, but for years, it was the most seductive song in the country, thanks to Gaye's smooth vocals and unrestrained passion. You could practically hear him taking off his clothes.

Sexual Healing

Listed by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Sexual Healing" became Gaye's calling card later in life. Riddled with IRS woes and cocaine addiction, Gaye moved to Belgium where he became introduced to Reggae. In 2012, Gordon Banks told The Atlantic that the lyrics were inspired by Gaye's intrigue for Amsterdam's Red Light District, to which his producer David Ritz said that he needs "sexual healing." Prior to 2012, a rumor floated around that Gaye's lyrical inspiration came from Gaye's sadomasochist comic book collection.

Ed Sheeran is Headed to Court

Ed Sheeran could lose up to $100 million for allegedly plagiarizing Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On."

Ed Sheeran

By Fred Duval/ Shutterstock

Ed Sheeran — a wedding singer who seemingly won a Faustian contest of mediocrity that elevated him to super-stardom — is facing legal trouble.

Given his repetitive songwriting and greasy "dude, let me copy your homework" vibe, it doesn't come as much of a surprise that he may or may not dabble in plagiarism.

On Friday, a US judge rejected Sheeran's call for the court to drop a legal case accusing him of copying parts of Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." District Judge Louis Stanton said he found "substantial similarities between several of the two works' musical elements." Now, the case will go before a jury to be decided. According to the BBC, "The action has been brought against Sheeran, Sony/ATV Music Publishing and Atlantic Records by the estate and heirs of the late producer Ed Townsend, who co-wrote Let's Get It On with Gaye." The suit states that Sheeran and his co-writers "copied and exploited, without authorization or credit, the 'Let's Get it On' composition," copying various elements "including but not limited to the melody, rhythms, harmonies, drums, bass line, backing chorus, tempo, syncopation, and looping." They're asking for $100 million in damages.

The song in question is Sheeran's 2014 number-one hit, "Thinking Out Loud," a love song so generic that it could have been written about any human being that ever lived as a musical product of any time period since the invention of the guitar. If you listen to "Let's Get It On" and "Thinking Out Loud" in quick succession, you're not struck by their similarities, but by the extraordinary contrast between the two songs. Marvin Gayes' song is a timeless, soulful masterpiece; while, in comparison, Sheeran's song seems like a tepid lament from a Tinder date who's just tired of going to the movies by himself.

However, if you can look past the disparity in quality between the two hits, you may recognize a few familiar moments in Sheeran's song, as the two songs share many of the same chord progressions and have a similar groove. However, as Power Station Studio's Audio Engineer Joshua Taylor put it to Popdust, "90% of pop songs are written at basically the same tempo and all use the same two or three chord progressions, so really cases like this have to be about the melody" — which means that it's unlikely that these similarities are enough to validly claim plagiarism, since the songs are melodically very different.

Unfortunately for everyone's favorite lazy-eyed Raggedy Andy, when a case like this goes in front of a jury, the facts of musical composition tend to lose importance. For example, in 2015, Gaye's estate won $5.3 million after a jury decided Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams' 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" infringed upon Marvin Gaye's 1977 composition "Got to Give It Up." As Variety puts it, "Jurors in such cases are rarely musical experts and similarities based on gut — or as the 'Blurred Lines' decision put it, 'feel' — instead of musical notation can carry the day."

That and Ed Sheeran's case have raised concerns throughout the music industry about who should be allowed to decide questions of musical plagiarism, as the lack of musical expertise among the average jury leaves artists open to possibly undeserved legal prosecution. After all, should Ed Sheeran really be punished for making indistinct, soulless music that sounds like every other song you've ever heard?

Brooke Ivey Johnson is a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.

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