Marvin gaye street
Marvin Gaye’s first residence 919 O Highway NW in Shaw. Photo by Pleasant Mann
Marvin Gaye Drive unveiled in Detroit by family members, Motown alumni, dignitaries
On a gray and rainy day that added a fitting, cinematic touch to a celebratory occasion, Marvin Gaye got his own stretch of street in Detroit.
Marvin Gaye Drive was unveiled Saturday at the corner of Outer Drive at Monica Street by a group of Detroit and Michigan dignitaries, along with members of the late Motown star’s family.
A couple of hundred onlookers gathered for the dedication at the corner, where Gaye’s onetime home sat as a backdrop. The backyard of the property, which had been given to Gaye and his wife, Anna Gordy, by Berry Gordy Jr., was the scene of the photo shoot 50 years ago that produced the iconic portrait for Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album cover.
The ceremonial naming was spearheaded by Detroit Municipality Councilman Roy McAlister and approved earlier this year by the council. It’s the latest area road to fetch a musical designation, following street dedications for Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Frey, David Ruffin and others.
More: Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' still relevant and revealing, 50 years on
More: As world mark
Where do you start with a song like Marvin Gaye’s I Want You? A piece that I’m sure most people spot as sonic perfection. All of them ascribing a different definition, their own personal story, to the music and lyrics. Is it simply a love / lust song, a hymn, a celebration, or is it something more? For me it’s shot through with this beautiful melancholy, this incredible unrequited yearning.* Its combination of congas, low-key strings, and acid-edged guitar, creating an unshakeable air of anticipation and ache.
“Don’t you wanna care, ain’t it lonely out there?”
But maybe that’s just an ugly duckling’s point of view.
Leon Ware and Arthur “T-Boy” Ross (Diana’s ill-fated brother) were the writers, but like everything he recorded, Marvin inhabits, lives the song. Drawing on a sadness, a sorrow, way, way deep down. Soaring from his tenor to elevated notes that always make me tear up. His soul on show. Pain palpable. In part, a reflection of the turbulent “triangular” relationship that he start himself in.**
Back in the prior 1990s I saw Madonna list I Want You in her all time top ten tunes, which made her seem a little bit more human, mome
Remembering Marvin Gaye
On April 2, 1939, Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was born here in D.C., and he grew up in a poor segregated section of town. My dad played basketball with him in Lincoln Heights, according to my mom. There’s a park named after Marvin there now.
Marvin sang in his father’s church when he was a tiny boy and attended Cardozo High School in Columbia Heights as he got older. It was then, in the mid-’50s, that Marvin formed his first group, the D.C. Tones.
By the time he finished high school, Marvin was ready to pursue his singing career as a members of The Moonglows. He performed at Howard Theater when it was considered part of the Chitlin’ Circuit, venues throughout the country where it was safe for Black performers to grab the stage. He eventually left The Moonglows to start his solo career with Motown Records
Marvin made a lot of hits with Motown, including duets with female singers such as Kim Weston, Mary Wells, and Tami Terrell.
He could undertake a lot more than sing, too. Marvin was a talented writer, arranger and producer. He became known as the Prince of Soul because every song he sang turned into a hit, including “What Going On,̶