The year 1971 brought the unveiling of one of the most significant album releases of any decade. I happened to be a student at Rutgers University in June of ‘71. I was serving as a summer program counselor to incoming freshmen students, tasked with leading and guiding these newly minted undergraduates and preparing them for collegiate life. The summer of ‘71 was an especially heavy time to be a college student anywhere; however, to experience campus life in the northeastern U.S., especially just 45 miles south of New York City, was to experience an especially frantic, if not turbulent, time in American college culture. There was “segregation, determination, demonstration, integration aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. The cities ablaze in the summertime and, oh, the beat goes on” (The Temptations – Ball of Confusion).
On one unremarkable evening, having a moment to break from my daily routine of counseling my “freshman charges,” I took the opportunity to visit a fellow counselor, Tommy Hancock. No sooner did I cross his door’s threshold, Tommy placed in my hand an album, to which he made the boldest proclamation I ever heard for an album review: “This is the greatest album I’ve ever listened to in my life.” OK. I’m like, that’s an audacious statement. But without any delay, he proceeded to put the album on what was at that time, a “state-of-the-art” audio playback device, a Pioneer turntable connected to his Pioneer Hi-Fi system. Truth be told, this system kicked out a magnificent sound. Immediately, I experienced a palpable groove, underscored by the most compelling storytelling on an album I had ever heard up to this point in my life. The music was hypnotizing, the lyrics were potent, and even the album cover was stunningly beautiful. Talk about being transported. Little did I realize at the time, I was listening to what would become the “greatest album of the 20th century,” Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.”
Inflation, war, environmental degradation, overpopulation, protests, and social upheaval are the themes of this seminal album. It’s now 50 years since its release, and not much has changed. This is one of the reasons why this album is still regarded as one of the best albums of all time. The other reason is that the music itself has stood the test of time and has remained Marvin Gaye’s, and arguably Motown’s, most important musical and social statement. The irony is Motown’s Berry Gordy wanted Marvin Gaye to remain their mainstream musical star. When he first heard the song “What’s Going On,” he called it “the worst thing I ever heard in my life.” Within 18 months, the LP had sold two million copies, later entering the Grammy Hall of Fame. “The material is social commentary, but there’s nothing extreme on it,” Marvin said in a Rolling Stone contemporaneous interview. “I did it not only to help humanity but to help me as well, and I think it has. It’s given me a certain amount of peace,” he said.
The music in the album consciously uplifted racial and cultural connections. It inspired social change and transformed the world. One considers Marvin’s magnificent body of work to be a place where we pause to feed our mind, body, and spirit. “What’s Going On” is transcendent. “What’s Going On” is life. “What’s Going On” is what makes us, us.
The moral to this story: 50 years ago, after listening to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album for the first time, who knew my friend Tommy Hancock and I would alter time and space with one of the most prescient human exchanges of all time, changing the culture forever.
John Hughes
“This is a fantastic album, man; let me borrow it!” “No, my Brother. You’ve got to buy your own.”
On May 21 at 5 p.m., 91.3 KPVU-FM, The Art of Soul, debuts its hour-long broadcast, “Only Love Can Conquer Hate: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ Album.” It features an array of soul music superstars, testifying, confirming, and bearing witness to the brilliance of “What’s Going On” and its creator, Marvin Gaye. “KPVU Announcer/Producer Jamal Ahmad and Program Director Marquis Lofton have teamed up to revisit this seminal recording. To quote Jamal, ‘In the annals of pop music, no record has struck a chord among music listeners quite like Marvin Gaye’s 1971 classic, ‘What’s Going On,’’” said KPVU General Manager John Hughes. For more information about “Only Love Can Conquer Hate: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ Album,” visit www.kpvu.org.