#42 -- Marvin Gaye

You don't often come across a voice that's so immediately appealing; nor one whose unfolding career is so wonderfully liberating and fulfilling.  Marvin Gaye was that man.

From his first hint at success in 1962, "Beechwood 4-5789" (co-written for the Marvelettes) through his exciting concept albums like "What's Going On" (which I sometimes pronounce "what's going own"--with a long, drawn-out 'own'), I like just about everything he composed and sang.

A few years ago I watched a '70s-era concert on MTV while flipping channels.  Hit after hit with informed timing and delivery.  Simply brilliant.

The crowning glory to his music was probably that he not only broke away from the micromanaging dictation that was the Motown model (producers telling you what to wear and how to 'dance' on stage), but he did as much for R&B by mixing in social commentary and bending genres to fit his musical inclinations.

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

8/4/7/4 = 23 out of a perfect 40

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Note: this entry originally appeared as #48, but thanks to my friend Alex Voltaire's comment (which I will attempt to recreate, presently), was transferred here after my grades were adjusted from a total of 17 to 23.