Listen to Marvin Gaye's effortless one-of-a-kind voice in rare 1981 rehearsal

21 February 2024, 12:51

Marvin Gaye has been gone for 40 years.

But Marvin Gaye's sublime voice and the social messaging in his timeless songs sound as relevant today as they ever have.

Though his career may have waned at times, Marvin's voice remained as potent as ever, even throughout his final days.

In 1981, the 'Prince of Motown' was at a low point both creatively and personally, which resulted in an acrimonious split with Motown Records and an increasing reliance on drugs.

His album In Our Lifetime was a flop. Gaye was fuming and blamed Motown was tampering with its editing, comparing it to an unfinished Picasso painting that was wrongly completed by someone else.

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Chuck a painful divorce on top, and Marvin struggled to see a way out. That was until concert promoter Freddy Cousaert offered Gaye sanctuary at his guest house in the small coastal town of Ostend in his Belgian hometown.

It was a curveball of a move, but one that revived Marvin Gaye's creative spark. With the help of Cousaert, Marvin made a comeback with the short Heavy Love Affair Tour, proving he still had the chops.

This rare and astonishing rehearsal footage filmed for the tour showcases his effortless talent, especially given he's lying down for the most part.

Marvin Gaye - I Want You (1981, Rehearsal)

Performing his sensual soul hit 'I Want You' from his 1976 album of the same name, Marvin barely shifts out of first gear.

Chilling horizontally in his tracksuit throughout, his vocal tone and precision are miraculous.

Add to the fact that he's offering musical direction to the band of musicians that he barely knows, who were assembled especially for this tour, it's a spine-tingling insight into a master craftsman at work.

Even the band he's playing with realise they're witnessing a great talent whilst jamming out themselves, all locked in the groove.

There'd likely be a swathe of singers getting a touch of the green-eyed envy seeing Marvin so relaxed and nonchalant.

The rehearsal was filmed for a documentary Transit Ostend which aired that year, before Marvin and his band headed out on tour.

The Heavy Love Affair Tour took them to London, Bristol and Manchester before returning to Ostend for two special concerts.

Revived and ready to return to writing and recording new music, Marvin stayed in Ostend after the tour finished.

"There are places I would probably rather be, but I probably need to be here," the artist said frankly in documentary footage from 1981.

Spiritually exhausted and addicted to drugs, living a humble life away from the excesses of big city life worked for him, and proved to be a transitional moment in his life and career.

He cleaned up the drug use and found a new lease of creativity after breaking out of his contract with Motown Records.

The result was his comeback album, Midnight Love, which featured his now-classic song 'Sexual Healing' that bagged Marvin his only two Grammy Award wins.

Going by the rehearsal footage ahead of his 1981 tour, Marvin Gaye never lost his natural ability to sing, he just needed to find his voice again.