By the point he took larger management of his profession from the early Seventies, Marvin Gaye was extra targeted on artistic expression than on hit data as an finish unto themselves. However, within the type he was in, he was making career-defining albums and an unstoppable run of smash singles. A type of entered each the pop and R&B charts in America on Might 20, 1972, “You’re The Man (Part 1).” In 2019, it turned the title observe of a newly-assembled assortment of Gaye’s work in that turning-point yr.
One purpose for the track’s limelight deficiency is that, in contrast to the singles that got here earlier than it and those who adopted, “You’re The Man” didn’t cross over to a pop viewers in his ordinary means. The opposite purpose was that it was by no means featured on the time on an unique Marvin album, for causes we’ll come to.
As a shock, one-off April 1972 launch, the track went on to succeed in No.7 on the R&B chart. However it remained considerably within the shadow of Gaye’s extraordinary achievements of 1971’s What’s Going On album. That epochal set produced three consecutive soul No.1s within the title observe, “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler),” all of which crossed into the High 10 on Billboard’s Sizzling 100.
Mad as hell
“You’re The Man” did no such factor, stopping at No.50 on the pop aspect, regardless that it continued the politicized narrative from What’s Going On. Within the yr during which Richard Nixon could be re-elected to the White Home, Gaye was nonetheless as mad as hell at politicians usually. “Think about the mistakes you make/I believe America’s at stake,” he raged. “We don’t wanna hear no more lies/About how you planned a compromise/We want our dollar value increased/Employment to rise.”
Take heed to the most effective of Marvin Gaye on Apple Music and Spotify.
The relative lack of enthusiasm for the track, in a pop market during which Gaye was used to creating a significant impression, prompted him to desert plans for the album that may have featured “You’re The Man.” As an alternative, he turned his consideration to the soundtrack of the Bother Man film, the title track of which restored him to the pop High 10, earlier than his subsequent chart-topping triumph with Let’s Get It On.
Purchase “You’re The Man” on the 2019 album of the identical identify that collates all of Marvin Gaye’s non-soundtrack work of 1972.
