119 (116a) Hello Marvin Gaye - Once Upon A Time

Chart  entered  : 30  July  1964

Chart  peak : 50

Number  of  hits : 24

Well  nearly  got  Marvin  in  the  right  place - my  fault  not  D.C's

I have to confess I'd never heard this song before preparing to write this - it doesn't appear on the double CD "Very Best Of" compilation I have, which seems a bit strange at it was one of his earliest big hits, going top 20 in the States.

Born in Washington DC, Gay's father was a minister prone to dishing out physical abuse to his family, and their troubled relationship (to put it mildly) would eventually come to dominate his life. Following a spell in the Air Force, where he got bored and feigned mental illness to get a discharge, he'd taken on working a jobbing singer, eventually washing up in Detroit where he managed to impress Motown chief Berry Gordy.

Adding an "e" to his surname for somewhat obvious reasons, Marvin initially saw himself in the Nat King Cole vein, though these initial efforts did nothing on the charts, and he made cash by working as a session drummer and some songwriting: he would do both these tasks on Martha and the Vandella's "Dancing in the Street".

Eventually pushed into a more atypical Motown sound, he scored hits in the States, including material he had co-written ("Pride and Joy", "Hitch Hike") and with Holland-Dozier-Holland numbers ("Can I Get a Witness?") - all showcased Gaye's strong voice, bringing a smoother sound to contrast the rougher tones of the Four Tops' Levi Stubbs.

 

Perhaps due to this, and his good looks, he was frequently paired up with female Motown stars throughout the 60s - he'd score hits with three different partners, though this would be his only one in the UK with Mary Wells.

She had hit big with the classic "My Guy" earlier in 1964, but "Once Upon a Time" would be her only other chart action in the UK. She would later battle drug addictions and depression before dying from cancer in 1992.

It's somewhat of a throwback to his earlier laid-back material. Both vocalists are on good form, but to me, it suffers from comparison to their better individual efforts. It's not a particularly strong song that is only lifted from mediocrity by Gaye especially being on fine form.

Gaye would go on to develop into an intriguing artist with his own songwriting voice. How his story ends will surely be known to just about everyone reading, but it'll be sometime before we get to there.

D.C. Harrison