Recently uncovered Marvin Gaye demos

About 6 months ago I read about several new Marvin Gaye demos being discovered in Belgium, along with some other MG artifacts.

I haven't heard anything since and wondered if anyone here has an update about progress to release them etc. I recall that ownership etc would need to be ascertained as a starter.

It would certainly be great to hear some new Marvin music.

Thanks.

PBS tackles the surprising and overlooked history of disco – the preeminent popular music of the 1970s – in a three-part series, DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION.

The docuseries captures the story of disco: its rise, its fall, and its legacy. From the basement bars of ‘70s New York City to the peak of the global charts, along with iconic tracks and remarkable footage, DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION offers a powerful, revisionist history of the disco age. Told by the original musicians, promoters, and innovators – as well as modern-day musical icons – this series will premiere Tuesday, June 18 on PBS [[check local listings), PBS.org, and the PBS App.

Disco embodied the height of 1970s glamour: a dance floor culture born in New York City that went on to take over the world. But its success also obscured its wider significance. Inextricably bound up with the major liberation movements of the 1970s, disco speaks to some of the biggest issues of today: LGBTQ+ identity and female empowerment.

DISCO: SOUNDTRACK OF A REVOLUTION also underscores disco’s survival. Co-opted by the commercial mainstream, the genre dominated and flooded the market – the airwaves and record shops – leading to a subsequent hate-fueled backlash. As a result, the music and its ethos went back underground, where it evolved into an electronic dance sound that laid the foundations for contemporary dance culture.

Full article here
https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/...-a-revolution/

“This is huge” is the name of the YouTube video posted by Wings of Pegasus.

In the video, he does a computer analysis of Don Henley’s “live” vocal to demonstrate it is not live. In fact, it was recorded in a studio to sound live. Don Henley has been using this exact same vocal recording for years in his concerts.

I can only imagine how many other older artists are doing the same.

This may well be my favorite Gladys Knight Motown track by Norman Whitfield. The guitar work and the Funk Bros are on fire here and Gladys delivers over them. But one thing drives me crazy about this recording.

It came on my iPod today at the gym and reminded me that about 1 minute into the song the drum fades out...and stays out for over a minute. I have always wondered if this was a mixing error by Whitfield or was he trying to augment the horns and guitars here. It's on both the stereo and mono mixes.

Anybody else pick up on this?

From SoulTracks.com:

They are among the most successful soul music producers and songwriters in history. The story of Philadelphia soul music could simply not be written without Kenny Gamble and Thom Bell, two-thirds of the “Mighty Three” that were responsible for the rise of the lush, elegant soul and dance music that emanated from the City of Brotherly Love in the 1970s and 80s.

But before their glorious run as hitmakers for such legendary acts as The O’Jays, The Spinners, Patti LaBelle, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, The Stylistics and more, Gamble and Bell were teenage friends who were struggling to make a name for themselves in the nascent Philly soul community – a struggle compounded by the structural racism in the local music scene.

And while pianist Bell was seeking his fame as a musician, Gamble was committed to establishing himself as a singer. And so the songwriting duo took a run as a vocal duo, recording their 1962 composition “I’ll Get By” as Kenny & Tommy, and releasing it to the Philly radio community.

Read the full article here;
SoulTracks Lost Gem: The forgotten duet by legends Kenny Gamble and Thom Bell | SoulTracks - Soul Music Biographies, News and Reviews

Hi!

There are many comments from the late Thom Bell in my review of a tribute CD -

https://www.soulexpress.net/thombell2024cd.htm

...and not only from Thom, but also from some of the Spinners, Deniece Williams, Jerry Butler and Preston Glass.

Best regards
Heikki