Marvin Gaye's 'Here My Dear' album is it a classic

[McMotown]

Been listen to the title track Here My Dear lately and personally think it's a great track and classic, from a masterful album. Just wondered what your thoughts were? a clasic album or a miss?

[marv2]

It is a classic. I remember buying it in December 1978! I was buying a lot of albums back then, so I did not give this one too many listens at first. I was aware of the publicity surrounding it before I bought and just assumed it was going to be a bit of a downer except for "Funky Space Reincarnation". But the whole album grew on me over time and this was one of my other favorite cuts:

[sansradio]

Great topic! I feel that HMD has been unfairly maligned when not overlooked in Marvin's oeuvre. It definitely has flashes of brilliance. So raw, so impassioned, so real... I vote "classic."

[soulwally]

Been listen to the title track Here My Dear lately and personally think it's a great track and classic, from a masterful album. Just wondered what your thoughts were? a clasic album or a miss?

Bought it, it never grew on me, sold it. Sorry to you fans of the album!

[RichyP]

Great topic! I feel that HMD has been unfairly maligned when not overlooked in Marvin's oeuvre. It definitely has flashes of brilliance. So raw, so impassioned, so real... I vote "classic."

Gets my vote too, I also bought the album in 1978, in 1987, I was on a business trip to Arlington Texas, and was being chaperoned by the biggest guy [[ I mean Sonny Liston )I'd ever met, we got talking about this, on my last day there, I was wandering around some shopping mall, I went into Sam Goodys' and discovered it had just been released on CD.
I bought 2 copies, and gave him one just before I left, he was ecstatic

I love all the tracks, here's a great one

[mysterysinger]

Have the expanded 2 disc Japanese mini LP CD set. Not his best but still rates well.

[Bluebrock]

It is not quite up to the standard of some of his seminal albums in my opinion but there is more hit than miss and i would describe it as a near classic. A friend of mine who is a Marvin Gaye fanatic claims it to be his very favourite Marvin album, and having met Marvin a few times he claims that Marvin said it was his most personal album.

[booty]

An absolute classic. Love it the first time I played it!

[marv2]

Motown promoted it. I remember this 1978 TV Commercial for Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" LP:

[Motown Eddie]

Been listen to the title track Here My Dear lately and personally think it's a great track and classic, from a masterful album. Just wondered what your thoughts were? a clasic album or a miss?

Marvin Gaye's Here My Dear doesn't do it for me. While I can feel Marvin's angst in his singing [[due to his divorce from Anna Gaye) none of the songs have the "hooks" that would make it a great album. This album could've been so much better [[and been a bigger hit than it was when it came out in 1978) if Marvin had a collaborator to help him with the project.

[McMotown]

Great topic! I feel that HMD has been unfairly maligned when not overlooked in Marvin's oeuvre. It definitely has flashes of brilliance. So raw, so impassioned, so real... I vote "classic."

have to agree with you sansradio the raw passion of it all to me makes it a classic

[McMotown]

Gets my vote too, I also bought the album in 1978, in 1987, I was on a business trip to Arlington Texas, and was being chaperoned by the biggest guy [[ I mean Sonny Liston )I'd ever met, we got talking about this, on my last day there, I was wandering around some shopping mall, I went into Sam Goodys' and discovered it had just been released on CD.
I bought 2 copies, and gave him one just before I left, he was ecstatic

I love all the tracks, here's a great one

Another great memory RichyP, you seem so lucky to travel to the US in your job.
Yes love this track

[McMotown]

Motown promoted it. I remember this 1978 TV Commercial for Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" LP:

Oh Marv, the commercial does not work over here for me.
I maybe wrong but I can't say I ever remember any promotion over in the UK.

[marv2]

Oh Marv, the commercial does not work over here for me.
I maybe wrong but I can't say I ever remember any promotion over in the UK.

I'm sorry that does happen at times. The TV commercial ran pretty regularly here in the U.S. in the late Fall of 1978 and several of the large record store chains had large in-store displays of the album and such.

[sup_fan]

It's a solid and artistic work. But it rambles. As someone said the songs typically don't have hooks which lets them just sort of meander aimlessly.

[RanRan79]

Classic. Classic. Classic. Admittedly it's not one I play as often as some of the others, but it's stuff like this that makes Marvin more than a singer. He was an artist. He was using what life handed him to craft some brilliant stuff. The songs don't have "hit" written all over them, but when you listen to the album for the story that it is, it really should have been a hit album.

[marv2]

The incredible part is that he released it right at the height of the Disco craze. I believe that's why "Funky Space Reincarnation" was attached to the album and subsequently released as a 12" single.

[McMotown]

Classic. Classic. Classic. Admittedly it's not one I play as often as some of the others, but it's stuff like this that makes Marvin more than a singer. He was an artist. He was using what life handed him to craft some brilliant stuff. The songs don't have "hit" written all over them, but when you listen to the album for the story that it is, it really should have been a hit album.

You are soooo right RanRan, he was an artist and right again the tracks might not screamed hits but what a heart felt story this album tells. Maybe those people who are not fans of this album are not hearing the hearing the story we are and maybe that's why they are not fans of this album.

[McMotown]

I would also add that HMD has imo the greatest Motown cover of them all.

[Boogiedown]

I love all the tracks, here's a great one

does this sound a bit TOO much like:

[Boogiedown]

[RichyP]

Another great memory RichyP, you seem so lucky to travel to the US in your job.
Yes love this track

Hi McM
I worked for a Canadian Co for 24 years, I had 2 trips to Toronto,
2 to Texas, and 1 to New Jersey in that time, nevertheless, I suppose I was quite lucky, it was very well paid as well, but lots of stress.

Here's another, love how laid back it is, but Marvin was a master at that.

[TomatoTom123]

Motown promoted it. I remember this 1978 TV Commercial for Marvin Gaye's "Here, My Dear" LP:

Oh Marv, the commercial does not work over here for me.
I maybe wrong but I can't say I ever remember any promotion over in the UK.

Hey Paul, the video doesn't work for me if I try and play it in its post, but it does if I open it in a new tab on YouTube... try clicking this link and going to its original YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBKdCIlwcgA

[McMotown]

Thanks Tom trying it right now.

Thanks Marv, there was never any commercials like that over here.

[McMotown]

Hi McM
I worked for a Canadian Co for 24 years, I had 2 trips to Toronto,
2 to Texas, and 1 to New Jersey in that time, nevertheless, I suppose I was quite lucky, it was very well paid as well, but lots of stress.

Here's another, love how laid back it is, but Marvin was a master at that.

Hi RichyP, sounds an interesting job you did, but don't like the sound of the stress part.
Yes that's a good choice as that's .another favourite track I like

[Jaap]

It's a solid and artistic work. But it rambles. As someone said the songs typically don't have hooks which lets them just sort of meander aimlessly.

The album--and many of its songs--indeed meanders, but I think that is actually the strength of the album, particularly for my favorite "When Did You Stop Love Me, When Did I Stop Loving You." It slowly builds up to FINALLY get to the chorus. When Daryl Hall covered the song, he restructured the song as a classic pop tune, opening with the chorus and repeating the chorus a couple of times--turning it from a great classic to just another pop song.
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The music video is rather cheesy too!

[Sotosound]

I liked what Darryl Hall did to that song. He did to it what’s missing from much of the album inasmuch as he removed the meandering and created a fully structured song.

For me, “Here My Dear” sounds as though it was done quickly and cheaply with sparse instrumentation including a cheap-sounding synth instead of a proper string section. It included only a fraction of the multi-layered vocals that were Marvin’s trademark, and all of this was combined with an uninspired final mix.

The remixes on the Deluxe Edition show us how the album could have been improved if more effort had been put into the final mix.

From my personal perspective, I can listen to “What’s Going On”, “Let’s Get It On”, “Trouble Man”, “I Want You” and “In Our Lifetime” from end to end.

However, I only occasionally dip into “Here My Dear” and then quickly dip out again since I find it quite depressing, not only in terms of the subject matter but also in terms of unfulfilled potential. If Marvin wanted to tell us that he was pee’d off and hated having to do an album as part of a divorce settlement then that message came through loud and clear.

So, for me, not a classic. Instead, it feels like something that he wanted to roll up tightly and stick where the sun doesn’t shine.