The Official Reggie F. Cat Christmas Salutation...

[video since removed in the name of maintaining anonymity]


Reggie and S. [with audio and video sometimes synched correctly]

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family that made 2009 so special.

mof addendum, OR rolling stone on crack...

The Rolling Stone list of the top twenty-five albums of 2009 is out.  They are now officially on crack.

The Monsters Of Folk self-titled debut came in at 24.  Twenty-four!

I'm biased, I like the album a lot, but I found that to be somewhat in error.  Granted it's an honor of some sort to even make the list, but still...

It was EASILY one of the TEN best of 2009.

Do these guys look like they'd put out some crappy twenty-fourth best album of the year?

something, something, something, disappointing...

Ok, so I watched "Something Something Something Darkside:" the Family Guy's farcical play on "The Empire Strikes Back."

As my post title implies, I was somewhat underwhelmed.  Perhaps the episode succumbed to unrealistic expectations, but it just left a hurried and uninspired impression.

I like language.  I generally don't think there are "bad" words.  Take the f-bomb for instance.  It crops up in several places in this episode.  In and of itself, that doesn't bother me.  However, in most instances it just seemed an easy way out to cover up the lack of a real quality witticism.

It was still funny, and several times I laughed out loud.  It just lacked the luster of the first parody.

Number grade: 6 out of 10.

Letter grade: B-

Thumb up/down: seriously?  The thumbs are way too simplistic of a rating to ever really want to use.

ramblings on....

Thoughts on sitting here and watching the Minnesota Vikings play like nancy-boy girl scouts for the second time in three weeks.

Thought #1:

My team is no longer capable of winning a Super Bowl.  I am off the bandwagon.  They have sucked the fun out of this season.

Thought #2:

Just saw an ad for this years Super Bowl halftime entertainment, purportedly by the Who.  Um, first off, the Who died with Keith Moon in 1978.  Secondly, the Who died again with John Entwistle in 2002.  Will I someday hear this ad copy: "the National Football League presents halftime entertainment by the Who, featuring 4-6 guys who used to know the four guys in The Who."

Or: "presenting the Beatles, featuring Paul McCartney and three guys who remind him of his former mates."

Enough.  This years Super Bowl halftime entertainment will NOT be The Who.

Thought #3:

Dear automakers,

JHC on a popsicle stick!  We get it, you're selling a new car.  Imagine how profitable you guys might be if you didn't spend what has to be $100 million a year on television advertising.

OH, and shame on you.  Selling us crap that depreciates in value rapidly.  No other investment loses value at that pace.  As Luke Skywalker said the first time he saw the Millenium Falcon: "what a piece of junk!"


Oh, and um, Chevy, isn't it?  Howie Long is a nimrod.  Cease and desist.

And the pre-owned cars?  C'mon, dbag, its used.  If it looks and smells like a turd, it's a turd.  [Scoffing] Preowned.  Give me a break.


Thought #4:

I'd like to organize a boycott.  Please join with me and boycott any product that allows its ads to play on television at double the volume of the content surrounding it.  Seriously, knock that crap off.  I don't care if you're selling oxygen, I'm not buying it if you yell at me.

Usually what happens is I mute the volume in response to loud commercials.  Then I miss anywhere from a few seconds to five minutes when the programming I want to see and hear returns.

Thanks, anus.

Stand united...don't buy any product that has really, really loud commercials.  Or from Subway, but that's just because I'm sick of Jared's stupid ass.

Thought #5:

Commercial campaigns that have worn out their welcome and need to be retired:

Geico: the gecko must go.  Not funny, not amusing.

Geico [again!]: the cavemen should have evolved by now.  Can you believe that this moronic concept actually got greenlighted for a tv show?   Can you believe it lasted for six episodes before being pulled?  Can you believe I had a friend who liked it?

[sponsor unknown because I hate it so much I never see the logo placement or listen to it]: those wise-ass babies that dally in stocks.  Makes me understand what causes bad parents to shake babies [too dark?].

Thought #6:

Man am I looking forward to watching "Something Something Something Dark Side," the Family Guy's "The Empire Strikes Back" parody.

Well, gotta run.  S. is gettin' into bed.  I'm gonna go chill with him.

Peace,

Reggie

P.S.  the "Snuggie?"  Um, the verdict here is that it makes you look like a friggin' nimrod in a cult.

wow...

My brother and I watched a program on The History Channel tonight called 102 Minutes That Changed America.  It was about the terrorist attack on New York on September 11, 2001.

The footage and audio were absolutely horrifying.  Tremendously heartbreaking yet impossible to turn away from.  How can you watch human beings willingly plunge to their death from over 100 stories in the air and not be changed forever?

It was also courageous and heroic; and I'm not just talking about the rescue personnel.  The citizens on Manhatten lived through hell and coped with things they never imagined at any time in their life. It makes you feel good as an American to see issues of status, religion and color melt away as people rush to help and care for others, known and unknown to them.

It also made me wish death on a lot of Arabs/Muslims.  Guess what?  I don't feel the least bit bad saying that.  How could I not think that after watching this program.

It irritates me to hear Arabs complain about their mosques/historic structures being damaged during combat operations in the mideast.  The United States, as a matter of policy, attempts to not target "innocent" civilians or damage inappropriate buildings.

Yet tonight I had to watch a program about some bearded Arab jackoffs deliberately targeting buildings loaded with civilians.

Ya, ya, I know...this was just a small group of men, not truly indicative of blah blah blah.  I don't care.

If you're in the bearded Arab jackoff demographic, feel free to fall into a deep sleep tonight and NEVER wake up.  [Oh, you're not gonna be greeted by 46 virgins or whatever.  What are you, stupid?]  [And even if all the virgins were lined up for you, I'm guessing they might wait for someone who doesn't smell like camel dung]

My love and sympathy to all who lost someone in this horrific attack and to all those who lost someone fighting overseas to prevent this from happening again.

Peace,

Reggie & Rudy

P.S.  this post is much more dark and negative than I ever thought I'd put on here.  But I'm ok with that.  For 102 minutes, it's all I could think about.

"Smile"

SMiLE
The Beach Boys/Brian Wilson
1967/2004




A little backstory.  The Beach Boys, led by Brian Wilson as writer, arranger, and producer, scored sixteen top-40 hits between 1962-1965.  Like any serious artist, he desired growth.  The record company and recalcitrant band members, notably the artistically-myopic Mike Love, want continued hits.  Period.  Gotta move units.

Brian breaks ranks and produces his first "arty" record, Pet Sounds, in May 1966.  Capitol records doesn't care for it, Mike Love doesn't care for it and the general public is lukewarm with it at best.  Within the industry however, musicians can see the work for what it is: something skillful and unique.

Capitol urinates on Pet Sounds by releasing a Greatest Hits album just two months after it hits stores.

Brain creates and the Beach Boys release "Good Vibrations" as a single in October 1966.  This time everybody is happy: the bean counters, the band members and the public.  "Good Vibrations" sounds like nothing else at the time.  With rocking cellos, a theremin and his new modular recording technique, it remains a classic single that still stands out today.  [just PLEASE try to forget that they allowed it to shill for Sunkist]

So how do you top a single that is both groundbreaking and a number one when you are at the peak of your creative powers?

That's where SMiLE comes into play.

Meant to up the creative ante of Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations," as well as "out-do" the Beatles, Brian began composing what he would refer to as his "teenage symphony to God."  Early on in the project, it was intended to be a humor album.  Despite initially being fuzzy with the concept, one thing remained clear to Brian: this was to be a spiritual record.

As the months lagged, Capitol became more eager for product and band members became more disenchanted with the project: especially Mike Love [who often exhorted Brian not to "'F' with the formula"].  A childhood filled with mental, verbal and physical abuse from his father made him especially susceptible to the the pressure, badgering, and creeping self-doubt which began to exert a toll on Brian, who, not mentally strong enough to face his problems head-on, began a slide into isolation and depression that would last decades.

In early 1967, SMiLE was scrapped and replaced by re-recorded low-key versions of most of the tracks and called Smiley Smile.  Months of hype and publicity for a project that remained unrealized proved a harbinger of the commercial downturn from which the Beach Boys would never fully recover.

So the original tapes sat, forming the legacy of one of the great unreleased albums in the history of rock.

Countless stories have been written about SMiLE by historians more learned than I.  Countless bootlegs of this amazing material still remain available and even the Beach Boys themselves released a snapshot of them on their 1993 Good Vibrations box set.

The passage of time can be a wonderful elixir.  Thirty-plus years later, Brian became a viable recording artist again, sans the Beach Boys.  After a successful run touring his Pet Sounds album, and gentle prodding from his new band, a band much more intuitive with him than "the boys" ever were, Brian set out to finally complete SMiLE and exorcise both his demons and the large monkey that has rested firmly upon his shoulders since the scrapping of the original album.

With Darian Sahanaja [of Brian's touring band and the Wondermints] acting as a musical secretary of sorts, Brian began to piece together the remnants of SMiLE, re-recording all the old parts and creating new ones.  Van Dyke Parks was brought in to reprise his role of lyricist for the project, a move that proved both appropriate and great.  Not all of the lyrics make sense, but that's to be expected: Parks typically walks a tightrope between insightful and obtuse.

The resulting album sounds amazing.  The sense of innocence apparent on the original tapes is now replaced by the pathos of a man who was lost for most of his adult life and finally found his way home.

The opening track, "Our Prayer," sounds as good as ever but his new touring band actually provide a better cross-section of voices to stack harmonies with: listen to both versions and you will hear what I mean.  This track also provides a great example of the "feeling" that music can create.  With no lyrics to support it, "Our Prayer" is nonetheless evocative, and that's truly the genius of Brian Wilson's craft: creating music that isn't necessarily dependent upon lyrics to make you think and feel.

From there, a brief snippet of the late 50's doo-wop tune "Gee," originally by The Crows, bridges perfectly into "Heroes And Villains."

It sounds different than the single originally released in 1967, but still is worthy of wonderment as a rambling travelogue of the old west, replete with a chorus of backing vocals that weave a dizzying, exhilarating spell.  The centerpiece of SMiLE, seeing this performed live was breathtaking.

I was there at the U.S. premiere of SMiLE, held at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis during the fall of 2004.  It was gorgeous.  It was triumphant and cathartic.  Several moments brought tears to my eyes, something that has never happened at any other show I have attended.  Understanding or empathizing with the tragedy of Wilson's lost years isn't required to enjoy this music, but it does indeed provide a supplement.

After years of speculating on how the puzzle pieces fit together, the 2004 release finally answered those questions.  Presented as three suites, most tracks segue directly into the next.  The first suite concludes with "Cabin-essence," the second with "Surf's Up" and naturally the third and final one concludes the album.

In the first suite, Wilson turns "You Are My Sunshine" into a melancholy bit by perverting the intent of the original with a simple turn of phrase.  No longer asking "please don't take my sunshine away," he instead sadly asks "how could you take my sunshine away?"  A simple move, but very instructive on his state of mind.

"Cabin-essence" sounds better than ever thanks in part to Darian's "doing doing"'s in the background.  The contrasting loud parts, the "iron horse," are a bit obtrusive, but mostly make more effective the quieter parts on the verses.

Opening the second suite, "Wonderful" is, well, frankly wonderful.  Ethereal, delicate and imbued with that sense of childlike melancholy that Brian does so well, this still isn't the best recording of the song.  For that, seek out the solo demo Brian did in 1966 [released on the Good Vibrations box].

"Surf's Up" contains all the grandeur first hinted at way back when.  Wilson's aged and weathered voice can no longer hit the extreme high notes of this complex track, but it matters not: his skilled band ably fill in the rough spots.  When played live, the opening notes of this legendary song elicited some of the loudest hoots of the show.  Essentially about lost innocence, the song displays the sort of cryptic Parks lyrics mentioned earlier.

To me, the third suite doesn't match the intensity of the first two, but it's certainly no slouch.

Wilson again appropriates an older song, this time a snippet of the Johnny Mercer jazz tune, "I Wanna Be Around."  The song is used to great melancholy effect on route to "Vega-tables,"  another lost song known to collectors from bootlegs and to fans from the modest version put out on Smiley Smile.

"Wind Chimes" retains much of its original charm, featuring great percussive effects and leading into "Fire," now properly renamed "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow."  One of many things that freaked Brian out during the original SMiLE sessions, a nearby building actually caught fire while working on this track.  Fearing he was channeling dark energies, he immediately dropped it.  Sounding paranoid, claustrophobic and like nothing else, the aborted track acquired mythic status.

After the paranoia of "Fire," a much needed healing salve arrives in the form of "In Blue Hawaii."  Like much of Wilson's best work, this track features great vocal harmonies and concludes with a brief reprise of "Our Prayer" before launching into the albums closing, and surprise number.

"Good Vibrations" was never intended to be a part of the SMiLE project: as it single it was released almost a half year before the scrapped album was meant to see the light of day.  It plays great here though, and is a testament to Brian's skill at thinking symphonically, beyond just a single track.  In a great unstated "F you" to Mike Love, one of the great agitators in his life, Brian uses the original lyrics to the song, lyrics that he begrudgingly changed at Love's insistence to make the track more commercial.  The song ends here not with the original fadeout, but with an uplifting vocal chorus before it.  It provides a thrilling coda to an amazing release by an amazing artist.

When i heard SMiLE was finally going to be released, I was terrified that it would never approach the original and that the luster of such mythic music would become tarnished.  Those fears were completely unfounded as this is a work truly representative of Wilson's musical genius and legacy.  Melancholy, innocence, lost youth and the beauty and wonder of life: they're all in there.

If I could only have ten albums with me on a deserted island with MaryAnn, this would be one.  Please take this sonic journey, you won't regret it.

Peace,

Reggie

P.S. learn more about Smile and Brian Wilson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(The_Beach_Boys_album)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile_(Brian_Wilson_album)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson

genetic code successfully passed....

It should be noted that Sarah Palin's daughter has successfully had the "smug dink/look-how-smart-I-am" gene passed on to her.

Palin's loose daughter, Bristol, named her first, of what I'm sure will be many out of wedlock kids, with a similarly obnoxious name:

Tripp.  Um, I guess that's a boy.

Supposedly Shemp [pictured below] was considered "too normal."

no, seriously...

So I was reading the newspaper and saw the headline Palin makes surprise visit to Tonight Show. 


Rumor has it the original headline was Self-aggrandizing turd visits Tonight Show: nobody cares.  [for that matter, since the unfunny Conan O'Brien took over the Tonight Show, no one cares about that either, cf., the Neilsens.  Though I have to admit, I can understand how someone might be amused by O'Brien's hyperkinetic mugging.  In fact, I used to enjoy that kind of comedy myself...until I turned 12.]


Palin, please, why don't you spend your time with something more befitting your skills, like giving your kids horses' ass "look-at-me-aren't-I-special" names.  Leave anything substantive that requires brainpower and credibility to the professionals.

Re: the book.  Wow, "Going Rogue," aren't you a bad ass?  A better title would have been "A Huge Freakin' Anchor On The Ticket" Or "Forty-Eight Stupid Names To Give Your Children"  What are their names?  Oxygen?  Gymnasium?  Jumpsuit?  [gasp, is he going after the kids?]

Please Sarah Palin, just recede quietly into the annals of history, your fifteen minutes are way up.

P.S.  Tina Fey rocks and you don't!

"Monsters Of Folk"

Monsters Of Folk
Monsters Of Folk
2009

Having just been released in September, this album is a little bit more contemporary than what I will usually post about, but I felt there were several good reasons to do it anyway.

First off, I'd like to give props to the Monsters themselves.  One of my best friends and I sat in the fifth row, 3 and 4 seats from center at their late October show in Minneapolis' Orpheum Theater.  I haven't seen a lot of shows, but I've hit some big ones for me.  Previously I have seen Aimee Mann [twice] , Paul McCartney, Neil Young [twice] , Billy Joel, Brian Wilson [twice], John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, The National, Barenaked Ladies, Eric Clapton, Def Leppard [free tickets], Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, REM, Roger McGuinn, Bright Eyes, Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare, the Hang Ups, Jeremy Messersmith, Mason Jennings [no, not the "Classical Gas" guy], Twilight Hours and Sister Hazel.  Most of those shows were very good. The second Aimee Mann and both Brian Wilson shows were exceptional. Without doubt though, The Monsters Of Folk show was one of the two best I have ever seen.

Strangely, the concert didn't appear to be sold out, partially I think because a lot of people don't know who the MOF are.  I've read countless reviews calling them an indie supergroup, but I've always hated that term.  It is true though that all four members had achieved some measure of success prior to their involvement in this project.

Mike Mogis has recorded with the group Bright Eyes and produced numerous records for the indie label Saddle Creek.  While not singing on this album, you often hear him on pedal steel adding color and depth to the music.

Conor Oberst IS Bright Eyes.  He also has two recent albums out under his own name and has been a critical darling for a decade.  The guy can write some good songs.  I prefer he doesn't sing them.

Jim James has had success with his Kentucky-based group My Morning Jacket, which continues to gain more exposure nationally.  James has also released a recent EP under his own name, paying tribute to the late George Harrison.

M. Ward has been releasing albums since 1998, though it took his great 2006 album "Post-War" for him to break through on the national scene.  He also records with actress Zooey Deschanel as She & Him [though I think they would be better if there was more Him].

So Minneapolis people, that's who you missed in concert.  There probably aren't a lot of groups that can boast four members as skilled as these four: off the top of my head, I can't think of any.  Of course a big part of why that concert was so good is that the album it supported was so strong.

I listen to a lot of music and was struck immediately by how good this album is.  There's not a bad track among the fifteen and several are so good that they demand immediate re-listenings.  To me, this is easily the best album of the past few years.  While I like the music from each of the groups principals on their own, this album is the best that each of them has been associated with. Easily. Heady, but deserved praise.

Primarily acoustic and folkie in nature, the album displays the obvious talent of all the individuals in a subtle, natural-sounding way: it never sounds strained or forced, despite the fact that it's pretty easy to pick up on who wrote what. The playing and singing are seldom flashy, nor would it be necessary here: the parts just seem to be "right."  In particular, I love the singing on this album, their disparate voices often blending into a seamless whole.  Although the tempo of the album lags a little bit at the end, as did the concert, the music is so well crafted that it's hard to complain.

The opening track, "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)," sounds like nothing else on the album.  Seventies style Philly soul isn't an arena these guys typically play in, but they sound strangely comfortable doing it here led by James.

For me, Jim James' "The Right Place" was the first track that I took a strong liking to.  Infectious and embodied with the communal spirit of the 60's, the chorus asks questions that get to the heart of what makes life good.

My favorite track, M. Ward's "Baby Boomer," features a unstoppable shuffle beat with M., Conor and Jim trading lines to great effect.  If this were the only good track on the album , it would still be worth owning. Give it a listen, you'll have "livin' proof."

Conor's best song on here is called "Man Named Truth."  Strangely, in a lot of reviews I read, this was the track most often picked on.  I like it. I find it reminds me of  "Bookends" era Simon and Garfunkel [how does one complain about that?].  In general, Conor does some of his best singing to date on this album.  I've always liked his writing and lyrics, but am sometimes put off by his overwrought singing that lands closer to emo music than I typically listen to.  Oberst seems to really thrive in the Monsters environment, not burdoned by the pressure of having to be the guy.

"Goodway," also by M. Ward, sounds a lot like his recent solo work and is similar in spirit and tone to "The Right Place."  My lone gripe would be the spoken word segment near the end where Oberst steps on the music.  I think the song would have been better without it and with hindsight, the Monsters seem to agree with me:  they perform it live sans that part.

"Slow Down Jo" is the first of two dreamlike songs from M. Ward.  I was afraid this would be a momentum killer in concert.  To my surprise, it killed live, showing off the instrumental and vocal interplay so adeptly practiced by this foursome. Just when you think you have this track figured, the music become tropically tinged.  For a slow song, this rocks. Close your eyes and this song makes you feel like you're floating.

The best rocker of the bunch, "Losin' Yo' Head," is the only track to have the guitars electric, loud and up in the mix. This is a Jim James song that would have been right at home on most recent MMJ records.  The placement this track is fantastic, occurring right about the time you sense the aforementioned lull.  Again, the playing isn't flashy, it's just "right."

"Map Of The World" is Oberst's other standout track.  It features great harmony vocals and the kind of lyrical wordplay he seems to be able to compose in his sleep.

Ward's last song, the also dreamlike "The Sandman, The Brakeman And Me" could just as well be a solo effort. It sounds like an old country song and I can easily imagine Johnny Cash singing it fifty years ago.  Listening to this album, and seeing the Monsters live, I became an M. Ward convert.  The guy has sick guitar chops and a cool melancholy vibe about him.  [I dig melancholy...it features prominently in my personality]

Bookending the album is James' second meditation to God, "His Master's Voice."  It's a nice song but almost seems anti-climactic at this point.

Overall, this is a great album, one that will stand the test of time.  Strongly recommended.

Whoa!  I hear someone crinkling a bag of food.  Gotta go.

Peace,

Reggie

P.S.  learn more about the Monsters

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsters_Of_Folk

Marvin Gaye exists here...

On my hard drive.

Where he's represented by 3.94 gigabytes of music.

51 albums.

712 songs.

1.8 days of listening pleasure.

And a partridge in a pear tree.

my brother...

My brother Rudy. He's pretty cool, even if he picks on me sometimes.

point of interest...

I first learned of the song "Let's Get It On" during the 1991 World Series. Prior to the decisive game 7 between the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves, Jack Morris [pictured] was quoted in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune as saying: "in the immortal words of Marvin Gaye, 'Let's Get It On.'"  Minnesota won game 7 as Morris pitched a 10 inning shutout.  I, however, still didn't actually hear the song for about 2 more years.

more me now...

Me at the keyboard.

"Let's Get It On"

That seems an appropriate title for my first post, as this blog is dedicated to discussing and recommending great music. At this point, I will try to recommend a new album each week and dedicate the rest of the week to explaining why I chose it.

I will never post music for download on here because I don't wanna owe some prick from the RIAA enough scratch to buy a stealth bomber. I may be a cat, but even I know those judgement values are absurd.

I will also talk about other media and random self-important thoughts I have: hey, it's the blog era, we all think we're Charles friggin' Dickens with something important or unique to contribute to the blogosphere, if not pop culture.

I guess the goal, though it may evolve, is intelligent discourse revolving around the love of music. If I am able to turn you on to even one song, album or artist, I will get the worst president of all time to hang a big Mission Accomplished banner somewhere prominent. I welcome feedback and comments.

So what kind of music will I advocate?

I hate genre labels, e.g., classic rock, rock, pop, power pop, folk, country, et cetera, because they are way too subjective and frankly irrelevant. You like the music, not the label ascribed to it. On my iTunes I have about 131,000 songs...it's not a lot, but it does cover a few bases. I'd say that anything from 1900 onward is fair game, though you might be waiting a LONG time for a thoughtful post on something considered "hip-hop."

If you have this music already, please listen to it again.  If you don't have it, please seek it. That's what I'd like to ask from anyone who reads this: take an hour a week to listen to a great album.  I promise to mix it up and not do week after week of the Beatles.  But I could.

Buckle up, here we go...

Let's Get It On

Marvin Gaye

1973

Two years after releasing an amazing album examining the politics of the world around him, Marvin Gaye released this amazing album examining the politics of his pants. Soulful, full of passion and funky, this album was considered racy upon its release, but is generally tame by the standards of today.

The opening title track makes his intent clear: Marvin wants to make love to you. At least that's how he states it, but really, on a deeper level, this is about a man wanting to find a connection. This is about wanting a partner to trust, confide in and share the sexual energy inherent in the lives of young adults.  There is also an underlying tragedy to this music in that Marvin was still wrestling with many of these themes when he was killed eleven years later by his father.

Gaye was frank about his subject matter and for better or worse, he inspired many who followed him to go down this road.

As always, Marvin's voice is amazing, multi-tracking it all over the place and always sounding immediate, silky and earnest. This was his twelfth studio album and it shows: he was a master of his craft by now and his co-production with Ed Townsend is as polished as it is sophisticated, weaving layers of vocals around tasteful, skilled instrumental work.

You want to know what longing sounds like?  Listen to "Distant Lover."

This is a great album from start to finish, setting and sustaining a mood of funky passion. As good as it is, it's still not close to his best: but that's another discussion in another week.

I need to go. S cleaned the litter box and I'd like to use it before Rudy.

Best regards from my world,

Reggie

P.S.  learn more about Marvin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_gaye