At the Movies: "Cape Fear"










Coming Up: Marvin Gaye - You're the Man, previously unissued LP


Out March 29. Order from Amazon now.

Details from Universal Music:

In 1972, Marvin Gaye was on top: or so it seemed. “What’s Going On,” “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology),” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler”),” the three singles from his universally acclaimed album What’s Going On, had each hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart (since renamed Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs) and Top 10 Pop the year before. His new single, “You’re The Man” – a percolating, sarcastic riff on political non-action issued as the U.S. presidential campaign was kicking off – reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart. He saw Motown schedule a You’re The Man album (catalog number Tamla 316). But when the lead single didn’t cross over Pop, stalling at No. 50, Marvin retreated. Ambivalent about recording, stubborn about moving to Los Angeles with Berry Gordy and Motown, Marvin by his actions proclaimed no more new Marvin Gaye music.

Or so it seemed.

In this singular and transitional year for the late music legend, Gaye recorded more than an album’s worth of music in Detroit and L.A. He produced himself, creating a suite of aching ballads; he worked with songwriters-becoming-producers Willie Hutch, then known mainly for the Jackson 5 smash “I’ll Be There,” but soon to be lauded for his film scores to The Mack and Foxy Brown; and with Pam Sawyer and Gloria Jones, whose “Piece of Clay” for Marvin decades later became a smash in the 1995 film Phenomenon. He cut two sought-after tracks with Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell, half of the hit-making machine behind the Jackson 5; he got together with Hal Davis, who was preparing a Marvin Gaye-Diana Ross album, to cut another topical gem, “The World Is Rated X.” And Marvin funnelled his anger over the Vietnam War, and his brother’s experiences there, into a sequel of sorts to “What’s Going On,” the poetic holiday ballad, “I Want To Come Home For Christmas.” He even re-cut “You’re The Man” as an eerie funk jam, perhaps for the LP as a bookend to the single.

None of these tracks or any other on the LP, except the single, were issued at the time.

Three tracks from the album are newly mixed by SaLaAM ReMi, the songwriter and producer long associated with Nas, the Fugees, and Amy Winehouse: “My Last Chance,” “Symphony,” and “I’d Give My Life For You.” Also included is the rare, long LP version of Gaye’s cancelled 1972 Christmas single, plus an unreleased vault mix of its instrumental B-side. Over the years, songs from You’re The Man have been included on several CD releases but 15 of the album’s 17 tracks have not been released on vinyl until now.

You’re The Man’s 2LP vinyl edition includes new liner notes by Marvin Gaye biographer David Ritz. In his essay, Ritz delves into Gaye’s deeply personal internal conflict as a source of creative vigor and emotional burden as he experienced What’s Going On’s massive success and all that came with it. “Now I could do what I wanted,” Gaye told Ritz in an interview that first appeared in Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye. “For most people that would be a blessing. But for me the thought was heavy. They said I’d reached the top, and that scared me because Mother used to say, ‘First ripe, first rotten.’ When you’re at the top there’s nowhere to go but down. No, I needed to keep going up – raising my consciousness – or I’d fall back on my behind. When would the war stop? That’s what I wanted to know – the war inside my soul.”

Despite his inner turmoil, that same year Gaye recorded a duets album with Diana Ross, and he accepted an offer to write what became his landmark Trouble Man film score. A year later, he released Let’s Get It On, the biggest hit of his career.

In addition to You’re The Man, Motown/UMe will release a new expanded edition of Marvin Gaye’s 1965 album, A Tribute To The Great Nat King Cole, digitally on March 15. Honoring what would have been Cole’s 100th birthday, the album’s original mono mix makes its digital debut with the new edition, which also adds more than a dozen bonus tracks, including six alternate takes from the studio sessions.

Watch: New "Captain Marvel" TV spot


Watch: New "Doom Patrol" teaser


New Music Friday: Galactic; Mavis Staples; Bob Mould; Alex Chilton; Julie London

Our picks this week. Click the links to order discounted items from Amazon.





Pop Culture Roundup: Stan's Soapbox; Slay Monstrobot RIP; Black Canary; Doctor Who calls the Midwife

ITEM! Marvel Comics is running vintage Stan's Soapbox columns in tribute to its late publisher, Stan "The Man" Lee. I always liked these short bursts of opinion and observation from Stan, which appeared on each month's Bullpen Bulletins page. Our own use of the word "Item!" in this column is a Stan tribute, too.


ITEM! Sad news: HeroPress reports the death of fellow pop blogger Brian Keith Snell, creator of Slay Monstrobot of the Deep! We shared many of Brian's posts in Pop Culture Roundup and were regularly readers of his work. He'll be missed.


ITEM! Siskoid explores the early days of Black Canary in DC Comics.


ITEM! Doctor Who made a sneaky cameo on a recent episode of "Call the Midwife."

At the Movies: "Candy"





Watch: New trailer for "Justice League Vs. The Fatal Five" animated film


Details:

Justice League vs. The Fatal Five finds the fate of the earth hanging in the balance when the Justice League faces a powerful new threat — the Fatal Five! Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman seek answers as the time-traveling trio of Mano, Persuader and Tharok terrorize Metropolis in search of budding Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. With her unwilling help, they aim to free remaining Fatal Five members Emerald Empress and Validus to carry out their sinister plan. But the Justice League has also discovered an ally from another time in the peculiar Star Boy — brimming with volatile power, could he be the key to thwarting the Fatal Five? An epic battle against ultimate evil awaits!

Time Capsule: Jimi Hendrix Experience article, 1969


The Who are posting video updates as they record new album

The Who, or what's left of them, are set to issue a new LP and do an American tour later this year. Pete Townshend is posting video updates from the new album's recording sessions daily on YouTube.

Here's the first:

Time Capsule: Endust TV commercial with Emmett Kelly, Jr.


New Doom Patrol cast poster




Pop Pic: The Bee Gees, 1969


New Comics Day: Voyage to the Deep

Our picks this week. Click the link to order discounted items from Amazon.

In the early 1960s, Dell Comics was inspired by the success of the hit movie Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and they recruited legendary comics artist Sam Glanzman--himself a Navy veteran of WWII--to draw Voyage to the Deep, a thrilling adventure series set in the deepest trenches of our planet's oceans and starring the hapless crew of nuclear submarine S.S.N. Proteus. Set during the height of the Cold War and replete with giant monsters, earth-threatening disasters, and even an "anti-matter generator" menacing all life on earth, the short-lived title was more than a disaster movie knock-off. It was also the perfect vehicle for Glanzman's action-packed artistry.
For the first time ever, VOYAGE OF THE DEEP gathers all four issues of the hugely entertaining (albeit short-lived) series, fully restored in glorious color and accompanied by a historical essay by Stephen R. Bissette and personal afterword by this compilation's cover artist, Rufus Dayglo.