Got to Give It Up - Marvin Gaye (1977 10/3/22

After trying to avoid disco music for the first half of the '70s, Motown Records finally gave in and urged their artists to experiment with the genre. (The label needed some hits, and they also saw how much money other labels were making on disco music).

But Marvin Gaye would have NONE of it--at least at first.

The pressure was on, especially since he had some serious financial problems of his own, but he held back until he had an idea: record a parody of Johnnie Taylor's hit: "Disco Lady." (See below.)

So, in 1977, Marvin gathered up some family and friends and recorded a nearly 12-minute song filled with party sound effects and weird instruments like a glass bottle filled with grapefruit juice. (I kid you not).

The song was ostensibly about a male wallflower who slowly loses his inhibitions at the disco and starts dancing with reckless abandon.

It was supposed to be over the top--and it was! In fact, it was SO over the top that when Motown cut it down to just over 4 minutes for single release, it went to the TOP of Billboard's Hot 100, Soul, and Disco Charts!

Marvin was a bit shocked, but the money was a godsend. :-)

In 1996, Aaliyah recorded a cover that reached the top 10 in the UK,

and Marvin's original version has been used in films like "Charlie's Angels," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and "Barbershop."

You've got to give it up to Marvin Gaye: Spoof or not, "Got to Give It Up" is a "great Song of 1977!"

Single version:

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Album Version:

Aaliyah Version:

"Disco Lady" by Johnnie Taylor: