1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: a show that sings the greatest hits of history one 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: day at a time. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: episode we're looking at the origin of one of the 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: greatest protests songs of the twentieth century, Marvin Gay's groundbreaking 7 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 1: What's going On. The Day was January twenty seventy one, 8 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: motown legend Marvin Gay released the powerful hit single What's 9 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: Going On. The song was co written by Ronaldo O. B. Benson, 10 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: Al Cleveland and Marvin Gay and produced by Gay himself. 11 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties, Gay had achieved fame with upbeat 12 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:04,800 Speaker 1: songs like how Sweet it Is to Be Loved By 13 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: You and I Heard It through the Grapevine. Like most 14 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: motown artists of the era, his early music dealt almost 15 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: exclusively with romantic and sensual themes. What's going On mark 16 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: to shift away from love songs in favor of material 17 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: that covered more personal topics, including police brutality and the 18 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: Vietnam War. Let's take a listen, pick it that, and 19 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:38,680 Speaker 1: pick it SA. Don't punish Meames with brutalities talk to 20 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 1: name shows you can't see let's pulling off? What's pulling off? 21 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,920 Speaker 1: The song was originally conceived by Ronaldo Obi Benson, the 22 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: bass singer for the motown group The Four Tops. On 23 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: May fift nineteen sixty nine, that band was on a 24 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: tour stop in burke Plea, California, when Benson witnessed a 25 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: violent confrontation in People's Park between a young group of 26 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: anti Vietnam War protesters and the local police. The incident, 27 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: later known as Bloody Thursday, left a deep impression on Benson, 28 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: and he started writing down his feelings in the form 29 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: of a song. When he had a first draft, he 30 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: took the song to his bandmates in the Four Tops, 31 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: but they rejected it as too political. A year later, 32 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: Benson took the untitled song to Marvin Gay, whose brother 33 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: had recently returned from Vietnam and whose cousin had died there. 34 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: Gay gave the song a new melody and added his 35 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: own lyrics. He also removed the question mark that Benson 36 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: had fixed to the title. To him, the song was 37 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: a statement, not a question. He wasn't asking listeners what 38 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: was going on in the world. He was telling them. 39 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: Benson later described the changes, saying that a quote added 40 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: some things that were more ghetto, more natural, which made 41 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: it seem more like a story than a song. We 42 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,119 Speaker 1: measured him for the suit, and he tailored the hell 43 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: out of it. Marvin Gaye's version of the song was 44 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: inspired not only by the Vietnam War, but by social 45 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:23,360 Speaker 1: injustices committed on American soil, including the Watts Riots of 46 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:28,520 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty five. Gay asked himself, quote, with the world 47 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: exploding around me, how am I supposed to keep singing 48 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: love songs? In the end, the lyrics he wrote addressed 49 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: the need for a different kind of love in US society. Father, Father, 50 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: he wrote, we don't need to escalate you see, war 51 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,560 Speaker 1: is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate. 52 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:54,120 Speaker 1: The song's anti war sentiment made it a risky venture, 53 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: especially for motown, a genre that had been firmly a 54 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: political up until that point. Gay's record label, tom LA 55 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: was an imprint of Motown Records, which was run by 56 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: its legendary founder Barry Gordy. When Gordy heard What's going on, 57 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: he refused to allow it to be released, saying, quote, 58 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: don't be ridiculous. That's taking things too far. Marvin gay 59 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: responded by refusing to record any new material unless the 60 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: song was released, essentially going on strike until Gordy relented. However, 61 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: the record executive never did. Instead, Barney Ales, Motown's vice 62 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: president of sales, went behind Gordy's back and commissioned one 63 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,000 Speaker 1: hundred thousand copies of the single. The song was sent 64 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: out to radio stations without Gordy's knowledge, and both the 65 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: DJ's and their listeners couldn't get enough of it. When 66 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:59,000 Speaker 1: the single hit shelves on January twenty one, all one 67 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: hundred thousand copies sold out immediately, and by the end 68 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: of the week there were already orders for a hundred 69 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: thousand more copies, making it the fastest selling single in 70 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,919 Speaker 1: Motown history. In time, it would go on to sell 71 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,520 Speaker 1: over two million copies within a month. What's Going On 72 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:21,159 Speaker 1: reached the top of the Billboard R and Beach Arts 73 00:05:21,320 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: and remain number one for five weeks straight. Meanwhile, on 74 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: the main Billboard Hot one hundred, it climbed all the 75 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,159 Speaker 1: way to number two. The success forced Gordy to come 76 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:36,159 Speaker 1: to his senses and allow Marvin Gaye to produce his 77 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: own music, regardless of the subject matter. This ultimately led 78 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: to the landmark protest album What's Going On, which was 79 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: released the following May to critical acclaim. The album further 80 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: explored the opposition to war outlined in the title track, 81 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: and also covered other topical issues including racism, drug abuse, poverty, 82 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:03,799 Speaker 1: and iron mental conservation. It was a huge turning point 83 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,720 Speaker 1: for Marvin Gay as an artist and for the direction 84 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: of Motown as a whole. As Gay later explained, quote, 85 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: I stopped thinking so much about my erotic fantasies and 86 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: I started to think about the war in Vietnam. Something 87 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: happened with me during that period, and I felt a 88 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: strong urge to write music and to write lyrics that 89 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: would touch the souls of men. Over fifty years later, 90 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: What's Going On. Both the song and the album are 91 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: considered some of the most influential recordings in music history. 92 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: It's social messages are sadly just as relevant now as 93 00:06:41,120 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: they were in ninety one. But societal progress is always incremental, 94 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,799 Speaker 1: and the first step to healing the riffs that divide 95 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:53,000 Speaker 1: us is having someone brave enough to draw attention to 96 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: the problems and tell the world what's going on. I'm Gay, Bluesier, 97 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: and hopefully you now know a little more about history 98 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep 99 00:07:06,839 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 100 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i HC. Show. You can 101 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: also leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, and you 102 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: can write to us at this Day at I heeart 103 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks, as always the Chandler Mays for 104 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll see 105 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:31,239 Speaker 1: you back here again tomorrow for another Day in History class. 106 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 107 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 108 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: favorite shows.