by Kevin Burton
There might be some court wrangling first, but there is a chance the world will get to hear some new Marvin Gaye music.
According to multiple reports, a collection of tapes of previously unheard Gaye songs has been discovered in Belgium. The troubled genius moved there in 1981 to get away from his tax and drug-related struggles and to revitalize his career.
This news is so hard to believe, especially since it came out on April Fool’s Day. Not sure if April Fool’s Day is a thing in Belgium.
Today could have been Gaye’s 85th birthday, except that yesterday was the 40th anniversary of his shooting death.
He was shot to death by his own father. I’m not going to slog through that story except to say, it didn’t have to happen.
I was preparing a post timed with his birthday, highlighting the best of Gaye’s work, especially my favorites, “What’s Going On” and “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” I may get to that sometime. This is much more interesting.
Here is part of a report by David Mouriquand on msn.com:
“It’s been 40 years to the day (yesterday) since Marvin Gaye died in Los Angeles – shot dead by his father after Gaye stepped in to break up an altercation between his father and his mother – a day before his 45th birthday.”
“Now, a collection of unreleased Marvin Gaye recordings has been unearthed in Belgium after more than 40 years.”
“The tapes apparently have 66 demos of new and previously unheard songs that the soul singer recorded while in the country in the early ’80s. He left the tapes with Charles Dumolin, a musician who housed Gaye during his time in Belgium,” Mouriquand writes.
“The Dumolin family is now working with a lawyer to figure out what to do with the tapes, as well as what is likely a highly valuable collection of stage costumes and notebooks which were also discovered alongside the tapes.”
“They belong to (the family) because they were left in Belgium 42 years ago,” Alex Trappeniers, lawyer and business partner of the Dumolin family, told BBC. “Marvin gave it to them and said, ‘Do whatever you want with it’ and he never came back. That’s important.”
“A Belgian law that states any property in one’s possession, even if it’s stolen, becomes yours after 30 years. However, that does not extend to intellectual property. This means that the Dumolin family could end up as the owners of the physical tapes, without the right to publish the songs. That right may instead belong to Gaye’s heirs in the US.”
“The Dumolin family is hoping to reach some kind of compromise with Gaye’s estate in order to release the music,” Mouriquand writes.
“We can open a time capsule here and share the music of Marvin with the world,” Trappeniers said. “It’s very clear. He’s very present.”
“I think we both benefit, the family of Marvin and the collection in the hands of (Dumolin’s heirs),” Trappeniers continued. “If we put our hands together and find the right people in the world, the Mark Ronsons or the Bruno Mars…. I’m not here to make suggestions but to say OK, let’s listen to this and let’s make the next album.”
“Lawyers representing the Marvin Gaye estate have been made aware of the existence of the tapes, although it’s unclear if they are looking to negotiate,” Mouriquand writes.
“Gaye had a strong connection to Belgium, as he moved there in 1981, seeking refuge from personal struggles, a strong cocaine addiction, and wishing to revitalize his career. The “Prince of Motown” moved to the coastal city of Ostend, and it was during this time that he recorded one of his biggest hits: ‘Sexual Healing.’.
“Ostend even erected a statue of Gaye to commemorate his time in the city,” Mouriquand writes.
Think about how fans recently salivated for one inferior posthumous John Lennon song and one uninteresting latter-day Billy Joel collaboration. If we suddenly got what sounds like multiple albums worth of new Marvin Gaye material, how huge would that be?
Most frustrating of all would be the scenario Mouriquand wrote about: the music being stuck in limbo because the Dumolin family owned the tapes but could not publish the music.
In his 1972 song “Trouble Man” Gaye wrote that “there’s only three things that’s for sure taxes, death and trouble.”
Turns out Gaye couldn’t avoid any of those. But we could get one last musical gift from the late Motown legend.
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