Rare Gaye TV Performances Heading To DVD

[Sweet Jane 61]

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

A host of TV performances by late music legend Marvin Gaye will be found on the DVD "The Real Thing in Performance: 1964-1981," due April 4 via Hip-O/UME. The release rounds up 16 clips, rarest among them performances of "What's Going On" and "What's Happening Brother" from the 1973 documentary "Save the Children," which has never been released on home video.

"The Real Thing" kicks off with Gaye performing tracks like "Pride & Joy," "Can I Get a Witness," "Ain't That Peculiar" and "You're a Wonderful One" in 1964-5, on shows such as "American Bandstand," "Hollywood a Go-Go" and "Swingin' Time."

Other highlights include the music video for 1979's "A Funky Space Reincarnation" and a 1969 performance of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" at the Hollywood Palace, coinciding with the track's reign at No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Several tracks are also featured from the rarely seen "Zomerhappening" TV special, which aired only on Belgian television in 1981.

For the lip-synched performances, producers substituted remastered audio versions of the studio originals for the lower quality TV audio. The DVD also features six a cappella performances of Gaye classics that were recently located in Motown's vaults.

Here is the track list for "The Real Thing":

"Hitch Hike" ("American Bandstand," 1964)

"Pride & Joy" ("Shivaree," 1965)

"Can I Get a Witness" ("Hollywood a Go-Go," 1965)

"Pretty Little Baby" ("Swingin' Time," 1965)

"Ain't That Peculiar" ("Swingin' Time," 1965)

"You're a Wonderful One" ("New Lloyd Thaxton Show," 1965)

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" with Tami Terrell ("Swingin' Sounds of Expo," 1967)

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (Hollywood Palace, 1969)

"What's Going On" ("Save the Children," 1972)

"What's Happening Brother" ("Save the Children," 1972)

"Distant Lover" ("Dinah & Friends," 1979)

"Come Get to This" ("Zomerhappening," 1981)

"Let's Get It On" ("Zomerhappening," 1981)

"A Funky Space Reincarnation" (video, 1979)

"Ego Tripping Out" ("Dinah & Friends," 1979)

"Heavy Love Affair" ("Follies," 1981)

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