Marvin Gaye left a musical treasure.
The trove consists of 30 cassettes and 66 demos of songs recorded by Marvin Gaye in the early 1980s.
On April 1, 2024, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the death of Marvin Gaye. This April 2, 2024, we learn some good news about the Motown singer: a collection of unreleased recordings from the “What’s Going On” singer has surfaced in Belgium! It’s here BBC who found the treasure and has just shared its contents during a report to mark the 40th anniversary of Gaye’s tragic death. This previously unreleased material includes 30 projects and 66 demos that the Motown legend recorded during his time in the country in the early ’80s.
Gaye left the tapes with Charles Dumolin, a Belgian musician who hosted the “Sexual Healing” singer at his home in Ostend. An attorney, Alex Trappeniers, representing Dumolin, who died in 2019, is working with the late singer’s family to determine who owns the recordings. In the report, he states
“They belong to [la famille] because they were left in Belgium 42 years ago. Marvin gave it to them and said, “Do whatever you want with it,” and it never came back. It is important.”
Dumolin’s family hopes to avoid a legal battle with Marvin Gaye’s estate by honoring the Prince of Soul with the release of whatever was found.
“We can open a ‘time capsule’ here and share Marvin’s music with the world“explained Trappeniers. “It’s very clear. He’s very present.”
The lawyer added that some of the songs are on the same level as one of the singer’s latest hits.
“Some songs are complete and a few are as good as “Sexual Healing” because they were made at the same time. There was a song and when I listened to it for 10 seconds, I discovered that the music had stayed in my head all day, the words were in my head all day, in a sort of planetary alignment…”
Marvin Gaye’s family has been informed of the discovery, but has not yet made an official statement on the matter. Let’s hope that this doesn’t turn into iron bars and that we can listen to this music soon.