Where do you go after delivering a career-defining work?
It was a question said to be gnawing away at Marvin Gaye before he recorded his 1973 album Let’s Get It On.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary with another deluxe edition out on Friday, the original release came two years after his masterpiece, What’s Going On.
That album not only expanded the horizons of soul music with its poignant socio-political lyricism and a game-changing production, where songs were presented as a suite rather than a collection of individual tracks, it also soundtracked a troubled era in US society at odds with itself over the Vietnam War.
More than commercial success, What’s Going On’s ultimate achievement allowed Gaye full artistic control over future projects from Motown, a label notorious for calling its own tune.
This would all have been ideal for the production of his next work, as long as he had something to say, something Gaye was initially unsure of in 1972 while grappling with writer’s block.
Clarity arrived with the decision to focus on the internal rather than the external.
Where What’s Going On is his American state of the union address, the brief 31 minutes of Let’s Get It On has Gaye exploring the inner politics of love, faith and various forms of human connection.
Some of these strands crystallise in the title track, which opens the album.
Accompanied by a sumptuous orchestral arrangement, delicate guitars and slightly off kilter percussion, the original lyrics are said to be more spiritual before taking on a sensual turn.
However, the original sentiments remain.
Among the romantic word play, Gaye still searches for a deeper union, with lyrics such as, "We're all sensitive people with so much to give", grounded in honesty, "Ain't gonna push, won't push you".
This is further accentuated in the second song on the record, Please Stay (Once You Go Away), the kind of melodramatic horn-soaked ballad Motown is famed for, in which a vulnerable Gaye begs his lover to give it another shot.
The dynamism of the song-writing is highlighted in If I Should Die Tonight. Sparse, yet filled with surprising vocal turns, the lyrics are both a goodbye love letter and eulogy.
"If I should die tonight, though it seems far before my time, I won't die blue 'cause I've known you," Gaye begins before asking us if we lived a life well spent.
"How many eyes have seen their dream? How many arms have held their dream? How many hearts have really, really felt their world stand still?"
It is here we appreciate Gaye's battle for creative control.
Where earlier career hits Stubborn Kind of Fellow and It Takes Two were lovable yet cookie-cutter takes on love and heartbreak, If I Should Die Tonight removes the rose-tinted lenses to reflect on love as it often is, open-ended, messy and unpredictable.
Then again, Gaye didn't completely discard his earlier sound.
The summery Come Get to This is a flashback to his1960s commercial era with its exuberant melodic hooks, bobbing basslines and breezy strings.
After a bravura live version of Distant Lover, the album closes with the sultry ambience of You Sure Love to Ball and Just to Keep You Satisfied.
The latter orchestral ballad meditates on the emotional toll of an uninhibited life.
By fleeing an emotionally abusive relationship, Gaye ultimately realises the deep bond he craves cannot be sustained only through physical intimacy.
So he bids her farewell with a faint hope of “maybe we'll meet down the line”.
Now, 50 years on, the legacy of Let’s Get It On endures.
While lacking the heft of What’s Going On, rightfully regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, Let's Get It On pushed the sonic and lyrical boundaries of popular music.
One can even draw a link from Let’s Get It On to a string of potent popular albums in the ensuing decades, such as Madonna’s Erotica (1992) and SZA’s star-making 2022 album SOS.
Gaye’s unbridled view of relationships also inspired generations of future RnB stars to release thought-provoking albums about the body and mind, including D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000) and Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996).
With the new edition of Let's Get It On featuring a new Dolby Atmos mix and 18 previously unreleased tracks from the original recording sessions, fans, future artists and producers will have a lot to dig in to and savour.
Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Sui Dhaaga: Made in India
Director: Sharat Katariya
Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav
3.5/5
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Fanney Khan
Producer: T-Series, Anil Kapoor Productions, ROMP, Prerna Arora
Director: Atul Manjrekar
Cast: Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai, Rajkummar Rao, Pihu Sand
Rating: 2/5
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
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Rating: 5/5
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Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
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Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
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Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Profile
Company: Libra Project
Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware
Launch year: 2017
Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time
Sector: Renewable energy
Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.
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