"What's Going On" is a song by American singer Marvin Gaye, released in 1971 on the Motown subsidiary Tamla. Originally inspired by a police brutality incident witnessed by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, the song was composed by Benson, Al Cleveland, and Gaye and produced by Gaye himself. The song marked Gaye's departure from the Motown Sound towards more personal material. Later topping the Hot Soul Singles chart for five weeks and crossing over to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, it would sell over two million copies, becoming Gaye's second-most successful Motown song to date.
Artist | artist | ||
Language | language | ||
English title | english title | ||
A-side | a-side | ||
B-side | b-side | ||
Written | written | ||
Published | published | ||
Released | January 20, 1971
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Format | Vinyl record (7" 45 RPM)
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Recorded | recorded | ||
Studio | studio | ||
Venue | venue | ||
Genre | genre | ||
Length | length | ||
Label | label | ||
Songwriter | songwriter | ||
Composer | composer | ||
Lyricist | lyricist | ||
Producer |
Artist | artist | ||
Album type | album type | ||
Released | released | ||
Recorded | June 1, July 6, 7 and 10, September 21, 1970 – Hitsville USA (Studio A)
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Venue | venue | ||
Studio | studio | ||
Genre | |||
Length | 3:53
3:40 (7-inch version) |
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# of tracks | # of tracks | ||
Language | language | ||
Label | Tamla (T 54201)
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Director | director | ||
Producer | producer | ||
Compiler | compiler |
Previous album | previous album | ||
Next album | next album |
Theme | theme |
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