Marvin Gaye

11/02/22 • 44 min

One of the most iconic voices in recorded music. Marvin Gaye started his career as a sideman for artists like Chuck Berry, The Marvelettes, and even Little Stevie Wonder. After impressing Motown's Berry Gordy singing at a Holiday Party, Marvin quickly became one of the label's biggest assets. With his '60's hits like "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" with Tammi Terrell and "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" he solidified enough credibility to wrestle creative control of his music from the label which led to some of the most poignant and political R&B music of all time with his "What's Going On?" album. As his career progressed, he continued to find success with the sound that would go on to define hip-hop and electronic music on tracks like his top 10 hit "Sexual Healing." Although his life tragically ended early, his influence is prominently felt through artists he inspired like Stevie Wonder, Sade, and even modern hitmakers like John Legend and Bruno Mars. In this episode of Influenced, he look at the career of this iconic and groundbreaking hitmaker.
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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

In this episode of Influenced, we take a look into the careers of the always cool, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC). Formed in the late '90s by musicians Robert Levon Been and Peter Hayes (formerly of the psych rockers the Brian Jonestown Massacre). They wanted to combine a love of the classic heavy hitting blues of bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath with the more forward thinking sounds of artists like My Bloody Valentine and the Jesus and Mary Chain. With a number of different drummers and musicians helping the band craft their sound (like Michael Been, Rob's Father and former frontman of the '80s classic band The Call) the band rose to the heights of the 2000s indie rock boom with artists like the Strokes, The Vines, and White Stripes. Unlike many of their peers in that scene, BRMC have continued over the decades influencing other bands that are drawn to the more psychedelic side of things like the Black Angels and Death From Above 1979. BRMC continue to push the envelope for alternative bands into the current decade and have already left an incredible career in their wake. Check out this episode of Influenced to go deeper on one of the coolest bands in the business.
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Stevie Wonder

For the Season 2 finale of Influenced, We wanted to take a look at one of the most iconic careers in music, Stevie Wonder. Discovered by the frontman of the Miracles and the Motown record label in his home town of Detroit, Stevie Wonder shot to stardom at the incredibly young age of 10 when he first signed to the label. Breaking records as the youngest artist to top the charts at the age of 13, Stevie has become one of the forefathers of modern soul and R&B. When he came into young adulthood he began an unrivaled period of classic songs and albums from the late sixties through the decade of the '70s garnering dozens of awards including multiple "Album of the Year" Grammy awards for albums like "Innervisions" and "Songs in the Key of Life". Even as his career slowed down in more modern decades, his influence has lived on completely in the way his music has become a foundational aspect of much of hip hop like Coolio's iconic samples in "Gangsta's Paradise" or even in more modern artists like Janelle Monáe and Gary Clark Jr. We are more than happy to explore Stevie's iconic career in this season finale of Influenced.
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