Ranking 10 Greatest Albums Made Out Of Contractual Obligation
3. Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear
Tales of Marvin Gaye's spitefulness during the recording process of Here, My Dear may have been greatly exaggerated, but the album remains one of the finest examples of a work created expressly to fulfill a contract. Except this wasn't a record label contract. It was a divorce settlement.
A commercial flop, it was said that Gaye had purposely created a mediocre album because his ex-wife would receive all of the royalties as a substitution for traditional alimony. (Hence the winking title.) In actuality, Gaye had considered tanking the get the divorce over with and paid for as quickly as possible, but couldn't bring himself to put forth anything but his best effort.
And what an effort it was. Despite being panned by critics and selling like an old piece of bread covered in Songs of Innocence stickers, Here, My Dear is an indelible breakup record that finds Gaye at his most open and earnest.
It's perhaps a little awkward in its nakedness at times, and the songs may not hit you right away like "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" or "Mercy Mercy Me", but after a couple of spins you'll probably be dance-weeping along with every soulful, sorrowful melody.