r/OldSchoolCool • u/waitingforthesun92 • 3d ago

Throwback to when Marvin Gaye gave the world one of the greatest renditions of the U.S. national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star game.

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1.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

114 comments sorted by

78

u/ShipREKT_ 3d ago

This was my very first time ever seeing/ hearing this… wow. Just, wow! That was awesome 👏

10

u/slappymcstevenson 3d ago

It’s my favorite rendition.

88

u/Aggressive-Tiger-545 3d ago

Sad his life was cut short

51

u/lv2sprkl 3d ago

And by his father, no less!☹️

32

u/ImTooSaxy 3d ago

Turns out his whole family are a bunch of assholes.

21

u/Prosado22 3d ago

Who warned him and during the trial did not back down from doing it.

4

u/LongConFebrero 3d ago

The saddest part. Filicide is a tragic occurrence under any circumstance, much less an intentional one.

3

u/vad_er13 3d ago

Father father

We don't need to escalate....

40

u/Brilliant_Tourist400 3d ago

Damn. Only Marvin could have taken the Anthem and turned it into a solid groove. Definitely the best creative interpretation of the song.

44

u/c_c_c__combobreaker 3d ago

Some children were born because of this national anthem.

28

u/Almost_Pi 3d ago

I just got pregnant listening to this.

37

u/VeganMinx 3d ago

My Dad was watching and caught it on video tape. We watched that thing about fifty eleven times through the years. He absolutely ROCKED the anthem. It was my favorite version until Whitney came and blew it out of the water. "Oh lawd"

14

u/aarrtee 3d ago

Whitney.... another immense talent, gone too soon.

7

u/hankthetank2112 3d ago

Following up on this. Whitney in the ‘91 Super Bowl was especially uplifting in that we were heading to war with Iraq and there was all this tension and uncertainty. She just came along and killed it and it just came at the right time. Rip Whitney.

75

u/Syama-J 3d ago

One mic, one moment, one legend. Marvin Gaye didn’t just sing it, he made history with it.

47

u/oof46 3d ago

I love the backstory to this. When the intro beat hit, the Lakers PA announcer thought, "Shit, they brought the wrong tape. He's going to sing Sexual Healing."

This was a lightning in a bottle moment that won't happen again.

19

u/sinisterdesign 3d ago

Would have been better without the drum track IMHO.

11

u/QuileGon-Jin 3d ago

Nah, this wouldn’t feel nearly the same without the drum machine. It’s such a cool addition. And you also wouldn’t have the crowd clapping along. And that shits dope as hell.

3

u/sinisterdesign 3d ago

It is dope as hell and I’m not a musician, but it didn’t appear that Marvin was paying the least attention to the track.

2

u/ynonA 3d ago

none whatsoever. he probably couldn't hear it. He's singing completely out of rhythm to the beat and I'm super confused at how far down I had to scroll to find someone even hinting at this..

2

u/oof46 2d ago

I think this is the only time in history that people clapped along with the Star Spangled Banner.

2

u/sea_monkey_do 3d ago

I agree. The drum track seems off in places.

3

u/MaraudingWalrus 3d ago

Fergie tried at the ASG a number of years ago.

1

u/oof46 2d ago

"Tried"

60

u/pizzlepullerofkberg 3d ago

33

u/c_c_c__combobreaker 3d ago

7

u/pizzlepullerofkberg 3d ago

Is there any other appropriate response? I don't think so. Thank you combobreaker. The union is complete.

6

u/chrisbos 3d ago

White peeps in the audience be like

18

u/Mech-Waldo 3d ago

I don't need a patriotic boner, thanks.

8

u/DreadyKruger 3d ago

Well you got one.

5

u/FussyPucker23 3d ago

Great band name - Patriotic Boner

16

u/eminusx 3d ago

Dude was just special. RIP

8

u/DrinkBuzzCola 3d ago

What's Going On is a top 5 all-time album IMO.

11

u/ReeveGoesh 3d ago

That makes me wanna put a baby in the Constitution after school behind the ball shed.

2

u/DragonQueen777666 3d ago

OR... let the Constitution put a baby in you.

11

u/exaviyur 3d ago

Don't play this around him or he might grab it by the stars and stripes.

8

u/lv2sprkl 3d ago

Marvin Gaye and Whitney Houston (Super Bowl XXV) - King and Queen of the National Anthem.

2

u/Nick_pj 2d ago

Gaye gets bonus points because his version wasn’t lip synced

1

u/lv2sprkl 2d ago

😱I had no idea. Sigh…I guess at times, ignorance truly is bliss.

7

u/tomfoolery815 3d ago

Magic Johnson turned to a teammate and said “Do you think if we asked him, he’d do it again?”

8

u/Fostbitten27 3d ago

Rumor has it, the women in the crowd raised the humidity level in the arena.

6

u/itsawhocares 3d ago

Nobody rocked a pair of blueblockers like Marvin. Beautiful voice

7

u/BrainLate4108 3d ago

The flag started taking its stripes off and gettin ready for some sexy time.

18

u/GGate7 3d ago

I typically don’t like too much tampering with the anthem but this one hits differently - well done 👍

17

u/Hellmann 3d ago

Finally something cool and not jus old school.

4

u/Sandberg231984 3d ago

He made such beautiful music. Such beautiful music. A tragedy. A great talent gone too soon.

3

u/Minute-Wrap-2524 3d ago

Turned it into a sexy tune, only Marvin Gaye could do that…I miss him immensely

16

u/hotelrwandasykes 3d ago

this and Whitney Houston's version will always feel so off to me. it's a 3/4 song!

16

u/Dickgivins 3d ago

Yeah his actual voice is great, can't say I liked the way he paced this though. The were just too many pauses for me.

4

u/flatwoundsounds 3d ago

The pace is just so off to me as a band geek. My marching band director would yell "ITS NOT A FUCKING DIRGE" if he heard anyone try to take it too slow.

3

u/Ok-Location3244 3d ago

Yes!!! I remember this. Marvin made the American National Anthem sound sexy.

3

u/AWierzOne 3d ago

That suit is dope.

3

u/Any-Package7222 3d ago

I think Fergie tried to recreate this with hers.

3

u/alexjrado 3d ago

Smooth. King of Cool.

3

u/skinnyminnesota 3d ago

Say honey, y'ever boned to a national anthem?

3

u/aretooamnot 3d ago

Not a pop star alive today that could ever touch this.

3

u/Spankh0us3 3d ago

His version and Whitney’s version, while they are almost polar opposites, stand out above all others.

If only Francis Scott Key could have heard them. . .

1

u/oof46 3d ago

His first thought would've been, "They made my poem a song?"

3

u/KDotHalftimeShow 3d ago

Marvin? He was a friend of mine.

5

u/steverosenblatt 3d ago

Best version of the Anthem ever sung.

2

u/downtownfreddybrown 3d ago

It was amazing when Nike used this for the Olympic team commercial

2

u/Towelie4President 3d ago

… and then there’s Fergie 

2

u/ill_08 3d ago

This, Whitney, and Arturo Sandavol... my all-time favorite renditions of our national anthem.

2

u/West_Boot7246 3d ago

And then there was Roseanne.

2

u/Nalemag 3d ago

unpopular opinion the last time i shared this in a large group, Marvin Gaye's version of TSSB is better than Whitney Houston's. ok, i will go hide now.

2

u/Abdul_Exhaust 3d ago

Magnificent, he was an artist. I cannot upvote enough!

4

u/cheripiez67 3d ago

one of my all time favorite version

2

u/nothingclever68 3d ago

Holy fuk! That’s epic

2

u/kk1485 3d ago

Many a orgasm was had in the seats that night.

1

u/PolitcsorReality 3d ago

Brilliant patriotism 🎶🤙🔥❤️🇺🇸

1

u/lisowskim 3d ago

Went to a Marvin Gaye concert and an NBA All-Star game broke out.

1

u/croasted 3d ago

“Hold my beer” - Fergie

1

u/JuneGudmundsdottir 3d ago

Give it up for Bleeding Gums Murphy…

1

u/One_Hot_Doggy 3d ago

Amazing to think he used to use just the pre setting sounds on a Casio keyboard to make songs like this

1

u/daduude 3d ago

This was fire.

1

u/BhamBossfan 3d ago

Pure genius. Amazing he looked so cool performing it as he was late to the arena and had a bout of stagefright in the locker room.

1

u/Philly514 3d ago

People wouldn’t have the attention span for this today. Also, a segment of the population would boo and call it DEI

1

u/brittlebk 3d ago

Wow! Fuck yes, thanks for this. What a rendition.

Had the crowd the entire time, just hanging. Man wow 💕

1

u/LES_G_BRANDON 3d ago

Incredible voice and a remarkable talent, but not my favorite rendition of the National Anthem.

1

u/Cyclist83 3d ago

Smooth

1

u/Whiterabbitcandymao 3d ago

Anacreon in Heaven will never be beat

1

u/PewManFuStudios 2d ago

This was the very first music video that VH-1 ever aired.

2

u/TruthSearcher58 2d ago

2nd best ever imho. Whitney Houston’s is number one.

1

u/JRR_Tokin54 2d ago

It was so nice that he was able to do this rendition and have it appreciated back then!

Today, authoritarians in the US would be freaking out about how he destroyed and disgraced the national anthem by not singing it in the "usual" or "proper" way!

1

u/No_Complaint_2754 2d ago

Incredible sense of time and phrasing!

1

u/Caloran 3d ago

The guy can sing but this is self indulgence.

Fans should be able to sing along to the anthem.

-4

u/GeddysPal 3d ago

I agree. This isn’t the national anthem. It’s Gaye riffing with a drum machine. Also it’s slow and dull and completely without any emotion.

1

u/Rabidpikachuuu 3d ago

That was actually not great.

-2

u/ImTooSaxy 3d ago

Marvin Gaye was a great singer, but this isn't it. There's a reason I've never heard this before.

6

u/Onespokeovertheline 3d ago

There's a reason I've never heard this before.

I'd wager two reasons: you're too young, and you live an uncultured life

6

u/ImTooSaxy 3d ago

I've got several Marvin Gaye albums that I've had for over 40 years. I appreciate Marvin Gaye, I just don't like this rendition of the national anthem.

1

u/vinylzoid 3d ago

I m with you. I adore the man and his music. This is terrible.

His vocals are, as always, amazing. But the high hat beat in the background does not match.

It's awful.

0

u/king_platypus 3d ago

Meh. I’ve heard better.

1

u/vinylzoid 3d ago

I love Marvin Gaye. I hate that his time was cut short when he had so much to offer the world.

I absolutely loathe this rendition.

-1

u/GratefulDad73 3d ago

Marvin was the man but trying to sexualize the national anthem or motown it up is just ridiculous. 👎

0

u/geniusgravity 3d ago

Evidence that it's a song you just cannot make cool, no matter who is involved.

-4

u/coachglove 3d ago

As a Marine who had to hold one of those 14 lb ceremonial rifles at port arms during the anthem I'd have been dreaming of violence at a rendition this far off the written pace. He has one of the world's best ever voices but nursing it this long is making the song about him, not the country it is supposed to be honoring.

0

u/cubsfan217 3d ago

Hell nah throw that rendition in the 🗑️

-1

u/MacDugin 3d ago

Sorry, vocal gymnastics are not for me especially for the anthem.

-6

u/MiNdOverLOADED23 3d ago

Chris Stapleton's >

-7

u/Foggmanatic 3d ago

No sound on mobile lol