MOTOWN REJECTED “GRAPEVINE” AS A SINGLE—THEN RETITLED THE ALBUM AFTER DJS PLAYED IT

Marvin Gaye’s In the Groove arrived in August 1968 with a future No. 1 sitting fourth on side one—and Motown still did not want it as a single. 🎙️

Gaye had recorded “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” more than a year earlier with producer Norman Whitfield. The session was hardly comfortable: Whitfield pushed Gaye into a higher register than usual, and Gaye later recalled that the pair came close to fighting as he strained for the notes.

The resulting performance was tense, wounded and unmistakable.

Motown’s Quality Control meetings repeatedly rejected it for single release. Whitfield then rearranged the song as a faster, more forceful number for Gladys Knight & the Pips. Their version reached No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 2 on the pop chart. 🔥

Gaye’s slower recording remained in the vault until it was placed on In the Groove. It was not even the album’s opening track; listeners had to reach track four to find it.

Then the DJs found it. 📻

While the official single “Chained” was still climbing the charts, radio stations began playing “Grapevine” directly from the album. Berry Gordy later recalled that DJs played the album cut so heavily that Motown had to release it as a single.

That happened on October 30, 1968. The record rose to No. 1 on both Billboard’s pop and R&B charts and stayed atop the Hot 100 for seven weeks. 🥁

Motown responded by redesigning and rereleasing In the Groove under a new title: I Heard It Through the Grapevine. The renamed album reached No. 2 on the R&B album chart. 🏷️

A rejected single had become too loud to ignore—and the album ended up wearing its name. 🍇

Sometimes the hit isn’t missing. It’s hiding in plain sight on side one. ✨

#musicOnOff #MarvinGaye #InTheGroove #IHeardItThroughTheGrapevine #Motown #SoulMusic #MusicHistory