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Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).

Join us today as we reveal the true story behind "The Greatest Band That Kinda Sort Never Existed!"

• What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye (1971)

The late 60’s and early 70’s were not good times for Marvin Gaye: tax trouble with the IRS, a failing marriage to the “boss’ daughter” (Anna Gordy), a growing dependency on cocaine, and finally, the untimely death of his performing partner Tammi Terrell, who had collapsed on stage while performing with Gaye. That last event so shook Marvin that he stopped touring or recording for 8 months.

Out of his pain, confusion, and isolation came one of the greatest albums of all time, What’s Going On, recorded from June of 1970 through May 1971.

A true concept album, most of the songs on What’s Going On flow effortlessly, one into another, all of them pulsating with an almost trancelike rhythm. None of the songs deal with romance. Instead, the album’s concerns are spiritual ranging from concerns about the environment to songs about Gaye’s deeply felt Christian faith.

The album begins with happy party chatter. The first words we can make out are “Hey, what’s happening, brother?” Then the music starts and Gaye’s lyrics immediately undercut the party atmosphere (“Mother, mother, there’s too many of you crying”). That sets the tone for the songs to follow. Gaye leads us through nine deeply personal songs only to close the album back where he started with a brief reprise of “What’s Going On.”

The album was the first to credit the legendary Motown studio band, the Funk Brothers. It was also the first time Gaye was credited as the album’s producer.

The album yielded three huge hits on the singles charts: the title track, “Mercy, Mercy Me (The Ecology)” and “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Hollar)” – all of which landed in the top 10.

The multi-tracked lead vocals used throughout the album came about by accident. Gaye had cut two versions of the lead vocal for “What’s Going On.” He couldn’t decide which to use. Session engineers Steve Smith and Kenneth Sands were instructed to provide mixdowns so Gaye could choose. They misunderstood and mixed both vocals into one track. Gaye loved the result and used double-tracking on his lead vocals for much of the rest of the album.

Motown head (and Gaye’s father-in-law), Barry Gordy hated the title track, calling it “the worst thing I ever heard in my life.” The Motown sales staff, however, believed in Gaye’s new direction and released it without Gordy’s knowledge. It became Motown’s fastest-selling single to that date, racing up both the soul and pop charts. The album quickly joined the title track in the top 10.

The years have only increased What’s Going On’s luster. The album placed #6 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All-Time” and has made virtually every music critic’s “Best Albums” list through the years.

You don’t need us to tell you that cutting down on sugar is beneficial to virtually all of us. But with the American diet so sugar-coated, how to do that? Here are some helpful hints.

1.) Start your day with protein – As a society, we’ve been conditioned to think of breakfast as a time for grain-based cereals. This is due to misguided health nuts like Dr. Kellogg whose theories have long been found to be false. Yet, our insistence on Frosted Flakes in the morning persists. This is bad because starting your day with carbs can spike, then crash your blood sugar, leading to food cravings not long after you eat. Instead, experts recommend starting your day with plenty of protein, like you find in eggs, yogurt or a smoothie with protein powder.

2.) Get a Good Night’s Sleep – Believe it or not, studies have shown that those who get a good night’s sleep consume significantly less sugar than those who sleep poorly.

3.) Be on Guard in the Grocery Store – The best not to consume products high in sugar is not to buy them and bring them home in the first place. If there are no cookies in the cupboard, you can binge on them later.

4.) Go for a Walk – research also shows that a 15-minute walk can reduce sugar cravings. Plus, it has other positive health benefits.

5.) If All Else Fails, at Least Make a More Sensible Choice – If you simply can’t defeat your sweet tooth, try picking a more healthful way to satisfy your sugar craving with fruits like blueberries, cantaloupe or grapes. Or chew a piece of gum.

If one comedy personified how Americans saw themselves in the early 1960’s, that comedy would be Pillow Talk. This first teaming of Doris Day and Rock Hudson was instant box office gold, racking up $18 million in ticket sales (back then, that was a blockbuster!) and leading to more on-screen teamings of the two.

Now, the entire premise of Pillow Talk makes it impossible to remake today. It revolves around something we once called a “party line.”

Most people would have trouble remembering a time without cell phones, let alone a time when even the most glamorous of people (like Hudson & Day’s characters in this comedy) had to share their telephone line with total strangers.

The gimmick is a clever twist on the mistaken identity meme quite common in farce. 

High level interior decorator Jan Morrow (Day) and skirt-chasing Broadway composer Brad Allen (Hudson) share a party line in midtown Manhattan. His monopolizing of that line leads to verbal fireworks and an on-going feud.

Until they meet when, of course, they immediately fall in love. However, Hudson quickly realizes who Day really is and invents a phony persona, Texas tycoon Rex Stetson to woo the unsuspecting and always virginal Ms. Day.

Enter an irony that makes watching the film today even more of a hoot. Brad Allen via the party line keeps suggesting to Morrow that “Rex Stetson,” the lover boy he’s pretending to be, may be “a little light in the loafers” as people used to say.

Knowing what we do now about Hudson’s private life, those scenes take on a surreal quality.

And scope out Hudson’s New York “apartment.” It’s a two-story number with a circular staircase between floors. Only slightly smaller than the Taj Mahal, one wonders where in Manhattan one could find such a showplace. And is it rent-controlled?

Anyway, the whole film is a delightful time capsule that shows us not as we really were, but as we wished we could have been.

Of course, the duo, along with sidekick Tony Randall, would be back in other comedies like Lover Come Back and Send Me No Flowers, with Doris somehow regaining her virginity. But this first entry is still the best, having earned an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay as well as nominations for Day and female co-star Thelma Ritter.

Pillow Talk is available on disc and streaming services online.

Just pick your favorite star! (That James Arness is sooooo dreamy!)