Marvin Gaye: “A Funky Space Reincarnation” is from this unusual album
The Marvin Gaye breakup album deserves more attention
From Marvin Gaye’s 1978 album Here, My Dear, the jazz-funk single “A Funky Space Reincarnation” outlines a future where he’s captain of a “space bed” and meets a woman who reminds him of his first wife, Anna. He proclaims they’ll probably get “married in June” and she should “smoke a joint from out of Venus.”
The sci-fi romance comes from his album Here, My Dear, which focuses primarily on Gaye’s divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye. When she sued him for divorce, the singer’s attorney convinced Gaye to give up half the percentage of album royalties from his next Motown album to his ex-wife.
As such, Gaye created a double-length concept album about the divorce. People at the time thought the album was weird, but in the decades since, fans have grown to appreciate its emotion and depth.