MON., JUNE 16, 2008
In This Feature
Magazine Archives:
eMusic Selects Feature: Mingering Mike
by J. Edward Keyes
Mingering Mike is late.
I probably should have expected it. Mike is an R&B superstar with nearly 40 years in the business. He's racked up a string of #1 hits (among them the astonishing "But All I Can Do Is Cry") and played venues in cities as far away as Paris. He has a bevy of celebrity admirers and a book that details his rise, fall and rise again. A little tardiness comes with the territory.
He's asked that we meet at Marvin, a hip, bustling restaurant near the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC named after soul legend and local favorite son Marvin Gaye. There's an enormous painting of Marvin on the rear wall, and a steady stream of '60s classics — Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Isaac Hayes — filters through the air.
They have a lot in common, Mike and Marvin. Both of them grew up on the hardscrabble streets of DC, two quiet kids born into atypical families and harrowing social upheaval. They both scored their first hits early in life — Mike at 18, Marvin at 23, and both of them first became famous for a series of duets — Marvin with Tami Terrell, Mike with the Big "D." Both of them sold out DC's legendary Howard Theater, running through their respective golden greats for an ecstatic and adoring public.
But it's there that their careers diverge. Marvin recorded 24 studio albums during his lifetime, but Mike has released nearly twice that number. Marvin recorded mostly for Motown, but Mike put out records on countless regional imprints: Decision, Ming/War, Mother Goose and Nation's Capitol, to name just a few. In 1972, Marvin Gaye released one LP. Mingering Mike released 15. In terms of productivity, dedication and sheer drive, Mike bests Marvin every time.
Oh, there's one more key difference between Mike's career and Marvin's: Mike's is completely imaginary.
To read more of J. Edward Keyes' feature on Mingering Mike, click here
To visit Mingering Mike's homepage, click here.
I probably should have expected it. Mike is an R&B superstar with nearly 40 years in the business. He's racked up a string of #1 hits (among them the astonishing "But All I Can Do Is Cry") and played venues in cities as far away as Paris. He has a bevy of celebrity admirers and a book that details his rise, fall and rise again. A little tardiness comes with the territory.
He's asked that we meet at Marvin, a hip, bustling restaurant near the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC named after soul legend and local favorite son Marvin Gaye. There's an enormous painting of Marvin on the rear wall, and a steady stream of '60s classics — Curtis Mayfield, Donny Hathaway, Isaac Hayes — filters through the air.
They have a lot in common, Mike and Marvin. Both of them grew up on the hardscrabble streets of DC, two quiet kids born into atypical families and harrowing social upheaval. They both scored their first hits early in life — Mike at 18, Marvin at 23, and both of them first became famous for a series of duets — Marvin with Tami Terrell, Mike with the Big "D." Both of them sold out DC's legendary Howard Theater, running through their respective golden greats for an ecstatic and adoring public.
But it's there that their careers diverge. Marvin recorded 24 studio albums during his lifetime, but Mike has released nearly twice that number. Marvin recorded mostly for Motown, but Mike put out records on countless regional imprints: Decision, Ming/War, Mother Goose and Nation's Capitol, to name just a few. In 1972, Marvin Gaye released one LP. Mingering Mike released 15. In terms of productivity, dedication and sheer drive, Mike bests Marvin every time.
Oh, there's one more key difference between Mike's career and Marvin's: Mike's is completely imaginary.
To visit Mingering Mike's homepage, click here.
© 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC