Why Marvin Gaye went down in flames as a “Motown Christmas” star

LOS ANGELES — Christmastime and Motown are among the most popular things in the world, and both have a distinctly American musical history.

Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded the famed label’s first full-length Christmas album, 1963’s “Christmas With the Miracles,” followed by holiday classics like 1973’s star-studded “A Motown Christmas Album.”

So it’s no surprise that the seemingly ageless Robinson, 84, wore bright red and green outfits to join “The Little Mermaid” star Halle Bailey on NBC’s “A Motown Christmas” (Wednesday, 9 EST/PDT ) to moderate. He performs alongside Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight and The Temptations. The seasonal, music-filled special is reminiscent of the annual Motown Christmas parties of the past.

“They were so festive,” Robinson tells USA TODAY. “People just appeared there spontaneously. Christmas is a very special time of year.”

Motown Christmas Party Commemoration: Stevie Wonder Presents “Tears of a Clown”

One of Robinson’s most vivid memories of the Motown Christmas celebrations was when his friend Stevie Wonder gave him a cassette recording he had made with songwriter/producer Hank Crosby. “Stevie gave me a cassette to listen to because he couldn’t think of a suitable song,” says Robinson. “I put it in my pocket.”

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Robinson immediately thought of the sad clown from the Italian opera “Pagliacci” when he finally played the tape and heard the decidedly bizarre beginning.

“I had learned in school that everyone loved Pagliacci the clown and cheered for him,” says Robinson. “But when he went into his dressing room, he cried because he couldn’t experience that much love from a woman. I wanted to make ‘Tears of a Clown’ something personal.”

After that it was all smiles. The song was an instant hit, continues to sell millions of copies internationally and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Unknown Marvin Gaye did it during a Motown Christmas party

Robinson hadn’t heard of Marvin Gaye’s talent when the undiscovered musician showed up at an early Motown Christmas party. But when Gaye, an accomplished pianist, sat in the studio to play “The Christmas Song,” it was a seasonal healing.

“He sang it to himself. But everyone rallied around him, especially the ladies,” says Robinson, “because he had that voice. That’s when I first met Marvin Gaye at that Christmas party. And, wow.”

Robinson had a narrow defeat when he got stuck on “Tracks of My Tears.”

Robinson performs his classic “Tracks of My Tears” on “Motown Christmas.” The smash hit began as a haunting number by his frequent Miracles collaborator and guitarist Marv Tarplin. It took weeks to write the text.

“I came up with the first three lines of the chorus: ‘Take a good look at my face/You can see my smile looks out of place/If you look closer, it’s easy to see,” Robinson recalls. “And then what? ‘I’m sad’? No. ‘You’re gone and I’m still here’? No. I went through a lot of that.”

Weeks later, Robinson was still stuck shaving.

“I looked at my face in the mirror and thought, ‘What if a person cried so much that their tears left marks on their face,'” says Robinson, foaming at the mouth. “I said, ‘That’s it!’ That’s when I finished the song. My song “Cruising” took varying amounts of time to complete.”

How Smokey Robinson, at 84, still moves like a new temptation

Robinson still moves on stage as smoothly as he sings. He owes his suppleness to yoga, which he has practiced for five decades.

“I do it religiously,” Robinson says. “It keeps your body stretched and your blood flowing. I don’t want to be an old man or a decrepit man or need someone to pick me up and get me out. I want to be as flexible and fluid as possible.”

Robinson understands why Mike Tyson is still fighting: ‘I tried to retire too’

Robinson was among the millions of viewers who watched Mike Tyson, 58, fight YouTuber Jake Paul, 27, on Netflix last month. While the spectacle was derided as a payday stunt, Robinson understands why Tyson was lured back into the ring: “Because fighting for Mike is like music to me; it’s in his blood,” Robinson says. “I also tried to retire and after about three years I didn’t know what to do with myself.”

Why Marvin Gaye went down in flames as a “Motown Christmas” star

ByAmelia Journalton

By Amelia Journalton

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