Concluding my look at the albums of 1976…

The final 1976 album I listened to was Marvin Gaye’s I Want You, the singer-songwriter’s 13th studio album. This record followed 1971’s What’s Going On and 1973’s Let’s Get It On, two of Gaye’s most successful albums, and was viewed at the time as a letdown.

I Want You, co-written and co-produced by Gaye with Leon Ware, shifted his sound a little more toward disco. It also doubled down on the sexual themes of Let’s Get It On — this is an excessively horny album.

Though most of the songs originated with Ware, Gaye shifted the focus to his burgeoning love affair with Janis Hunter, whom he married a year later. He met Hunter when she was just 17 and he was married to Anna Gordy (sister of Motown CEO Barry Gordy). So, yeah, pretty messy.

Hunter was reportedly in the studio during the album’s recording, but I don’t know if it’s her contributing the sounds of a woman in ecstasy that pop up on at least a couple of tracks.

This is a richly textured, sensual album, one that has likely scored thousands of babymaking sessions.

It’s also a sexy way to wrap up my look at 1976. Stay tuned in the coming months for the next installment of Decades, which will take us to 1986.