Hot Stamper Pressings of Soul, Blues, R&B, etc. Available Now
UPDATE 2026
In 2002 we put up a 3/3 copy of Midnight Love that really knocked our socks off. We wrote:
With two STUNNING Shootout Winning Triple Plus (A+++) sides, this Midnight Love is certainly as good a copy as we have ever heard – exceptionally quiet vinyl too.
Here are just a few of the things we had to say about this amazing copy in our notes: “round and punchy”…”jumping out of the speakers”…”good size and weight”…”spacious and relaxed percussion and vox”…”top detail” (side two).
Drop the needle on Sexual Healing then sit back and relax as the rich, warm sound of analog sets the mood.
There’s good frequency extension up top and down low, with plenty of meaty bass and silky highs (just check out those bells).
What made it so good? Glad you asked!
This copy has two qualities which are essential if this music is to work its soulful magic: silky vocals and a big meaty bottom end.
Check out all the texture to the synths on Turn On Some Music – this is a highly resolving pressing which takes Marvin Gaye’s music — the last he would make before his death — to another level.
Watch out for:
Many copies of Midnight Love suffer from a phony hi-fi-ish quality, sacrificing much of the warmth that is the all-important hallmark of analog.
Is that any way to listen to this great Soul Classic? (My sources say no.)
Side One
Midnight Lady
Sexual Healing
Rockin’ After Midnight
‘Til Tomorrow
Side Two
Turn on Some Music
Third World Girl
Joy
My Love Is Waiting
AMG 4 Star Review
Larkin Arnold, former CBS Records senior executive VP, convinced Marvin Gaye to leave his flat in Belgium and sign with Columbia Records; the result would become the soul singer’s last album before his untimely death. Of all his number one songs, this album’s first release, “Sexual Healing,” became his longest running number one single on the Billboard R&B charts (ten straight weeks).
With the exception of the guitar, the Washington, D.C. native performed every instrument on this classic hit. Gaye concocted a pioneering percussive sound that was balladic in taste but stimulating in feel. As this project may not be an absolute erotic expression or a socially challenging plea from Gaye like on some of his previous albums, nonetheless, Midnight Love is a classic Marvin Gaye effort. In addition to this project thriving with Gaye’s enthusiastic spirit, it has his harmonious background vocals, his stunning vocal arrangements and his creative penmanship, as he wrote all the selections.
Further Reading