Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born on April 2, 1939, the second oldest child of domestic worker Alberta Gay and Pentecostalist minister Marvin Gay Sr. From an early age, Gaye took an ardor for singing; he believed that this vocation helped him through his severely troubled youth. Gaye's sister has stated that Gay Sr. beat Marvin often and into his teens. At 17, Gaye became a high school dropout, enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. Disgruntled by the humble labor he had to do, Gaye pretended to have mental illness. The service authorized him a "General Discharge." Gaye returned to the D.C. area and set up a vocal quartet with a friend called The Marquees. Gaye's first vocal recording as a lead singer, "Mama Loocie," was recorded with Harvey and the New Moonglows, which was composed of Harvey Fuqua and members of The Marquees. After the group's dissolution in 1960, Gaye moved to Detroit. Performing at Motown head Berry Gordy's house, Gaye drew Gordy's interest; the ensuing sale of Fuqua's part of Gaye's contract led to Gaye signing with Motown company Tamla. Gaye initially wanted a career as a standards and jazz performer. After numerous album releases and chart successes, in 1971, Gaye saw the release of his concept album What's Going On. It was his first platinum-selling album and earned him much critical praise. His next project would be the score and soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film, Trouble Man. In 1981, advised by music promoter Freddy Cousaert, tax exile Gaye moved into Cousaert's Ostend apartment in Belgium. Staging a personal recovery, Gaye penned the song "Sexual Healing," which would be his greatest hit, eventually doing ten weeks in the top position on the Hot Black Singles chart. The song was the first single from the album Midnight Love, which sold in excess of six million units. Gaye then went out on the Sexual Healing Tour, starting April 18, 1983, which would be his last tour. Around halfway through the year, he ended the tour, suffering paranoia stemming from cocaine use. Gaye then relocated to his parents' residence in L.A. Marvins Sr. and Jr. had growing conflict between them for months. Relatives and friends felt that Marvin Jr. was sometimes suicidally driven. One day, Gaye attempted to follow this urge with a leap from a hurtling sports car. He only received slight bruises. On April 1, 1984, Marvin Sr. yelled at Alberta about a lost insurance policy letter; they'd argued about the form for days. A severe thrashing then ensued between the two Marvins, with Marvin Sr. on the receiving end. Minutes thereafter, Marvin Sr. entered Gaye's bedroom, clutching a .38 pistol that had been bought for him by Gaye, and shot his son once in his heart and once in the shoulder. Marvin Jr.'s body was transported to California Hospital Medical Center, where at about 1 P.M., Gaye was pronounced dead on arrival. Celebrities across the world were shocked by the news of Gaye's untimely passing, from Smokey Robinson to Al Sharpton. Following Gaye's death, his awards and honors have flourished -- a fitting legacy for the man titled Prince of Soul.

The ENFJ personality type is the action-oriented, people-centred character looking for and making connections between people. They are excellent glue for the team, assuming control and making sure that everything is planned, scheduled and organised, and that people are happy. They are excellent networkers who tune into what others want and are well-liked and popular among their colleagues. They have an innate sense of what is required and can genuinely make others feel really special. Consummate planners and organisers, they can juggle masses of activities and tasks at any one time, rarely dropping the ball and making sure each activity is given the right amount of attention and loving care.

The ENFJ personality type is the people organiser, warm, harmonious and an enthusiastic champion of people who just wants to ‘do good.’ They make sure the needs of the people are paramount and taken care of, then they will want to plan and get on with it. They can generally be found at the emotional heart of a group or body and will be the one making sure things get done. Like the ENTJ, they excel at getting on and doing but with a much more people, as well as task focus, but with no less energy, commitment or vigour. Articulate and confident the ENFJ will be persuasive and tenacious; the one voted the leader or committee chairperson. They will look for and make connections between people, be excellent glue for the team, everyone knows they can depend on the ENFJ. An ENFJ will use their considerable energies and enthusiasm to make things happen and these characteristics are infectious and can be excellent at creating a feeling of 'team' and keeping morale high.

The ENFJ personality type has high drive, bundles of energy and a commitment to ‘the cause,’ (whatever that cause is) which borders on the evangelical. Their energy levels increase the more people they have to meet and the more activities they have to arrange. Consummate planners and organisers, they can juggle masses of activities and tasks at any one time, rarely dropping the ball and making sure each activity is given the right amount of attention and loving care. This desire to ‘get it done’ can at times mean that the ENFJ becomes inflexible and a ‘controlling parent’ in their desire to ‘finish what we’ve started.’ Under such pressure they can lose their sense of balance and perspective but will ultimately bounce back because that is just what the ENFJ is built for.

As ‘Thinking’ is their weaker function, the ENFJ may suffer at times from being overly subjective and lacking a cooler, slightly more dispassionate eye on people and situations. This also means the ENFJ may bite off more that they can chew as their first priority is to say ‘yes’ and take the pain away for others. During such times the ENFJ may feel weighed down by the amount of work to which they have committed and so may see themselves as ‘victim,’ feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated. They want to please and make sure things run like clockwork and when others let them down the ENFJ can be very disappointed. This desire to ‘do good’ can also mean that the ENFJ sees pleasing others as far more important than pleasing themselves and so they may run the risk of trading off honesty for harmony, keeping the peace rather than telling it like it is. At times they may also rely too much on their intuitive understanding of individuals, thus failing to make logical, empirical decisions based on objective facts and evidence, and the ENFJ may see good where none exists. Their 'N' perspective also means that the ENFJ may fail to see the smaller 'facts,' focusing instead on 'global harmony.' This would see the ENFJ move too quickly and make decisions based on a scant amount of facts. Their sensitivity can also work two ways. Sure, the ENFJ will be sensitive to the needs of others but this sensitivity can mean the ENFJ is overly reactive to perceived criticism of them. In these instances, the ENFJ may become self-indulgent and feel that their good intentions are being undervalued; but only until they are needed again.