*FOR T&CS SEE P157
It wasn’t long before he was reimmersed in his old
circle of dealers, hookers and other hangers-on, and it
was from this chaotic environment that he embarked
on a disastrous tour of North America. Once again
using drugs freely, Gaye took to stripping down to his
underpants on stage and developed paranoid fears that
he would be assassinated.
“The gleam had gone out of Marvin’s eye,” says his
attorney, Curtis Shaw. “I told him, ‘Marvin, why don’t
you go back to Belgium – remember how you told me
you’d never felt so free?’”
But it was advice he failed to heed. At the conclusion
of the tour he moved back in with his parents, into a
mansion on South Gramercy Place, Los Angeles. It was
there, on the day before his 45th birthday, that an
argument with his father got tragically out of hand.
After physically beating him, Marvin Gaye Snr walked
into his son’s bedroom and fired two gun shots into his
chest at point-blank range, instantly killing him.
This was a grim and bitter end to a fractious,
turbulent life. Yet, as the walk-u-mentary concludes
outside the Ostend casino where Marvin Gaye performed
his last-ever gig in Europe, it’s still possible to call to
mind a more positive picture: of a bearded man in a
tracksuit pounding along the beach, being inspired by
the calming waters and actually outrunning the demons
that had plagued him all his life.
“His time here couldn’t last forever,” concludes Hens.
“I think it’s something to do with the sea and the waves
– it’s certainly not Malibu, but Marvin found something
here that, for a while at least, made him happy and
brought him peace.”
Take the Midnight Love Tour from the TourismOstend
office (2-9 Monacoplein, +32 59 70 1199, visitoostende.be),
where pre-loaded
iPods can be hired
for €5 each. The
walking tour takes
around 2½ hours
Ostend
need to know
(
8.8
)
Length in kilometres of Ostend’s wide,
sandy beach
(
15/3/2014
)
Date The Four Tops and The Temptations
play here (kursaaloostende.be)
(
172,000
)
Tons of chocolate produced in Belgium
every year
easyJet
flies to Brussels from 10 destinations. See
our insider guide on page 135. Book online
at easyJet.com
easyJet Holidays
Two nights room only at four-star Husa
President Park in Brussels, departing from
London Gatwick on 27 April, from £120
per person. easyJet.com/holidays*
HOTEL BERO
Just 150m from the beach, with an indoor
pool, children’s playground, sauna and
steam bath. Book at hotels.easyJet.com
LET’S GET IT ON
07
Marvin Gaye
performing at the
Casino Kursaal
08
The cover of 1982’s
Midnight Love
07
PHOTOS (INCLUDING PREVIOUS PAGE)
COURTESY COUSAERT FAMILY, GETTY, JEAN JACQUES SOENEN, LFI
0 7 4
M A R V I N G A Y E
O S T E N D
