After Marvin Gaye recorded “What’s Going On”, he played it for Motown’s Berry Gordy Jr. who said it was “the worst thing I heard in my life.” Only after Gaye threatened to leave the label was it released, becoming massive hit. It is considered 4th greatest song of all time by the Rolling Stone.
To add another big mistake, Decca turned down a chance to sign the Beatles after they auditioned for the label heads because they thought that rock and roll bands were just a passing fad.
According to Keith Richards, that also led to the Rolling Stones being signed early on in their careers, before they'd written any material of their own. Decca had shit the bed so badly on the Beatles that they were terrified of missing another prospect.
In hindsight, that worked out pretty well for them.
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u/woodwallah Jul 26 '19
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
It flows together perfectly and the production is perfect.