Talk:What's Going On (song)

Cyndi Lauper cover
Prior to my edits today, the article contained quite a bit of detail about the 1987 Cyndi Lauper cover, including chart positions by country, lengths of the different dance club mixes, multiple photos, etc. There was actually more detail about this cover than there was about the original version! I removed quite a bit of it as being irrelevant and rather confusing -- some sections didn't make it clear whether it was referring to the original or the cover. The data is there in the history if someone decides it should be reverted, or perhaps it should become its own separate article? I also reorganized all the cover versions into one major section. Vandelay 22:25, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Whatsgoingonsingle.jpg
Image:Whatsgoingonsingle.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use. Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page. If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. BetacommandBot (talk) 14:12, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:994TDC Cyndi Lauper 062.jpg
Image:994TDC Cyndi Lauper 062.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use. Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page. If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. BetacommandBot (talk) 03:57, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Laup.jpg
Image:Laup.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use. Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page. If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. BetacommandBot (talk) 22:32, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

Unofficial release?
The article says: "On 20 January, 1971, seven months after recording the song, a prominent Los Angeles radio disk jockey leaked "What's Going On" to his station. Soon, the country was playing the record unbeknownst to Berry Gordy who still had not given anyone permission to release it. Gordy was astonished however when word came that the song was one of the fastest-rising and fastest-selling songs of the country. Within a month, it had reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100"

This prompts a couple of questions: This article needs some cleanup, less florid language and more solid knowledge. Strausszek (talk) 02:40, 8 March 2010 (UTC)
 * 1.How could a DJ leak the song? Surely someone on the inside of Motown, or close to Marvin Gaye, would have had to leak it to the DJ (the DJ's name?)
 * 2.Is the story verified or could it be an urban legend?
 * 3.Did Marvin know the song would be leaked?
 * 4.Shouldn't the page mention that the song was actually released before it went top ten?
 * 5.Were there unofficial singles or tapes in circulation during the appr. ten days between the DJ playing it and the official release (date from infobox)?

Possible sources for the Recording section and elsewhere
I have added a couple of qotations and cited Dr Lick's book Standing In The Shadows of Motown related to bassist James Jamerson, to start the addition of corroborating sources. I don't have a copy at the moment, but there will no doubt be much that can be verified in this article by using "Marvin Gaye: What's Going On and the Last Days of the Motown Sound" by Ben Edmonds.Ethdhelwen (talk) 18:13, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

Requested moves

 * The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section. 

The result of the move request was: not moved. No prejudice against a new RM discussing "What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song)" as the proposed title. Jenks24 (talk) 12:30, 9 August 2014 (UTC)

– This song is regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and it is frequently played on the radio. None of the other articles of the same title have anywhere near the notability of this article, except for the album of the same name. Hoops gza (talk) 20:59, 1 August 2014 (UTC)
 * What's Going On (song) → What's Going On
 * What's Going On → What's Going On (disambiguation)
 *  Support  - the current title is contrary to WP:SONGDAB so the only result can only either be as proposed WP:PRIMARYTOPIC or to What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song). As regards what other songs have articles (which isn't relevant since the guidelines says "songs exist" not "songs have articles" the next most notable topic is probably What's Going On (Taste song) 1970 (the year before Gaye) but inevitably we don't have an article on that but instead we have a non-notable stub on What's Goin' On (Gorilla Zoe song) from 2011 saying it reached #99 in the HipHop chart, which is what #450 on the general chart?. In ictu oculi (talk) 04:36, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Oppose and move to What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song) - was so disappointed in the Gorilla Zoe song having an article and the Taste song not, I created one. Really Anthony is right. Few will come to the Marvin Gaye song thinking it is originally by Cyndi Lauper and if they do well search box will take them there. In ictu oculi (talk) 05:43, 2 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Oppose. After a longer or shorter while its fame will pass and it will become one more routine ephemeral pop music song. Move it to What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song), as the disambig page What's Going On lists 7 other songs (and 5 albums and 3 other items) with the same name. Anthony Appleyard (talk) 04:44, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Oppose. Keep as it is.  There is no primary use as between What's Going On (song) and What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album) - both of which are regarded as established classics over forty years (hardly "routine ephemeral pop music songs"!).  Those two are primary over other songs and uses, but a simple dab page, as now, sets these out most clearly.  See also similar past discussions at Talk:What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album).   Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:23, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
 * User:Ghmyrtle. Hi, yes what you say is undoubtedly correct between the MGaye album and MGaye, however the issue is the other songs: the concept of "primary song" was discussed and removed from WP:SONGDAB about a year ago. The only two options now are (1) absolute primary no dab, (2) full disambiguation. Cheers. In ictu oculi (talk) 14:10, 2 August 2014 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Note
About the contrast, you could even say that the contrast between the message and the jive conversations make this song an oxymoron. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mrakd002.302 (talk • contribs) 12:15, 22 March 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://archive.is/20120803235900/http://www.lowcountrynewspapers.net/archive/2011/07/14/story/barbecue-grill-showman-never-skipped-beat to http://www.lowcountrynewspapers.net/archive/2011/07/14/story/barbecue-grill-showman-never-skipped-beat

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Requested move 22 May 2022

 * The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion. 

The result of the move request was: moved. This song was found to be the primary song with this name, demonstrated with page view data. (closed by non-admin page mover) — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 14:59, 22 June 2022 (UTC)

What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song) → What's Going On (song) – Page views indicate that the Marvin Gaye song is far and away the primary song, receiving more views in any given day than the other songs with the same name get in a month put together. There are also several cover versions discussed in the article, which may make it confusing for users looking for those without knowing the original artist. Turnagra (talk) 00:44, 22 May 2022 (UTC)


 * Oppose, BUT keep "What's Going On (song)" as a redirect to this page. Paintspot Infez (talk) 01:27, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Oppose. There are 21 entries listed upon the What's Going On disambiguation page and a discussion in 2014 at Talk:What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song) did not conclude that What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song) is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC. The proposed form would represent incomplete disambiguation without providing direct access to the song. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 01:47, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Support per nom. This will simply revert an undiscussed move from 2017, so unless there's consensus for the less WP:CONCISE title, this should be moved back. The original concise title was never used as anything except a redirect back to this article since the 2017 move, so nothing was gained by the longer title. Not to mention the dab page doesn't show anywhere near 21 songs, only 2 other articles plus a handful not notable enough to have articles. (If this is not moved back, agree with Paintspot, above, to keep redirect pointed here.) Station1 (talk) 08:17, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * In my oppose vote, I stated that "there are 21 entries listed upon the What's Going On disambiguation page", not that there are 21 songs. Also oppose redirecting incomplete dab What's Going On (song) to What's Going On (Marvin Gaye song). What's Going On (song) should flow to the What's Going On dab page. —Roman Spinner (talk • contribs) 00:46, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I was just trying to point out that, since "song" would still be part of this article's title, it doesn't matter how many entries are on the dab page, only how many songs, and there are only two songs with articles, both of which get a small fraction of the views of the famous song. No one would expect an article about a book, TV series or album under the proposed title. Station1 (talk) 05:10, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I'm pretty sure the time clock on reverting recent undiscussed moves runs out in less than 5 years. If there is a lack of consensus, the current title should be considered the longstanding stable title. This would certainly not be the only case of a partially disambiguated title that redirects to a completely disambiguated title. —&#8288;&#8202;&#8288;BarrelProof (talk) 18:28, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
 * Comment What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album) gets about 3x the traffic of this song article. I believe it should be the primary topic, see discussion at Talk:What's Going On (Marvin Gaye album). 162 etc. (talk) 16:22, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * @162 etc. it might be worthwhile amending your move request to also propose the disambiguation page gets moved as well, just for completeness' sake. Turnagra (talk) 18:06, 22 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Weak oppose, redirect to DAB, not convinced there is enough for a PADB here.  Crouch, Swale  ( talk ) 09:13, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Oppose per WP:INCDAB. A disambiguated title cannot have a primary topic. -- Necrothesp (talk) 10:59, 25 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Support. Anyone who thinks INCDAB doesn't allow this move should actually read what it says. -- Vaulter  04:24, 29 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Support per nom, PRIMARYTOPIC and INCDAB. I would also support moving this article to the base name, What’s Going On. The number of other uses is irrelevant. What’s relevant is the likelihood someone searching with “What’s Going On” is looking for this page relative to other articles, which is more likely than all the others combined. It’s the PT overall, much less the PDAB among the songs. —В²C ☎