40 years after Marvin Gaye’s death: 30 cassettes of new music discovered in Ostend

It is 14 February 1981 when Marvin Gaye arrives on the ferry at the seaside resort of Ostend (West Flanders). After hits, including 'I heard it through the Grapevine', life had gone downhill for the soul star.  His second marriage had just broken up. He was battling a cocaine addiction and he was in debt. He came to Ostend to get back on his feet.

After staying with concert manager Freddy Cousaert for a while, he fell in love with an 18th-century castle in Moere (Gistel), just outside Ostend. The property belonged to the Mestdagh Family and was for sale at the time. The sale was to be settled officially later on, but Marvin Gaye already moved in.

When 6 months later, in August 1982, Gaye had to leave the country abruptly due to visa problems, he left the house - and all its contents - behind. The Mestdagh Family - still owners of the house, as the sale had not yet been completed - had to look for a new buyer. While clearing out the premises, they find lots of stuff: costumes, texts and diaries.

Documents, costumes and cassettes

The family holds on to some of items. Until a few years ago, they feel it is time to do something about the material. They turn to lawyer Alex Trappeniers, who specialises in the music industry and copyright law. He studies the collection carefully.

It includes 216 documents, some 50 costumes and accessories, but also - and perhaps more importantly - 30 cassettes of music. "I listened to everything and transcribed second by second," says Trappeniers. "Also every time I heard a new demo, I wrote it down."

The result is stunning: There are 66 pieces of music, including 38 vocal pieces sung by Marvin Gaye, the lawyer says. "Some of them are really fully-fledged songs," says Trappeniers. All from the same period as 'Sexual Healing', the hit Gaye recorded in Belgium. " I think one song on the cassettes is even as strong as that one hit" the lawyer notes.

"An unlikely treasure trove of demos and recordings," Trappeniers calls the collection. "When Marvin Gaye left all that behind in 1982, it wasn't worth much. Now it's a time capsule opening."

Conversations with relatives

The lawyer is clear: the entire collection - including the cassettes - belongs to the Mestdagh Family. "Marvin Gaye left everything behind and said they could do what they wanted with it. He never returned and never asked about it again. So there is no doubt about that," the lawyer insists.

But the family cannot release the songs just like that. "For that, you need permission from the owners of Marvin Gaye's intellectual property. As far as I know, that's his three children."

Last week, Trappeniers contacted the lawyer of Marvin Gaye's children. "If we are able to work together - and I assume we will - we could release 1 or 2 new albums."

VIDEO: a recording of Gaye on one of the cassettes.