"Just Like" is a song recorded by

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

in 1978 but not released until after the release of Gaye's posthumous 1985 album ''

Romantically Yours ''Romantically Yours'' is the second posthumous release by American recording artist Marvin Gaye, also released by Columbia Records in 1985. Background When Marvin Gaye was killed in April 1984, he still had two albums left to complete on his c ...

''.

Overview

The song was written and recorded by Gaye in the singer's

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

in 1978 in sessions held for the recording of Gaye's albums, ''

Here, My Dear ''Here, My Dear'' is the fifteenth studio album by music artist Marvin Gaye, released as a double album on December 15, 1978, on Motown-subsidiary label Tamla Records. allmusic - Here, My Dear overview/ref> Recording sessions for the album took ...

'' and ''

The Ballads Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

''. The song was written around the time that Gaye had finalized his divorce from Anna Gordy and was struggling in his second marriage to

Janis Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo a ...

. It is unclear if Gaye had wanted to include the song in ''The Ballads'', because when the posthumous ''Vulnerable'' album came out in 1997, the song was left off of the track listing. Instead, following Marvin's death, Columbia Records worked with Gaye's former label,

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

, to bring leftover songs to fulfill what would have been Gaye's contractual obligations to Columbia (he had signed a three-album deal in 1982). "Just Like" was one of the songs considered and was agreed to be placed on the posthumous 1985 album, ''Romantically Yours''. "Just Like" was later released as a single but failed to chart.

References

{{authority control 1978 songs 1985 singles Marvin Gaye songs Songs written by Marvin Gaye