Collins' production and especially his unique gated drum sound heard throughout the album as well as the rough and raw guitar riffs of the lead single "I Know There's Something Going On" made it perfectly clear this was no lightweight ABBA record.
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The Giorgio Moroder/Pete Bellotte composition "To Turn The Stone" was originally written for Donna Summer's 1981 album I'm a Rainbow - a double set for Geffen Records which for various reasons would remain in the archives until 1996.
On the PopMart Tour, "Bullet" instead led into "Please"; Elevation Tour performances were followed by "With or Without You" or a cover of "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, and on the Vertigo Tour, "Miss Sarajevo" replaced "Running to Stand Still" for the last 85 concerts.
In 1989, soul band Frankie Beverly & Maze produced the tribute song, "Silky Soul," taking its melody from "What's Going On." The song featured Nona Gaye in the video and later peaked at #5 on the R&B chart.
Stover is vocally heard shouting and screaming on a demo version of Gaye's later hit, "Distant Lover", from a November 1970 session as Gaye struggled with Motown over releasing the "What's Going On" single.
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Elgie Stover (1938-2011) was an American songwriter, composer, producer and background singer, most famous for his associations with uncle Harvey Fuqua and legendary Motown star Marvin Gaye, co-writing two of Gaye's songs from the singer's acclaimed 1971 album, What's Going On.
Gaye's recollections of his tenure at the Vietnam War inspired Marvin's song, "What's Happening Brother", from the album, What's Going On.
According to fellow Funk Brothers in the 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Gaye was desperate to have Jamerson play on "What's Going On", and went to several bars to find the bassist.
Throughout this song, Marvin mentions in his brother's third person about the nightclub, about whether or not his baseball team would "win the pennant" and wonders how his friend has been which brings upon the question, "what's happening brother?" Musically the song follows the same path as "What's Going On" and features The Andantes as background vocalists.