along with two of his touring musicians, Gordon Banks and Odell Brown. Within the final months of 1981, with word of Gaye plotting a musical comeback and an exit from Motown, several labels offered record deals. Gaye eventually accepted CBS Records, which in turn gave him a three-album contract with Columbia. Details of how much the singer was paid when Gaye signed on March 23, 1982, was not made public due to possible interference with Gaye's payment to creditors to receive back taxes, which had prompted Gaye to permanently settle in Europe. It was later determined that it took $1.5 million (US$ in dollars) to buy Gaye's contract out of Motown, with an additional $600,000 advance money (US$ in dollars) awarded to the singer. Gaye had begun recording on elements of his new album starting in December 1981 in Brussels before the deal was set. Figuring he had alienated record buyers and his legion of fans for writing interpersonal albums, Gaye sought to record more mainstream music to win them back. In explaining why he decided to go for the commercial sounds instead of looking inward as he had with his last album, In Our Lifetime, Gaye explained, "I'm worried that I'm getting so introspective, no one will listen. I can't afford to miss this time. I need a hit." In regards to the album's music, Gaye told a reporter: “On one level, it’s a party record. It’s a record you can dance to and even freak to. But if you listen closely and go beneath your surface, you’ll hear my heart speaking. You’ll hear my heart saying, ‘It’s time to put the madness behind and let love lead the way.’ You’ll hear me testify that I still believe in Jesus, I still believe in God’s miraculous grace, I still believe that the Lord forgives even when — and especially when — we cannot forgive ourselves.” Recording One of the first songs Gaye had worked on with musician Odell Brown was a reggae-influenced track that Gaye and Brown had recorded around October 1981. The then-Rolling Stone reviewer David Ritz had arrived to Belgium in April 1982 after he had been tipped off to where Gaye was. Despite Gaye's pleas to not meet up with Ritz, Ritz eventually located Gaye in his Ostend apartment not too far from Cousaert's pension where he and Gaye reluctantly continued their interviews that led to