POP MUSIC REVIEW : FRANKIE GAYE FOLLOWS IN MARVIN’S FOOTSTEPS

“It’s like seeing a ghost,” gasped a woman Saturday night at the Gardenia Room in Hollywood.

“It’s eerie,” insisted another.

Others at the cabaret were probably thinking the same thing as they watched a performance by Frankie Gaye, brother of the late soul star Marvin Gaye.

As the singer went through “What’s Going On” (one of his brother’s biggest hits and a song reportedly inspired in part by Frankie Gaye’s experiences in Vietnam), an entranced woman muttered: “It’s Marvin. . . . It’s Marvin. . . . It’s Marvin.”

Gaye, 45, indeed looks like his brother, who was two years younger. This Gaye too is soft-spoken and exhibits a sly sense of humor. He even moves and sings in the cool, silky, pop-soul manner of the man who was one of the most acclaimed artists of the modern pop era.

Fueling these comparisons, Gaye devoted part of his low-key, likable 45-minute set to a medley of his brother’s numbers, including “Ain’t That Peculiar” and “How Sweet It Is.” To make it even more of a family affair, sister Zeola sang backing vocals.

One difference is that Marvin, who had an outsized ego, exuded confidence. Frankie is more reserved. He doesn’t talk as much off-stage as his brother, either.

In an interview before a rehearsal Friday afternoon at the club, Gaye tended to give much shorter answers. However, he did speak up when asked if he felt any bitterness about spending his life in his brother’s shadow.

In fact, Frankie was downright effusive about his brother: “Marvin was great. I was very proud of him. I looked up to him. A little part of me died when he died.”

Gaye, who’ll be appearing at the Gardenia for the next two weekends, is a novice performer. Before this engagement, he said he had worked mainly as a singer in Scotland--his wife’s native country--and Canada.

“Performing is something I always wanted to do,” he said, sitting at a table at the empty club on Friday. “I’m just getting around to doing it now. I’m a late bloomer.”

More likely the reason that Gaye is just starting his singing career is that he sounds so much like his brother that no one would give him a chance while his brother was still alive. Undoubtedly the thinking was: Why listen to Frankie when you could hear the real thing?

“Nobody in the business wanted to give me an opportunity,” Frankie said. “Relatives of stars do have problems if they want to get into show business. It’s not fair.”

Gaye--who is backed at the club by an instrumental quartet, sings some of his own nicely melodic compositions as well as such standards as “Begin the Beguine”--wrote some songs with his brother, occasionally sang backup vocals for him. Though he admitted he never earned his living in the music business, he wouldn’t give any details about what else he has done over the years to support himself.

His goal now is a record contract. “I have the talent,” he insisted. “Some one just has to give me a chance.’

One thing Frankie didn’t want to talk about was the night in 1984 when his father, Marvin Gay, Sr. shot Marvin to death during a dispute at the family home in the Crenshaw District. (The father pleaded guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter, but the Los Angeles County Probation Department recommended against a prison sentence, contending that Marvin had provoked the shooting by severely beating his father.)

Uncomfortable about the subject, Frankie’s only update on what’s happened to the father was a curt: “He’s being taken care of.” Pausing briefly, he added, “I don’t like to talk about (the matter). I don’t like to even think about it. It’s part of my personal life and I like to keep that private.” For now anyway.

The singer promised he would tell all later in a book. “I’m going to write one at some point,” he offered. “People will find out all they want to know when they read it.”