The Miracles recorded the song first and included their version on their 1968 album , Special Occasion . The Marvin Gaye version was placed on his 1968 album In the Groove , where it gained the attention of radio disc jockeys , and Motown founder Berry Gordy finally agreed to its release as a single in October 1968 , when it went to the top of the Billboard Pop Singles chart for seven weeks from December 1968 to January 1969 and became for a time the biggest hit single on the Motown label ( Tamla ) .

Question: who sang heard it thru the grapevine first
Answer: The Miracles