Brian McKnight often lifts his voice to sing songs of love, yearning and heartache. But for Valentine’s day, he offered a playlist of songs that he listens to when his piano stops playing and love is in the air. 

For McKnight’s Valentine’s Day songs “to get your groove on,” he dug deep into the Motown era.

“First, it’s Marvin Gaye’s ‘Come Get To This,’ he told Radio.com. “It’s a love song but got a little rhythm to it.”

Gaye’s “Come Get To This” was the follow-up to the more popular “Let’s Get It On,” but no less sensual. With lyrics ranging from  ernest (“You’re still as sweet as the Summer rain”) to racy (“I’m still ready to, make it good to you”), in many ways it functions as the prequel to “Let’s Get It On.”

[Check out McKnight's picks in video below]

“I would follow that with Stevie Wonder’s ‘Ribbon In The Sky’ as my second choice,” he said of the song that has become a wedding staple since its release in 1982. “And just about time when dinner is over and you’re getting back to the crib and you really wanna set the mood, I would have to go with Brian McKnight, ‘Try Our Love Again.’”

McKnight’s “Try Our Love Again” is from his 2003 album U-Turn and finds the singer pleading with an ex to give love one more shot. “When the beat comes on you’ll know what I’m talking about,” he explained.

But because he wouldn’t want a day like this to end, McKnight offered one last song that needs no further explanation.

“And if you need four,” he continued, “I would say, The Isley Brothers’ ‘Between the Sheets.’”

And for good measure, there’s McKnight’s current single, “Fall 5.0,” which offers plenty of love for Valentine’s Day and beyond. Check out the video for “Fall 5.0″ here.

–Erik Parker, CBS Radio.com