Stevie Wonder, one of the greatest songwriters and interpreters that US music has ever produced, can look back on an impressive career. He was faster than the Beatles and reached the top of the US pop charts for the first time with the live instrumental piece “Finger tips Pt. 1 & 2”, which he had recorded at the age of twelve. He was a giant of the Motown era until his vision and ambition exceeded it and he expanded the borders of R&B, Soul, Funk, Rock and Pop with new hits. And just recently he had a much -noticed guest appearance on one of the best albums of 2018, “Dirty Computer” by Janelle Monáe, one of his many followers.
Stevie Wonders output over half a century was rich and in the 1970s in the 1970s inconsistent. So here is our overview of the best, almost best and otherwise remarkable works by the artist. It is a yardstick on which only a few artists can compete. But we all need something that we can strive for.
Stevie Wonder: Album-Guide
Must-Haves: “InnerVisions” (1973)
The highlight of his apotheosis in the seventies. The album begins with the jazz radio of “Too High”, an indictment against a spoiled drug culture, and “Don’t you worry ‘Bout a Thing” takes up the emerging sound of the New York Salsa. The crucial moment is the seven-minute “Living for the City”, a ghetto story about a family that fights for survival in a manipulated system, and which is as frighteningly up to date as ever. Listen here.
Must-Haves: “Talking Book” (1972)
This turning point is Stevie Wonders “Revolver”, with whom he leaves his youth behind as a hit machine and creates creatively, politically and spiritually on a higher level. “You are the Sunshine of My Life” is the catchy opener, “superstition” the next generation radio anthem. He plays almost all instruments himself (including drums and Moog synthesizer). But his antennas have been extended: “Maybe your baby” is pure radioadelic, with a turrier guitar of the youthful Ray Parker Jr., and “Lookin ‘for Another Pure Love” contains a blissful contribution by Jeff Beck. “Big Brother” meanwhile addresses state surveillance (“You killed all of our leaders … you will ruin your own country”) with a carefree musical attitude. A portrait of the artist as a young genius, awake and fully trained.
Must-Haves: “Songs in the Key of Life” (1976)
His most ambitious work-a double LP (with an EP with four additional songs). The hit “Sir Duke” creates Ella, Satchmo and Ellington in the middle of spectacular wind players, and “As” describes an outstanding love with Herbie Hancock on the Fender Rhodes. There are memoirs (“i wish”) and some of Wonders most relentless political works of art, such as “Black Man”, an epic greeting to the global pioneers – a group that belonged from here.
Must-Haves: “Looking Back” (1977)
The definitive triple LP compilation with Wonders early Motown hits-from rave-ups (“Upight [Everything’s Alright]”) Until ballads (” My Cherie Amour “), many of them written by the child prodigy.
Stevie Wonder: Other albums where it is worth listening to
To continue listening: “Signed, Sealed and Delivered” (1970)
His first studio album of the 1970s is also his first as a (co-) producer. The difference is mainly in the great vocals that are unleashed in a new way. The instrumental palette is also bigger, as well as Wonder’s preference for hard radio (“You can’t judge a book by its cover”). The hits, especially the title song, shine. And his euphoric interpretation of “We Can Work It Out” is one of the best Beatles covers that have ever been recorded.
To continue listening: “Music of My Mind” (1972)
A brilliant transitional valley that heralds his golden era of collaboration with the co-producers and pioneers of electronic music Bob Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil (by Tont’s Expanding Head Band). It develops the Talkbox synth radio (“Love Having You Around”), new characteristic sounds on the Fender Rhodes (the quiet “superwoman”) and the clavinet (the six-minute, boogie-like “Keep on running”) and a new intimate singing (“Evil”). With regard to his pop vision, Wonder ties in where the dissolved Beatles have stopped.
To further listen: “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” (1974)
The successor to “InnerVisions” was an experimental mural. The ping-ponged vocals in “Heaven is 10 Zillion Light Years Away” shows Wonders enormous vocal cord width in front of a background choir, and the stuttering Moog synthesizer in “Boogie on Reggae Woman” is still one of the nasty electronic noises that have ever made it into the top 10.
To further listen: “Stevie Wonder’s Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants” (1979)
A double LP with vinel-like instrumental pieces and some eccentric vocals. Designed as a soundtrack for the documentary “The Secret Life of Plants”, a time-lapse exploration of plant biology, the album is an acoustic roulette. Wonder uses the first sampling synthesizer, the melodian to interweave bird and insect noises and other authentic material with Indian and Asian motifs, classic gestures and jazz vampes. As a Wonder’s most strange album, it is a wonderful journey.
To continue listening: “Hotter Than July” (1980)
With the rise of club music, Wonder brings new sounds for a new decade: shiny pop-r & b (“Did I hear you say you love me”), first-class disco (“All i do”) and reggae (“Master Blaster [Jammin‘]”). But he can still convince with a simple piano ballad (” Lately “).
To continue listening: “Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius” (1963)
“Little Stevie Wonder” makes a name. The album contains the harmonic song ‘finger tips pt. 1 & 2 ‘, which was recorded live in Chicago in 1962 and was the first live single to lead the pop charts. He already has the audience in his hand.
To further listen: “My Cherie Amour” (1969)
Wonder extends his horizon with the Francophile title song and “Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday”, which was also published in Italian and Spanish version. The versatile cover versions include “Light My Fire” and a soulful interpretation of the easy listing classic “The Shadow of Your Smile”.
To continue listening: “Where i’m coming from” (1971)
“Into Space We Go to Change Our Ways,” Sing Wonder in ‘Look Around’, the first title of the album, which marked the transition of the 20-year-old to a self-producing author. Afro-Futurism, Clavinet Funk (“Do Yourself a Favor”) and multi-lane vocal experiments meet on straight pop and string-grown soul.
To continue listening: “Music from the movie ‘Jungle Fever'” (1991)
Less hard than the Spike-Lee film about Interrassian love, to which it delivers the soundtrack, this album shows a re-strengthened Wonder after a mixed phase in mid to late 1980s. The title song and “Each Other’s Throat” are reminiscent of the Purple Funk of Prince, and “Thesis Three Words” makes it clear how Wonder himself can transform the most sentimental verses into emotional connections.
To continue listening: “A Time to Love” (2005)
His outstanding late work begins with “If your love cannot be moved”, a powerful duet with the gospel singer Kim Burrell (which was just seen as a spiritual coach by R. Kelly in “3-Way Phone Call”). It moves through various facets of Soul Jazz (flutist Hubert Laws shines in “My Love Is on Fire”) and Slow Jams and reaches its climax in the single “So what the foot”, a funky summit with Princes Guitar and the backing vocals of en Vogue, which is the greatest return to its form of the 1970s in 25 years.