Stevie Wonder-- C or D?

ok, a few too many drippy ballads, but seriously: Superstition, If You Really Love Me, etc....genius.
I'll never forget standing outside my school as a teenager in the early 80s and this black guy walks past with a massive ghettoblaster pumping out Sir Duke. That intro blew my mind.

Dud for the mu-mus and the lyrical platitudes, some classic music.

The song he wrote for Obama was cringe-worthy.

what i'd really love to know is what order he tended to record his tracks in. did he do the drums first, and then did he start with the kick & snare or cymbals? did he use a click (or the early 70s equivalent)?

Have you seen the "Greatest Albums" doc about Songs in the Key of Life? Haven't seen it in awhile, but there may be a scene where he breaks his process down. In any case, it's an interesting program.

Superstition 16 track tape:

01 - Kick Drum Mic
02 - Drum Overhead L
03 - Drum Overhead R
04 - Lead Vocal 1
05 - Lead Vocal 2
06 - Clavinet Dub 1 through tape echo
07 - Clavinet Dub 2 through tape echo
08 - Clavinet Dub 1 L
09 - Clavinet Dub 1 R
10 - Clavinet Dub 2 L
11 - Clavinet Dub 2 R
12 - Clavinet Dub 2 Room Mic L
13 - Clavinet Dub 2 Room Mic R
14 - Horns Dub 1
15 - Horns Dub 2
16 - Moog Bass

yeah i think the drums on superstition are straight-up live.

wow, i never noticed that superstition had synth bass before. and it sounds so sloppy by itself (but is obv. super funky in the track). thanks for posting that.

I Just Called to Say I Love You is much maligned but it's an incredibly good song.

A very good singer and songwriter. I was always amazed he could play music on the piano being blind. He started out as a singles artist and then became such a great albums artists too.

And he is still only 58 years old which is also amazing.

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Don't get me wrong, he's a genius. Or he was, at least...

I mean,

"If You Really Love Me" is one of his best songs but doesn't always get the "Top Stevie Songs" nod, which is a shame.

haha, I have Where I'm Coming From on right now, and was just thinking that "If You Really Love Me" is a bit clunky in execution, and that if he'd written it a few years later, he would have structured it a lot better.

It's a little maladroit in its slow-fast dialectic, but it's all worth it for the key change.

well said, geir

It probably would've been better executed had it made just a few years later, but, at the same time, I like it a lot for its messiness. It's not unlike something that would've been on Rundgren's Something/Anything and it has that same breezy "We're just having fun in the studio writing songs. Are we even being recorded? Who cares - btw, somebody tell the engineer to order pizza," tone.

xpost I deserve that

love love love that whole album.

From Talking Book to Songs in the Key of Life Stevie was the man. I can't think of too many musicians that had a better run than he did from 1972 to 76. Even the weaker stuff, like Music of My Mind, would be a career highpoint for most. I don't see how anyone could say dud.

i always feel guilty that i don't like stevie wonder that much.

:\

u should. sorry. :(

i don't like stevie wonder i LOVE HIM

yeah i know i don't know what's wrong w/me.

i have like talking book and innervisions and songs in the key of life, too, so it's not like i haven't heard "the right albums"

i wouldn't sweat it too hard matt, you seem like a rockin dude otherwise

Could we have a Stevie Wonder albums poll? Please!

what's stopping you

A combination of tiredness right now and a feeling that people don't necessarily like polls as much as me, making me cautious about starting them. I'll do it tomorrow night if it's not shot down or appeared at someone else's hands (feel free, if the urge strikes you, anyone) by then. I'd be very interested to see how the big player albums stack up against each other.

loads of Stevie fans here and he's had a pretty weird career (who, oh who will rep for 80s Stevie?) I'm sure it'll go over well

i would love to vote in a stevie wonder poll, do it!

Would anyone want any of the compilations on the list, or would the wikipedia Live & Studio albums selection be OK?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonder_discography

I recommend stickin with studio LPs

I'd honestly break it into decades ... '60s, '70s, and then '80s on.

And include the Syreeta albums.

def break it into decades. including the syreeta albums will make the 70s much harder to choose from!

huh I've never heard any of those, how many are there?

she did two in the early 70s, stevie produced/wrote at least one of them, and they're both excellent.

Thanks to Eric H we now have: 1970s Stevie Wonder Album Poll

Stevie Wonder could release an album a month for the rest of his life, each of which consisted of only 70 solid minutes of him farting, and his status as Total Classic wouldn't be at all challenged in my book.

Come to think of it, it might actually be strengthened, given that scenario.

I want Farts In The Key Of Ass volumes right now.

Sounded good (although not amazing) on the Haiti telethon the other night

Sixty years old today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_XgqLz-YbA

Happy birthday Stevie Wonder! One time a long time ago I listened to Signed, Sealed, Delivered on the Motown box set and it was just the right day for me to really understand how great it was & I proceeded to listen to it for four straight hours, every listen revealing new things about the groove & your rad vocal performance & it was one of the best times I've ever had listening to music! You rule forever and when people hate on you for I Just Called or whatever you tell em underrated aerosmith albums wonders how many songs these haters have written that people use to build bridges between themselves & the people they love! Also, your pioneering use of the recording studio as a creative space is fuckin rad, and your taste in microphones is peerless! Have a kickass birthday! your fan, underrated aerosmith albums I have loved

Fucking hilarious that somebody (the guy who started this thread) would think Stevie Wonder is overrated.

One of his more underrated singles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8vMmgeDiKU

Somebody e-mailed me this morning that he is doing a free show at the Verizon Center in Washington DC on May 26th as part of a tribute.

Promotion code is DCPS

http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/150044A3B87C8CA1?artistid=1445022&majorcatid=10001&minorcatid=52

Having sold the Washington Wizards and Verizon Center to Ted Leonsis last week, the Pollin family is ready to celebrate its lengthy connection to this area. Irene Pollin, the widow of the franchise patriarch, and her sons, Robert and Jim, will host a free, private concert featuring legendary musician Stevie Wonder on May 26.

The Pollins plan to honor employees of Washington Sports and Entertainment and those of several civic and public service organizations, such as the D.C. Fire Department and police department, public school teachers and hospital workers from George Washington Hospital and Sibley Hospital, where Abe Pollin was treated before his passing last November. They are fittingly dubbing the event, "Living for the city," for Wonder's classic hit single.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2010/05/pollins-living-for-the-city-wi.html

What is the most embarrassingly sentimental Stevie Wonder song? He has a ton, but which one is the worst?

Inspired by hearing this today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ1-duv_zNk

You almost want to blame Stevie for inspiring that unique Michael Jackson-style of kitsch in pop that's so heavy-handed.

I saw Stevie Wonder for the first time on Sunday night, and man I was not prepared for how overwhelming it would be to see him perform right in front of me. Just, wow. I bawled like a baby. That music's been such a huge part of my life for so long, all woven around my family, as well as my friends...it hit me hard. In a good way! Like I dunno, being at some kind of weird outdoor church. Dancing in the middle of that huge crowd, tears streaming down my face. I had no idea it would be like that.

LA weekly has a great review + setlist: http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/2012/08/stevie_wonder_outside_lands_august_12_2012.php

(I read another review in a local rag that said Stevie was 'meandering' and 'indulgent' ... u_u )

http://www.towleroad.com/2012/08/stevie-wonder-some-people-who-think-theyre-gay-are-confused.html

The actual quote isn't really very declarative. Chalking this one up to "from a different generation," but it's still disheartening, even though I've been well aware that Stevie's ideas about the nuts and bolts of relationships have always been pretty reactionary. Doesn't take much effort for me to picture him being bewildered by the dynamics of male-male or female-female relationships.

yeah this is the guy who wrote "Superwoman."

Hah, that's almost exactly what I posted on FB.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45ZSIeSsmwI

man oh man