better golden run: Stevie Wonder or Joni Mitchell?

This is a great thread. And perfect timing for me. After having listened (and very much enjoyed - it's a perfect album, really) only to "Blue" for years, I bought the new box set the other day, and am finally getting ready to dig in for real. "Hejira" is amazing. Got some work left to do on Stevie, too, but love "Songs" and "Innervisions", especially the latter.

Marvin Gaye suffers from a similar problem. Once I got past the hits that everyone knows I was floored by how great the pre-creative freedom catalogue is.

With Stevie it was simpler: I inherited my uncle's copy of Innervisions, put the needle on "Too High," and couldn't believe its liquid groove.

Twenty years after hearing George Michael's the-good-ol-college-try version, I can now say "They Won't Go Where I Go" is chilling. I'm sure Stevie Wonder himself knows what he uncorks in that vocal.

Stevie by a long way. In that run of albums I think there are probably only three songs that I don't like. I Wanna Talk To You, Sweet Little Girl and Isn't She Lovely. Those albums are just full of incredible songs. His run from 70 to 80 has probably only been equalled by prince in the 80's, probably shouldn't start that argument here though.

The Joni run is great but I've gone off Blue in recent years and really the fact her best album, Court & Spark ends with such a terrible song still bugs me quite a bit.

Al Green's run is pretty amazing but his music didn't have the variation that Stevie's did. I'd probably say Curtis Mayfield is the closest person to having a similar kind of run in quality around the same time.

always thought it was a bizarre cover for George Michael; like what must the FAITH era fans have made of it? and it wasn't buried either it was Side 1 Track 3.

Mitchell's run would have gone on longer, but the mixes on the albums just after this period have the bass guitar up way too loud. (THESE ARE THE ONLY RECORDED WORKS IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED WORKS WHERE THIS CAN BE SAID.)

Tangentially related: Best Stevie Wonder Single post-Original Musiquarium

The Joni run is great but I've gone off Blue in recent years and really the fact her best album, Court & Spark ends with such a terrible song still bugs me quite a bit.

I don't think that Court & Spark is Joni's best album, but I agree with you that it ends with a terrible song.