Stevie Wonder

[MrBrau1]

Top man.

Genius. A beautiful, funky genius.

Spent the summer buying 70's stuff:

Talking Book
Innervisions
Fulfillingness' First Finale
Songs In The Key Of Life

They really make a case for artist of the decade. And he might be the best drummer I've ever heard.

Pop songs don't get much better than "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away", "He's Misstra Know-It-All", "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)", and of couse "Sir Duke."

But what really stole me was the funk. The ass shaking funk the man unleashed.

"I Wish", "All Day Sucker, "Maybe Your Baby", "You Haven't Done Nothin"

bottom shaking stuff.

It's also cool to hear the sources of just about every other sample in hip hop. It's quite unbelievable how much of his stuff is sampled.

 

[Lancemc]

It's good to have you back.

 

[ShipOfFools]

I love his Talking Book album. Haven't heard the others, though.

 

[corianderstem]

Stevie Wonder!

Songs In the Key of Life is awesome, as is so much of his other output.

Some low points in the 80s maybe, but ... you know what? I don't care what anyone else says - I love "I Just Called to Say I Love You." It just makes me smile, and it's so fun to sing along with.

Superstition ... on Sesame Street!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE

 

[phanan]

70's Stevie Wonder

 

[lazarus]

Something to remember: Over a span of 4 years during the 70's, Stevie Wonder won the Grammy for Album of the Year. 3 out of 4! Can you fucking fathom that?

Amazing. Songs in the Key of Life is just an indispensible addition to a music collection. Tour de force. It's his Sign O' the Times, maybe?

Also, Sir Duke may be the most infectious song I've ever heard. That it's about the love of music only makes it better. I think if you don't like this song you're probably an android.

Mr. Brau, if you want to hear where every other hip hop sample came from, just listen to one of Sly & the Family Stone's greatest hits collections (preferrably Anthology, available for less than $10).

 

[Dalton]

Sir Duke is one of my favorite songs of all time.

 

[No spoken words]

I love a lot of Stevie's really early stuff, as well as the amazing 70's material.

"I Was Made to Love Her" and "Uptight" are two of my all-time favorite songs.

Fun to listen to those and know that he was not destined to be some mere pop sensation that faded fast...and, there's all that funk...and brilliant song writing....but, his fucking voice, good lord...just amazing.

 

[corianderstem]

I love his voice on the beautiful "Overjoyed."

 

[Salome]

now that's what I call music

 

[lazarus]

Fun to listen to those and know that he was not destined to be some mere pop sensation that faded fast...and, there's all that funk...and brilliant song writing....but, his fucking voice, good lord...just amazing.

As much as I love Stevie, he loses points for becoming totally irrelevant by the end of the decade. Maybe he's psychic and foresaw that Prince was going to appear and become the dominant genius in music, and just decided to get out of the fucking way.

And recording Ebony & Ivory with McCartney has to be one of the greatest musical crimes ever inflicted on the listening public.

Unlike Stevie, Prince has been able to sustain a high level of quality for almost 30 years now, and even if he hasn't made a flat-out brilliant album in a while, his rate of output is astounding, he still retains his eclecticism and experimentation, and can still write one hell of a fine pop song when he wants to.

 

[LemonMelon]

Too bad he only had about 20 years of good music in him.

 

[No spoken words]

I honestly think that my brain has wiped all memory of everything Stevie has done since Ebony & Ivory and so I'm unable to even comment on it, since in my head, it does not exist.



Prince is a fucking genius, no doubt, but I don't really feel the need to compare the two. I enjoy both, on their own merits.

 

[MrBrau1]

Mr. Brau, if you want to hear where every other hip hop sample came from, just listen to one of Sly & the Family Stone's greatest hits collections (preferrably Anthology, available for less than $10).

I've got the 7 album box.

 

[MrBrau1]

Too bad he only had about 20 years of good music in him.

that's like 3 times as long as The Beatles were around.

And his golden 70's period rivals their entire career.

 

[phanan]

I wouldn't go that far, but it is one of the best stretches of music we've seen.

 

[MrBrau1]

I wouldn't go that far, but it is one of the best stretches of music we've seen.

I don't think it's that left field to suggest Stevie Wonder at his best is on par with The Beatles at their best.

 

[phanan]

Not too far off, but The Beatles simply had more material. Wonder's apex consists of those four albums only (well, perhaps four and a half, as I think Hotter Than July is a partial classic).

 

[LMP]

Top man.

Genius. A beautiful, funky genius.

Spent the summer buying 70's stuff:

Talking Book
Innervisions
Fulfillingness' First Finale
Songs In The Key Of Life

They really make a case for artist of the decade. And he might be the best drummer I've ever heard.

Pop songs don't get much better than "Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away", "He's Misstra Know-It-All", "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)", and of couse "Sir Duke."

But what really stole me was the funk. The ass shaking funk the man unleashed.

"I Wish", "All Day Sucker, "Maybe Your Baby", "You Haven't Done Nothin"

bottom shaking stuff.

It's also cool to hear the sources of just about every other sample in hip hop. It's quite unbelievable how much of his stuff is sampled.

He and David Bowie have the most consistently great discographies of the '70s and maybe any decade ever.

 

[The Disciple]

I don't think it's that left field to suggest Stevie Wonder at his best is on par with The Beatles at their best.

Especially since The Beatles tend 2 b overrated, IMO.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

"Sir Duke" is a fantastic song. A friend put that on a CD for me a while back-all this talk of it is making me want to go listen to it again . And I love "Superstition". One of the funkiest musical backings ever. "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" is a really sweet song as well.

As for his stuff from the 80s onward, meh, I've only heard a few select songs from then, and while I agree on "Ebony and Ivory", the other songs I've heard really aren't any better or worse than whatever anyone else was putting out in the 80s, imho. The fact that he's had a lot of influence and provided some classic music at some point in his life is good enough for me.

Angela

 

[Bono's shades]

I don't care how lame some of his '80s output was. Stevie Wonder gets a lifetime pass from me. He's one of those artists I've loved since I was a kid, although I didn't really get into his classic albums like Songs in the Key of Life until I was much older.

 

[Dalton]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX5v-S_jGD4

 

[lazarus]

Who else could put that much soul into that fucking contraption?

Okay, maybe Marvin Gaye.

 

[lazarus]

Speaking of Marvin, here's something that should be cheesy but is absolutely beautiful--the U.S. national anthem sung to a cheesy Casio beat.

Sad that he died shortly afterwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A

 

[Dalton]

Who else could put that much soul into that fucking contraption?

After seeing that movie about his life, I think he could put some 'soul' into anything. He had a rough road to walk.

Jamie fox did a great job playing the part.












wink.

 

[phanan]

I had the iPod on shuffle last night and "He's A Misstra Know It All" came up. Absolutely beautiful.

 

[UnforgettableLemon]

Speaking of Marvin, here's something that should be cheesy but is absolutely beautiful--the U.S. national anthem sung to a cheesy Casio beat.

Sad that he died shortly afterwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvVzaQ6i8A

I really hate the posthumuous continuation of artists' catalog division and the legal repercussions thereof. I say this because Jesse L. Martin (Law and Order, Rent) is set to play Marvin Gaye in a biopic, and he definitely has the pipes for it, but because of legal issues, they can only include music from his final years.

That said, focusing on his addiction and murder should be a compelling watch, just a bit sensational.

Sorry, back to the Stevie discussion now. I was watching a special on the history of black music, and there were just some moments of Stevie ripping up the drums in studio. I was blown away. It's an amazing thing to say the least.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

After seeing that movie about his life, I think he could put some 'soul' into anything. He had a rough road to walk.

Jamie fox did a great job playing the part.






wink.

ah, "wink"

didn't see that at first.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJYUSdX-Rps&mode=related&search=

 

[corianderstem]

I say this because Jesse L. Martin (Law and Order, Rent) is set to play Marvin Gaye in a biopic, and he definitely has the pipes for it, but because of legal issues, they can only include music from his final years.

Aw, really? What a crime. But I'll still look forward to the movie, because Jesse Martin is worth watching - great voice, too!