Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree Not a fan of Tony Orlando or Dawn, nor of this song. And yet, I can't help but feel a little nostalgic when I hear it, and so I value it more than it probably deserves. I dimly recall his cheesy show, which we used to watch all the time as kids. I watched it, but damned if I can recall a single moment from it other than what they looked like. As far as Orlando goes, he strikes me as not a particularly capable singer (better than Vicki Lawrence, but we just recently had Stevie Fricking Wonder on top of the charts. We were spoiled and didn't realize it). I will say that he came into his own once he grew the mustache; he and Freddie Mercury were the two big 70s entertainers I would say needed the porn staches to make their faces work. So, not a bad song. Well, it was good-bad but not evil (winking at Mary Weiss). Did it deserve to be #1 for a hundred weeks in 1973? Hell no. But far far worse is creeping our way, so I'll give it a mild pass.
I much prefer the version with the horns and extra vocal noises. Also, the flipside "Tuesday Heartache" also got airplay in some areas. My guess is that someone at Motown thought it should be the hit, so they put it on the back of "You Are The Sunshine...".
Hell yeah, I love this song. Might be my favorite #1 hit of the year (just maybe ). I just like the calming vibe of the song and how beautifully arranged it is. This song was included in the live acts of both Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald from the 70's onward so it must have been amazing for Wonder to write a song that 2 bonafide legends at that time took to so wonderfully. Bonus: This song was #1 the week of Stevie Wonder's 23rd Birthday (May 13, 1973). Now that was certainly a good B-day Present.
I also really like this one, maybe more than Superstition as I've always been a sucker for Stevie's happy, uplifting melodies . Think For Once In My Life, My Cherie Amour, Uptight, Sir Duke and on and on. I used to prefer the single with the over-dubbed horns but these days I can deal with either. The groove here is quite reminiscent of Superwoman. God, this man is a genius!
"You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" is fluff, but high-level, transcendent fluff. It's the most welcome kind of fluff, sounding the way a soft down pillow feels under the head after a long, busy day. A richly deserving chart-topper, and the two guest vocalists coming in at the very start of the song are about as Stevie a thing to do as anything. Probably made Motown nervous, too...
Another Top 40 song with a state title is Perry Como's (in)famous "Delaware". This would make a list of my top 10 most detested singles, and that's a shame because I'm a native Delawarean. Re: "You Are the Sunshine of My Life": I remember wondering --- for a long time ---why the first male vocal of this song didn't sound anything like Stevie Wonder. WRT to "Georgia On My Mind" -- it may have been written for a girl named Georgia, but note that the US state of Georgia made this its state song in 1979. I remember seeing a news report about that at the time, with Ray Charles playing the song in the state capitol (I assume that's where it was; it looked like he was surrounded by politicians).
I'm of the opinion that Tony started out a much better vocalist as a teenager, and decayed a bit as time went on.
This confused the hell out of me when I was a kid. That's something I don't think anybody else has done before or since - have two different vocalists start off by singing a verse before the main guy comes in. On top of that, Stevie's voice sounded remarkably similar to Lani's, so of course I'd be wondering whose record was this, anyway...
I never really cared for "Sunshine Of My Life." I usually skip past it when listening to Talking Book. I'm just now finding out that there were no horns on the LP version.
I can think of one: Prince's "1999". Lisa, Dez Dickerson, then Prince comes in third. Or, was that Prince on the secord line?
I guess because the voices sound so similar to Prince's, it's not as jarring as when Jim Gilstrap stands in for Stevie.
Seeing those pictures of Mr. Orlando, when he first stepped out with Joyce and Telma on their LP covers in '71, he looked almost like his '60's self, only with a bad shag wig. Not until he grew his moustache did his long hair look to the manor born.
Didn't think about the extra vocals, since I pretty much avoid the LP version when I can. But now that you mention it . . . all those add-ons for the 45 version, clearly made it more complete.
Can't say I've heard a lot of his output, neither early or '70s, but I have an original Epic 45 of Chills and can't praise it enough. I recognise that it is a kind of Stay retread, but it doesn't matter. This must have been a popular record in the UK -- I can think of at least two covers: Gerry and The Pacemakers did it as well as Brian Poole and The Tremeloes (who did a fantastic cover of it, kind of updated to 1964 British Beat sound--it appears on their 1964 UK Decca LP It's About Time and its US counterpart Brian Poole Is Here! from 1965.
You Are The Sunshine of My Life Sunshine is a great song; a classic, really. It was great having Stevie deliver awesome stuff like this to the top of the charts in 1973. As far as mellower Stevie goes, my favorite is probably Isn't She Lovely, because a song about a little baby and a joyous new daddy just hits me in the feels, as the kids say. Sunshine doesn't quite get to that level for me, but I like almost everything about it. The horns are boss; is there really a version without them? I guess I've only ever heard the brassy one. Stevie sings it beautifully, and the idea of having other vocalists on the track was inspired. At the peak of his powers was young Mr. Wonder. And he wasn't done yet!!
Those of us who bought the album only ever heard it this way until the single was released. I'm sure a lot of us were pissed that we had to buy the single to get the horns.
YATSOML is pure happiness and joy. Stevie was really good at writing happy songs, I think this and "Sir Duke" are two of his very best singles. But what a talent - he was on a really hot streak in the early 70s and made some of the best music of the first half of the decade. Sunshine is certainly in the top 5 of the best #1s of 1973.
Never knew there was a version with horns and one without. In retrospect, I think the version with horns is the only one I've ever heard.
Tony Orlando's (solo) discography. Looks like he had his biggest success in 1961, when Bless You hit No. 15. I hadn't realized it charted that high. It looks like he recorded a Drifters song in the late 70s as one of his "comeback" hits, which, unfortunately, didn't bring him back.. "Halfway to Paradise" (1961) US #39, CB #17 "Bless You" (1961) US #15, CB #17 UK #5[29] "Happy Times (Are Here To Stay)" (1961) US #82, CB #76 "Chills" (1962) US #109, CB #111 "At the Edge of Tears" (1962) CB #146 "Shirley" (1963) US #133, CB #109 "I'll Be There" (1963) US #124, CB #123 "What Am I Gonna Do" (1963) CB #tag "Tell Me What Can I Do" (1964) CB #147 "To Wait For Love" (1964) CB #119 "I Was A Boy" (1969) US #109, CB #89 (as Billy Shields) "Make Believe" (1969) US #28, CB #18 (with 'Wind') "I'll Hold Out My Hand" (1969) CB #114 (with 'Wind') "Don't Let Go" (1978) Dance #27,[30] AC #48 "Sweets For My Sweet" (1979) US #54, CB #55, AC #20
Finally! Like oxygen to a dying astronaut who's been stuck in a vacuum formed by exceedingly bad taste for several weeks. This one is a timeless classic, just a beautiful, soulful pop number with exceedingly tasteful jazz flourishes. Very much of the era, but with such an incredibly beautiful melody it doesn't sound particularly dated. The lyrics and their delivery seem heartfelt enough to come across as sincere and not sappy, an ability Wonder would lose within a decade ("I Just Called To Say I Love You"). But his decline was still far in the future - I think this is as close to perfection as you can get in a #1 song. Prince used the same three vocalists trick to kick of "1999", probably as an homage. A stunning album-opener as well for Talking Book, and smartly juxtaposed with the funkiest track on the album - Wonder was clearly ready to take the listeners on a little crazy joyride. At 23, Stevie proved he was capable of producing genre-blending pop material as good as anything Irving Berlin or Cole Porter had written in their prime. I've mostly heard the version without the extra horns over the years, having spun Talking Book a billion times, so it's my favorite. I find the extra material detracts a bit from the melody, which in my opinion doesn't need much adornment beyond what's on the album. But it certainly doesn't "ruin" the song. Uptempo songs this beautiful are pretty rare on the upper reaches of the pop charts of the rock era. The success of this one coming right after "Superstition" proved not only that Stevie Wonder had made a huge commercial comeback, but that artistically he was maybe the most talented and most important figure operating in pop. The 1970's might not have had The Beatles, but Stevie Wonder was back, and at just 23 he was already a giant.
That gets played on oldies stations once in a great while, usually as part of a "lost oldies" segment.
Don't feel bad. I never heard the horn-less album version until the 00s! I still prefer the single version, hands down.
That "You Are The Sunshine...'s" theme was on one level almost retro, was unwittingly highlighted in Fred Bronson's The Billboard Book Of Number One Hits, where a photo of Mr. Wonder taken about 1967 (almost in the middle period between his "Fingertips" #1 as "Little" Stevie and this) was shown on the page devoted to this track.