Thinking about......Stevie Wonder

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Kieran White, Sep 22, 2022.

  1. MikeVielhaber

    MikeVielhaber Forum Resident

    Location:
    Memphis, TN
    I don't think here in 2022 those songs have any lasting effect on his legacy nor is his image defined by them. He's a legend with or without them.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2022
  2. halfjapanese

    halfjapanese Gifs moider!

    While they're routining Two Of Us, John is pressing for looser vocals ala Stevie Wonder.
     
  3. halfjapanese

    halfjapanese Gifs moider!

    Saw Stevie blow the Rolling Stones right off the stage two days in a row, July 4th & 5th, 1972.
     
  4. WMTC

    WMTC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    Heard this on a local AM station a year or so ago. What a great song! (And props to that station for playing it!)
     
  5. WMTC

    WMTC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    I enjoy "Ebony" as a fun song. Deep as a pothole, though.

    The other two...... Yeah, no. Especially "I Just Called To Say I Love You." Awful song.
     
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  6. WhatDoIKnow

    WhatDoIKnow I never got over it, I got used to it

    Location:
    Italy
    I don't know how old you all are, I can tell you that when those songs came out I was not yet a teenager (well, that's true for "Ebony and Ivory", anyway) and I absolutely adored them all!
    Maybe the fact that English isn't my first language helped because I fell in love with the music rather than the lyrics, but it's a fact that they were all huge in Italy and Europe.
    Of course they have dated, probably badly too, but they made an impression on me and who knows how many others, and I'm sure they made pots of money for Stevie and Macca.
    I mean, there are worse things in the world ;)
     
  7. Vic_1957

    Vic_1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    Dang spellcheck got me again. :wtf:
     
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  8. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    For you fans of the beautiful "Golden Lady" (count me in as well!), here is a nice cover by Jose Feliciano ...

     
  9. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Of course he's a legend with or without those songs. I didn't suggest otherwise.

    However, as someone who came of age in the 80s/90s, I knew Stevie Wonder only as the "Ebony and Ivory" / "I Just Called to Say I Love You" / "That's What Friends Are For" guy (well, also "Part-Time Lover") right through the 1990s. Finally, when I was well into my twenties, I investigated his back catalog and deeper cuts and was richly rewarded.

    To this day, my two best friends -- both academics, incidentally, who are extremely well-read, open-minded, and of fairly diverse musical interests -- have never checked out Stevie's back catalogue, mainly because they remember him as the "Ebony and Ivory" / "I Just Called to Say I Love You" guy. I do think it did his legacy some damage.
     
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  10. the real pope ondine

    the real pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa


    a highlight of SITKOL for me, one of the few 6-7 minute songs that doesn't overstay it's welcome, Herbie Hancock on Fender Rhodes :love:
     
  11. Michael Macrone

    Michael Macrone Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    There are very, very few artists other than Stevie (and that includes the sainted Bowie) who produced five straight albums of such high quality. Prince might have pulled it off if he hadn't been so mercurial; there are a couple of weak spots even in his astounding ’80s catalogue. Because I suppose it needs to be said, the Beatles from Help! through The Beatles is a given.*

    On a musical level, there's a vast difference between "Sunshine" and "I Just Called." Had the latter evidenced any of the musical intelligence of the former, we might be telling a different story these days. But it didn't, and along with his being a willing accessory to the crime of "Ebony and Ivory," it moved Stevie off my list of must-buys. (Contrarily, I thought Hotter Than July was great and suffers unjustly by comparison to some of the greatest albums ever made.)

    "You Haven't Done Nothing" would disagree with your assessment of clear classics. :)

    * I'd personally also include the first 5 Elvis Costello albums. Dylan at one point got to four in a row, but a fifth on either side was just not operating on the same level. Also: Abbey Road fans, don't forget Yellow Submarine. If you're one of those who doesn't rate Help!, then scratch the Beatles.
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2022
  12. the real pope ondine

    the real pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa
    a truly great one! Nixon probably put him on a list for it. my favorite off FFF although they're all great
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSMUyUft2Zk
     
  13. Davido

    Davido ...assign someone to butter your muffin?

    Location:
    Austin
    Seems to me that says more about your friends than it does about some pop music Stevie Wonder recorded once upon a time.
     
  14. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    Not really. If I heard three cheesy songs in a row by a famous artist I was unfamiliar with, and each song was a ubiquitous #1 hit, I would probably thereafter avoid that artist. It's quite logical, actually.
     
  15. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    I totally agree with your last point.
     
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  16. Alien Reg

    Alien Reg Forum Resident

    This was a friendly thread. The poster is just trying to make a valid point. No need for sniping comments about his friends.
     
  17. Bnk

    Bnk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham
    I don`t know,the early 80s was pretty sappy for a lot of commercially successful male artists; Phil Collins,Lionel Ritchie,Bowie,even Clapton and Winwood were soppy romantics most of the time. Stevie Wonder`s stuff fit right in imo. I think he had an image problem,having been very in his own way political in the 70s and now somewhat on the sappy side (for only three tracks though,one a McCartney song,a soundtrack song,and a charity single) Part Time Lover was a bop though and if he had released more/got more hits in the 80s he`d have been fine. Another boy-wonder from the 60s with a sound indebted to Ray Charles,Steve Winwood,was ruling the airwaves with style,so I don`t see why Wonder couldn`t`ve done.
     
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  18. the real pope ondine

    the real pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa
    Ebony and Ivory isn't so bad. I Just Called....is sappy and kinda one note
    not close to his stuff in the 70's but .....I don;t think it's awful
     
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  19. JJAM

    JJAM Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East
    Well, he has given his approval to unreleased 60s material being issued on various compilations over recent years, so hopefully it'll happen at some point.
     
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  20. Davido

    Davido ...assign someone to butter your muffin?

    Location:
    Austin
    I hear you but it seems that no artist in any field (music, film, visual work, etc.) should be judged based on a small quantity of their work, particularly when that artist has been active for decades. This may not be the best example but you wouldn't judge the Rolling Stones on their work in the 21st century (although there's nothing wrong with it), but the band would typically be judged on the music they released in their prime period of productivity. What "put them on the map" so to speak. Thanks for trying to clarify.
     
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  21. ronm

    ronm audiofreak

    Location:
    southern colo.
    I was 15 in 1976 and my older brother had SITKOL.It was huge that year.Innervisions is a masterpiece.The single "I was Made to Love Her" is fantastic! I fell off the bus in the 80s.
     
  22. the real pope ondine

    the real pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa
    it would be amazing. give us some deluxe sets, outtakes, live stuff, anything
     
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  23. JJAM

    JJAM Forum Resident

    Location:
    South East
    It's the production style that most people have an issue with, really. It's undeniably a well crafted song. although far from being a favourite of mine...

    The thing with Stevie, and other artists such as Paul McCartney and Prince for example, is that they have that ultimate gift of not having a filter when they come up with music. It truly does seem as if creativity flows through them - for example, that incredible clip of Paul coming up with "Get Back" in the recent documentary - and they don't censor themselves when they come up with an idea but allow it to breathe.

    The downside of this is the odd clunker - but considering their natural immense talents (with particular mention to Stevie and Paul re songwriting), that gift has given us so many musical riches.
     
  24. Bnk

    Bnk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Birmingham
    How much is known of Stevie Wonder? I think he`s pretty secretive. Fine,have a private life,but when you have a50 plus year old kid nobody knows the name of..that`s weird imo. He`s had nine kids by five different women,which dents your reputation if you`re trying to sell romance to women in the form of love songs,and also his religious and political convictions (let`s all love each other) come off as hypocritical when he`s got such a messy private life.
     
  25. Panther

    Panther Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tokyo, Japan
    I generally don't judge songs or creations by the moral merits of the creator. Picasso was a dick, too.

    Also, before judging anyone, let's walk a mile in his/her shoes. Stevie grew up black, blind, and poor. His mother literally prostituted herself for money when he was a young child. If you can relate to all that, maybe you are morally superior. Otherwise...
     

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