BCB 100 - Stevie Wonder

[geoffcowgill]

Favorite Album - Talking Book

Favorite Song - "Sir Duke"

"Sir Duke" is a celebration of music so rapt in wonder and joy that it sounds like it is hanging out, dancing, and making love with all that it pays tribute to.

[Scally Mcgrew]

Favorite Album - Songs In The Key Of Life

Favorite Song - "Joy Inside My Tears"

[Beno]

Album: 'Talking Book' just shades it over 'Innervisions' for me. Strangely, despite going for the more sacharine of those two, 'Songs in the Key of Life' doesn't do a lot for me at all.

Song: I can't separate 'I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be For Ever)' and 'He's Misstra Know It All'. Just thinking about it though there's the 60s singles as well. Tough choice but I'll stick with the two I've chosen otherwise I'll never decide.

[The Fish]

Album: Music of My Mind
Track: Girl Blue

But yes I'll gladly take Talking Book, Songs In The Key of Life, Innervisons and all the great tracks therein. MOMM however I've always found a bit special.

[Brin]

album--talking book

track--big brother

[toomanyhatz]

Of all the talented people who've largely squandered their talent within the last 25 years, Stevie had the most. A great singer, inspired instrumentatlist and bandleader and at times brilliant songwriter, he's been so bad for so long that I can honestly say "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is not the worst of it. But man- most of what he did in the first half of the 70s is a good as music gets.

album - Fullfillingness First Finale. Love the hits from it, and lots of haunting love songs like "Creepin.'" Really underrated.

song - Any of the uptempo hits from between Superstition and Sir Duke

[Davey the Fat Boy]

Favorite Album: Fulfillingness' First Finale - Wins by by a hair over Talking Book, mostly for the vocals. There's something very intimate about the singing on this album. What a group of songs.

Favorite Song:- "Boogie On Reggae Woman" - Kind of a strange choice I admit. Not even close to being his greatest song from a songwriting POV. But it sounds like nothing else ever recorded. It's in that rare class of R&B singles, along with "Tell Me Something Good" and Lady Marmalade" that exist as candy every bit as much as they exist as music. Of course I could have just as easily picked "You Haven't Done Nothing," "Higher Ground," "I Wish,""Living For the City," "If You Really Loved Me," "Golden Lady," "I Was Made to Love Her," "All in Love is Fair" or about a dozen others. Stevie's the shit.

[The Slider]

Hmm. Hard to seperate the four classic albums (SITKOL is not one of them - too much saccharine filler) but if it is going to have to come down to one...

Album: Talking Book

Song: I Wish - the funkiest (which is why it beats out Sir Duke for me), most joyful (along with Sir Duke) piece of music I can think of at this moment in time.

[automatic_drip]

Album - Talking Book

Song - You Haven't Done Nothin' - seething with anger, driven home by those horns. Close runner up would be I Believe (When I Fall In Love...).

[Carl's Son]

Hmmm, I'm not a massive Stevie fan. I bought Hotter Than July about a year ago and I enjoyed it but i dont play it often. Then, a fortnight or so ago I played a compilation tape I had made myself and Happy Birthday and I Aint Gonna Stand For It both sounded amazing. I figured it was time to get some more Stevie.

So I went out and picked up Talking Book. What a dissapointment. I Believe (When I Fall...) is great of course and Superstition is alright but not amazing. You Are The Sunshine In My Life is a keyboard stuck in demonstration mode and the rest is dull.

Album: Hotter Than July
Song: Uptight

[Bungo the Mungo]

You Are The Sunshine In My Life is a keyboard stuck in demonstration mode

Brilliant!

[K]

So I went out and picked up Talking Book. What a dissapointment. I Believe (When I Fall...) is great of course and Superstition is alright but not amazing. You Are The Sunshine In My Life is a keyboard stuck in demonstration mode and the rest is dull.

I'm releasing the dogs right now! It may take a while until they find you, but one day, soon, you will be ripped to shreds by blood hungry hounds for this comment.
Go back to the album, Chris, turn the volume up and play Maybe Your Baby very, very loud.


For me, btw,

Album: Music of my Mind

Song: Don't You Worry About a Thing

[Bungo the Mungo]

Of all the talented people who've largely squandered their talent within the last 25 years, Stevie had the most. A great singer, inspired instrumentatlist and bandleader and at times brilliant songwriter, he's been so bad for so long that I can honestly say "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is not the worst of it. But man- most of what he did in the first half of the 70s is a good as music gets.

I've asked this several times here, and still haven't had a satisfactory answer - why do people single out 'I Just Called...' as the moment his career started to go down the chute, when the truth is that Stevie's purported classic albums ('Talking Book', 'Innervisions') are packed with similarly-saccharine slop?

We forgive the man far too much. It puzzles me. I don't dispute his talent - there's a film of him doing 'Superstition' and 'Living For The City' on German TV's 'Musikladen' in the early '70s - and he's astonishing. But those tight, muscular classics are far outweighed - during his 'golden era' - by stuff that was every bit as bad as 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'.

So to say he squandered his talent, and that he really lost it in the '80s - it's like Chamberlain talking about Hitler in 1938 saying he didn't see it coming....

[The Slider]

I think it is the sheer inanity of the lyric that does it.

There were gloopy songs way before, but they always at least had some semblance of a decent lyric to keep them afloat.

[K]

I've asked this several times here, and still haven't had a satisfactory answer - why do people single out 'I Just Called...' as the moment his career started to go down the chute, when the truth is that Stevie's purported classic albums ('Talking Book', 'Innervisions') are packed with similarly-saccharine slop?

Because 'I Just Called...' is saccharine slop, but the two albums you mention do not contain any bad tracks. I've told you this before, Coan, I wish you'd listen to me!

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Of all the talented people who've largely squandered their talent within the last 25 years, Stevie had the most. A great singer, inspired instrumentatlist and bandleader and at times brilliant songwriter, he's been so bad for so long that I can honestly say "I Just Called to Say I Love You" is not the worst of it. But man- most of what he did in the first half of the 70s is a good as music gets.

I've asked this several times here, and still haven't had a satisfactory answer - why do people single out 'I Just Called...' as the moment his career started to go down the chute, when the truth is that Stevie's purported classic albums ('Talking Book', 'Innervisions') are packed with similarly-saccharine slop?

We forgive the man far too much. It puzzles me. I don't dispute his talent - there's a film of him doing 'Superstition' and 'Living For The City' on German TV's 'Musikladen' in the early '70s - and he's astonishing. But those tight, muscular classics are far outweighed - during his 'golden era' - by stuff that was every bit as bad as 'I Just Called To Say I Love You'.

So to say he squandered his talent, and that he really lost it in the '80s - it's like Chamberlain talking about Hitler in 1938 saying he didn't see it coming....

I used to take exactly the same stance, but I found out. Innervisions is amazing. Talking Book, on the other hand, would've been a great ep. So, yeah, with a few qualifications, I agree.

[Bungo the Mungo]

I've asked this several times here, and still haven't had a satisfactory answer - why do people single out 'I Just Called...' as the moment his career started to go down the chute, when the truth is that Stevie's purported classic albums ('Talking Book', 'Innervisions') are packed with similarly-saccharine slop?

Because 'I Just Called...' is saccharine slop, but the two albums you mention do not contain any bad tracks. I've told you this before, Coan, I wish you'd listen to me!

I....I....well, I...I mean I've listened to those albums and they sent me to sleep! 'Too High'? 'Jesus Children..'? and around half of 'Talking Book'? Pure sugar.

He had a gift for melody and that gift was carried over right through into the '80s. Why do people slaughter him for the 'crime' of 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' when he'd always put out songs like that? And his fans conveniently ignore those early examples. Slider says the lyrics for IJCTSILY were worse than the syrupy stuff off 'Talking Book' and 'Innervisions', but I can't see it.

BCB's blinkered, uncritical pro-black stance is worryingly evident when discussing Stevie Wonder - more than with any other artist, I'd say.

[Jon K]

It is a really hard choice for me considering between 1969 and 1974 Stevie Wonder produced some excellent albums but if push comes to shove it would have to be

Favourite Album; Innervisions. Possibly his best album ever
Favourite Song; I Was Made To Love Her possibly one of the best Motown songs ever

[automatic_drip]

BCB's blinkered, uncritical pro-black stance is worryingly evident when discussing Stevie Wonder - more than with any other artist, I'd say.

Speaking only of Stevie, it's not just BCB, but the whole world gives him the same pass.

In his time, being blind and a one-man studio whiz qualified you as genius. But in this post-Prince world, maybe it's not so special.

He was also a trendseter with regards to keyboards, sounds, and studio experiments that were ahead of their time, yet don't sound that dated (compared to, say, a good chunk of 1999).

Also consider the times he worked in - surely as civil rights came to the fore of America's conscience, here was a guy that spoke to that on a level everyone could graps easily. Like with so many artists, their genius lies in part withing the context of their surroundings. There's always a certain "you had to be there" element to understand fully.

I'll grant you that there's mucho pap on even his great albums; the frustration for me is the complete lack of anything salvageable - it's ALL pap now. But his golden run is really something special.

[The Slider]

Slider says the lyrics for IJCTSILY were worse than the syrupy stuff off 'Talking Book' and 'Innervisions', but I can't see it.

He says so in the words of that very song - in fact in the title of it.
He has nothing to say - he just gives a list of none of the reasons and then says he just called to say 'I love you'. No more no less.
It is utterly inane.

Now, whatever slop he recorded before that had some sort of point - some sort of lyrical thrust - to it.
Tell me which particular songs you are singling out as 'just as bad' and I will try to illustrate how they have some sort of point to make, or message to impart.
Even something as sickmaking as 'isn't she lovely' is a genuine expression of joy at the birth of his daughter....