A week of world-class jazz and a Q&A with Adam Theis
Written by Paul Raymore
Tuesday, 01 July 2008

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Jazz fans interact with Grammy-nominated artists during fourth annual “Jazz Artists in Residency” at Moody’s Bistro & Lounge

Jazz fans will have the chance to completely immerse themselves in the music of Grammy-nominated musicians when Moody’s Bistro & Lounge hosts the Fourth Annual “Jazz Artists in Residency” for one unforgettable week July 7-12. The event includes free jazz shows by Grammy-nominated musicians, a week-long kid’s camp and a benefit for the Truckee Youth Music Program.

During the event, music fans mingle with jazz musicians from New York and San Francisco. The jazz artists are inspired as they interact with their musical peers, providing an elevated level of passion and creativity that isn’t usually heard during traditional shows. By immersing themselves in music for the week-long event, the artists infuse a lot of color and culture into Truckee nightlife.

“Jazz Artists in Residency” includes four free jazz shows at Moody’s from Monday, July 7 to Thursday, July 10. These same performers also will conduct free clinics during the “Jazz Artists in Residency” Kids’ Jazz Camp from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, July 7 through Friday, July 11, allowing children to develop an appreciation for music in general and for jazz as a whole. On Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12, the well-known musicians and special guests will give a whole new meaning to Truckee nightlife when they perform at Moody’s as part of a benefit for the Truckee Youth Music Program.

According to JJ Morgan, Moody’s Bistro & Lounge co-owner, “The whole week in itself is getting bigger especially due to the fact that we are able to get great, big name musicians to come in and perform and teach the students year after year. We’ve always wanted to have the camp be big and we are definitely getting there as we get ready for our Fourth Annual.”

As the musicians jam with each other and interact with fans throughout the week, Truckee takes on a culturally exciting flavor that goes far beyond what audiences would normally experience during a jazz show. The town becomes a base camp for the country’s most talented jazz musicians.”

Due to a week where nothing distracts them from their passion for jazz, the musicians deliver some of the most energetic and innovative shows a jazz fan will ever witness. For the four free evening shows at Moody’s, Will Bernard will perform on guitar, Peter Apfelbaum on piano, Adam Theis on brass, Ben Wendel on saxophone, Josh Jones on drums and Andrew Emer on bass.

As a grand finale to the Jazz Artists in Residency, the camp teachers and special guests will treat the audience to an energetic and innovative show by Dublin on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 as a benefit for the Truckee Youth Music Program. Bay Area rapper/songwriter Dublin will appear, providing an element of hip hop not seen in most jazz shows. Dublin combines the live elements of an MC with the range of a vaudeville performer. Dublin’s appearance at Moody’s, along with the musicians who will be teaching the music camp all week, will serve as a fitting finale for an event that promises to delight jazz fans while educating students on the joys of music.

Admission both nights for the Truckee Youth Music Program benefit is $5.

The Players:
• Will Bernard, whose CD Party Hats was nominated for the “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” Grammy this year, is a jazz guitarist/composer acclaimed for his imaginative genre-busting music. Once called “one of the best-kept jazz-guitar secrets on the planet” by Billboard Magazine, he is known for incorporating classical guitar techniques along with jazz angles, touching upon styles such as R&B, soul, blues, surf music and noise-rock.

• Peter Apfelbaum, another grammy-nominated musician, is also a participant in the “Jazz Artists in Residency.” Apfelbaum’s Signs of Life album received a Grammy nomination in 1991 for the opening composition. Apfelbaum is fascinated by how sounds fit together and his music is known to have a polyrhythmic mix of African and Western elements.

• Adam Theis is a member of the Shotgun Wedding Quintet Hip Hop Symphony, known for its marriage of two seemingly unrelated musical styles-hip hop and jazz. The San Francisco Jazz Festival recently awarded Theis a grant to compose a musical suite for the event.

• Ben Wendel also brings his considerable talent to the 2008 JAIR lineup. Educated at the Eastman School of Music in New York, he has enjoyed multiple domestic and international tours with such artists as Cuban drumming legend Ignacio Berroa, Thelonious Monk Piano Competition Winner Tigran Hamasyan, Electronica artist Daedelus and Hip Hop artist Snoop Dogg. As a composer he has scored multiple films, received an ASCAP Jazz Composer Award and was a finalist in the 2007 International Songwriting Competition.

• Josh Jones has played with Jazz Greats Don Cherry, Steve Coleman and Omar Sosa and the Hip Hop Groups The Coup, Digital Underground and Spearhead. Jones was the former lead of Hueman Flavor, a ground breaking hip hop jazz band of the early ‘90s and one of the most acclaimed groups of San Francisco’s jazz movement.

• Andrew Emer, a New York-based freelance jazz and experimental bassist, has performed and toured with such notable musicians as John Popper (of Blues Traveler), Billy Higgins, Kenny Werner, Adam Nussbaum, Kenny Wollesen, Vince Lateano, Bruce Forman, and Eric Mcphearson.

• Known throughout the west coast, Dublin has shared the stage with Blackalicous, Zeph & Azeem, Digital Underground, The Coup, Lyrics Born, Devin The Dude, Young MC, Tone Loc, Kid Beyond, and countless other acts from every spectrum of the hip-hop and jazz world. In 2005 he won the San Francisco MC battle and has been praised by journalists in the US and Europe for his original voice and songwriting ability.

Moody’s Bistro & Lounge is located at 10007 Bridge Street in Truckee (on the corner of Commercial Row). For reservations, more information, or to register for the kids’ jazz camp call (530) 587-8688 or visit www.moodysbistro.com.

Q&A with Adam Theis:
Adam Theis has been a part of every Moody’s Jazz Artists in Residency camp since its inception. The Tahoe World’s Paul Raymore caught up with Theis by phone last week to ask him a few questions about the week-long kids camp and performances at Moody’s.

Tahoe World: As a musician, what do you take from the Jazz Artists in Residency experience?
Adam Theis: For me, I don’t get opportunities to work with large groups of kids or adults very often. Sometimes we do little one-day things, but it’s usually more like a concert or a lecture. This is basically kind of like what I do when I’m teaching a student one-on-one, but with up 60 or so people when we’re teaching the full class.
It’s pretty intense. I come out of there feeling exhausted every day. But you just don’t get that opportunity that much.

TW: Not too many kids get those kinds of opportunities either, especially with musicians as accomplished as yourself and your fellow instructors. What do you see the kids taking home from the clinic after a week of learning and playing with you guys?
AT: I played in all the normal school [bands] and stuff, and even extracurricular things, and everything was real regimented. Marching Band, which is supposed to be pretty fun, was still really regimented. And all those jazz camps and things that were really fun were really expensive, and not accessible. So it took me until my first garage band to really get to hang with people my age and people above my age who were maybe a step or two ahead, people on different instruments…
It’s just a big cross-pollination thing that’s really hard to get because schools are struggling to just get the bare bones — just to get instruments or just to hire teachers… So this is a cool way for us to try to fill in the gaps that aren’t covered. It’s a pretty no-brainer really — we’re just trying to expose them to some fun stuff. But it’s intense too; they’re being pushed to learn stuff that’s challenging. But in a different way than they’re being taught in school.

TW: I would imagine you introduce a little more improvisation, being jazz musicians, than maybe most kids get in a school band setting.
AT: That goes back to everything being stretched to the maximum [in the schools]. They have barely enough time at school to get the horn players learn the basic parts of the melody of the song, to get the band tight enough for the concert coming up at the end of the semester of whatever. So basically, the soloists in the school bands are the ones who are taking private lessons outside. It’s always been like that since when I was in school really. And hopefully you have kids getting private lessons… a lot of schools don’t. But the teachers don’t really have the time. I think I had one [music] theory lesson in high school… And it was like, ‘Wow, that’s helpful.’

TW: Since you’ve been a part of every Jazz Artists in Residency camp that Moody’s has put on, do you see kids coming back year after year and improving each time?
AT: Yeah, there are some folks who have been there the last three years, and it’s really cool to see them come back and see how much somebody has progressed in one year, and their interests of what kind of music they’re into, and the way they look at music. It’s just really inspiring.

TW: How about the other side of the whole week: The performances you do in the evenings and the chance to spend a week with like-minded musicians from all over the place. What is that experience like and what do you take out of that as a musician?
AT: It’s something that’s pretty rare these days to have someone like JJ [Morgan] hand picking the most interesting jazz musicians around the country. A lot of times, when it’s that kind of ‘all star’ thing — and when I use that term it’s not always a complimentary term — sometimes it’s not a very good thing. If it’s somebody who doesn’t really know his music that well, maybe a promoter will just throw together the drummer from this well-known band and then this guy from another well-known band, and they’re just these people who don’t have much musically in common and don’t have a lot of interest in playing with each other, and it just doesn’t really go well.

But JJ really knows how to pick musicians and reminds you why those things do exist. Because, when they are put together well, it can be an amazing event: ‘Wow, these guys have never played together and it sounds better than a lot of bands I’ve heard lately.’

He has a knack for that, and it was cool because he randomly picked this bass player last year that I went to college with and hadn’t played music with for 10 years… That just goes to show that he has this sixth sense, this intuition, about what musicians will work really well together…

TW: What is it that makes a group of different musicians work well together?
AT: In this case, having a vision — somebody who is a leader or inspiring to those people. And it doesn’t always have to be a musician. In this case it’s JJ. We all have a lot of respect for him. A lot of us have known him or known of him for years… Everybody is always remarking on how cool the guys is, but also musically, how he is a great guy to know because he has a great respect for real jazz music. He likes all kinds of music, but he really sees his place in the community and the world is to put jazz forth, because it’s not being put forth by a lot of people. So whatever he says, we’ll do it…

TW: What’s it like being able to spend a full week in the mountains, playing music, teaching music, and hanging out in the same club for a week of shows?
AT: Last month I was up [in Tahoe] three out of the four weekends playing music. To me, just getting up anywhere around the Lake Tahoe area is a vacation. I don’t know any musicians who don’t like to go up there. It’s a lot of gas money, traffic can be a pain, but no one ever complains about it even in the snow… It’s a privilege to get to go up there and play music.

So getting up there for the camp, having the nighttime shows, and getting done at a reasonable hour and getting to hang out with the friends I have up there… It couldn’t be any better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh4CnzwRjF4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcQWup64xc

video by Matt Spaull

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUZB79szwM

Please Come Out and Support Good San Francisco Music!!!!

The Shotgun Wedding Quintet - The Shotgun Wedding Quintet

The Shotgun Wedding Quintet “Live Mixtape Series” live at Brunos

Realistic Orchestra Live @ Brunos

Realistic - Living Loops

Adam Theis Ensemble - Revival Kit

of 1942 (Aspect McCarthy)

Dragnaslim Dublin & the Beatcave Hermit - There is no easy definition

Cannonball - Nightfall til sun up

Cannonball - Hiphopulation

Cannonball & Friends - A Funky Christmas

PEACE!

The Seventies

Stevie’s Seventies

A new decade and Stevie really gets into his own as an artist. In 1971 he turns 21 and renegotiates his contract with Motown, giving him total creative freedom. Stevie discovers the synthesizer and a streak of classic albums ensue: Music Of My Mind, Talking Book (both 1972), Innervisions (1973), Fullfillingness’ First Finale (1974) and Songs In The Key Of Life (1976), the latter staying 14 weeks at number one on the US album charts. He enjoys a string of chart-topping US hits with ‘Superstition’, ‘You Are The Sunshine Of My Life’, ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin”, ‘I Wish’ and ‘Sir Duke’. In the process he also creates a hard-hitting protest-funk classic in ‘Living For The City’.

The decade ends with the soundtrack double album Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants (1979). Featuring many instrumental tracks and only one proper hit single (’Send One Your Love’) it alienates him slightly from the mainstream audience, but remains a favourite with many hardcore fans.

In a marked difference to his Sixties work, his own albums as well as the songs for other performers are mostly written by Stevie alone. His most frequent collaborator during this new decade is Syreeta Wright, his wife between 1970 and 1972. Also unlike the Sixties, as Motown’s hit factory dissolves, Stevie’s songs are given to artists all over the popular music spectrum - from Aretha Franklin to Andy Williams - although Motown artists still get their share of tunes.

One notable aspect of Stevie’s songwriting is that he has often acquired help with the lyrics from a collaborator when there has been a rush to get the words completed quickly. This is especially apparent on the songs he wrote for other artists, whereas he would often have more time to write his own lyrics when the song was intended for his own album.

——————————————————————-

Stevie with Sergio Mendes.

Song title: Distant Dreamer
Artist: Ramsey Lewis
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Ramsey Lewis, The Piano Player - Cadet 836
Release date: March 1970
Currently available on CD: No
Further info: Pianist Ramsey Lewis was the recipient of three Stevie songs during the Seventies, the first of which was ‘Distant Dreamer’. All three songs were written specifically for Ramsey Lewis and his trio. ‘Distant Dreamer’ was composed in 1969, around the time when Stevie was working on his Signed Sealed & Delivered album.

Song title: It’s A Shame
Artist: Spinners
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright/Lee Garrett
Originally released on: 2nd Time Around - V.I.P. 405
Release date: October 1970
Currently available on CD: Essential Collection - Tamla Motown 544 434-2
Further info: Although they signed to Motown in the mid-Sixties, The Spinners (aka The Detroit Spinners) were one of those acts that the label somewhow didn’t pay much attention to. Their biggest hit during their Motown period came with ‘It’s A Shame’, a great song brilliantly performed by the The Spinners - and expertly produced by Stevie in his first such assignment for another artist. He also played piano, bass and drums, and developed the horn arrangement. Indeed, the spring of 1970 - when the Spinners session was held - marked the start of a new phase in Stevie’s career, for this was also when he recorded his very first self-produced hit, ‘Signed Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours)’.

Upon release as a single on June 6, 1970 (V.I.P. 25057), ‘It’s A Shame’ reached number 14 on the US charts. The song was introduced to The Spinners while they were on tour with Stevie. Recalled group member Bobbie Smith, “Stevie told us he had a song which he thought might suit us. We gave it a listen and decided to cut it right then and there. Stevie always carries a lot of equipment around with him so we cut it on the spot.”

Lee Garret - one of Stevie’s two co-writers on this song - would later work with Stevie on Jermaine Jackson’s ‘Let’s Get Serious’ (see Eighties section).

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Song titles:
1. It’s Christmas Time
2. I Can Tell When Christmas Is Near
Artist: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Season For Miracles - Tamla 307
Release date: November 23, 1970
Currently available on CD: Our Very Best Christmas - Motown 153 356-2
Further info: Hot on the heels of the belated hit with ‘Tears Of A Clown’ (see Sixties page), Stevie’s long list of contributions to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles continued with these two tracks for their Christmas album.

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Song title: We’ll Have It Made
Artist: Spinners
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: Single release: V.I.P. 25060
Release date: January 1971
Currently available on CD: Essential Collection - Tamla Motown 544 434-2
Further info: Stevie wrote and produced yet another track for The Spinners in the autumn of 1970 (released early the following year). However, although ‘We’ll Have It Made’ was every bit as catchy as ‘It’s A Shame’, it failed to repeat the success of the previous hit, peaking at #89. Stevie was deeply disappointed. “I wanted that tune to be big,” he said. “I was so hurt when it didn’t do it.”

Soon afterwards, The Spinners left Motown and signed with Atlantic. Their luck changed drastically, and they began a long string of major hits.

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Song titles:
1. Let Me Fall In Love With You
2. Talking About Love
Artist: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas
Written by: 1: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright; 2: Stevie Wonder
Recorded: 1: January 28, February 27 & September 9, 1970; 2: July 8, 1971
Originally released on: Unreleased until 2005
Release date: March 11, 2005
Currently available on CD: Spellbound - Motown Lost And Found - Hip-O Select/Motown B0003616-02
Further info: ‘Let Me Fall In Love With You’, written by Stevie and Syreeta Wright, was recorded around the time of Stevie’s own ‘Signed Sealed Delivered (I’m Yours)’ and ‘It’s A Shame’, his song for The Spinners. It is hardly surprising, then, that the groove of ‘Let Me Fall In Love With You’ is very much in the style of those two songs. The recording features a fairly basic backing track of guitar, clavinet, bass, drums and tambourine, along with Martha Reeves’ lead vocals and a few backing vocal interjections from The Vandellas towards the end; it seems likely that the recording would have been subjected to more overdubs before it was released. But for reasons unknown it never progressed beyond this stage and was instead put on the shelf for 35 years.

‘Talking About Love’ was originally titled ‘Hey, Look At Me’. This recording features a fuller production than ‘Let Me Fall In Love With You’, including horn overdubs. However, it still sounds a little bare, suggesting that even more overdubs would have been made before release. ‘Talking About Love’ was recorded a few months after the release of Stevie’s Where I’m Coming From album, and bears some slight resemblance in general feel to that LP’s ‘Take Up A Course In Happiness’.

According to the track information in the Spellbound CD booklet, the recording session time-frame for for both tracks marks them as probable candidates for inclusion on the Martha Reeves & The Vandellas album Black Magic, released in February 1972.

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Song titles:
1. We Had A Love So Strong
2. It Will Be Alright
Artist: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: Flying High Together - Tamla 318
Release date: July 27, 1972
Currently available on CD: Not available, were on out-of-print UK release Tears Of A Clown - Motown 550 073-2
Further info: The first Stevie “giveaway” to be issued after he had signed his new contract with Motown and released Music Of My Mind, his first album under this new deal. The two songs he gave to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - included on Flying High Together, Smokey’s last album with the group - are also very much typical of this new, experimental phase.

‘We Had A Love So Strong’ in particular sounds like it could have been from on one of Stevie’s own albums from this era, and he was especially pleased with that particular song. “It’s a real sweet thing that’s got a nice melody,” he told Rolling Stone in 1971. “I think I’m going to get Gladys (Knight) to do it also because she has such an outasight voice.” However, it seems Ms Knight never got around to recording the song, although Randy Crawford released a version of ‘We Had A Love So Strong’ in 1982.

Song titles:
1. Black Maybe
2. Keep Him Like He Is
3. How Many Days
4. Baby Don’t You Let Me Lose This
5. To Know You Is To Love You
Artist: Syreeta
Written by: 1 & 3: Stevie Wonder; 2, 4 & 5: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright.
Originally released on: Syreeta - Mowest LP MNS 7001
Release date: August, 1972
Currently available on CD: Syreeta/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Hip-O Select B0002543-02, limited edition release.
Further info: The late Syreeta Wright started her recording career at Motown as Rita Wright with the 1968 single ‘I Can’t Give Back The Love I Feel For You’. Inexplicably, it failed to chart at the time, and today it is regarded as something of a lost classic. Syreeta soon got romantically involved with Stevie Wonder - between 1970 and 1972 the pair were married. Certainly, no other artist than Syreeta has received more songs from Stevie - the only other act to come close is Smokey Robinson (with or without The Miracles) - and she was also his most frequent songwriting collaborator throughout the 1970s. She recalled: “I was reading Stevie a poem and he started playing music to it. That’s when I first sensed I could write songs.”

The Syreeta album was recorded in tandem with Stevie’s Music Of My Mind and Talking Book albums. Known Syreeta sessions include January 1972 at Olympic Studios in London, England, and spring 1972 at Crystal Industries and The Record Plant in Los Angeles, and Electric Lady Studios in New York. “That album is my all-time favorite,” Syreeta stated many years later. “It had a lot of different flavors and the musicianship was incredible. Since Stevie was sometimes late for the sessions, I got a chance to do a lot of my own vocals.”

Sadly, it was also during the album sessions, in March 1972, that the pair divorced. Syreeta recalled: “When we were doing the record, we were having some problems in our relationship. We got married at a very young age, and no one gave us a manual. For me, the album was about my hope that maybe we could salvage our marriage. A lot of the vocals are coming from that space.”

Stevie produced the entire Syreeta album, in addition to playing all instruments on most of the album and writing five songs. One of those songs, ‘To Know You Is To Love You’ also featured his lead vocal introduction. Overall, it was a strong collection of tunes, very much in the character of Stevie’s early 1970s material. However, the LP was not a commercial success. “For some reasons it (the album) wasn’t accepted,” Stevie reflected. “I don’t know if it was lack of promotion. I told them I didn’t want to be associated so much with the album, the wife/husband thing, which I think was not an asset.”

Still, at least one of the songs on the album was destined to live on. ‘To Know You Is To Love You’ was recorded by B.B. King in the spring of 1973, with Stevie contributing keyboards and harmonica. Stevie also used to perform the song himself in concert in 1973 and 1974.

According to David Nathan’s liner notes in the Hip-O Select reissue of the Syreeta album, Stevie’s own version of ‘I Love Every Little Thing About You’ - featured on the Music Of My Mind album - was actually recorded after the Syreeta track had been completed. However, his recording was released five months prior to the Syreeta album.

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Song title: Bad Weather
Artist: The Supremes
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Ira Tucker Jr
Originally released on: Single release: Motown 1225
Release date: March 22, 1973
Currently available on CD: The ’70s Anthology - Motown 064 127-2
Further info: When Diana Ross left The Supremes in 1970 and was replaced by Jean Terrell, initially it didn’t seem to hurt the group’s fortunes too badly: up until early 1972 they garnered five US Top 20 hits. However, by the end of that year the hits were beginning to dry up.

Cindy Birdsong left The Supremes around the same time, and was replaced by Lynda Laurence, who had been a backup singer for Stevie Wonder. Mary Wilson, the only original member left in the group, recalled what happened next: “Lynda having sung with Stevie Wonder was to our advantage, because for us he produced and co-wrote ‘Bad Weather’ with Lynda’s brother Ira Tucker.” Incidentally, Tucker had also been employed as Stevie’s publicist since the autumn of 1971.

Stevie had a firm idea of what he wanted to achieve with The Supremes. “Jean Terrell had been singing a little bit too pretty,” he recalled, “maybe to try to fill in for Diana - but there’s only one Diana. And what we’ve tried to do is get more funk into the sound.” The result was certainly convincing: ‘Bad Weather’ was a lively, jubilant piece of pop-funk that Mary Wilson has called “one of our best songs of the period”. No arguments there. According to Wilson, however, Jean Terrell and Lynda Laurence both refused to promote the single. Motown didn’t push it very hard either, much to Stevie’s distress. Consequently, the single peaked at a disappointing #87 in the US, although it did reach the UK Top 40. Stevie’s plans for recording an entire album with The Supremes were scrapped, and soon afterwards both Jean Terrell and Lynda Laurence left the group.

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Song titles:
1. I Am Yours
2. Something ‘Bout Love
3. Something Lovely
Artist: The Main Ingredient
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Afrodisiac - RCA 4834
Release date: April 1973
Currently available on CD: Afrodisiac - Koch 7992
Further info: The Main Ingredient was one of the many soul vocal groups that gained success with lushly orchestrated ballads in the 1970s. The group was fresh from their #3 hit ‘Everybody Plays The Fool’ when they recorded the Afrodisiac album, which featured no less than three songs from Stevie. Naturally, both ‘I Am Yours’ and ‘Something ‘Bout Love’ were - lushly orchestrated ballads. ‘Something Lovely’, meanwhile, was a bit more bouncy.

Stevie’s association with the group went back to 1969, when he headlined a soul variety show at New York’s Apollo Theater. The Main Ingredient was among the other acts in the line-up. On February 7, 1973, The Main Ingredient opened for Stevie at a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, and in conjunction with this collaboration he wrote the three songs for their Afrodisiac album.

Lead singer Cuba Gooding had only been a member of the group for a year or so when the album was recorded. He is of course also the father of successful actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.

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Song title: Open Up Your Heart
Artist: Labelle
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Pressure Cookin’ - RCA LP LSA 3223
Release date: 1973
Currently available on CD: No
Further info: ‘Open Up Your Heart’ was a slow, cooking song, eminently suitable for the powerful vocals of the Labelle trio. Stevie plays electric piano on the recording, but due to contractual restrictions is only credited as “A friend” on the album sleeve.

‘Open Up Your Heart’ was released as a single, albeit only on the B-side of ‘Going On A Holiday’. Neither side seems to have appeared on any charts, and nor, unfortunately, has the Pressure Cookin’ album. This overall commercial failure of the album and its singles is probably the reason why ‘Open Up Your Heart’ is one of the few songs in this list that, apparently, has never been available on CD.

Song title: Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Clarence Paul/Morris Broadnax
Originally released on: Let Me In Your Life - Atlantic 7292
Release date: February 25, 1974
Currently available on CD: 30 Greatest Hits - Rhino 81668
Further info: ‘Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)’ was one of Aretha Franklin’s biggest hits of the 1970s - a straightforward enough fact. However, the song itself has a long and convoluted story.

According to legend, Stevie started writing the song at the age of 13, when he was touring with Jackie Wilson, Gladys Knight and others. After each performance he would go straight to the piano and practice the song. He made an informal promise to Gladys and/or Jackie that they would have first digs on the tune. Ultimately, however, he chose to record ‘Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)’ himself sometime in the 1960s. Although it has been stated in at least one book that the track was released as a UK-only single on May 1, 1967, this appears to be incorrect. In fact, it was not released anywhere at all at the time.

While Stevie’s own version languished in the vaults, he gave ‘Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)’ to Aretha Franklin, who recorded her own version in September 1973 and released it as a single (Atlantic 2995) the following month. Aretha’s interpretation was marked by the incredible soulfulness and spot-on phrasing that only she could muster, as if it had been tailor-made for her. She was rewarded with a number three hit, her last major success during her years on the Atlantic label.

Stevie’s own version was finally released in November 1977, on the triple compilation album Looking Back (Motown 804). However, he has no doubts as to who did the definitive version. “I did ‘Until You Come Back To Me’ some years ago, but there is no comparison to the one that … Aretha did. Forget it. Aretha blew the thing out! … Obviously we all know that is one of her all time classics. You are convinced of what she says, of what she’s singing.”

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Song titles:
1. I’m Goin Left
2. Spinnin’ And Spinnin’
3. Your Kiss Is Sweet
4. Come And Get This Stuff
5. Heavy Day
6. Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers
7. Just A Little Piece Of You
8. Waitin’ For The Postman
9. When Your Daddy’s Not Around
10. I Wanna Be By Your Side
11. Universal Sound Of The World (Your Kiss Is Sweet)
Artist: Syreeta
Written by: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 & 11: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright; 4, 6, 8 & 9: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Motown 808
Release date: July 19, 1974
Currently available on CD: Syreeta/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Hip-O Select B0002543-02, limited edition release. Also, several of the tracks are available on the Essential Syreeta compilation (see entry for “Harmour Love” below).
Further info: Stevie and Syreeta’s second album collaboration was released in 1974, although the bulk of the tracks were in fact recorded the year before, parallel with the sessions for Stevie’s Innervisions album. However, in August 1973 Stevie was involved in a car accident and was hospitalised for a long while, which meant that work on the album ground to a halt. Although he was still recuperating, Stevie was back in the studio again in October, working on the Syreeta album and his own Fullfillingness’ First Finale on and off over the next few months.

“That whole album was a healing and a balance for both of us,” Syreeta recalled many years later. “We were going through a divorce at the same time we were making that record so every song has something to do with what we were going through, like ‘Heavy Day’ and ‘Spinnin’ And Spinnin.’ That song was about a lady Stevie was dating at the time and I felt he would get emotionally injured by the situation…and he did.”

Album sessions concluded in the spring of 1974. “We were held up by Stevie’s accident,” explained Syreeta, “and then when we’d completed it, we decided that it was a bit too melancholy as it stood, so we altered a few tracks to make it sound slightly more cheerful.” Some of the more melancholy songs were to be found in the suite that made up side two of the original vinyl album. “What happened with that side of her record,” Stevie explained, “was I just made it up as I went along and put it all together right at the piano. The piano was the first instrument that I put down. I had those tunes and that I was able to connect them just happened.”

Syreeta related how the collaboration between herself and Stevie usually worked: “Stevie sends me the rhythm and the tune, I work on the lyrics, and then he either approves or we discuss it further.” In another interview she noted that their partnership was often considerably less structured than that. “We never plan what we’re going to record,” she said, “he usually writes the melody and I put the lyrics to it. Sometimes I change the melody in the studio.”

Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta stalled at number 116 on the Billboard chart, but ‘Your Kiss Is Sweet’ (Tamla Motown TMG 933) was a sizeable UK hit, peaking at number 12.

Among the known unreleased songs from this period are ‘I’ll Get What Is Mine’ (later recorded by Mari Nakamoto, see the bottom of this page) and ‘When I Was A Child (still unreleased). Both songs were written by Stevie and Syreeta.

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Song title: Tell Me Something Good
Artist: Rufus
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Rags To Rufus - ABC ABCX 809
Release date: August 1974
Currently available on CD: Rags To Rufus - MCA 31365
Further info: ‘Tell Me Something Good’ was one of the most successful songs Stevie Wonder ever wrote for another artist. The single release (ABC 11427) peaked at number three on the Billboard singles chart; it was also the very first hit for Rufus.

The collaboration between Stevie and Rufus started when the group recorded a cover of his ‘Maybe Your Baby’ (originally from the Talking Book album), included on their eponymous début LP. Stevie liked their version and wrote the slow-moving but funky ‘Tell Me Something Good’ especially for the group. The song, which was recorded in the late autumn of 1973, was tailor-made to fit the vocal style of lead singer Chaka Khan.

Stevie’s association with Chaka Khan has continued over the years. In 1984, for example, he played the harmonica on her worldwide smash hit ‘I Feel For You’.
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Song title: Game Called Love
Artist: The Originals
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Game Called Love - Soul 740
Release date: August 1974
Currently available on CD: The Very Best Of The Originals - Motown 549 506-2
Further info: The Originals were one of those groups that seemed to be around on Motown forever without ever acheiving any major success. Although they scored Top 15 hits with ‘Baby, I’m For Real’ and ‘The Bells’, their other singles stalled at much lower placings. However, this was no reflection of their vocal talents, which also graced the recordings of many other Motown acts, for instance Stevie Wonder’s hit recording of ‘For Once In My Life’.

When The Originals were formed, singer Ty Hunter was meant to be a member of the group, but was unable to because of a contract with Chess Records. When member C.P. Spencer left the group in 1972, Ty Hunter was finally able to join the group. Stevie was a fan of Hunter, and this may have contributed to his eagerness to write a song for the group.

Unfortunately, the ballad ‘Game Called Love’ - produced by Stevie - continued the group’s disappointing chart statistics: neither the single (Soul 35113, July 1974) nor the album of the same name managed to enter the Billboard charts.

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Song title: If You Don’t Love Me
Artist: G. C. Cameron
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Love Songs And Other Tragedies - Motown M6-819S1
Release date: November 1974
Currently available on CD: Love Songs And Other Tragedies - Motown UICY-3800 (Japanese release)
Further info: ‘If You Don’t Love Me’ wasn’t the first song Stevie gave exclusively to G. C. Cameron. However, the last time this had happened, Cameron was the lead singer of The Spinners, for whom Stevie wrote ‘It’s A Shame’ (1970) and ‘We’ll Have It Made’ (1971).

When The Spinners left Motown, G. C. Cameron stayed behind (he was romantically involved with Berry Gordy’s sister, Gwen). After a number of singles that failed to become hits, Cameron finally released his début album, Love Songs And Other Tragedies in 1974. Unfortunately, the album also sank without much of a trace, making the lively ‘If You Don’t Love Me’ one of the rarest Stevie Wonder songs. It was finally released on CD in December 2004.

Stevie arranged and produced ‘If You Don’t Love Me’. The album also includes a version of Stevie’s ‘All In Love Is Fair’, although he had no actual involvement in Cameron’s recording of the song.
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Song titles:
1. Perfect Angel
2. Take A Little Trip
Artist: Minnie Riperton
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Perfect Angel - Epic KE 32561
Release date: December 1974
Currently available on CD: Perfect Angel/Adventures In Paradise - Stateside 5971972 (UK release)
Further info: Although Minnie Riperton had been a member of Rotary Connection, for whom Stevie wrote ‘This Town’ in 1969, these 1974 recordings marked the first time she applied her lead vocals to his songs. However, before the release of Perfect Angel, Riperton had already appeared on Stevie’s Fulfillingness First Finale album, most notably on the ballad ‘Creepin”.

Despite the Rotary Connection experience, apparently Minnie Riperton didn’t actually meet Stevie until 1971, after she had gone solo. According to legend, the two met during a rehearsal at the Black Expo in Chicago. “I saw Stevie backstage,” Riperton recalled, “so I went over and whispered in his ear for him to keep up the good work. He asked me what my name was, and I said ‘Minnie.’ Well he started jumping up and down, saying ‘not Minnie Riperton — it’s been my dream to work with you. You sing like an angel’.”

With this assessment in mind, it’s perhaps not so surprising that one of the songs Stevie wrote for Riperton was entitled ‘Perfect Angel’. The song became the title track on the singer’s album, which was produced by Stevie. However, due to contractual restrictions, the production was credited to Wonderlove, Stevie’s backing band, and his own contributions as a musician was credited to El Toro Negro (Spanish for Black Bull, the name of Stevie’s production company).

Both ‘Perfect Angel’ and Stevie’s second song on the album, ‘Take A Little Trip’, featured quite complicated melody lines, requiring a vocalist of Minnie Riperton’s talents to navigate around. Incidentally, parts of ‘Perfect Angel’ had been performed by Stevie himself during his early 1974 concerts (at least the January show at the Rainbow in London).

Although none of Stevie’s songs on the Perfect Angel album was hit single material, the album contained a track entitled ‘Lovin’ You’ which provided Minnie Riperton with a US number one single. As a result of this success, the LP peaked at number four on the album chart.

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Song title: Thelonius
Artist: Jeff Beck
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Blow By Blow - Epic 33409
Release date: March 1975
Currently available on CD: Blow By Blow - Epic 85440
Further info: The association between Stevie Wonder and Jeff Beck dates back to 1972, when the guitarist contributed to Stevie’s Talking Book album. Stevie wrote the song ‘Superstition’ specifically for Jeff Beck, who recorded his version of the song in July 1972. However, Stevie felt that he could not afford to give away such a great song, and recorded his own version soon afterwards. ‘Superstition’ famously became the lead-off single from the Talking Book album, and gave Stevie his first US number one hit in nine years.

Jeff Beck had expected to get the exclusive opportunity to make the song a hit, and when Motown released Stevie’s version as a single it caused a rift between the two artists. Later, things were patched up and Beck recorded the tune ‘Thelonius’, which Stevie had given to him in conjunction with the Talking Book sessions. The title of the song was of course a tribute to jazz pianist Thelonius Monk.

‘Thelonius’ was included on Jeff Beck’s Blow By Blow album, which also featured a version of ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’, originally from the album Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta.
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Song title: I Can See The Sun In Late December
Artist: Roberta Flack
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Feel Like Makin’ Love - Atlantic 18131
Release date: April 1975
Currently available on CD: Feel Like Makin’ Love - Atlantic 7567-80333-2
Further info: The superb ballad ‘I Can See The Sun In Late December’ was the first of a handful of songs Stevie would give to Roberta Flack over the next half-decade. The association between the two artists seems to have been particularly strong in the autumn of 1974, when Flack hosted a New York kick-off party in conjunction with Stevie’s impending tour. Perhaps the session for ‘I Can See The Sun In Late December’ - recorded at New York’s Electric Lady Studios- was also held around this time. However, Stevie does not appear on Flack’s recording.

‘I Can See The Sun In Late December’ was originally slated for inclusion on one of his own albums - presumably Fulfillingness First Finale. Stevie has performed the song in concert at times (known occasions include January 1974 and December 1979), although his version has never been released on record.

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Song title: Harmour Love
Artist: Syreeta
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Single release: Motown 1353
Release date: May 23, 1975
Currently available on CD: The Essential Syreeta - Motown 544 265-2
Further info: One of the more commercially successful collaborations between Stevie and Syreeta came with the UK Top 40 hit ‘Harmour Love’. Stevie produced the track as well as contributing instrumental backing, along with harmony vocals that greatly enhanced the energy of the recording. ‘Harmour Love’ was later included on the album One To One (Tamla 349), originally slated for release in 1975 but ultimately not issued until January 13, 1977.

‘Harmour Love’ was the final Stevie Wonder song to be released by Syreeta. The couple remained friendly over the years, up until Syreeta’s untimely death from cancer on July 5, 2004.
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Song title: Sleeping Alone
Artist: Pointer Sisters
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Steppin’ - Blue Thumb 6021
Release date: June 1975
Currently available on CD: Steppin’ - Hip-O Select [catalogue number coming soon], limited edition release; or Steppin’ - MCA 3339 (Japanese release)
Further info: Stevie’s first song for the The Pointer Sisters was this jazzy concoction, showcasing the sisters’ vocal talents. Stevie also contributed keyboards to the recording. In addition to its appearance on the Steppin’ album, ‘Sleeping Alone’ was released as the B-side of the single ‘Going Down Slowly’ (Blue Thumb BTA-268), a Top 20 hit on the US R&B chart.

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Song title: What Happens To
Artist: Andy Williams
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Other Side Of Me - CBS 69152
Release date: 1975
Currently available on CD: You Lay So Easy on My Mind/The Other Side Of Me - Collectables 7442
Further info: The heartbreak ballad ‘What Happens To’, recorded by crooner Andy Williams, was one of the first songs Stevie gave to an artist outside the confines of the blues/soul/funk genre. As such, it was a foretaste of what was to come in the Eighties, when Stevie would work with acts all over the popular music spectrum.

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Song title: Don’t Be Sad ‘Cause Your Sun Is Down
Artist: James Taylor
Written by: Stevie Wonder/James Taylor
Originally released on: In The Pocket - Warner Bros BS 2912
Release date: April 1976
Currently available on CD: In The Pocket - Warner Bros 2912-2
Further info: The mellow west-coast ballad ‘Don’t Be Sad ‘Cause Your Sun Is Down’ was co-written by James Taylor and Stevie, around the time of the Songs In The Key Of Life Album. Stevie also contributed harmonica to the recording. Just like the Andy Williams collaboration, the association with James Taylor underlined Stevie’s eagerness not to limit his work to any specific genre.

In 1997 Stevie contributed harmonica to the track ‘Little More Time For You’ on James Taylor’s Hour Glass album. That same year the pair also appeared on the telecast Rainforest Foundation Concert, duetting on the soul classic ‘Knock On Wood’.

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Song title: She’s A Sailor
Artist: The Flying Burrito Brothers
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Airborne - Columbia 34222
Release date: June 1976
Currently available on CD: No
Further info: ‘She’s A Sailor’, certainly Stevie’s most country-flavoured song, was recorded by country-rock pioneers The Flying Burrito Brothers. This somewhat unexpected collaboration probably stems from the contributions of steel guitarist and Burrito member Sneaky Pete Kleinow to Stevie’s Fullfillingness’ First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life albums. Apart from writing ‘She’s A Sailor’, Stevie also plays piano on the track.

Song titles:
1. Love Notes
2. Spring High
Artist: Ramsey Lewis
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Love Notes - Columbia 34696
Release date: April 28, 1977
Currently available on CD: Love Notes - Sony SRCS 9571 (Japanese release) NOTE: Spring High is also available on the compilation CD The Wonder Of Stevie; see the Compilation Albums section.
Further info: Seven years after their last collaboration, Stevie contributes two new songs to Ramsey Lewis. As a composition, ‘Spring High’ was published as early as 1975, indicating that it may possibly have been written around that time. Stevie participated in the autumn 1976 recording session for both tracks, playing Fender Rhodes and Arp Odyssey synthesizer.

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Song title: Stick Together
Artist: Minnie Riperton
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Minnie Riperton/Richard Rudolph
Originally released on: Stay In Love - Epic EPC 5032
Release date: 1977
Currently available on CD: Stay In Love/Minnie - Stateside 5971962 (UK release)
Further info: Stevie’s final song for the late Minnie Riperton was the spirited ‘Stick Together’. This rather long song was also released as a single (Epic 50337), on which the tune is divided into two parts on each side.

Minnie Riperton died from cancer on July 12, 1979.
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Song titles:
1. Love City
2. The Real Thing
Artist: Sergio Mendes
Written by: 1. Stevie Wonder/Marietta Waters
2. Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Sergio Mendes And The New Brasil ‘77 - Elektra 7E-1102-SP
Release date: 1977
Currently available on CD: Sergio Mendes And The New Brasil ‘77 - WEA 6023 (Japanese release)
Further info: Brazilian light jazz/easy listening band leader Sergio Mendes has been a star on the international arena since the late 1960s. For this 1977 album, Stevie wrote two great songs: ‘Love City’ and ‘The Real Thing’, both of which also featured his keyboard contributions. Marietta Waters, who completed the lyrics for ‘The Real Thing’, was a vocalist in Sergio Mendes And The New Brasil ‘77. Both songs were typical of the soul-jazz style Stevie often favoured around this time, also apparent in his contributions to artists such as Pointer Sisters, Ramsey Lewis, George Benson and Michael Jackson.
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Song title: Bring Your Sweet Stuff Home
Artist: Pointer Sisters
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Bonnie Pointer/Anita Pointer
Originally released on: Having A Party - Blue Thumb LP 6023
Release date: December 1977
Currently available on CD: The Wonder Of Stevie: Melody Man - Harmless HURTCD055; Note: The original Having A Party album is also available on CD from Hip-O Select in the US.
Further info: ‘Bring Your Sweet Stuff Home’, Stevie’s second and final song for the Pointer Sisters, continued in the lively and jazzy vein of his earlier contributions to their albums. He also played keyboards on the track.

Alas, ‘Bring Your Sweet Stuff Home’ was included on what was the group’s last album on the Blue Thumb label. The LP failed to chart in the US, and it was only when they signed with a new label that the Pointer Sisters achieved major commercial success.

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Original Having A Party album
(US only)

Song title: We All Remember Wes
Artist: George Benson
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Weekend In L.A. - Warner Bros LP 2 WB 3139
Release date: February 1978
Currently available on CD: Weekend In L.A. - Warner Bros 3139
Further info: In 1975, Jeff Beck recorded Stevie’s tribute to Thelonious Monk, and three years later, George Benson released this nod to another jazz great, the late guitarist Wes Montgomery.

The working relationship between George Benson and Stevie began with the guitarist’s contribution to Stevie’s Songs In The Key Of Life album. George Benson’s interpretation of ‘We All Remember Wes’ was recorded during a three-date engagement at the Roxy Club in Hollywood, California between September 30 and October 2, 1977. The concerts were then released on the live album Weekend In L.A. the following February.

Reportedly, Stevie actually first offered the song to keyboard player Ronnie Foster, a member of George Benson’s band but also a recording artist in his own right. Foster then suggested that Benson should record it instead, possibly because he, like Wes Montgomery, was a guitarist. Ronnie Foster was later a keyboard player on Stevie’s 1983-1984 You And Me tour. Stevie has also played keyboards on Foster’s albums.

Stevie’s relationship with Wes Montgomery, who died in June 1968, dates back to 1967 and the song ‘Bye Bye World’. “I wrote that track for him,” Stevie remembered. “I told him about the song and then, not long after, there was his tragic death.” Instead, Stevie recorded the song himself and included it on his Eivets Rednow album, released in November of that year.
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Song title: I Love The Nearness Of You
Artist: Smokey Robinson
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Smokey Robinson
Originally released on: Where There’s Smoke - Tamla T 366
Release date: May 1979
Currently available on CD: No
Further info: Yet another late 1970s jazz-soul offering, co-written by Stevie and Smokey Robinson. ‘I Love The Nearness Of You’ was also issued as the B-side of the single ‘Heavy On Pride (Light On Love)’ (Tamla TMG 1191) in June 1980.

Song title: I Can’t Help It
Artist: Michael Jackson
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Susaye Greene
Originally released on: Off The Wall - Epic 35745
Release date: August 1979
Currently available on CD: Off The Wall - Epic 66070
Further info: ‘I Can’t Help It’ must certainly be one of the most commercially lucrative songs that Stevie Wonder ever gave to another artist. Not only was it the B-side on the global hit single ‘Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough’ (Epic 50742, August 1979), but it was also a track on the Off The Wall album, which to date is reported to have sold close to 20 million copies worldwide. Further royalties were generated by several cover versions and samplings of the tune by artists such as De La Soul (’Breakadawn’), Portrait (’Here We Go Again’) and Mary J. Blige (’Sexy’). Although Stevie himself has never released ‘I Can’t Help It’ on record, he has performed it in concert many times, most recently (at the time of writing) at the UNCF gala in January 2005.

Stevie’s lyricist on the song, Susaye Greene, had previously been a member of his backing band, Wonderlove. She can also be heard backing him up on ‘Joy Inside My Tears’ on the Songs In The Key Of Life album, and on many other of his recordings. In 1976 she joined The Supremes’ final line-up, enjoying a US Top 40 hit with ‘I’m Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking’.

In 1987, there were further Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson collaborations, when two different duets were featured on their respective albums released that year. ‘Get It’ was included on Stevie’s Characters album, while ‘Just Good Friends’ was a track on Michael Jackson’s Bad.

In a 1988 Japanese interview, Stevie stated that he had written a song entitled ‘A Pretty Face Is’ (the actual tune dated back two decades), which he envisioned as a duet with Michael Jackson. However, the song remains unreleased to this day.

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Song title: I’ll Get What Is Mine
Artist: Mari Nakamoto
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: Japanese album: Aphrodite - [label and cat. no. unknown]
Release date: 1979
Currently available on CD: Aphrodite - CD(JP) JVC VDJ-1006 (Japanese release)
Further info: The rare ‘I’ll Get What Is Mine’ has only been released by Japanese singer Mari Nakamoto, and remains largely unheard outside Japan. The song was written in conjunction with the Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta album (see above).

The Eighties

Stevie’s Eighties

Stevie enters the new decade on a high. In 1980 not only does he release a virtually flawless album, Hotter Than July, but he also scores a commercial and artistic triumph with his songs on Jermaine Jackson’s Let’s Get Serious album. During the decade Stevie enjoys his biggest-ever hits, all of which are US number ones: the Paul McCartney duet ‘Ebony And Ivory’, the Dionne Warwick/Gladys Knight/Elton John collaboration ‘That’s What Friends Are For’, and his very own ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’.

He also releases several successful albums. Hotter Than July is followed by the compilation double album Stevie Wonder’s Original Musiquarium I (1982), which also contains four new tracks, the soundtrack album The Woman In Red (1984), In Square Circle (1985) and Characters (1987). Notable hits include ‘Master Blaster (Jammin’)', ‘Lately’, ‘Happy Birthday’, ‘That Girl’ and ‘Part-Time Lover’.

During the Eighties, Stevie doesn’t quite maintain the previous decade’s unfathomable level of songwriting for other artists, although by anybody else’s standards he is still incredibly prolific. Recipients include the usual mix of Motown-related artists and soul acts, but also slightly unexpected names such as The Beach Boys, John Denver, Neil Diamond and Julio Iglesias.

——————————————————————-

Stevie with Paul McCartney.

Song title: Melody Man
Artist: Smokey Robinson
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Smokey Robinson
Originally released on: Warm Thoughts - Tamla 367
Release date: January 1980
Currently available on CD: The Wonder Of Stevie: Melody Man - Harmless HURTCD055
Further info: ‘Melody Man’ was co-written and co-produced by Stevie and Smokey Robinson.
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Song titles:
1. You Are My Heaven
2. Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long
Artist:
1. Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
2. Roberta Flack
Written by:
1. Stevie Wonder/Eric Mercury
2. Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway - Atlantic 16013
Release date: March 1980
Currently available on CD: Roberta Flack featuring Donny Hathaway - Atlantic 81469-2
Further info: The Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway duet ‘You Are My Heaven’ was in fact recorded in 1978 - or possibly in early 1979 - but not released until 1980. The pair was midway through the sessions for this album when, tragically, Hathaway committed suicide by jumping out of the window of his New York hotel room on January 13, 1979.

During preparations for the album, Roberta Flack visited Stevie in California and was offered five songs, out of which she chose ‘You Are My Heaven’ and ‘Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long’. It is not known which the other three titles were.

‘You Are My Heaven’ (Atlantic 3627, February? 1980) was the first single off the album, and although it was both catchy and upbeat in that particular Stevie Wonder way, it only reached number 47 on the US chart. Incidentally, Stevie also contributed uncredited backing vocals to the recording.

‘Don’t Make Me Wait Too Long’ was another standout track on the album, one of the many superb songs Stevie gave away during 1980. This recording, however, featured Roberta Flack only, and was probably recorded after Hathaway’s death.

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Song titles:
1. Let’s Get Serious
2. Where Are You Now
3. You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me
Artist: Jermaine Jackson
Written by:
1. Stevie Wonder/Lee Garrett
2. Stevie Wonder/Renee Hardaway
3. Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Let’s Get Serious - Motown 928
Release date: April? 1980
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print release Let’s Get Serious - Motown 530 217-2. ‘Let’s Get Serious’ and ‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’ are available on Ultimate Collection (see ‘I Think It’s Love’ below)
Further info: When the members of The Jackson 5 left Motown to sign with CBS in the mid-1970s, there was one member who stayed behind: Jermaine Jackson, who was married to Motown founder Berry Gordy’s daughter, Hazel. Nothing very much happened with Jermaine’s career until this album, which became a success largely thanks to Stevie’s contributions: the rousing title track ‘Let’s Get Serious’, a US Top Ten hit single (Motown 1469, March 1980; note: the single version is an edit), and the follow-up ballad ‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’ (Motown 1490, July? 1980). Stevie’s third song on the LP, the catchy ‘Where Are You Now’, should also have been a single - arguably, it would have been a more successful choice than ‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’, which peaked at number 34.

At any rate, Stevie’s contribution to the Let’s Get Serious album - recorded in 1979 - was a triumph for everyone involved. Stevie not only produced his own songs, but also provided most of the instrumental backing, even singing a few solo lines on the title track. Recalled Jermaine Jackson, “As well as Stevie writing and producing three songs for the album he also involved himself in the songs I did for myself. So much he wanted his songs to fit my concept.”

‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’ actually dated back to a 1974 recording session Stevie did for The Jackson 5. On that version, Jermaine was also the lead singer. However, the 1974 recording - and a song entitled ‘No News Is Good News’, made at the same time - remain unreleased.

The same year, Stevie recorded his own version of ‘You’re Supposed To Keep Your Love For Me’, during a session at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia. This recording, which has yet to be released, features bass, drums, string section, an extended muted trumpet solo and, of course, Stevie’s vocals and keyboards.

‘Let’s Get Serious’ had also been around for a few years. Reportedly, Stevie originally planned to release his own version of the song, but when Berry Gordy heard it he persuaded Stevie to donate ‘Let’s Get Serious’ to Jermaine Jackson.

Song title: Betcha’ Wouldn’t Hurt Me
Artist: Quincy Jones
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Stephanie Andrews
Originally released on: The Dude - A&M 3721
Release date: March? 1981
Currently available on CD: The Dude - A&M 393 721-2
Further info: Stevie’s musical collaboration with Quincy Jones dates back to 1973 and Jones’ album You’ve Got It Bad, Girl, which included his versions of two Stevie Wonder compositions: ‘Superstition’ and, of course, the title track. Stevie contributed harmonica and additional vocals to ‘Superstition’, even claiming in an interview that he preferred this version to the one included on his own Talking Book album.

‘Betcha’ Wouldn’t Hurt Me’ - one of Stevie’s very best songs of the 1980s - was included on Quincy Jones’ The Dude album and features lead vocals by Patti Austin. The character of the recording is very much defined by Stevie’s distinctive synthesizer playing. He also collaborated with Jones on the rhythm arrangement and contributed to the album’s title track.

Lyricist Stephanie Andrews’ collaboration with Stevie began in 1979 on the Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants album, where she wrote the lyrics for ‘A Seed’s A Star’. She later wrote the words for ‘Chemical Love’ (on the Jungle Fever album), ‘Treat Myself’ (on Conversation Peace), and the “giveaways” ‘If Ever’ (recorded by John Denver, see below) and ‘Finally’ (recorded by Diane Schuur, see Nineties And Beyond page). In addition to these songwriting contributions, Stephanie Andrews has often been credited as project coordinator on Stevie’s albums.
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Song title: What Are You Going To Do With It
Artist: Betty Wright
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Betty Wright
Originally released on: Betty Wright - Epic LP EPC 84882
Release date: June 1981
Currently available on CD: Free Soul Party - SRCS-8769 (Japanese release)
Further info: The energetic ‘What Are You Gonna Do With It’ was written by Stevie and Betty Wright, whose biggest hit was ‘Clean Up Woman’ in 1971. The song itself and Wright’s brilliant vocal performance makes it yet another highlight of Stevie’s 1980s output. ‘What Are You Gonna Do With It’ was written during the making of Stevie’s Hotter Than July album, to which Betty Wright contributed backing vocals (on ‘All I Do’, along with Michael Jackson, and on ‘Happy Birthday’).

During Stevie’s concert at Hollywood’s Roxy Club on August 24, 1980, the audience was treated to a rare live performance of the song, by Stevie and Betty Wright. ‘What Are You Gonna Do With It’ was also the first single off Wright’s album (Epic 51009, March? 1981), just missing the Top 40 on the US R&B chart.

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Song title: I Was Made To Love You
Artist: Maria Muldaur
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: There Is A Love - Myrrh 1114
Release date: 1982
Currently available on CD: No
Further info: ‘I Was Made To Love You’ was written in 1971, but wasn’t recorded and released until more than a decade later.

This song is a good example of the working relationship between Stevie and Syreeta Wright. “Although Stevie comes to you with the melody for his songs, he also comes up with the basic idea for lyrics,” Syreeta explained at one point. In this case, Stevie’s concept for the song consisted of the lines: “You’re as much of me as me…I’m going to shine my love/Shine my love/Shine my love on you - Yeah.” On the basis of these phrases, Syreeta then completed the lyrics.

Song title: What’s That You’re Doing
Artist: Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Paul McCartney
Originally released on: Paul McCartney album: Tug Of War - Columbia 37462
Release date: April 26, 1982
Currently available on CD: Tug Of War - Parlophone 7 89266 2
Further info: ‘What’s That You’re Doing’ was written and recorded during sessions for Paul McCartney’s Tug Of War album. In early 1981 McCartney spent little over a month at A.I.R. Studios on the island of Montserrat recording the album, with Stevie participating in the sessions between February 22 and March 2. The primary purpose of Stevie’s visit was, of course, the recording of the duet ‘Ebony And Ivory’, which went on to become a global smash hit - among the biggest either artist has ever enjoyed.

‘What’s That You’re Doing’ started out as a jam session, during the very last night of Stevie’s Montserrat visit. Stevie was playing a funky synthesizer riff, and Paul McCartney then joined in on drums. Throughout the sessions the jam was developed into a proper song. McCartney and other musicians later added overdubs, such as backing vocals, to the song.

The Twin Freaks remix

23 years after ‘What’s That You’re Doing’ was first released, on June 13, 2005 a remix album of Paul McCartney recordings was issued under the name Twin Freaks, as a vinyl-only release. This album contains an inspired remix of ‘What’s That You’re Doing’, updating the track quite tastefully for the current music scene. Also, towards the end of the song the remix features a few vocal lines from Stevie that were not included in the original mix.

So exactly what is the Twin Freaks project? To quote the press release, Twin Freaks features “the studio wizardry of London based DJ and Producer The Freelance Hellraiser AKA Roy Kerr. Best known for his unforgettable mash-up the 2002 bootleg ‘A Stroke Of Genius’. Hellraiser has since become one of the country’s most sought after remixers and last year caught the eye of music legend Paul McCartney. In the summer of 2004 Hellraiser toured Europe with Paul McCartney, opening each show with a twenty-five minute set of remixed McCartney tunes, which cumulated in the famous headline performance at Glastonbury.”

This collaboration eventually led to the Twin Freaks album, which is also available as a download (individual tracks or the entire album). See the link to the right.

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Download album or tracks

More about Twin Freaks at this site

Song title: With A Touch
Artist: Dionne Warwick
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Friends In Love - Arista LP AZ 9585
Release date: May 1982
Currently available on CD: Friends In Love - BMG BVCM37275 (Japanese release)
Further info: The ballad ‘With A Touch’ marked Stevie’s first collaboration with Dionne Warwick. In addition to writing the song, he also played piano on the track. Stevie himself has shown a special fondness for ‘With A Touch’: the song was a feature of many of his live concerts throughout the 1980s, although he has never released it himself.

Stevie and Dionne’s association would reach its commercial peak in the mid-1980s, most notably on the all-star 1985 hit ‘That’s What Friends Are For’.

Note: On Stevie’s soundtrack album The Woman In Red, Dionne Warwick was the sole vocalist on the track ‘Moments Aren’t Moments’. This would have qualified it for a separate entry in this list, but for the fact that it was featured on an album credited to Stevie himself.

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Song title:
1. You’re Playing Us Too Close
2. Try Jah Love
Artist: Third World
Written by:
1. Stevie Wonder
2. Stevie Wonder/Melody McCully
Originally released on: You’ve Got The Power - Columbia 37744
Release date: 1982
Currently available on CD: Best of Third World - Columbia Legacy CK 53578
Further info: Third World enjoyed their biggest commercial hit with their cover of The O’Jays’ ‘Now That We Found Love’ in 1978. Four years later, they were also fairly successful with these Stevie Wonder contributions, both of which were released as singles. ‘Try Jah Love’ (Columbia 02744) was the biggest hit of the two, entering the UK Top 50. An extended version of ‘Try Jah Love’ was also issued on a 12″ single.

The recording sessions took place at Stevie’s own Wonderland Studios in August 1981, at which time Stevie presented Third World with ‘You’re Playing Us Too Close’. He also played keyboards on the track. Although he was only meant to contribute one song to the group, fuelled by enthusiasm he returned with a brand new song for Third World the following day: ‘Try Jah Love’. Stevie produced the recording of this song and also played the piano. All in all, he spent three days recording with Third World.

The lyrics for ‘Try Jah Love’ were written by Melody McCully, who was a backing vocalist on Stevie’s recordings and concerts around this time. “[Both] songs are kicking hard against certain people and informing people as to what ‘jah love’ is, and to look towards certain directions,” explained Third World member Stephen ‘Cat’ Moore. “[’Try Jah Love’] is also meaningful because it is the first time a black American has written a song that really involves the Rastafarian movement as such. We got the feeling that when Stevie wrote those songs, he had listened to what we’d done before and just brought an extension of the concept.”

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Song title: Buttercup
Artist: Carl Anderson
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Absence Without Love - Epic 38063
Release date: 1982
Currently available on CD: The Wonder of Stevie - Harmless HURTCD051
Further info: Carl Anderson’s association with Stevie Wonder dated back to the mid-1970s, at which point, apparently, Anderson was signed to Motown. Reportedly, he was working with Stevie on some tracks at the time, but they were never released. However, it appears Anderson contributed to Stevie’s Songs In The Key Of Life album, although it is not known in what capacity or on which tracks(s) (he is not listed in the musician credits, only in the “Thank You” list).

In 1982, Anderson released his debut album, Absence Without Love, on Epic Records. The LP featured the attractive pop-soul track ‘Buttercup’, written by Stevie. Three years later the song was released as a single, prompting its inclusion on a second Carl Anderson album, the singer’s eponymous LP, released in 1986.

On February 23, 2004, Carl Anderson died of leukemia. Stevie performed ‘As’ and ‘If It’s Magic’ (both originally from Songs In The Key Of Life) at the funeral.

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Song title: The Crown
Artist: Gary Byrd And The G.B. Experience
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Gary Byrd
Originally released on: Wondirection 4507
Release date: July? 1983
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of print release Making Trax — Motown ZL 72187.
Further info: Stevie’s first foray into rap came with this lesson in African-American history by Gary Byrd. As a lyricist, Byrd had already contributed similarly-themed words for ‘Black Man’ on Stevie’s Songs In The Key Of Life album. On the same album he also wrote the lyrics for ‘Village Ghetto Land’, and later he penned the words for ‘Dark’n'Lovely’ on the Characters album. In 2000 he collaborated with Stevie on ‘Misrepresented People’, included on the soundtrack album for the movie Bamboozled.

Gary Byrd began writing the words for ‘The Crown’ in 1979. Two years later, Stevie heard the completed lyrics and asked if he could write the music. “I played it to Stevie over the phone,” recalled Byrd, “and he told me to fly to Los Angeles to record it with him. Stevie laid down the backing track quickly and I did the vocals and the company were excited about releasing it. I couldn’t believe Stevie was so satisfied because all his songs go through a long evolutionary process.”

‘The Crown’ was recorded at Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles. It was also the very first song to be released on Stevie’s short-lived record label, Wondirection. Despite instrumental backing and even a few solo vocal lines from Stevie, ‘The Crown’ was not a big success in the US, only reaching number 69 on the US R&B chart. However, it fared much better in the UK, where it hit the Top Ten.

Song title: Crush On You
Artist: Finis Henderson
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Finis - Motown 6036 ML
Release date: 1983
Currently available on CD: Finis - Motown POCT1937 (Japanese release)
Further info: During the period 1983—1985, while he was working on his In Square Circle album, Stevie produced and/or wrote several songs for other artists. Meanwhile, the release of his own album was delayed, an additional reason being the 1984 soundtrack album for The Woman In Red, which Stevie also dashed off during this period. Of course, the soundtrack ended up giving him his biggest-ever hit: ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’.

Former Weapon Of Peace vocalist Finis Henderson signed to Motown in 1983, but apparently only recorded this fairly unsuccessful album for the label. The pretty ballad ‘Crush On You’ was Stevie’s contribution to the album.
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Song title: Whatcha Talking ‘Bout
Artist: Musical Youth
Written by: Trad. Arr. Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Different Style! - MCA 5454
Release date: December? 1983
Currently available on CD: Maximum Volume - The Best Of Musical Youth - Island 131 691-2 (UK release)
Further info: The time spent at the top by British group Musical Youth was short, but intense. After their breakthrough 1982 hit ‘Pass The Dutchie’, the group released their second album the following year, featuring Stevie’s arrangement of the traditional ‘Whatcha Talking ‘Bout’. The song was released as a single in April 1984 (MCA 52364), although it didn’t meet with very much success.

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Song title: Remembering The Sixties
Artist: George Duke
Written by: Stevie Wonder/George Duke
Originally released on: Thief In The Night - Elektra 60398
Release date: May 1985
Currently available on CD: No. Was available on out-of-print CD Thief In The Night; used copies are sometimes available, try the link.
Further info: This reflective ballad, written by Stevie and keyboard player George Duke, is one of the few songs for other artists that Stevie himself doesn’t appear on - much to Duke’s regret, it appears. “‘Remembering The Sixties’ would have been a hit with Stevie Wonder singing,” he has commented.

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Song title: I Do Love You
Artist: The Beach Boys
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: The Beach Boys - Caribou 39946
Release date: June 6, 1985
Currently available on CD: Keepin’ The Summer Alive/The Beach Boys - Brother Records/Capitol 5 27948 2
Further info: ‘I Do Love You’, Stevie’s contribution to The Beach Boys’ eponymous album, was probably recorded in late 1984. It seems Stevie provided a backing track with most of the instrumentation, which was then submitted to The Beach Boys and their producer Steve Levine for overdubbing of vocals and additional instruments. The lead vocals on the song are credited to Carl Wilson and Al Jardine. However, towards the end of the song, a voice sounding remarkably like Stevie can be heard to interject “baby!” on a couple of times.

Incidentally, back in 1967, The Beach Boys recorded a version of Stevie’s ‘I Was Made To Love Her’ on their Wild Honey album. This recording also featured a lead vocal by Carl Wilson.

‘I Do Love You’ marks the final Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright collaboration to be made public to date. At the beginning of the 1980s there were plans for a third Syreeta album, or at least some kind of ambitious collaboration between the pair, but the project never materialised. ‘I Do Love You’ may possibly stem from this project.

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Song title: If Ever
Artist: John Denver
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Stephanie Andrews
Originally released on: Dreamland Express - RCA 5458
Release date: June 1985
Currently available on CD: RCA 5458
Further info: ‘If Ever’, given to the late John Denver, is one of the few Stevie songs to first be issued by another artist and then recorded and released by the composer himself. In this case, Stevie released his own version on the soundtrack album for the 1998 movie Down In The Delta (Virgin 46914). Prior to that he had also produced a version of the song for Grady Harrell & Tyler Collins in 1989 (see below).

In addition to writing the song, Stevie also plays harmonica on John Denver’s version of ‘If Ever’.
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Song title: Hold On To Your Love
Artist: Smokey Robinson
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Smokey Robinson
Originally released on: Smoke Signals - Tamla 6156
Release date: October 1985
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD Smoke Signals (Motown TCD06156TD). Used copies are sometimes available, try the link.
Further info: Stevie’s final song for Smokey Robinson to date, the last in a long line of tunes, ‘Hold On To Your Love’ existed in embryonic form in the early 1980s. However, it was later completed and supplied with lyrics for inclusion on Smokey Robinson’s Smoke Signals album. ‘Hold On To Your Love’ was also issued as the album’s lead-off single (Tamla 1828), reaching number 11 on the US R&B chart.

The track was co-produced by Stevie and Smokey, sounding very much like a typical mid-1980s Stevie Wonder production, with lots of synthesizers and drum machines.

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Song titles:
1. Do I
2. Everything’s Coming Up Roses
Artist: Eddie Murphy
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: How Could It Be - CBS FC 39952
Release date: October? 1985
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD How Could It Be. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: In the second half of the 1980s, comedian Eddie Murphy began a parallel music career, garnering a massive hit with ‘Party All The Time’. Stevie contributed two songs to Murphy’s first “music album”: ‘Do I’ and ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’. Although both songs were recorded at Stevie’s Wonderland studios - and features instrumental backing from him - only ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’ bears a production credit to Stevie.

‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’ is one of the first songs to feature longtime Stevie collaborator Keith John on backing vocals. John has been providing backing vocals for Stevie ever since, and in 1987 he was the recipient of an exclusive song as well (see ‘I Can Only Be Me’ below).

In 1993, Stevie again appeared on an Eddie Murphy recording, playing harmonica on the song ‘Yeah’ on Murphy’s Love’s Alright album.

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Song title: Chan’s Song (Never Said)
Artist: Herbie Hancock/Ron Carter/Tony Williams/Bobby McFerrin
Written by: Herbie Hancock/Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Round Midnight - CBS 40464
Release date: October? 1985
Currently available on CD: Sony 85811
Further info: The creation of ‘Chan’s Song (Never Said)’ is somewhat muddled in confusion. According to Stevie’s own recollection, he had nothing to do with Herbie Hancock’s melody, but only wrote the lyrics - although he was in the same room as Hancock when the tune was written. However, according to Hancock, he and Stevie collaborated on the music, and then Stevie wrote the lyrics.

‘Chan’s Song (Never Said)’ first surfaced in the 1986 movie Round Midnight, where it was featured as a wordless vocal performance by Bobby McFerrin. It was later re-recorded, with Stevie’s lyrics, by Dianne Reeves (see 1990s section). For this reason, this is the only song to appear twice in this list.

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Song title: I Think It’s Love
Artist: Jermaine Jackson & New Edition
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Jermaine Jackson/Michael Omartian
Originally released on: Jermaine Jackson album: Precious Moments - Arista 8277
Release date: 1986
Currently available on CD: Ultimate Collection - Hip-O 157836
Further info: Six years after their successful collaboration on the Let’s Get Serious album, Stevie and Jermaine Jackson were reunited on this track from Jermaine’s Precious Moments album. ‘I Think It’s Love’, performed together with New Edition, was released as the first single (Arista 9444, February? 1986) from the album, resulting in a US Top 20 hit. The song was also released as a 12″ single, featuring an extended mix by album producer Michael Omartian.
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Song title: Think Your Love Away
Artist: Cindy
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Japanese album: Love Life - Kitty KTRC 1147
Release date: April 25, 1986
Currently available on CD: No (has apparently been available on an out-of-print CD)
Further info: Japanese singer Cindy was the recipient of the song ‘Think Your Love Away’. Stevie contributed instrumental backing to the recording, and also on the track ‘Spread The Love’, written by his back-up singer Melody McCully. Both recordings were made at Stevie’s Wonderlove Studios.

Song title: Lost In Hollywood
Artist: Neil Diamond
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Neil Diamond
Originally released on: Headed For The Future - Columbia 40368
Release date: May 1986
Currently available on CD: Headed For The Future - Columbia CK 40368
Further info: ‘Lost In Hollywood’ was produced by Stevie, who also contributed instrumental backing and additional vocals. The song was featured on Neil Diamond’s Headed For The Future album, released in conjunction with the May 1986 airing of the television special Neil Diamond…Hello Again. The television special also featured a guest appearance by Stevie Wonder, with the pair duetting on a playful version of ‘Sir Duke’.
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Song title: Remember My Love
Artist: Bread & Butter
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Japanese album: Remember My Love - Fun House 23 FB 20 51
Release date: May 25, 1986
Currently available on CD: Super Best 2000 - Fun House FHCF 9602 (Japanese release)
Further info: Little is known about ‘Remember My Love’, beyond the fact that it was written and produced by Stevie. We would love to receive more background information on this recording.

Incidentally, the Super Best 2000 compilation album also contains Bread & Butter’s Japanese version of ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’: ‘Tokubetsu na Kimochi De’.
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Song title: The Pick-Up Artist
Artist: Keith John
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Pick-Up Artist (title song on movie soundtrack)
Release date: September 11, 1987 (US movie release date)
Currently available: The Pick-Up Artist - 20th Century Fox 024543101499 (DVD release in the US)
Further info: Stevie wrote this theme song for the Molly Ringwald/Robert Downey Jr vehicle The Pick-Up Artist. However, the complete version of the song is not featured in the movie, and a soundtrack album was never released.
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Song title: I Can Only Be Me
Artist: Keith John
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: School Daze - EMI-Manhattan 48680
Release date: November 1987
Currently available on CD: School Daze - Capitol CSP 19970
Further info: The ballad ‘I Can Only Be Me’ was submitted by Stevie for inclusion on the original soundtrack to the 1987 Spike Lee movie, School Daze. Stevie had already performed the song himself live on a television special in 1986, before the movie was released. However, he has never issued ‘I Can Only Be Me’ on record.

Stevie Wonder and Spike Lee first met in 1986, during Stevie’s In Square Circle tour. Stevie submitted two songs for the director’s selection. Ultimately, Lee chose ‘I Can Only Be Me’ - the other song was titled ‘Sad But True’ and remains unreleased. Said Stevie, “I did the music because I have great admiration for Spike Lee, I also did it because we’ve become very good friends.”

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Song title: My Love
Artist: Julio Iglesias & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Julio Iglesias album: Non Stop - Columbia 40995
Release date: May 23, 1988
Currently available on CD: Non Stop - Columbia 40995
Further info: The no-holds-barred ballad ‘My Love’, performed as a duet between Stevie and Julio Iglesias, was written in conjunction with the recording of Stevie’s Characters album, in the autumn of 1986. The song was released as a single (Columbia 07781, May? 1988), and although it met with limited success in the US, it reached the Top Five in the UK.

‘My Love’ was co-produced by Stevie and Humberto Gatica (the main producer of the album). Stevie also plays harmonica on the recording, as well as on the opening track, ‘Love Is On Our Side’.

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Song titles:
1. Two In Love
2. You And Me
Artist: Tyler Collins & Grady Harrell
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Tyler Collins album: Girls Nite Out - RCA 9642
Release date: October 20, 1989
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print release Tyler Collins Girls Nite Out - RCA 9642. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: The tracks ‘Two In Love’ and ‘You And Me’ were produced by Stevie - who also contributed instrumental backing - in 1988. At the time, he was working on his never-completed “part two” album of the Characters project.

Tyler Collins had been a member of the teen R&B group Boys Next Door, and Girls Nite Out was her debut solo album. The album yielded a couple of hits on the US R&B chart, although none of Stevie’s contributions were among them. Collins has continued writing and recording songs, and has also found work as an actress.

Grady Harrell was almost a member of successful disco group Shalamar, but instead embarked on a solo career. In addition to guesting on the Tyler Collins album, the recording of ‘You And Me’ was included on his own album, Come Play With Me, also released in 1989. Furthermore, Harrell’s album included a version of Stevie’s ‘If Ever’, originally recorded by John Denver (see above) and later by Stevie himself.

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The Nineties And Beyond

Stevie’s Nineties And Beyond

After three decades in the spotlight and an output of hundreds of songs - for himself, for other artists, and some that are unreleased to this day - the 1990s saw Stevie slow down quite a bit. In the almost two decades since Characters in 1987, only three studio albums have been released: Music From The Movie Jungle Fever (1991), Conversation Peace (1995) and A Time To Love (2005), along with the widely acclaimed live double-CD, Natural Wonder (1995).

Similarly, his contributions to other artists have also decreased in number. Stevie has given one clue as to his reasons for cutting down on the collaborations. “I enjoy working with people but I think what happens is that my expectations are too high… I don’t want them to be like me, but I want it to be good and a writer is very protective with his melodies and stuff so if you don’t get it the way you want it…”

Nevertheless, Stevie is still an active artist, performing live regularly. Also, in addition to the albums mentioned above, he released an album’s worth of new songs on one-off singles and soundtrack albums between 1996 and 2000.

And quite possibly, every now and then he will write songs for other artists as well…

——————————————————————-

Stevie Wonder today.

Song title: We Didn’t Know
Artist: Whitney Houston & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Whitney Houston album: I’m Your Baby Tonight - Arista 8616
Release date: November 6, 1990
Currently available on CD: I’m Your Baby Tonight - Arista 8616
Further info: The catchy Whitney Houston duet ‘We Didn’t Know’ was a good start to the new decade. Unfortunately, its hit potential was never tested, for the song was never released as a single. The backing track for ‘We Didn’t Know’ was produced and arranged by Stevie at Wonderland Studios, while the lead vocals were recorded in New York.

Already back in 1988, Stevie mentioned plans of recording a duet with Whitney Houston. The song he felt was suitable was entitled ‘Running With The Wind’, reportedly a reggae-flavoured tune written by Stevie. However, the song has never been released in any form. It would take until ‘We Didn’t Know’ before Stevie “made a dream of mine come true”, as Ms Houston phrased it in her album liner notes.

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Song title: Strong Is Our Love
Artist: Marva Hicks & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Marva Hicks album: Marva Hicks - Polydor 847 209-2
Release date: March 5, 1991
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD Marva Hicks. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: Stevie first met Marva Hicks in London, and she became his tour backing vocalists in the mid-1980s. Hicks also sang backing vocals on Stevie’s Characters album. Her own eponymous debut album included a duet with Stevie, ‘Strong Is Our Love’, a mid-tempo number featuring Wonderesque instrumentation typical of his late 1980s output. Stevie produced the recording at his Wonderland Studios.

‘Strong Is Our Love’ was written no later than 1989, which was the year the song was published. Incidentally, the phrase “strong is our love” was also prominently featured in the song ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, recorded by Eddie Murphy (see Eighties section).
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Song title: The Force Behind The Power
Artist: Diana Ross
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Force Behind The Power - Motown 37463-6316-2
Release date: September 1991
Currently available on CD: The Force Behind The Power - EMI CDP7971542 (UK release)
Further info: 26 years after Stevie wrote ‘Baby Doll’ for The Supremes, it was finally time to write another song to be graced by Diana Ross’ lead vocals. The catchy title track on her The Force Behind The Power album was arranged and produced by Stevie, who also played all the instruments. The track was released as a single, reaching the UK Top 30 in February 1992.

In the summer of 1991, Stevie was reportedly working on ‘The Force Behind The Power’ in his suite at the Conrad Hotel in London, overdubbing suggestions onto DAT tapes that were sent to him.

The Force Behind The Power (the album) also features a cover of Stevie’s ‘Blame It On The Sun’.
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Song title: Chan’s Song (Never Said)
Artist: Dianne Reeves
Written by: Herbie Hancock/Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Dianne Reeves - Blue Note BLJ 46906
Release date: December 9, 1991
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD Dianne Reeves. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: This composition appears twice in this list: here and in the Eighties section. The reason is that the first recording, on the soundtrack album to the 1986 movie Round Midnight, does not feature Stevie’s words for the song. The first version of ‘Chan’s Song (Never Said)’ with lyrics was released five years later, on this album by jazz singer Dianne Reeves .
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Song title: Go On And On
Artist: Elton John & Gladys Knight
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Elton John album: Duets - Rocket Record Company 518 478-2
Release date: November 23, 1993
Currently available on CD: Duets - MCA 10926
Further info: Eight years after their global mega-hit with ‘That’s What Friends Are For’, this track reunites three quarters of the line-up: Stevie, Elton John and Gladys Knight. Stevie wrote the song, contributed the entire backing track - including backing vocals - and also produced the recording.
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Song title: Why I Feel This Way
Artist: Take 6 & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Mark Kibble/Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Take 6 album: Join The Band - Reprise 45497
Release date: June 1994
Currently available on CD: Join The Band - Reprise 45497
Further info: Stevie’s admiration for vocal group Take 6 began in the late 1980s, at which time he praised their eponymous 1988 debut album profusely. A few years later, he collaborated with them for the first time, when they performed ‘O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion’ on the 1992 various artists album Handel’s Messiah - A Soulful Celebration.

Next up was the recording of the track ‘I’m New’ on Stevie’s Conversation Peace album, to which the group contributed beautiful backing vocals. Although the album wasn’t released until 1995, the song was actually recorded in 1993. Then, in 1994, came ‘Why I Feel This Way’, featuring keyboards and lead vocal by Stevie, issued on Take 6’s Join The Band album. The vocal and rhythm arrangement for the song was made by Stevie and Take 6 member Mark Kibble.

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Song title: Gates Groove
Artist: Lionel Hampton
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: For The Love Of Music - MoJazz 314530554-2
Release date: July 18, 1995
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD For The Love Of Music. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: The instrumental ‘Gates Groove’ was written for the late vibraphonist Lionel Hampton. A true jazz legend, Hampton was 86 years old at the time of the recording (he passed away in 2002). The track was produced by Stevie, who also contributed harmonica. The other featured musicians on the recording were the equally well-respected Joshua Redman (saxophone), Patrice Rushen (piano & keyboards) and Ndugu Chancler (Drums).

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Song title: How Come, How Long
Artist: Babyface & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Babyface
Originally released on: Babyface album: The Day - Epic 485386 2
Release date: October 29, 1996
Currently available on CD: The Day - Sony 66089
Further info: ‘How Come, How Long’ was a duet between Stevie and Babyface. Babyface has commented that he would never have dared tackling the song on his own, feeling that it required an artist of Stevie’s stature - he has even referred to him as his “musical guru”. Although ‘How Come, How Long’ was only an album cut and actually never issued as a single, the song still managed to reach the Top 50 on the US singles chart (presumably through airplay).

In 1997, ‘How Come, How Long’ was performed live by Stevie and Babyface on the television show MTV Unplugged. The concert was subsequently released on the Babyface album MTV Unplugged NYC 1997 (Epic 68779). That album also included a second Wonder/Babyface duet, ‘Gone Too Soon’, originally recorded by Michael Jackson.
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Song title: Peace Wanted Just To Be Free
Artist: Luciano Pavarotti & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Michele Centonze /Jovanotti
Originally released on: Pavarotti & Friends album: For The Children Of Liberia - Decca 460 600-2
Release date: November 1998
Currently available on CD: Pavarotti & Friends For The Children Of Liberia - Decca 460 600-2
Further info: ‘Peace Wanted Just To Be Free’ was written especially for this charity concert for the benefit of the children of Liberia, one in a series of similar charity events arranged by Luciano Pavarotti since the early 1990s.

‘Peace Wanted Just To Be Free’ was a bilingual duet between Stevie and Pavarotti, with the famous opera singer performing his parts in Italian. The live recording took place in Modena, Italy on June 9, 1998. During the concert Stevie also performed a version of ‘Higher Ground’, which was included on this album.
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Song title: I Love You
Artist: Raven-Symoné
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Undeniable - Crash 417087
Release date: May 4, 1999
Currently available on CD: Not available, was on out-of-print CD Undeniable. Used copies are sometimes available, try the links.
Further info: Raven-Symoné is mostly known for her roles in television shows such as The Cosby Show and Hangin’ With Mr Cooper. She recorded the song ‘I Love You’ for inclusion on her Undeniable album.

Stevie arranged and produced the track and plays all the instruments. Kimberley Brewer (see ‘I Love You More’ below) contributed backing vocals, while some programming was done by Stevie’s son, Keita Morris.

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Song title: A Song For Children
Artist: Masashi Sada
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Masashi Sada
Originally released on: CD single release: Imperial Records/Teichiku Entertainment TEDN-352 (Japanese release)
Release date: April 26, 2000
Currently available on CD: No
Comments: The medium-paced ‘A Song For Children’ was first performed in Japanese on a Japanese television show entitled Kouhaku Uta Gassen, broadcast on December 31, 1999. The performers were a group of artists, featuring lyricist Masashi Sada as lead vocalist. The theme of the lyrics for ‘A Song For Children’ is Life, Earth and Future.

The instrumental backing for the performance was recorded and produced by Stevie. In 2000, the song was released on a CD single by Masashi Sada.

Around the time of the original television performance Stevie also made a studio-recorded English language version of this song, entitled Lead Of The Sun. However, this version remains unreleased.

Song title: Finally
Artist: Diane Schuur & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Stephanie Andrews
Originally released on: Friends For Schuur - Concord Jazz 4898
Release date: September 26, 2000
Currently available on CD: Friends For Schuur - Concord Jazz 4898
Further info: Acclaimed jazz singer Diane Schuur had long expressed her desire to have a song written for her by Stevie. In the year 2000, her wish came true with this jazzy duet. As Ms Schuur herself so appropriately commented: “Finally!”

At the end of the last century, Stevie often talked about his ambition to record a jazz album. With this collaboration, he accomplished at least part of this goal.

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Song title: I Love You More
Artist: Kimberly Brewer & Stevie Wonder
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Music Of Love - For Tomorrow Children - Polydor UICE-1002 (Japanese CD)
Release date: November 8, 2000
Currently available on CD: A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 5 - A&M 493 138-2
Further info: Kimberley Brewer has been contributing backing vocals for Stevie Wonder since the early 1990s, on albums such as Jungle Fever and Conversation Peace. This romantic duet with Stevie was originally released on the Japanese album Music For Love - For Tomorrow Children. In 2001, it was included on the album A Very Special Christmas 5. This CD also features Stevie’s duet with Wyclef Jean on ‘Merry Christmas Baby’.

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Back to Stevie Wonder’s Songs For Other Artists