Best Stevie Wonder Song from Talking Book to Songs In The Key Of Life

IMPOSSIBLE

though my heart tells me its 'you and i'

This is a pretty cruel one.

Completely impossible. There's at least 10 tracks battling each other for top position here, and so many good memories for each one. I think it'll be an Innervisions one, but then I love "Isn't She Lovely", "Love's In Need of Love" and a few off Talking Book.

Maybe He's Misstra Know It All or Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing.

i think it's down to "creepin'" or "contusion" (today)

Does anyone else really like Easy Goin’ Evening (My Mama’s Call)?

My very arbitrary ranking of the whole bunch, separated into groups of the unassailable, the classic, the great and the merely pretty good.

Summer Soft
Golden Lady
You and I
Another Star
Living For The City
Superstition
Too High
Creepin'
Jesus Children Of America
Visions
Isn't She Lovely

Please Don't Go
You've Got It Bad Girl
Smile Please
Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing
Too Shy To Say
All Day Sucker
Higher Ground
Lookin' For Another Pure Love
Sir Duke
As
Bird Of Beauty
Black Man
Boogie On Reggae Woman

Saturn
Ordinary Pain
You Haven't Done Nothin
Pastime Paradise
Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
Knocks Me Off My Feet
Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing
Joy Inside My Tears
All In Love Is Fair
They Won't Go When I Go
Contusion
Tuesday Heartbreak
Big Brother
You Are the Sunshine Of My Life
I Wish
He's Misstra Know-It-All

Have A Talk With God
If It's Magic
Love's In Need Of Love Today
It Ain't No Use
Maybe Your Baby
I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)
Village Ghetto Land
Blame It On The Sun
Ebony Eyes
Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

xpost, haha, apparently not me

I like it because it makes me laugh.

Gotta go with "I Wish." Absolutely irresistible groove, but I guess you could say that about a lot of these songs.

Oh fucking man there was no way I could pick this if I thought about it, I just did it whim-style and went with "As."

this is impossible

standing outside my school aged 13, big black dude with ghettoblaster on shoulder passes by, and the opening arpeggio of sir duke rings out. one of those moments you never forget

Smile Please is a personal favorite.

Ordinary Pain, because the melody, vocals, and production get me right now, but I've never seen a run like this where it could just be any of them...

Right now, an hour before bed, I want to hear "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)." The way it starts tentative, then just keeps unfurling layer upon layer of affirmative bliss.

Totally impossible, but going with "Jesus Children"

Bumping this every day until poll close.

whim style was heaven is ten zillion for me but tomorrow I would pick something different.
Right answer is probably living for the city.

One of these days, I'll hear what it is that everyone else seems to hear in "I Believe." As it stands, it's "You and I" that's the transformative knockout ballad on Talking Book, for me.

All Day Sucker

Knocks Me Off My Feet. God, what a chorus.

So I'm voting for the one I ranked at the top, "Summer Soft." I can think of no other pop song that just nails it from top to bottom like that one -- songwriting, chord progressions, vocal performance, production balance, even the overall theme (time's compression with age) is beautifully matched with its structure, which begins lackadaisically and gathers momentum with surprising rapidity. And his key changes at the end are seamless. An absolutely perfect song.

Creepin' — such a mysterious and dreamy melody, smooth bass, and Minnie Ripperton!

bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh
bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh

DAH-DOO DOO DOO DOOOOOO DOODOO
DOOT DOO DOODOO DOOOOOOO DOODOO
DAH-DOOO DAH-DOOOOO DAH-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh
bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh bu-du-buh

He's Misstra Know-It-All

^^

i can't wait for jordan sargetn's opinion on this very important subject!

thinking 'ordinary pain' or 'visions' or 'golden lady'

the fact that he did this all in about 5 years doesn't seem possible to me.

"You've Got It Bad Girl" = yumz

The fact that he did all this while 21-26 years old also doesn't seem possible to me.

UGH i feel unaccomplished when i see shit like that. i tell myself steve reich didn't really get going until he was in his 30s, and then i think, fuck, i'd have to make something as good as steve reich has done in my 30s.

I love that the first few seconds of "You Got It Bad, Girl" sound almost exactly like the first few seconds of Dan Hartman's "I Can Dream About You."

YES.

love sir duke but wish it was as cool sounding and heavy as superstition and others

The fact that he did all this while 21-26 years old also doesn't seem possible to me.

That shouldn't be at all surprising. Music is a young person's game. Dylan was 25 by the time he did Blonde ON Blonde. Hendrix died at 27, and at 30, John Lennon was the oldest Beatle when they broke up.

The only other creative field where youth has a clear advantage is Physics. Newton and Einstein were both for all intents and purposes, washed up by their late 20s.

Ringo was older than John.

btw, this is still impossible

As

Music is a young person's game

I guess you're right. Goes back to Mozart, et al.

Ringo was older than John.

OK, but not by much. He just celebrated his 70th, so the oldest he possibly could have been when they broke up was 30, 31.

That's why Bob Dylan in the past ten years, his 60s, has been so remarkable. He's making records now that are on par with just about anything he's done.

In that they're not particularly interesting but critics fall all over themselves to deify his talent, yeah.

Bravo!

I second that Bravo!

Didn't mean to kill the thread by badmouthing Dylan.

Yes, that's a bump.

It's fine: Stevie's "Blowin' in the Wind" >>>> Dylan's.

So true.

He's a theory wonk, Stevie is. Uses whole-tone scales.

visions

As

yeah, yeah, sesame street vers etc. but the rly interesting thing to me is the diff between having a horn section and not -- the menace of the horn version...

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me4dTKAaEu0&feature=related

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

If "Visions" and "Creepin" don't get any votes, I'll be really saddened.

Sort of hoping against hope (and, yeah, taste) that something other than "Superstition" or "As" wins.

Oh, and anything less than 100 total votes is a travesty.

voted visions. summer soft is such a beautiful song, yeah.

voted visions. summer soft is such a beautiful song, yeah.

― horseshoe, Wednesday, September 8, 2010 9:06 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

voted visions too!

"summer soft" has a beautiful verse, but ive always found that SHES GOOOOOOOOONE part super annoying

The modulation between the chords underneath is not.

And neither is the vocal, but ymmv.

"Sir Duke" is the dark horse I think.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) 5

You and I 1

:(

Wow, one of two votes for Knocks Me Off My Feet :/

Not nearly enough votes, smh.

Most surprising result = 4 votes for Heaven Is..

Also, had no idea "Heaven is 10 Zillion" was so beloved (in our sample group).

xpost!

I'm more surprised neither "Another Star" nor "Isn't She Lovely" got a single vote.

Haha yeah never heard it mentioned ever!

It's a really nice tune and perfectly embodies FFF's vibe, but jeez.

Please Don't Go i've always thought was the real winner om FFF. Still a ludicrously overlooked album, mainly because it's not got a massive-o hit on it.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

F^3 is probably my favorite of these four albums these days.

You and I 1

this was me

fff is so awesome, esp creepin and smile please

"they won't go when i go" is a real gem too. beautiful song.

but SO depressing tho... george michael covered that abt 15 years ago as a B-Side.

yup, though I gotta say Stevie's version is miles better, but it was a nice surprise on Listen Without Prejudice.

the version he sang at MJ's funeral was heartbreaking....

Thanks to this thread, I've managed to set off my whole team at work humming the melody from Sir Duke.

the version he sang at MJ's funeral was heartbreaking....

yeah. and like 'i never dreamed you'd leave in summer', his choice of songs was perfect

i've had Have a Talk with God in my head lately as Snoop used it as the basis for the chorus of one of his songs on Blue Carpet Treatment, which I"ve been spinning...

this alkaholiks track that just rinses the opening riff from 'too high'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC0q0TJur2c
my favourite stevie sample (aside from the 'sir duke' sample that opens tribe's 'footprints'

Not nearly enough votes, smh.

Didn't vote on the grounds that some twattish rock band will get polls for best tracks on their individual crappy albums but Stevie has to have 4 of the best albums ever recorded all shoved together

if only there was some way you could start indiv. polls for stevie's albums eh, tom?

Would Vote

if only there was some way you could start indiv. polls for stevie's albums eh, tom?

No point now is there? ;)

i'd certainly find it (only marginally) easier to vote in indiv. album polls

might be worth polling all the songs that didn't get a single vote, maybe?

Indeed, there's more than a few good songs there!

i honestly don't think there's a bad one among them. not even 'isn't she lovely'.

fuck it, i'd even rep for 'i just called to say i love you'. fuck jack black.

1970s Stevie Wonder Album Poll
The INNERVISIONS (Album) Poll!
What's the best track on "Fulfillingness First Finale"?
POLL IN THE KEY OF LIFE
Did I Hear You Say HOTTER THAN JULY Poll?

(Can't seem to find Talking Book poll, but know it was done.)

+ "Loves you more than I love my Clavinet" MUSIC OF MY MIND Poll

Ah, my faith in ILM has been restored

I'm all for redoing those polls every three or four months, tbh.

does anyone mind if i poll the songs that didn't get a vote? would that be excessive? because i think it could be fun...

By all means.

done! Stevie Wonder's Classic 4-album run - the ones that got away