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If you grew up watching Eddie Murphy and Jo Piscopo parody Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra, or have only seen recent performances by Wonder in which he looks almost like a self-parody of what Murphy was doing, you probably don’t ‘get’ why so many call Stevie Wonder one of the great geniuses of modern popular music.
When you look back at the period from the early and middle 1970s in particular, his compositions – songs like You Are the Sunshine of My Life, Higher Ground, Superstition, My Cherie Amour, Signed-Sealed-Delivered, and the entire albums Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and Songs in the Key of Life remain major milestones in popular music. Wonder created songs that were musically interesting as well as catchy, with great melodies and significant lyrics.
This live performance was recorded in the wake of Innervisions, featuring many songs from that album. This video isn’t just a song … it is a full half-hour live ‘concert’ from 1974 on the German TV show Musikladen/Beat Club! Here is the set list:
1. Jam
2. Contusion
3. Higher Ground
4. Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
5. I Can See The Sun In Late December
6. He’s Misstra Know-It-All
7. Living For The City
8. Superstition
So go ahead and check out this amazing show by one of the truly legendary figures in popular music.
