Line #30 Music/StevieWonder


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stevie_wonder.jpg]]
2	%%
3	->''When you believe in things,\
4	that you don't understand then you suffer.\
5	Superstition ain't the way!''
6	-->-- "Superstition"
7
8	Stevland Hardaway Morris (né Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as [[StageNames Stevie Wonder]], is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He was born premature, and was blinded due to a medical mistake while recovering in intensive care. He first became famous as "Little" Stevie Wonder as a supporting act on the Creator/{{Motown}} Records roster. He could play keyboards and various percussion instruments, but it was his harmonica talents that most impressed Berry Gordy, and featured in Wonder's first hit, "Fingertips Part 2" (1963), a live recording of a mostly impromptu performance. (Listen closely, and you'll hear the bassist for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas stammering, "What key? What key?" after he got on stage thinking Stevie was done performing.)
9
10	Even at his young age, Wonder attempted to be progressive with his singing and song choices, notably his recording the Music/BobDylan song "Blowin' in the Wind", which some at Motown thought was a mistake. While several of his [[TheSixties 1960s]] hits, particularly "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and his cover of "For Once In My Life", have proven durable, it's his material starting with 1972's ''Music/TalkingBook'' up through 1976's ''Music/SongsInTheKeyOfLife'' that is probably his most popular and well-regarded by critics. These songs even broke the alleged Album Rock "color barrier", thanks in no small part to his performing the ''Talking Book'' material on a tour with Music/{{The Rolling Stones\|Band}} at that time.
11
12	Today, although his days as a major radio force are over, Wonder is still revered by many. He's also known for his political activism, from his criticisms in-song of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon; to his song "Happy Birthday", which popularized the idea of Martin Luther King Jr. Day; up to his very vocal endorsement and support of UsefulNotes/BarackObama. Wonder was inducted into the UsefulNotes/RockAndRollHallOfFame in 1989, and is also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame. In 1985, he won a Best Original Song [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]] for "I Just Called to Say I Love You" and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
13
14	'''Albums by Wonder with their own page:'''
15	* ''Music/TalkingBook'' (1972)
16	* ''Music/{{Innervisions}}'' (1973)
17	* ''Music/SongsInTheKeyOfLife'' (1976).
18
19	----
20	!!''Don't want nothing to be wrong with my part-time troper'':
21	* AgeProgressionSong: "Living for the City"
22	* AlliterativeTitle: ''Music of My Mind'', ''Fulfillingness' First Finale''
23	* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: Wonder does this hilariously in the intro to "Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing".
24	* BlessedWithSuck: His blindness was the result of getting too much oxygen while in the ICU after being born premature. He was lucky to be alive at all. And later, he discovered that another baby born premature that day had gotten only slightly ''less'' oxygen and died mere days later.
25	* BlindBlackGuy and BlindMusician: Together with Music/RayCharles probably one of the most iconic examples.
26	* ChildPopstar: He started when he was seven.
27	* ChildProdigy: Began his career at a young age and topped the charts with the live album ''The 12 Year Old Genius''. He still holds the record for the youngest artist to get to number one.
28	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: "I Was Born To Love Her" (starting out as PuppyLove and ending up the Victorious [=CFR=] subtype).
29	* CoverVersion: Being both a writer and performer for Creator/{{Motown}}, this was often inverted. Two examples:
30	** He wrote "Superstition" with the intention of giving it to Jeff Beck (whom he was collaborating with for the ''Music/TalkingBook'' album), but his record label [[ExecutiveMeddling released his version first]]. ...Which went to #1 and became a SignatureSong for Stevie.
31	** And in 1966 (at the age of 16), he wrote "All I Do (Is Think About You)" for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqbvX_sYoN0 Tammy Terrell to record]]. But it largely flew under the radar; [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ9Pa41KJjM his own version]] recorded in 1980 is much better known.
32	* DisabledSnarker: He's known to occasionally make jokes about his blindness such as [[TakeThat criticizing US President Donald Trump]] by joking that "letting him be President is like letting me drive" and, after he once lost in his place in a speech, jokingly asking where the cue cards are.
33	* DoubleDontKnow: Shows up in "Lately."
34	--> Far more frequently you're wearing perfume \
35	with, you say, no special place to go, \
36	but when I ask "Will you be coming back soon?", \
37	you don't know, never know...
38	* DownerEnding:
39	** "Living for the City" from ''Music/{{Innervisions}}''. In spite of a solid upbringing from two loving parents who taught him responsibility and a strong work ethic, the protagonist of the song is convicted of drug possession after being tricked into being a mule, spends ten years in jail, and winds up destitute.
40	** "Part-Time Lover". A man is cheating on his wife and then finds out she was cheating as well. Their marriage is pretty much ruined.
41	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Executives at Motown had no idea what to do with Wonder at the beginning of his career. They started out by branding him as "the next Ray Charles" (his second album was even called "Tribute to Uncle Ray"), before he was rebranded as a lounge singer. When that failed, he was given a bunch of surfer anthems to sing. Once his voice changed in puberty, he penned 1965's "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" and became a hitmaker for Motown from then on. Tellingly, despite releasing five albums prior, "Uptight" would be his second single to chart in the United States.
42	* EndOfAnAge: His last US #1, a 1985 collaboration with Music/DionneWarwick, Music/EltonJohn, and Music/GladysKnight on "That's What Friends Are For", was the last such hit for any artist who had topped the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 before the British Invasion.
43	* EpicRocking:
44	** "Living for the City", "Love's in Need of Love Today", "As", "Another Star".
45	** The instrumental for "Isn't She Lovely" from ''Music/SongsInTheKeyOfLife'' runs so long that the song needed to be cut in half for radio play.
46	** The album version of "Do I Do" goes past the 10 minute mark; the single edit is ''only'' a little over 5:00.
47	* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in Apartheid (It's Wrong), when he says that even the Devil frowns upon the Apartheid government's actions.
48	* GenreBuster: Although most of his music is classified as soul or funk, it's actually a lot more complicated than that. Think of it as R&B and Rock mixed with the sophistication of Jazz-Fusion.
49	* GirlishPigtails: "I Was Made to Love Her".
50	-->''I wore hightop shoes and shirt tails\
51	Suzy was in pigtails\
52	I knew I loved her even then''
53	* HandicappedBadass: Being blind hasn't stopped him rising to fame and becoming one of the most well-known names worldwide!
54	* HappyBirthdayToYou: His "Happy Birthday" is a common substitute in many movies and TV shows that cater to a black audience, even though it's more obviously under copyright than the traditional song.
55	* IAmTheBand: Literally! He plays keyboards, bass, drums, and harmonica. Many songs are all him except for backing vocals, guitar, and horns.
56	* {{Irony}}: "Part-Time Lover" features a man who is cheating on his wife only to find out that his wife is cheating on him as well.
57	* LighterAndSofter: The majority of his output post-''Songs'', epitomized in 1983's "I Just Called to Say I Love You."
58	* LyricalDissonance:
59	** "Part-Time Lover" is a catchy upbeat song about a man who shamelessly cheats on his wife and discovers his wife is doing the exact same thing.
60	** The verses of "If You Really Love Me" are slow and anguished, as fits a song sung by a victim of a MasterOfTheMixedMessage, but the chorus is downright exuberant. It even has handclaps!
61	* MelismaticVocals: "Part-Time Lover". "Chasing love up against the su-u-u-un!"
62	* NWordPrivileges: Nobody makes more jokes about his blindness than Stevie himself. Notable examples include a crack about all races being the same to him because he can't see them, asking where the cue cards are during TV appearances and this moment when [[http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--C3bZlQ1n--/flz66vzhbmfdstq44qdl.gif presenting an award at the 1998 GRAMMYs.]]
63	* NeverHadABirthdayParty: "Happy Birthday" [[note]]No, not [[HappyBirthdayToYou that one]][[/note]] argued that it's a shame that UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr's birthday wasn't a holiday for everyone to celebrate. It later was made a holiday in large part because of Wonder's advocacy for the issue. The chorus is catchy enough that it's become a birthday song in its own right.
64	* PissTakeRap: Wonder pulled off a masterful one in "Do I Do".
65	--> "I know I cannot rhyme 'cause I ain't like a friend of mine\
66	but I hai, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha ha…"
67	* PopStarComposer: Wrote the music for the documentary ''The Secret Life of Plants'', plus ''Film/TheWomanInRed'' and ''Film/JungleFever''.
68	* ProtestSong: Released many socially-conscious songs throughout the 1970s, including songs that criticized Republican politics (particularly those of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon), and addressed racial inequality and civil rights issues.
69	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Isn't She Lovely" is a celebration of the birth of his daughter, Aisha. The song starts with a baby crying and the second half of the song features sound clips of Aisha playing with him.
70	* RhymingWithItself: Each line of the second verse of "I Was Made to Love Her" ends with the word "years".
71	* SesameStreetCred: His 1970s appearance on ''Series/SesameStreet'' where he performs "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE Superstition]]" and the theme song is one of the classic moments of the series. Fellow performer Donny Osmond remarked that when he saw Wonder, who was his musical icon, perform on the show, it made the series great, as opposed to only good before Wonder appeared.
72	* SillyLoveSongs: His stock in trade. In the chapter "Who Put The Bomp? (The Writers)" in the 1994 book ''The New Book of Rock Lists'', he is ranked as the #1 songwriter for TheSeventies[[note]]Music/ChuckBerry for TheFifties, Music/BobDylan for TheSixties and Music/{{Prince}} for TheEighties and TheNineties[[/note]] and called "the best love songwriter, period."
73	* SpokenWordInMusic: "Living for the City".
74	* StopAndGo: "Visions".
75	* TakeThat: "He's Misstra Know It All" and "You Haven't Done Nothin'" from ''Music/{{Innervisions}}'', about UsefulNotes/RichardNixon.
76	* TeenGenius: "Fingertips – Part 2", the song alluded to in the "Child Prodigy" item above, was only the start of his youthful success. He recorded nine more Top 10 hits on the Hot 100, five of which got to #1 on the R&B chart, before exiting his teens.
77	* TelephoneSong: "I Just Called To Say I Love You" is about calling to express one's love even if there's no special occasion.
78	* TruckDriversGearChange: Frequently. "Summer Soft" does this no less than ''four'' times!
79	* UptownGirl: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDbyOLzEyfk Uptight (Everything Is Alright)]]" by Stevie Wonder.

Context Music / StevieWonder