The Top 15 Stevie Wonder Songs of the 1970s

by Dan Whitell

Stevie Wonder’s discography is vast and spans seven decades from the 1960s to the present. On his 71st birthday, join us as Dan breaks down his favourite fifteen songs from his classic 70s period which is commonly recognised as the peak of his powers through albums such as Innervisions and the gargantuan Songs in the Key of Life.

Stevie Wonder is such an important artist. From his roots as a teenage Motown star through his growth as an adult multi-instrumentalist, his body of work has been immensely influential on pop music as it lives and breathes imperviously in 2021. He started off as a pop sensation with an effervescent vocal tone and jazzy harmonica chops performing songs from the conveyor belt of soul standards in the sixties; covering everyone from Smokey Robinson to Otis Redding and even Bob Dylan. It was in the early 1970s that he was granted the freedom he craved to write and produce his own material. Whilst he continued to have hits in the 80s and there is a new album rumoured to be in the works (his first since A Time to Love in 2005) it is the work in the 1970s that has become known as his classic period. Many consider this to start with the 1972 release of the introduction of his signature clavinet sound on Talking Book but the earlier album of that year Music of My Mind is just as impressive by my ears.

A rundown of top Stevie Wonder songs throughout his entire career in a single article is far too much of a task for anybody to endeavour, so focusing in on this particular decade should allow us to give his best songs the attention they warrant. That is not to say that some of his 60s work and the material from 1980 onwards is not worth looking at, with gems like ‘For Once in My Life’, ‘Lately’, ‘Uptight’, ‘Rocket Love’, ‘Overjoyed’, ‘So What the Fuss’, ‘Master Blaster’ and ‘Love Light in Flight’ standing as some of my own personal favourites. For me his so-called classic period ends after Hotter Than July in 1980, rather than with the masterpiece that is Songs in the Key of Life four years earlier as many critics would posit – an album so popular that 1975 Album of the Year Grammy Award-winner Paul Simon thanked him for taking two years to make it and therefore missing out on the third consecutive award having previously defeated the competition in 1973 for Innervisions and 1974 for Fulfillingness’ First Finale.

This creative peak, coming during a rather competitive period of musical innovation born in the wake of disbanding of The Beatles, is arguably unparalleled. The run of albums from the Fab Four themselves in the previous decade; the glam-rock-turned-art-pop genius of David Bowie in the same decade; and the Purple pop prolificacy of Prince in the following ten years may be the only hyper-focused artistic periods that could compete in the entirety of popular music (don’t @ me). This was the decade in which Stevie Wonder set out, by himself, to define what black soul music could offer to the future of the industry. Whilst he usually worked with guitarists like Michael Sembello and even Jeff Beck and he had a multitude of heavenly backing vocals from the likes of Minnie Riperton and Deniece Williams, this era is so striking as it was all cooked in the singular cauldron conceived by one Stevland Hardaway Morris himself as an independent visionary – in the process joining a very select list of geniuses who were able to produce their own music in isolation so very effectively. Having only heard the radio hits, one cannot begin to comprehend the intricacies of what makes 1970s Stevie such a joy to discover. ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You’ and ‘Ebony & Ivory’ be damned – this where the real meat is to be found. Or rather the Quorn substitute, as vegan Stevie would probably prefer for me to advocate.

Although the list is ranked according to my personal preferences, the order is of very little consequence. Some of the more introspective pieces in the Top 15 may resonate more at different times, just as the funkier songs will have days to shine when you just want to lose yourself to the exaltations of the upbeat dancefloor efforts and forget about the harsh realities of the world we live in. That’s the great thing about pop music, there are no ‘correct’ answers. But before we uncover the best, here are some of the rest.

Honourable Mentions:

‘Keep on Running’ (from Music of My Mind, 1972)

‘Jesus Children of America’ (from Innervisions, 1973)

‘Another Star’ (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)

15. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) (from Signed, Sealed & Delivered, 1970)

The earliest song on this list, Wonder released this tune as a single on the Tamla label in 1970. Whilst its parent album is the first album on which he was given a producer credit, at this early stage Stevie was still treated as merely a popular voice to front the music itself and subsequently he co-wrote the song with his mother, songwriter Lee Garrett and then-fiancée Syreeta Wright, who sang backing and soon had a career of her own. and remained present in Stevie’s entourage even after their divorce after eighteen months of marriage in 1972. Motown didn’t yet trust the young singer to create his own material, and it wasn’t until the success of Marvin Gaye’s landmark socially aware concept album What’s Going On album the following year that the reigns would be taken off. Nonetheless this contains all the hallmarks of a great single – the fun horn arrangements and the instantly identifiable chorus that means it is still in regular rotation today. The song was used frequently during Barack Obama’s 2008 US presidential campaign and whilst it is lacking in the political commentary that his mid-70s work would often be laden with it cements its popularity just by virtue of how delightful and charming the vocals remain even 500 listens later.

14. All in Love Is Fair (from Innervisions, 1973)

Only released in Brazil as a single from the immortal Innervisions, ‘All in Love is Fair’ is a piano ballad in which he laments the ending of a relationship from the perspective of writing a song – “A writer takes the pen/To write the words again/That all in love is fair”. Whilst not the most complex of themes, the sparse production and lush vocals give the song a tenderness that creates hope in the face of the current situation. He uses clichés in the lyrics perhaps to convey the lack of personal investment in the relationship, but with the juxtaposed yearning in the delivery it suggests he cared more than he was letting on. It’s beautiful.

13. Love’s in Need of Love Today (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)

Whilst there were many artists who wore their political views on their sleeves and caused far more controversy, Stevie’s social commentary was usually easier to swallow and this track may be the definitive example of this. “Hate’s going ’round/Breaking many hearts/Stop it please before it’s gone too far” is the simple message, and the repeated refrain that lasts over seven minutes through gorgeous layers of soul is inescapably compassionate. A strange choice to open a masterful double album, yet both the competence and emotion with which it is presented result in a track that sets the scene for one of the greatest albums of all time. There is no need for the jazz arrangements and complex structures found elsewhere on the eclectic record; Stevie suggests that love is all we need and this song serves as a perennial reminder of that.

12. I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever) (from Talking Book, 1972)

Just like the Pixies’ ‘Where Is My Mind’ closing out the 1999 movie Fight Club, some non-diegetic musical choices fit a film perfectly. The decision for the ending credits of cult music critic favourite High Fidelity the following year was just as fitting; this, the final song on the seminal Talking Book. With spooky, atmospheric keyboards and electric piano the verses build to a triumphant sing-a-long chorus and finally it culminates in that oh-so-funky coda occupying the infectiously groovy fade-out with its gospel-infused vocal layers. It’s a minor chord-major chord journey of redemptive love, and it will make you use both your lungs and your feet. There is no better way to finish a John Cusack movie about a record shop owner looking for love than the ultimate ode to finding someone that just so happens to be from an album that belongs in every vinyl aficionado’s collection.

11. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away (from Fulfillingness’ First Finale, 1974)

This 1974 piece is a sobering reminder of that racism is and always has been a burden on our species, with lyrics discussing how far the civil rights movement had come and yet how far it still appears until Stevie’s colour will not make him a ‘lesser man’, to use his own phrasing. Yet as with most of the music he was producing there is a hopeful message, in this case carried in the religious themes of the chorus when Stevie declares that he can ‘feel his spirit’ – it’s an ode to Stevie’s gospel influences once again. The synthetic bass drives the track forwards, and the multi-layered vocals are dripping with soul enough to evoke a smile on what was quite a bleak album – his first release following the 1974 car accident that almost took his life. He may have been struggling with his own thoughts and the injustices of the world around him but no force on this earth could drown out the message of unity that he tirelessly promotes to this day, and this is a fantastic example.

10. Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer (from Where I’m Coming From, 1971)

Co-written with wife Syreeta at just 20 years of age, this melodic piano ballad is as towering as his own vocal performance and was the first glimpse of the titanic legacy of timeless classics he would go on to make in the ensuing epoch of creative license he would be granted by the label. The piano playing is relatively simple but pretty; the notes his voice achieves are almost impossibly sustained (especially the final word “stay”, which contains more A‘s than an Arthur Fonzarelli lookalike convention); the themes of relationships changing with the seasons hint at the kind of mature imagery he would master later in his career. It’s a heartbreaking tale from a very wise mind that had only just started to explore his own ideas. Tracks like ‘Lately’ would go on to overshadow this in terms of success and perhaps overall emotional impact – but this is the track on which you hear him start to become an artist.

9. Sir Duke (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)

One of his best-known singles and an all around feel-good homage to Duke Ellington and the jazz that inspired a young Stevie, this song is all about the big band style horn arrangement which follows in the vein of Ellington standards like ‘Take the A-Train’. Unusual chord choices and a swinging drum beat update the vintage style tune to give it some 70s funk and I defy anyone not to feel this one ‘all over’ by the time the belting chorus arrives. On an album crammed full of sprawling uncut gems, funk workouts and soul anthems this four minute piece of pop is one of the easiest songs to listen to, and one of the most accessible tracks in his catalogue.

8. Maybe Your Baby (from Talking Book, 1972)

Featuring the searing fuzz guitar of Ray Parker Jr (who would go on to find mainstream success twelve years later thanks to the theme from Ghostbusters) and Wonder on everything else, this dirty blues/funk jam is one of the nastiest records he made. In a good way. The sped-up chipmunk effect on his voice would encourage many to emulate this technique in the coming years, undoubtedly having an effect on the character-driven funk lore of George Clinton’s mid-70s Parliament/Funkadelic recordings as well as Prince’s androgynous ‘Camille’ persona fifteen years later. The lyrics are growled almost at breaking point as the song explores an angry, betrayed narrator who has discovered his partner’s unfaithfulness. As with so many tracks around this time, the throbbing Moog bass and the unorthodox syncopation of his loose drumming drive a bitter, funky atmosphere with the understanding that there is no time for mourning in this relationship. It has a decidedly darker tone when compared with his usually uplifting material.

7. Creepin’ (from Fulfillingness’ First Finale, 1974)

Minnie Riperton was a star in her own right with her 1975 hit ‘Loving You’ as well as the sensual ‘Inside My Love’, but this track may just be her career highlight. The dreamy synths were created by the T.O.N.T.O., a huge device borrowed from an innovative electronic music duo named Tonto’s Expanding Head Band who helped produce and engineer his 70s records. Coupled with the omnipresent Moog bass this song drips with a rainy ambience as his harmonica solos drift in-and-out with Wonder’s lead and Riperton’s backing vocals. The lyrics gush about a subject creeping into Stevie’s dreams but the aforementioned musical intricacies give it a more foreboding sound which adds to its somnambulistic quality. It shares some early qualities of what would go on to be the dream pop scene of the 80s and beyond – it would not sound out of place in a David Lynch movie.

6. Living for the City (from Innervisions, 1973)

By the end of this track the normally crystal clear lead vocals crack under the strain of multiple takes and Stevie delivers a raspy, broken voice at the crescendo; his biggest and most direct statement on racial to date. The story of the struggle of a black man growing up in the city in racially-charged, post-Martin Luther King America, it is very much a sister piece to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Inner City Blues’ two years prior. Stevie was never one to shy away from this message in his work but it has never been more in your face than in the verses of this track. Simultaneously it also manages to be musically complex, awash with primal drum fills and a sailing synthesiser motif used to punctuate the song in an almost classical manner. One of his most important singles but one must ensure it’s not the single version as this is best enjoyed in its full glory to really drive home the point. Powerfully classic.

5. Superstition (from Talking Book, 1972)

This song emerged from a Jam between Stevie Wonder and Jeff Beck. Wonder then gave it to Beck to record for his new album. Instinctively he knew this was a hit and thus quickly felt regretfully compelled to not only reconstruct it for his own LP, but to hastily release it as the lead single too. Beck’s version hadn’t even been put on the record store shelves yet before this became Stevie’s second number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 (number eleven in the UK, ludicrously). The clavinet has never been used in such an effective manner, before or since it was invented. Every aspect of the song, from the swaggering beat to the imperious horn section is laden with funk, soul and everything in between. This is one of the all time greatest singles, and may it reign over the dance floor for centuries to come.

4. It Ain’t No Use (from Fulfillingness’ First Finale, 1974)

If there is better way to end a song than with the catchiest ‘bye bye’ hook this side of the Bay City Rollers than I haven’t heard it. It’s a highlight of the often gloomy Fulfillingness’ First Finale, following the politically driven anti-Nixon single ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin” (which could have made this list on every other day) and it demonstrates exactly what frame of mind he was in when this is the happiest he sounds – a song in which his relationship has ended. There is an eminent freedom in the timbre of his voice which is emphatically brought to life by the wonderful trio of Lani Groves, Deniece Williams and Minnie Riperton backing him with that amazing hook, brought to a close by a playful baritone “bye, bye baby”. It’s an incredibly adept vocal performance from all involved and you’ll be singing it for weeks.

3. Ordinary Pain (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)

A song in two acts begins with an minimal electric piano, a quiet but steady drum beat and some noodling of the Moog bass accompanying a rather tender, innocent sounding lead vocal as Stevie describes his feelings as “more than an ordinary pain” and vows to pick him up. Then, at 2:41, for the lack of a better term, Stevie gets wrecked by this monstrous Moog bass-line and chastised by backing vocalist Shirley Brewer for being a cheat for three minutes with his own refrain, as we discover the narrator of the song has been the architect of his own downfall this entire time. It is extremely rare for a song to intentionally pull an effective twist like this, but the quality of the vocals and the bass playing in particular make for a wild ride. This is made even more impressive when added to the context of an album full of left turns, on which it stands as the grinding, whirring core. A well-conceived idea that is so expertly executed that it becomes idiosyncratic and should be a required listening experience.

2. As (from Songs in the Key of Life, 1976)

When two great artists such as George Michael and Mary J. Blige cannot do a song the justice it deserves, despite a popular and serviceable 1998 cover version, you know that there must have been magic involved in its recording. Or could it simply be that in 1976, as everything clicked into place for what many regard to be his magnum opus, the sonic adventure (not the video game, fools) he had been enjoying for years finally reached its crowning moment? The legendary Herbie Hancock graces us with a guest appearance on keyboards as the beautifully-crafted melody spins into a cacophonous sweaty funk jam of a piano groove and an exasperated lead vocal that evokes a faint sense of danger as his voice strains, gasping whilst the ethereal female backing vocals transcend the song to another plane of existence. There is a huge amount of pop appeal to the melodies and the lyrics are full of similes comparing his love to various natural phenomena which make for a sublime essence of radio-friendliness, but the previously mentioned cover omits the sense of chaotic urgency that propels the climax of the song. The true magic is in the contrasting elements this bestows upon the composition and only Stevie Wonder at his peak could pull it off

1. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed You) (from Music of My Mind, 1972)

If ‘As’ is representative of Stevie Wonder at the top of the mountain, ‘Superwoman’ is the first swing of the rope to get there and in my opinion is the most important step he made on the journey. Music of My Mind is often criminally overlooked as it was released just before the universally adored Talking Hook when ‘Superstition’ would score him a hit as a serious R&B artist. It is however, a remarkable album and this is the highlight. An epic eight-minute journey through a trademark catchy and soulful guitar-pop record about a remarkable woman the narrator believes he has an understanding of. The relationship appears compromised due to a woman who has dreams of being a movie star, but Stevie believes he can cope with the situation. Much like ‘Ordinary Pain’ would do years later, the song then completely changes in terms of tempo and becomes an atmospheric ballad with Stevie asking his new love where she was when he needed her last winter. He comes full circle from the seasonal themes of earlier song ‘Never Dreamed You’d Leave Last Summer’ and displays a new-found maturity. Instead of turning up the funk, this songs drifts off into space and pulls itself apart at this stage. A soaring vocal performance and the beautiful lead lines on the T.O.N.T.O. that convey a tragic loneliness which in turn gives away those assertions that the earlier pop section as nothing more than a facade. It’s one of the most affecting songs in his discography, and that he was 23 when he composed this by himself with guitarist Buzz Feiden is a humbling thought. This was an early statement of intent, and as such should be the benchmark by which everything else needs to be measured. The sadly underrated and much-missed Donny Hathaway would later cover the second half of the song soon after it came out, as heard on his posthumous These Songs for You, Live compilation, and even his soul couldn’t quite scale the heights as this masterful, immaculate performance. It is the comprehensive Stevie Wonder song, covering a range of emotions and sounds and it is the very definition of a deep cut.

Happy Birthday, Stevie.