His early records were fairly inauspicious but in August 1963 he had a sudden double success in the US when a single, ‘Fingertips Pt.2’, and a boldly-titled album, The 12-Year-Old Genius (Recorded Live), both reached No. As early as 11 years of age his talent came to the notice of Ronnie White of The Miracles who alerted Berry Gordy at Motown and Gordy duly signed him and renamed him Little Stevie Wonder. Brought up in Detroit he learned to play a variety of instruments as a child as well as sing in the church choir. Stevie Wonder is not just a huge figure in music he is one of the 20 th century’s most consistently brilliant artists.īorn in Saginaw, Michigan, Wonder was blind shortly after birth. By 1973 he was the most experimental and ambitious black artist working in pop music and had extended the boundaries of that genre through his unique fusions of soul, jazz and rock, all the while writing material of a social and political nature, alongside songs of the heart. When Stevie Wonder released his landmark album, Innervisions, 40 years ago, in August 1973, he had already made 15 albums and had a decade of chart success both in the UK and the US. From his beginnings as Little Stevie, before he was even a teenager, to his groundbreaking 1970s albums that took black music into a whole new direction, allowing so many that followed him to break out of the strictures of what record companies considered ‘soul music.’ Read that letter here and celebrate MLK Day with “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder below.Few artists have had such a diverse and far-reaching impact on music as Stevie Wonder. It is just repeating and rewriting history, just as we have for the last four hundred years. Until what we say is what we do, there is no truth. Until we turn our mouth movement into righteous action, we’re doing our nation, God, and your memory an injustice. What we say has not been what we do, and this country must reconcile our words and deeds. I am sick that truth is struggling to be heard and defended. I am sick of lies and deceit that dominate our reality. I am sick of some people using God for a convenience rather than a commitment. I am sick that politicians try to find an easy solution to a four-hundred-year problem. For 36 years, we’ve had a holiday honoring your birthday and principles, yet you would not believe the lack of progress. It is painful to know that needle has not moved one iota. More than any award that I’ve ever received, I want you to know that I’m thankful how you influenced my place of love, which allowed me to try to push the needle of love and equality forward. I’ve been blessed to write songs of love, hope, and motivation-many of them inspired by your life. You were a true hero and became an inspiration. As Stevie Wonder remembered in his letter to MLK, King in which he contemplated how far things had come, and how far we still had to go to make his dream a reality. In 2021, he published an open letter to the late Dr. Wonder, now in his ’70s, continues to use his influence to move the fight for truth and equality forward. The fact that MLK Day exists points the ship in the right direction, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows that there is still an untold amount of work to be done in order to reach King’s storied dream for our country. on the third Monday of January, every January, and several generations of Americans have grown up learning his message. Both an unfiltered rebuke of MLK Day opponents and a contagious celebratory anthem, the song quickly became a sort of rallying cry for the campaign.Īs the song grew in popularity, so did the MLK Day movement. The song was later released as a single in the U.K. In 1980, Wonder, already a veteran creator of social justice-minded music, gave the campaign a boost with “Happy Birthday”. Despite widespread efforts, however, the holiday wasn’t signed into law until 1983, and wasn’t officially observed for the first time until 1986. The famed civil rights activist had been assassinated in 1968, and the campaign to mark his birthday, January 15th, with a national holiday began not long after. The track was born of more than a decade of frustration. in “Happy Birthday”, the final track on 1980’s Hotter Than July. “You know it doesn’t make much sense, there ought to be a law against anyone who takes offense at a day in your celebration,” Stevie Wonder wonders to the late Dr.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |