Stevie Wonder · 1973 Innervisions
If you think Stevie Wonder is "I Just Called to Say I Love You," we need to talk.
Innervisions was a spiritual awakening. Nothing less. It introduced me to a new musical universe and left a clean schism in my life: before and after 1970s Stevie Wonder.
In the late 90s, my then-girlfriend bought me the LP for my burgeoning collection. I kind of knew Stevie had been a child star in the 60s and made a few cool funk songs, but that's akin to vaguely registering Michelangelo played with clay.
The second the needle dropped, the driving synthesizer on "Too High" had me nodding and by the time side one wrapped up on "Golden Lady," I was already dreaming of spending the rest of my life running in a field, watching flowers bloom.
After flipping the record, I got hit with "Higher Ground" (objectively the best distillation of soul-funk ever recorded at Motown) and by the time the Latin-infused "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" came on, Stevie had the Conn Smythe fully locked up.
Innervisions embodies that whole decade: funky, political, introspective, and sexy.
Stevie also played every instrument on most songs, which was like finding out Michael assembled the Air Jordans you're wearing.
Anyway. Listen to the god damn record. You'll never be the same.
