Stevie Wonder is an icon. Period. A child prodigy, he was one of the most successful artists of the 1970s, blending funk, rock and pop into his own genre of Music driven by his synthesizer and knack for melody. By all accounts, he’s a musical genius who has influenced a generation of musicians.
But by the mid-1980s, after a string of No. 1 hits, he was all but forgotten. What happened?
Born Stevland Hardaway Judkins, “Little Stevie Wonder” made his mark at the tender age of 13 with “Fingertips – Part 2,” his first of 10 No. 1 hits. He reached his creative peak in the early- to mid-1970s, with blockbuster albums such as 1973’s Innervisions and 1976’s Songs in the Key of Life. Both won Grammys for Album of the Year. His No. 1 hits during that time included “Superstition,” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” and “Sir Duke.”
Ready, Set, Jump
The beginning of the end occurred when Wonder collaborated with Paul McCartney for 1982’s “Ebony and Ivory,” which marked the nadir of McCartney’s artistic output. It didn’t get any worse than “Ebony and Ivory”; the saccharine lyrics, sluggish tempo and cheeky video became the target of critics’ wrath.
“Another disappointment, a namby-pamby, la-di-dah, silly and childish tune,” wrote Bill Carlton of the New York Daily News. Rolling Stone called it a “horrifically cheesy ode to racial harmony.” But the record-buying public ate it up; it spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Despite the song’s popularity, its legacy ranks right up there with Starship’s “We Built This City.” BBC 6 Music listeners voted the Song the worst duet in history. Blender magazine named it the 10th worst song of all time. Ouch.
But it got worse. In 1984, Wonder released the ballad “I Just Called to Say I Love You.” It was another huge smash, spending three weeks at No. 1. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. But again, the legacy was worse than the success. It showed that Wonder was getting soft in middle age, and when you lose your edge in popular music, you no longer become relevant.
Popdose described the song as having “a lyric with the depth of a greeting card, a melody like a nursery rhyme, and keyboards that sound like one of those Casio units people used to buy for their kids.” Double ouch.
In the movie “High Fidelity,” a customer walks into the main character’s record store wanting to buy the record for his daughter. The employee, a music snob, refuses to sell it to him, calling it “sentimental, tacky crap.”
“Do you even know your daughter?” the employee sneers. “There’s no way she likes that song! Oh oh oh wait! Is she in a coma?”
Despite the song’s popularity, Wonder’s fame was waning. He hit No. 1 twice in 1985 with the slickly produced but forgettable “Part-Time Lover,” and collaborated with Dionne Warwick, Elton John and Gladys Knight on “That’s What Friends Are For.” He only had one more Top 10 hit after that.
At age 70, Wonder continues to make music and add to his legacy. Songs in the Key of Life is No. 4 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Innervisions is No. 34. Not even “Ebony and Ivory” can take away from that.
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