ALBUM: The Original Musiquarium (1982)
MVC Rating: 4.5/ $$$$$
Growing up in the 1970s you would be hard pressed to turn on any Top 40 radio station and NOT hear a Stevie Wonder tune.
The visually impaired singer put out classic after classic and probably did more than anyone to bridge the difference between black and white listeners (save Michael Jackson).
If you want to re-live those years, Musiquarium is a great start. The two-record set features 11 Top 40 hits and five album tracks from 1972-1982. Songs include ‘Superstition,’ ‘Livin’ for the City,’You are the Sunshine of My Life,’ ‘Higher Ground,’ ‘Sir Duke,’ ‘Master Blaster (Jammin’) and ‘Isn’t She Lovely,’ among others.
Wikipedia called Wonder ‘a virtual one-man band’ due to how his incorporation of synthesizers and electronic music changed the face of R&B.
The child prodigy was signed to Tamla records at age 11.
My brother had Innervisions, a great studio album, put out in 1972 which had perhaps my favorite Wonder song. ‘Livin’ for the City.’ It was socially conscious, not self-conscious — so you could dance to it.