>> He's been wonder-ful for five decades. He's hit the top of every chart from Pop to R&B, Dance to Adult Contemporary, as a young kid and as a legendary influential artist with nearly two dozen GRAMMY's in his wake. But until now never has there been a collection of Stevie Wonder's NUMBER 1 hits across the years. Stevie Wonder NUMBER 1's covers this special artist's career, from his first smash hit "Fingertips Pt. 2" to "Signed, Sealed Delivered I'm Yours" (his first self-production). <<

1. Fingertips Part 2
2. Uptight (Everything's Alright)
3. I Was Made To Love Her
4. Signed, Sealed Delivered I'm Yours
5. Superstition
6. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
7. Higher Ground
8. Living For The City
9. You Haven't Done Nothing
10. Boogie On Reggae Woman
11. I Wish
12. Sir Duke
13. Master Blaster (Jammin')
14. That Girl
15. Send One Your Love
16. I Just Called To Say I Love You
17. Part-time Lover
18. Overjoyed
19. Skeletons
20. So What The Fuss

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TJ6COK/?tag=imwan-20

Thanks for the heads-up, Linda.

Speaking for myself, I prefer Stevie's 1970s studio albums, with a comp for his 1960s singles-oriented music. I'm not too big on his output from the 1980s and after.

Still, this is a decent enough collection for casual fans.

I know some of these songs didn't hit #1 on the pop charts, but did on the R&B charts, but "Skeletons"?. And where is "So What the Fuss" from?

"So What The Fuss" is from Stevie Wonder's most recent CD of new material, "A Time For Love". The song came out in the summer of 2005 (and the album followed that October).

it is very sad how stevie wonder lost his muse, isn't it?

renny

I agree. He's a prime example how most stars have a definite shelf life and then its over. His 70's output is legendary and then slowly but surely his albums got fewer and further apart.

But maybe his new tour will energize him.

I don't think Stevie Wonder lost his muse. He recorded two decent albums in the past ten years. He wisely waited until he had enough good material to put out an album.

I was just about to ask the same question...when/where was "So What the Fuss" and "Skeletons" a #1 song?

goog,

respectful disagreement.

neither of those albums can touch his 70's work, which ranks right up their with the all-time greats.

renny

For me his last great song was "Overjoyed".

Renny,
I don't think we necessarily disagree. I only said his last two were decent, not great. Still worth getting, though. If he can record two above average albums in a row, that's pretty good after all these years.

Too bad it couldn't have included the radio edit of "Isn't She Lovely". Since these #1 comps are stretching things by including pop, R&B, and whatever else, I'm sure ISL was a #1 radio hit...

"So What the Fuss" was #1 Urban Adult Contemporary. "Skeletons" was #1 R&B.

Has there ever been a release of an edit of this song? I seem to remember Stevie was against releasing an edit of this song, even though radio stations played one.

Not that I'm aware of. I've always preferred the radio edit to the LP cut. Some of Steveie's songs ran on far too long IMO. This would've been a perfect chance to release it.

The edit that bugs me the most is the one for "Living For The City".......just sucked all the life and meaning out of it all. I'd rather not even hear the song at all.

I have this UK import 2-CD set, and "Isn't She Lovely" clocks in at 3:21:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000WST74/?tag=imwan-20

Thanks Kym!
Now I'm gonna have to track this one down!

I'm with you there...and even the version on In Square Circle wasn't the best. He performed this on Saturday Night Live 2 or 3 years earlier when he hosted, and it was just him and a keyboard. Brilliant.

Instead of yet another greatest hits disc, I wish Wonder and Motown would open up the vaults. I'll bet there's some interesting unreleased material from his classic era.

As with Prince, it seems unrealistic to ask that someone keep producing for 4 decades at the level that Stevie was producing in the 70s. Everybody's creative life has peaks and valleys. Lyric songwriters from Schubert on have tended to hit their peaks in both quality and quantity in their 20s and 30s. Which is why it really bugs me when young artists take so long between albums these days - as far as songwriting goes, time is not on their side. Capture it while you can!

A Time 2 Love is a very nice album; my favorite of his in more than 25 years. If this is losing your muse, goodness knows I would love it if my muse were lost the same way.

I don't know that it reached #1 on any chart, but "Skeletons" is a terrific song.
Chip[/quote]

I totally agree. When it was released I played it a halloween party I threw and everyone loved it. I was surprised it didn't do any better than #39 on Billboards chart. Im still wondering how it got included on this comp though. I never even heard it on the radio at the time.

Jeff