Today we’re used to buying and listening to tracks, single songs. I’m old enough to remember the time of buying 45s, singles, too. But there were always albums, complete works by musicians. Sometimes, most of the time, they were just collections of songs, especially by pop music artists. But not always. For me, the first album that fully captured my imagination as a whole thing was Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life.
It only takes hearing that a cappella opening to “Love’s In Need Of Love Today” and I find myself smiling, relaxing a bit, and making myself ready to listen to this incredible double album.
I was shocked to learn that Stevie Wonder is only ten years older than I am. I’ve heard his music all of my life. He’s been recording since he was eleven years old (when I was 1!) and had a string of hits as a teenager. Trust me, Stevie was no Justin Bieber. Stevie was and is the real thing, not some invented teenage heartthrob. Saying that Stevie Wonder is a gifted musician is like saying Everest is a bit of a hill.
As a teenager, I knew and loved Wonder’s Motown releases, so when Songs In The Key Of Life, a massive two album opus was released, I bought the album without hesitation. I didn’t buy a lot of albums as a kid (or have the cash to do so). This was the honest to god extended play vinyl album and I still have it. I played it over and over on our huge console stereo system and on the cheap yellow plastic Sears record player in my room. I took it to college with me and played it ceaselessly there. And when it became available on CD, I bought that, too.
This album is often listed by others as one of the best and most important pop music records in history. I tend to agree. But for me it’s more. It is a true album, something that is filled with amazing individual tracks. This album becomes something more when it’s listened to as a whole thing. That’s how Wonder designed it and man, does it work.
This album builds. I find myself starting relaxed and listening, and by the time we hit “I Wish” I am seriously grooving (which is a big deal for a middle age white guy). Then I get a breather, ready for a slow dance with “Knocks Me Off My Feet” (that song gives me goosebumps and brings tears to my eyes). When this album mellows out, it seriously mellows out. Listen to that sequence thru “Ordinary Pain,” and see for yourself, including the plaintive “Saturn”, then feel Stevie kick you back into gear with “Ebony Eyes.” I love the shifts and clear and simple changes in musical styles. Listening to Songs In The Key of Life is like viewing a gallery filled with painted masterpieces. It is a thing of perfection and more so because it is all connected.
You’ve probably heard many of the tracks of this album, but if you’ve never listened to the entire album, just as I did as a teenager, you are missing something special. Allow yourself no skipping back and forth, no special playlist version. Listen to it as if you were dropping the needle and letting the record spin. These tracks connect, so if you’re using iTunes, make sure that you play it as a gapless album and don’t use cross fading (I hate that feature anyway, never use it). I remember marveling at the original vinyl album—you could see the groove that traveled across the gaps that on other albums were true blank breaks.
Why is this album important? Because it is great, personal music that has helped define the last thirty years of popular music. There are moments of purity and outright joy inside this album. In this album there are songs, beats, and styles that reverberate in much of the music we’re listening to today.
If you are a fan of pop music, of funk, of Motown, even of Hip Hop and rap, then this should be one of your foundation albums. Michael Jackson listed it as his favorite album. That alone should make it worth a listen.
