Through this introduction, Stevie Wonder was introduced to the synthesizer. He heard this, and he wanted to go and meet the architects of the album, one of them being Malcolm Cecil. But really what shifted Stevie Wonder's sound was hearing Tonto's Expanding Head Band debut album, Zero Time.
When Music of My Mind gets talked about, there are people who want to discuss Marvin Gaye as an inspiration. Hanif Abdurraqib: Well, the primary thing that jumps out for me is just the sonic leaps. Morning Edition's A Martinez spoke with poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib about this "classic period" of Wonder's, saying its story begins with the album just before that historic quintuple run, called Where I'm Coming From.
But, when Stevie Wonder's contract was about to expire on his 21st birthday, he was able to negotiate for more creative freedom. Wonder first signed to Motown Records when he was 11 years old, and so basically grew up with Motown's head, Berry Gordy, calling the shots of his creative life – and Gordy was famously reluctant to allow his artists to make political or social statements in their music. Three of them won Grammys for Album of the Year. Stevie Wonder released five brilliant albums in the span of five years, between 1972 and '76: Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness' First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life. It's been called "The Greatest Creative Run in the History of Popular Music" – and it started 50 years ago this week.
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