In Square Circle - Stevie Wonder (1985)

Stevie Wonder had spent the 1970s dominating and defining soul and R&B with a string of perfect and near-perfect records.

He had full control of his recordings, and he got maximum mileage out of that control.

He was already using synths, electric pianos, and studio effects to enhance his sound. He had an exacting idea of what he wanted, and he was able to use then-cutting-edge multitracking technology to play nearly all the instruments himself, putting what was in his mind onto tape exactly as he wanted.

In my mind, he was one of the first artists able to set down an entire sound world purely from what was in his imagination. That required a lot more skill than just being able to write a great song and play a bunch of instruments. His is one of the great musical minds of the century.

Maybe his pioneering work in this studio-first process made him uniquely well-adapted to making music in the 80s. All he really had to do was add a few extra colors to the palette and he just kept on painting his uniquely humanist songs of love, loss, ambition, and justice.

Part-Time Lover was a big hit that manages to sound modern but still keeps a lot of the flavor of Wonder’s best. Spiritual Walkers and Overjoyed could easily be on any of those classic 70s albums.

I don’t know if there’s a lesson here, except that no one ever lost betting on Wonder’s ability to create.