Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Arts myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.In the early to mid 1970s, Stevie Wonder released a succession of LPs that turned him into a one-man pop colossus. This five-album streak started in 1972 with Music of My Mind and Talking Book, continued with Innervisions and Fulfillingness’ First Finale, and culminated in the 1976 magnum opus Songs in the Key of Life. It would become known as Wonder’s “classic period”.In new podcast The Wonder of Stevie, journalist and critic Wesley Morris “luxuriates” in Wonder’s fabled purple patch with the help of famous musicians and collaborators including Smokey Robinson, George Clinton, Ray Parker Jr, Yolanda Adams, Janelle Monáe, Questlove and more. As a child, Wonder was a musical prodigy and multi-instrumentalist, signing his first record contract at 11. In the opening episode we hear how, at 21, he renegotiated his deal with Motown boss Berry Gordy, stipulating that there would no interference from the label. This newfound freedom led to a period of unfettered creativity and the making of one masterpiece after another. Guiding us through these landmark albums, Morris digs into the innovations, idiosyncrasies and Stevie-isms that made the music fly. A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner for his journalism, he is an excellent host: funny, authoritative, delighting in detail. I’ve lost count of the number of music podcasts diminished by being unable to play the music they’re discussing. This is not one of those. Wonder, who has a producer credit, has enabled all the necessary permissions, allowing the songs to drift in and out as they are mentioned. If all this makes it sound like hagiography, in many ways it is, though here that doesn’t feel like a bad thing. This is an unabashed celebration of Wonder’s music, joyful in mood and made with palpable love. As well as analysing the LPs, it also contains thoughtful digressions into politics, racial inequality, the influence of gospel and funk in Wonder’s music and his place in the musical canon. Morris argues that, despite his considerable success, Wonder struggled to be recognised as a serious musical proposition by music’s overwhelmingly white, male, Led Zeppelin-loving gatekeepers. An interview with veteran music critic Robert Christgau, formerly of The Village Voice, goes some way in backing this view when, in discussing Wonder, he reveals a blanket dislike of gospel music. The Wonder of Stevie is made by Higher Ground, the production company founded by Barack and Michelle Obama (and named after a song on Innervisions). Since the Obamas are fans and friends of Wonder’s, they frequently pop up here, talking passionately and eloquently about what he meant to them growing up and how his music soundtracked their early courtship (both knew they couldn’t date anyone who didn’t like it). The final episode features a 40-minute, three-way conversation between Morris, Barack Obama and Wonder himself. I won’t divulge the details but, suffice to say, Wonder does not disappoint. audible.co.uk
