When Stevie Wonder began recording in 1962, he was only eleven years old. Even then, his talent was evident, although there was no sign of how deep it was. After all, the music was the work of a startlingly gifted child; it was all exuberant flash, with few complexities. Soon, Wonder would go far beyond the infectious energy of "Fingertips (Part 2)." In two years, he became one of Motown's finest artists, recording a series of brilliant singles for a solid nine years, the overwhelming majority of which he wrote himself. During this time, his albums were like other Motown albums -- a combination of killer singles and pleasant filler, only Wonder was allowed to record the occasional number that reflected his increasing social consciousness, like his hit version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind." By the end of the '60s, he was not only hitting the charts with his own records, but writing material for many other Motown artists, including the Spinners' "It's a Shame" and co-writing "The Tears of a Clown" with Smokey Robinson.

With his creativity growing by leaps and bounds, Wonder soon felt limited by Motown's strict production and publishing contracts. When his record contract expired in 1971, Wonder recorded two full albums by himself and used them as a bargaining tool during contract negotiations with Motown. The record label gave him total artistic control of his albums, as well as the rights to his own songs. Soon afterwards, the two albums -- Where I'm Coming From and Music of My Mind -- were released.

Music of My Mind, especially, helped usher in a new era of soul/R&B. Along with Sly Stone and Marvin Gaye, Wonder was responsible for making soul and R&B albums not just collections of singles, but cohesive artistic statements, where artists could extend their music beyond the confines of a three-minute hit single. With his next two albums, Talking Book and Innervisions, Wonder's music became richly complex and inventive; in addition to his musical innovations, Wonder's lyrics addressed social and racial issues as eloquently and incisively as any other pop songwriter. Wonder sustained his creative peak through 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale and 1976's Songs in the Key of Life.

Three years later, he released the ambitious and bewildering Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants, which received terrible reviews upon its release. Wonder released the more straightforward Hotter than July in 1980; the album received substantially better reviews and became his first platinum album. However, he wasn't able to sustain that momentum for the rest of the decade. Although his records sold well and he scored the occasional hit -- including the smash hit ballad "I Just Called to Say I Love You" -- his albums weren't as focused as they were a decade earlier. By the '90s, he was still an immensely respected musician, but his music was no longer on the cutting edge. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

LINKS TITLE YEAR At the Close of a Century 1999 Natural Wonder [Live Album] 1995 Conversation Peace 1995 Jungle Fever 1991 Characters 1987 In Square Circle 1985 Love Songs 1985 The Woman in Red 1984 Legends 1983 Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I 1982 Hotter Than July 1980 Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants 1979 Light My Fire 1979 Looking Back 1978 Songs in the Key of Life 1976 Portrait 1976 Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974 Innervisions 1973 Music of My Mind 1972 Talking Book 1972 Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits Vol 2 1971 Where I'm Coming From 1971 Live at the Talk of the Town 1970 Signed, Sealed & Delivered 1970 Stevie Wonder Live 1970 My Cherie Amour 1969 Greatest Hits 1968 Alfie 1968 For Once in My Life 1968 Someday at Christmas 1967 I Was Made To Love Her 1967 Up-Tight (Everything's Alright) 1966 Down to Earth 1966 Stevie Wonder 1965 Stevie at the Beach 1964 Call It Pretty Music 1964 Workout Stevie, Workout 1963 Little Stevie Wonder 1963 The-12-Year-Old Genius 1963 With a Song in My Heart 1963 Tribute to Uncle Ray 1962 Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder 1962

At the Close of a Century 1999

01. Fingertips Pts. 1 & 2 02. Uptight (Everything's Alright) 03. Nothing's Too Good for My Baby 04. Blowin' in the Wind 05. Place in the Sun 06. Hey Love 07. I Was Made to Love Her 08. Until You Come Back to Me 09. I'm Wondering 10. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day 11. You Met Your Match 12. For Once in My Life 13. I Don't Know Why 14. My Cherie Amour 15. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday 16. Never Had a Dream Come True 17. Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours 18. Heaven Help Us All 19. We Can Work It Out 20. If You Really Love Me 21. Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer 22. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed...) 23. I Love Every Little Thing About You 24. Superstition 25. You Are the Sunshine of My Life 26. You and I 27. I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be...) 28. Too High 29. Visions 30. Living for the City 31. Golden Lady 32. Higher Ground 33. All in Love Is Fair 34. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing 35. He's Misstra Know It All

36. You Haven't Done Nothin' 37. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away 38. Too Shy to Say 39. Boogie on Reggae Woman 40. Creepin' 41. Sir Duke 42. I Wish 43. Knocks Me off My Feet 44. Pastime Paradise 45. Isn't She Lovely 46. Ngiculela-Es Una Historia-I Am Singing 47. If It's Magic 48. As 49. Another Star 50. Send One Your Love 51. All I Do 52. Rocket Love 53. I Ain't Gonna Stand for It 54. Master Blaster (Jammin') 55. Lately 56. Happy Birthday 57. That Girl 58. Ribbon in the Sky 59. Do I Do 60. Love Light in Flight 61. I Just Called to Say I Love You 62. Overjoyed 63. Part-Time Lover 64. Go Home 65. You Will Know 66. Skeletons 67. Gotta Have You 68. These Three Words 69. For Your Love 70. How Come, How Long

Natural Wonder [Live Album] 1995

01. Dancing to the Rhythm 02. Love's in Need of Love Today 03. Master Blaster (Jammin') 04. Stevie Ray Blues 05. Higher Ground 06. Rocket Love 07. Stay Gold 08. Ribbon in the Sky 09. Pastime Paradise 10. If It's Magic 11. Ms. & Mr. Little Ones 12. Village Ghetto Land

13. Tomorrow Robins Will Sing 14. Overjoyed 15. My Cherie Amour 16. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) 17. Living for the City 18. Sir Duke 19. I Wish 20. You Are the Sunshine of My Life 21. Superstition 22. I Just Called to Say I Love You 23. For Your Love 24. Another Star

Conversation Peace 1995

01. Rain Your Love Down 02. Edge Of Eternity 03. Taboo To Love 04. Take The Time Out 05. I'm New 06. My Love Is With You 07. Treat Myself

08. Tomorrow Robins Will Sing 09. Sensuous Whisper 10. For Your Love 11. Cold Chill 12. Sorry 13. Conversation Peace

Jungle Fever 1991

01. Fun Day 02. Queen In The Black 03. These Three Words 04. Each Other's Throat 05. If She Breaks Your Heart 06. Gotta Have You

07. Make Sure You're Sure 08. Jungle Fever 09. I Go Sailing 10. Chemical Love 11. Lighting Up The Candles

Characters 1987

01. You Will Know 02. Dark 'n' Lovely 03. In Your Corner 04. With Each Beat of My Heart 05. One of a Kind 06. Skeletons

07. Get It 08. Galaxy Paradise 09. Cryin' Through the Night 10. Free 11. Come Let Me Make Your Love Come Down 12. My Eyes Don't Cry

In Square Circle 1985

01. Part Time Lover 02. I Love You Too Much 03. Stranger on the Shore of Love 04. Whereabouts 05. Never in Your Sun

06. Spiritual Wlakers 07. Land of la La 08. Overjoyed 09. It's Wrong (Apartheid)

Love Songs 1985

The Woman in Red 1984

01. Woman In Red 02. It's You 03. It's More Than You 04. I Just Called To Say I Love You

05. Love Light In Flight 06. Moments Aren't Moments 07. Weakness 08. Don't Drive Drunk

Legends 1983

Stevie Wonder's Original Musiquarium I 1982

01. Superstition 02. You Haven't Done Nothing 03. Living for the City 04. Front Line 05. Superwoman(Where Were You When I Needed...) 06. Send One Your Love 07. You Are the Sunshine of My Life 08. Ribbon in the Sky

09. Higher Ground 10. Sir Duke 11. Master Blaster(Jammin') 12. Boogie on Reggae Woman 13. That Girl 14. I Wish 15. Isn't She Lovely 16. Do I Do

Hotter Than July 1980

01. Did I Hear You Say You Love Me 02. All I Do 03. Rocket Love 04. I Ain't Gonna Stand for It 05. As If You Read My Mind

06. Master Blaster (Jammin') 07. Do Like You 08. Cash in Your Face 09. Lately 10. Happy Birthday

Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants 1979

01. Earth's Creation 02. First Garden 03. Voyage to India 04. Same Old Story 05. Venus' Flytrap and the Bug 06. Ai No, Sono 07. Seasons 08. Power Flower 09. Send One Your Love 10. Race Babbling

11. Send One Your Love 12. Outside My Window 13. Black Orchid 14. Ecclesiastes 15. Kesse Ye Lolo de Ye 16. Come Back as a Flower 17. Seed's a Star/Tree Medley 18. Secret Life of Plants 19. Tree 20. Finale

Light My Fire 1979

Looking Back 1978

01. Thank You 02. Contract on Love 03. Fingertips 04. Workout Stevie Workout 05. Castles in the Sand 06. Hey Harmonica Man 07. Hi-Heel Sneakers 08. Heaven Help Us All 09. I Gotta Have a Song 10. Never Dreamed You'd Leave 11. If You Really Love Me 12. Something out of the Blue 13. Do Yourself a Favor 14. Uptight 15. Nothing's Too Good for My Baby 16. Blowin' in the Wind 17. Ain't That Asking for Trouble 18. I'd Cry 19. Place in the Sun 20. Sylvia

21. Angie Girl 22. My Cherie Amour 23. Don't Know Why I Love You 24. If I Ruled the World 25. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday 26. Never Had a Dream Come True 27. Signed, Sealed, Delivered 28. Down to Earth 29. Thank You Love 30. Hey Love 31. Travlin' Man 32. Until You Come Back to Me 33. I Was Made to Love You 34. I'm Wondering 35. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day 36. You Met Your Match 37. I'd Be a Fool Right Now 38. Alfie 39. More Than a Dream 40. For Once in My Life

Songs in the Key of Life 1976

01. Love's In Need Of Love Today 02. Have A Talk With God 03. Village Ghetto Land 04. Contusion 05. Sir Duke 06. I Wish 07. Knocks Me Off My Feet 08. Pastime Paradise 09. Summer Soft 10. Ordinary Pain 11. Saturn

12. Ebony Eyes 13. Isn't She Lovely 14. Joy Inside My Tears 15. Black Man 16. Nigiculela 17. If It's Magic 18. As 19. Another Star 20. All Day Sucker 21. Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)

Portrait 1976

Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974

01. Smile Please 02. Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away 03. Too Shy to Say 04. Boogie on Reggae Woman 05. Creepin'

06. You Haven't Done Nothin' 07. It Ain't No Use ( 08. They Won't Go When I Go 09. Bird of Beauty 10. Please Don't Go

Innervisions 1973

01. Too High 02. Visions 03. Living for the City 04. Golden Lady 05. Higher Ground

06. Jesus Children of America 07. All in Love Is Fair 08. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing 09. He's Misstra Know-It-All

Music of My Mind 1972

01. Love Having You Around 02. Superwoman (Where Were You When I Needed...) 03. I Love Every Little Thing About You 04. Sweet Little Girl 05. Happier Than The Morning Sun

06. Girl Blue 07. Seems So Long 08. Keep on Running 09. Evil

Talking Book 1972

01. You Are the Sunshine of My Life 02. Maybe Your Baby 03. You and I 04. Tuesday Heartbreak 05. You've Got It Bad Girl

06. Superstition 07. Big Brother 08. Blame It on the Sun 09. Lookin' for Another Pure Love 10. I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be...)

Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits Vol 2 1971

Where I'm Coming From 1971

01. Look Around 02. Do Yourself a Favor 03. Think of Me as Your Soldier 04. Something out of the Blue 05. If You Really Love Me

06. I Wanna Talk to You 07. Take up a Course in Happiness 08. Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer 09. Sunshine in Their Eyes

Live at the Talk of the Town 1970

Signed, Sealed & Delivered 1970

01. Never Had A Dream Come True 02. We Can Work It Out 03. Signed,Sealed,Delivered I'm Yours 04. Heaven Help Us All 05. You Can't Judge A Book By It's Cover 06. Sugar

07. Don't Wonder Why 08. Anything You Want Me To Do 09. I Can't Let My Heaven Walk Away 10. Joy (Takes Over Me) 11. I Gotta Have A Song 12. Something To Say

Stevie Wonder Live 1970

My Cherie Amour 1969

01. My Cherie Amour 02. Hello Young Lovers 03. At Last 04. Light My Fire 05. Shadow Of Your Smile 06. You And Me

07. Pearl 08. Somebody Knows, Somebody Cares 09. Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday 10. Angie Girl 11. Give Your Love 12. I've Got You

Greatest Hits 1968

01. Uptight (Everything's Alright) 02. I'm Wondering 03. I Was Made to Love Her 04. Hey Love 05. Blowin' in the Wind 06. Place in the Sun

07. Contract on Love 08. Work out Steve, Work Out 09. Fingertips 10. Castles in the Sand 11. Hey Harmonica Man 12. Nothing's Too Good for My Baby

Alfie 1968

01. Alfie 02. More Than a Dream 03. House Is Not a Home 04. Medley: Never My Love/Ask the Lonely

05. Ruby 06. Which Way the Wind 07. Bye Bye World 08. Grazing in the Grass

For Once in My Life 1968

01. For Once In My Life 02. Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day 03. You Met Your Match 04. I Wanna Make Her Love Me 05. I'm More Than Happy (I'm Satisfied) 06. I Don't Know Why

07. Sunny 08. I'd Be A Fool Right Now 09. Ain't No Lovin' 10. God Bless The Child 11. Do I Love Her 12. House On The Hill

Someday at Christmas 1967

01. Someday At Christmas 02. Silver Bells 03. Ave Maria 04. Little Drummer Boy 05. One Little Christmas Tree 06. Day That Love Began

07. Christmas Song 08. Bedtime For Toys 09. Christmastime 10. Twinkle Twinkle Little Me 11. Warm Little Home On A Hill 12. What Christmas Means To Me

I Was Made To Love Her 1967

01. I Was Made to Love Her 02. Send Me Some Lovin' 03. I'd Cry 04. Everybody Needs Somebody (I Need You) 05. Respect 06. My Girl

07. Baby Don't You Do It 08. Fool for You 09. Can I Get a Witness 10. I Pity the Fool ( 11. Please, Please, Please 12. Every Time I See You, I Go Wild!

Up-Tight (Everything's Alright) 1966

01. Love A Go Go 02. Hold Me 03. Blowing In The Wind 04. Nothings Too Good For My Baby 05. Teach Me Tonight 06. Up Tight

07. Ain't That Asking For Trouble 08. I Want My Baby Back 09. Pretty Little Angel 10. Music Talk 11. Contract On Love 12. With a Child's Heart

Down to Earth 1966

01. My World Is Empty Without You 02. Lonesome Road 03. Angel Baby (Don't You Ever Leave Me) 04. Mr. Tambourine Man< 05. Sixteen Tons 06. Hey Love

07. Place in the Sun 08. Bang Bang 09. Down to Earth 10. Thank You Love 11. Be Cool, Be Calm (And Keep Yourself...) 12. Sylvia

Stevie Wonder 1965

Stevie at the Beach 1964

Call It Pretty Music 1964

Workout Stevie, Workout 1963

Little Stevie Wonder 1963

The-12-Year-Old Genius 1963

With a Song in My Heart 1963

01. With a Song in My Heart 02. When You Wish upon a Star 03. Sile 04. Make Someone Happy 05. Dream

06. Put on a Happy Face 07. On the Sunny Side of the Street 08. Get Happy 09. Give Your Heart a Chance 10. Without a Song

Tribute to Uncle Ray 1962

01. Hallelujah, I Love Her So 02. Ain't That Love 03. Don't You Know 04. Masquerade 05. Frankie and Johnny

06. Drown in My Own Tears 07. Come Back Baby 08. Mary Ann 09. Sunset 10. My Baby's Gone

1962 Jazz Soul of Little Stevie Wonder

01. Fingertips 02. Square 03. Soul Bongo 04. Manhattan at Six 05. Paulsby

06. Some Other Time 07. Wondering 08. Session Number 112 09. Bam