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Stevie Wonder | Artist Essentials
First released: 1980 (year verified)
Original 1980 studio recording
MusicAtlas editorial note: The piano-led arrangement leaves the changing vocal intensity fully exposed.
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Release evidence and recording details
First released: 1980 (year verified)
The original recording is documented in the 1980 release history of Hotter Than July. Only year precision is assigned; later singles, charts, remasters and live versions do not establish its first release.
Recording: Original 1980 studio recording
Credit: Stevie Wonder
Role in this collection: Primary artist
Original album: Hotter Than July
Hotter Than July - original Motown album
The original 1980 program identifies Master Blaster, I Ain't Gonna Stand for It, Lately and Happy Birthday. Their later single appearances are not newly dated recordings. | Reviewed 2026-10-17
In the yearly lists
This selected recording is beyond the current yearly lists.
About Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder grew up in Michigan and joined Motown as a young multi-instrumentalist, initially recording as Little Stevie Wonder. The live Fingertips and later Uptight introduced a performer whose voice, harmonica and keyboard playing developed together. His 1970s albums used synthesizers and layered studio arrangements to bring funk, soul, ballads and longer narrative pieces into one repertoire. Later work includes soundtrack albums, the Paul McCartney duet Ebony and Ivory, and the India.Arie collaboration on A Time 2 Love.
Artist background sources
Stevie Wonder - Motown recording and career history
The label history distinguishes the early Little Stevie Wonder credit, the live Fingertips single released in 1963, Uptight in 1965, later solo album development, the Paul McCartney duet and the new 2005 A Time to Love album. Promotional award/chart superlatives and medical claims are not used. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Talking Book - original Motown album program
The original 1972 program identifies Superstition, You Are the Sunshine of My Life and the selected album tracks. The original Sunshine album arrangement is distinct from the separately documented single version with added horns. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Innervisions - original Motown album program
The original 1973 program includes the full seven-minute Living for the City, Higher Ground and the selected deeper tracks. Higher Ground's pre-album single was also in 1973; later singles do not move the remaining album recordings into 1974. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Songs in the Key of Life - original Motown program
The original 1976 program identifies Sir Duke, I Wish, Isn't She Lovely and the selected deeper tracks, including the four original additional-disc songs. Later singles, full-album tours and the 2026 EP reissue do not establish first release. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
The Woman in Red - original Motown soundtrack
The original 1984 soundtrack identifies Stevie Wonder's I Just Called to Say I Love You. Other soundtrack vocalists and current remaster dates do not change that recording's artist or original year. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Jungle Fever - original Motown soundtrack program
The original 1991 soundtrack includes These Three Words. Only year precision is used; default January 1 album metadata is not an exact first-release day. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder - official collaboration history
The artist history explicitly identifies Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder's original Ebony and Ivory collaboration in March 1982. The later Only Our Hearts collaboration and Paul-only performances are not substituted. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
A Time 2 Love - original recording with India.Arie
The Motown original track explicitly credits India.Arie and gives a September 2005 release, independently agreeing with the label's 2005 album history. | Retrieved 2026-10-17
Profile reviewed: 2026-10-17. Artist background does not establish a song's creative origin or release date.
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