THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

682-Stevie Wonder-Boogie On Reggae Woman.

1975-Number 12 single.

Best Bit-At 1.52. We may all have that fantasy of seeing you ‘In the raw under the stars above,’ but I bet Stevie wishes for it even more.

Stevie Wonder (see also best songs 920-843-834-670-503-366-205-152 and 65) was born Stevland Hardaway Judkins, on May 13th, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan, United States, when signing with ‘Motown’ records in 1961, he officially changed his name to Stevland Hardaway Morris, Morris being a family name. It is not totally clear who gave him his original stage name, ‘Little Stevie Wonder,’ but it was either Motown supremo Bery Gordy, or Clarence Paul, (1928-1995) who was Stevie’s mentor, and main producer, during Wonder’s teenage years. Stevie Wonder who has been blind since shortly after his birth, was born six weeks premature, which, along with the oxygen rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted in ‘retinopathy of prematurity,’ a disease that aborts eye growth, and often causes the retinas to detach, resulting in blindness.

‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’ was the second of two singles released from ‘Fulfillingness’ First Finale,’ which was the 17th studio Album from Stevie Wonder, who at the time was still only 23 years old, from July 1974. The first track released off the Album was the politically aware ‘You Haven’t Done Nothin” featuring ‘The Jackson 5’ on backing vocals, which reached Number 1 on Billboard in America, and Number 30 in the UK. ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’ which is a playful song about lust, peaked at Number 3 on Billboard, and Number 12 in the UK. ‘Fulfillingness’ First Finale’ is one of five consecutive Album releases from the 1970’s that are considered to be Stevie Wonder’s ‘classic period.’ The other Albums are ‘Music of My Mind,’ (1972) ‘Talking Book,’ (1972) ‘Innervisions,’ (1973) and ‘Songs in the Key of Life’ (1976.) By 1975 Stevie Wonder had won two consecutive ‘Grammy Awards,’ for Album of the year. In 1976 when Paul Simon won Album of the year for ‘Still Crazy After All These Years,’ he said,’I’d like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn’t make an Album this year.’

‘Boogie On Reggae Woman’ was written and produced by Stevie Wonder, with his long term collaborators Robert Margouleff, and Malcolm Cecil (1937-2021) (mainly during the classic period) working as associate producers. On ‘Boogie On Reggae Woman,’ Stevie Wonder sings all of the vocals, and plays all of the instruments, which are ‘Fender Rhodes’ piano, harmonica, drums, and ‘Moog’ bass, the only other musician on the track is Rocky Dzidzornu, (1932-1993) who played the congas. Kwasi ‘Rocky’ Dzidzornu was born on February 28th, 1932, in the British Gold Coast colony, Africa, which in 1947 would become the Republic of Ghana. he died on March 13th, 1993, at the age of 61. Rocky Dzidzornu was one of the main go to percussionists in the late 1960’s, and during the 1970’s. Other artists who employed him on their Albums include Nick Drake, (1948-1974) Taj Mahal, and most notably ‘The Rolling Stones,’ with whom he played on three of their studio Albums, including the song ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’ from The Rolling Stones 1968 Album ‘Beggars Banquet.’ The music historian Ned Sublette has written that the addition of his conga drumming on ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ transformed the song from ‘A dirge, and a dull one at that…making it come alive.’

Malcolm Cecil (1937-2021) and Robert Margouleff who worked closely with Stevie Wonder on his classic Albums, had formed as a duo in the early 1970’s as ‘Tonto’s Expanding Head Band.’ The duo were influential in the development of ‘Electronic Music,’ and helped bring the synthesizer to the mainstream, through session and production work for other musicians, including The Isley Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, and Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011.) The ‘TONTO’ synthesizer is an acronym for ‘The Original New Timbral Orchestra,’ the first, and still the largest, multitimbral polyphonic analog synthesizer in the world, designed and constructed over several years by Malcolm Cecil who has said, ‘I wanted to create an instrument that would be the first multitimbral polyphonic synthesizer. Multitimbral polyphony is different than the type of polyphony provided by most of today’s synthesizers, on which you turn to a string patch, and everything under your fingers is strings. In my book ‘multitimbral’ means each note you play has a different tone quality, as if the notes come from separate instruments. I wanted to be able to play live multitimbral polyphonic music using as many fingers and feet as I had.’ It was the development of this synthesizer which attracted Stevie Wonder, and led to him creating many of his classic 1970’s songs.

‘I’d like to see both of us fall deeply in love. I’d like to see you na under the stars above, yes I would. I’d like to see both of us fall deeply in love, yeah. I’d like to see you in the raw, under the stars above.’