Song title: It's A Shame
Artist: Spinners
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright/Lee Garrett
Originally released on: 2nd Time Around - V.I.P. 405
Release date: October 1970
Currently available on CD: Essential Collection - Tamla Motown 544 434-2
Further info: Although they signed to Motown in the mid-Sixties, The Spinners (aka The Detroit Spinners) were one of those acts that the label somewhow didn't pay much attention to. Their biggest hit during their Motown period came with 'It's A Shame', a great song brilliantly performed by the The Spinners - and expertly produced by Stevie in his first such assignment for another artist. He also played piano, bass and drums, and developed the horn arrangement. Indeed, the spring of 1970 - when the Spinners session was held - marked the start of a new phase in Stevie's career, for this was also when he recorded his very first self-produced hit, 'Signed Sealed Delivered (I'm Yours)'.

Upon release as a single on June 6, 1970 (V.I.P. 25057), 'It's A Shame' reached number 14 on the US charts. The song was introduced to The Spinners while they were on tour with Stevie. Recalled group member Bobbie Smith, "Stevie told us he had a song which he thought might suit us. We gave it a listen and decided to cut it right then and there. Stevie always carries a lot of equipment around with him so we cut it on the spot."

Lee Garret - one of Stevie's two co-writers on this song - would later work with Stevie on Jermaine Jackson's 'Let's Get Serious' (see Eighties section).

Song titles:
1. It's Christmas Time
2. I Can Tell When Christmas Is Near
Artist: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Season For Miracles - Tamla 307
Release date: November 23, 1970
Currently available on CD: Our Very Best Christmas - Motown 153 356-2
Further info: Hot on the heels of the belated hit with 'Tears Of A Clown' (see Sixties page), Stevie's long list of contributions to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles continued with these two tracks for their Christmas album.

Song title: We'll Have It Made
Artist: Spinners
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: Single release: V.I.P. 25060
Release date: January 1971
Currently available on CD: Essential Collection - Tamla Motown 544 434-2
Further info: Stevie wrote and produced yet another track for The Spinners in the autumn of 1970 (released early the following year). However, although 'We'll Have It Made' was every bit as catchy as 'It's A Shame', it failed to repeat the success of the previous hit, peaking at #89. Stevie was deeply disappointed. "I wanted that tune to be big," he said. "I was so hurt when it didn't do it."

Soon afterwards, The Spinners left Motown and signed with Atlantic. Their luck changed drastically, and they began a long string of major hits.

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Song titles:
1. We Had A Love So Strong
2. It Will Be Alright
Artist: Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright
Originally released on: Flying High Together - Tamla 318
Release date: July 27, 1972
Currently available on CD: Not available, were on out-of-print UK release Tears Of A Clown - Motown 550 073-2
Further info: The first Stevie "giveaway" to be issued after he had signed his new contract with Motown and released Music Of My Mind, his first album under this new deal. The two songs he gave to Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - included on Flying High Together, Smokey's last album with the group - are also very much typical of this new, experimental phase.

'We Had A Love So Strong' in particular sounds like it could have been from on one of Stevie's own albums from this era, and he was especially pleased with that particular song. "It's a real sweet thing that's got a nice melody," he told Rolling Stone in 1971. "I think I'm going to get Gladys (Knight) to do it also because she has such an outasight voice." However, it seems Ms Knight never got around to recording the song, although Randy Crawford released a version of 'We Had A Love So Strong' in 1982.

Song titles:
1. Black Maybe
2. Keep Him Like He Is
3. How Many Days
4. Baby Don't You Let Me Lose This
5. To Know You Is To Love You
Artist: Syreeta
Written by: 1 & 3: Stevie Wonder; 2, 4 & 5: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright.
Originally released on: Syreeta - Mowest LP MNS 7001
Release date: August, 1972
Currently available on CD: Syreeta/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Hip-O Select B0002543-02, limited edition release.
Further info: The late Syreeta Wright started her recording career at Motown as Rita Wright with the 1968 single 'I Can't Give Back The Love I Feel For You'. Inexplicably, it failed to chart at the time, and today it is regarded as something of a lost classic. Syreeta soon got romantically involved with Stevie Wonder - between 1970 and 1972 the pair were married. Certainly, no other artist than Syreeta has received more songs from Stevie - the only other act to come close is Smokey Robinson (with or without The Miracles) - and she was also his most frequent songwriting collaborator throughout the 1970s. She recalled: "I was reading Stevie a poem and he started playing music to it. That's when I first sensed I could write songs."

The Syreeta album was recorded in tandem with Stevie's Music Of My Mind and Talking Book albums. Known Syreeta sessions include January 1972 at Olympic Studios in London, England, and spring 1972 at Crystal Industries and The Record Plant in Los Angeles, and Electric Lady Studios in New York. “That album is my all-time favorite,” Syreeta stated many years later. “It had a lot of different flavors and the musicianship was incredible. Since Stevie was sometimes late for the sessions, I got a chance to do a lot of my own vocals."

Sadly, it was also during the album sessions, in March 1972, that the pair divorced. Syreeta recalled: “When we were doing the record, we were having some problems in our relationship. We got married at a very young age, and no one gave us a manual. For me, the album was about my hope that maybe we could salvage our marriage. A lot of the vocals are coming from that space.”

Stevie produced the entire Syreeta album, in addition to playing all instruments on most of the album and writing five songs. One of those songs, 'To Know You Is To Love You' also featured his lead vocal introduction. Overall, it was a strong collection of tunes, very much in the character of Stevie's early 1970s material. However, the LP was not a commercial success. "For some reasons it (the album) wasn't accepted," Stevie reflected. "I don't know if it was lack of promotion. I told them I didn't want to be associated so much with the album, the wife/husband thing, which I think was not an asset."

Still, at least one of the songs on the album was destined to live on. 'To Know You Is To Love You' was recorded by B.B. King in the spring of 1973, with Stevie contributing keyboards and harmonica. Stevie also used to perform the song himself in concert in 1973 and 1974.

According to David Nathan's liner notes in the Hip-O Select reissue of the Syreeta album, Stevie's own version of 'I Love Every Little Thing About You' - featured on the Music Of My Mind album - was actually recorded after the Syreeta track had been completed. However, his recording was released five months prior to the Syreeta album.

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Song titles:
1. I Am Yours
2. Something 'Bout Love
3. Something Lovely
Artist: The Main Ingredient
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Afrodisiac - RCA 4834
Release date: April 1973
Currently available on CD: Afrodisiac - Koch 7992
Further info: The Main Ingredient was one of the many soul vocal groups that gained success with lushly orchestrated ballads in the 1970s. The group was fresh from their #3 hit 'Everybody Plays The Fool' when they recorded the Afrodisiac album, which featured no less than three songs from Stevie. Naturally, both 'I Am Yours' and 'Something 'Bout Love' were - lushly orchestrated ballads. 'Something Lovely', meanwhile, was a bit more bouncy.

Stevie's association with the group went back to 1969, when he headlined a soul variety show at New York's Apollo Theater. The Main Ingredient was among the other acts in the line-up. On February 7, 1973, The Main Ingredient opened for Stevie at a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York, and in conjunction with this collaboration he wrote the three songs for their Afrodisiac album.

Lead singer Cuba Gooding had only been a member of the group for a year or so when the album was recorded. He is of course also the father of successful actor Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Song title: Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)
Artist: Aretha Franklin
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Clarence Paul/Morris Broadnax
Originally released on: Let Me In Your Life - Atlantic 7292
Release date: February 25, 1974
Currently available on CD: 30 Greatest Hits - Rhino 81668
Further info: 'Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)' was one of Aretha Franklin's biggest hits of the 1970s - a straightforward enough fact. However, the song itself has a long and convoluted story.

According to legend, Stevie started writing the song at the age of 13, when he was touring with Jackie Wilson, Gladys Knight and others. After each performance he would go straight to the piano and practice the song. He made an informal promise to Gladys and/or Jackie that they would have first digs on the tune. Ultimately, however, he chose to record 'Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)' himself sometime in the 1960s. Although it has been stated in at least one book that the track was released as a UK-only single on May 1, 1967, this appears to be incorrect. In fact, it was not released anywhere at all at the time.

While Stevie's own version languished in the vaults, he gave 'Until You Come Back To Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)' to Aretha Franklin, who recorded her own version in September 1973 and released it as a single (Atlantic 2995) the following month. Aretha's interpretation was marked by the incredible soulfulness and spot-on phrasing that only she could muster, as if it had been tailor-made for her. She was rewarded with a number three hit, her last major success during her years on the Atlantic label.

Stevie's own version was finally released in November 1977, on the triple compilation album Looking Back (Motown 804). However, he has no doubts as to who did the definitive version. "I did 'Until You Come Back To Me' some years ago, but there is no comparison to the one that ... Aretha did. Forget it. Aretha blew the thing out! ... Obviously we all know that is one of her all time classics. You are convinced of what she says, of what she's singing."

Song titles:
1. I'm Goin Left
2. Spinnin' And Spinnin'
3. Your Kiss Is Sweet
4. Come And Get This Stuff
5. Heavy Day
6. Cause We've Ended As Lovers
7. Just A Little Piece Of You
8. Waitin' For The Postman
9. When Your Daddy's Not Around
10. I Wanna Be By Your Side
11. Universal Sound Of The World (Your Kiss Is Sweet)
Artist: Syreeta
Written by: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 & 11: Stevie Wonder/Syreeta Wright; 4, 6, 8 & 9: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Motown 808
Release date: July 19, 1974
Currently available on CD: Syreeta/Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta - Hip-O Select B0002543-02, limited edition release. Also, several of the tracks are available on the Essential Syreeta compilation (see entry for "Harmour Love" below).
Further info: Stevie and Syreeta's second album collaboration was released in 1974, although the bulk of the tracks were in fact recorded the year before, parallel with the sessions for Stevie's Innervisions album. However, in August 1973 Stevie was involved in a car accident and was hospitalised for a long while, which meant that work on the album ground to a halt. Although he was still recuperating, Stevie was back in the studio again in October, working on the Syreeta album and his own Fullfillingness' First Finale on and off over the next few months.

“That whole album was a healing and a balance for both of us,” Syreeta recalled many years later. “We were going through a divorce at the same time we were making that record so every song has something to do with what we were going through, like ‘Heavy Day’ and ‘Spinnin' And Spinnin.’ That song was about a lady Stevie was dating at the time and I felt he would get emotionally injured by the situation…and he did.”

Album sessions concluded in the spring of 1974. "We were held up by Stevie's accident," explained Syreeta, "and then when we'd completed it, we decided that it was a bit too melancholy as it stood, so we altered a few tracks to make it sound slightly more cheerful." Some of the more melancholy songs were to be found in the suite that made up side two of the original vinyl album. "What happened with that side of her record," Stevie explained, "was I just made it up as I went along and put it all together right at the piano. The piano was the first instrument that I put down. I had those tunes and that I was able to connect them just happened."

Syreeta related how the collaboration between herself and Stevie usually worked: "Stevie sends me the rhythm and the tune, I work on the lyrics, and then he either approves or we discuss it further." In another interview she noted that their partnership was often considerably less structured than that. "We never plan what we're going to record," she said, "he usually writes the melody and I put the lyrics to it. Sometimes I change the melody in the studio."

Stevie Wonder Presents Syreeta stalled at number 116 on the Billboard chart, but 'Your Kiss Is Sweet' (Tamla Motown TMG 933) was a sizeable UK hit, peaking at number 12.

Among the known unreleased songs from this period are 'I'll Get What Is Mine' (later recorded by Mari Nakamoto, see the bottom of this page) and 'When I Was A Child (still unreleased). Both songs were written by Stevie and Syreeta.

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Song title: Game Called Love
Artist: The Originals
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Game Called Love - Soul 740
Release date: August 1974
Currently available on CD: The Very Best Of The Originals - Motown 549 506-2
Further info: The Originals were one of those groups that seemed to be around on Motown forever without ever acheiving any major success. Although they scored Top 15 hits with 'Baby, I'm For Real' and 'The Bells', their other singles stalled at much lower placings. However, this was no reflection of their vocal talents, which also graced the recordings of many other Motown acts, for instance Stevie Wonder's hit recording of 'For Once In My Life'.

When The Originals were formed, singer Ty Hunter was meant to be a member of the group, but was unable to because of a contract with Chess Records. When member C.P. Spencer left the group in 1972, Ty Hunter was finally able to join the group. Stevie was a fan of Hunter, and this may have contributed to his eagerness to write a song for the group.

Unfortunately, the ballad 'Game Called Love' - produced by Stevie - continued the group's disappointing chart statistics: neither the single (Soul 35113, July 1974) nor the album of the same name managed to enter the Billboard charts.

Song titles:
1. Perfect Angel
2. Take A Little Trip
Artist: Minnie Riperton
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Perfect Angel - Epic KE 32561
Release date: December 1974
Currently available on CD: Perfect Angel/Adventures In Paradise - Stateside 5971972 (UK release)
Further info: Although Minnie Riperton had been a member of Rotary Connection, for whom Stevie wrote 'This Town' in 1969, these 1974 recordings marked the first time she applied her lead vocals to his songs. However, before the release of Perfect Angel, Riperton had already appeared on Stevie's Fulfillingness First Finale album, most notably on the ballad 'Creepin''.

Despite the Rotary Connection experience, apparently Minnie Riperton didn't actually meet Stevie until 1971, after she had gone solo. According to legend, the two met during a rehearsal at the Black Expo in Chicago. "I saw Stevie backstage," Riperton recalled, "so I went over and whispered in his ear for him to keep up the good work. He asked me what my name was, and I said 'Minnie.' Well he started jumping up and down, saying 'not Minnie Riperton — it's been my dream to work with you. You sing like an angel'."

With this assessment in mind, it's perhaps not so surprising that one of the songs Stevie wrote for Riperton was entitled 'Perfect Angel'. The song became the title track on the singer's album, which was produced by Stevie. However, due to contractual restrictions, the production was credited to Wonderlove, Stevie's backing band, and his own contributions as a musician was credited to El Toro Negro (Spanish for Black Bull, the name of Stevie's production company).

Both 'Perfect Angel' and Stevie's second song on the album, 'Take A Little Trip', featured quite complicated melody lines, requiring a vocalist of Minnie Riperton's talents to navigate around. Incidentally, parts of 'Perfect Angel' had been performed by Stevie himself during his early 1974 concerts (at least the January show at the Rainbow in London).

Although none of Stevie's songs on the Perfect Angel album was hit single material, the album contained a track entitled 'Lovin' You' which provided Minnie Riperton with a US number one single. As a result of this success, the LP peaked at number four on the album chart.

Song title: I Can See The Sun In Late December
Artist: Roberta Flack
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Feel Like Makin' Love - Atlantic 18131
Release date: April 1975
Currently available on CD: Feel Like Makin' Love - Atlantic 7567-80333-2
Further info: The superb ballad 'I Can See The Sun In Late December' was the first of a handful of songs Stevie would give to Roberta Flack over the next half-decade. The association between the two artists seems to have been particularly strong in the autumn of 1974, when Flack hosted a New York kick-off party in conjunction with Stevie's impending tour. Perhaps the session for 'I Can See The Sun In Late December' - recorded at New York's Electric Lady Studios- was also held around this time. However, Stevie does not appear on Flack's recording.

'I Can See The Sun In Late December' was originally slated for inclusion on one of his own albums - presumably Fulfillingness First Finale. Stevie has performed the song in concert at times (known occasions include January 1974 and December 1979), although his version has never been released on record.

Song title: Sleeping Alone
Artist: Pointer Sisters
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Steppin' - Blue Thumb 6021
Release date: June 1975
Currently available on CD: Steppin' - Hip-O Select [catalogue number coming soon], limited edition release; or Steppin' - MCA 3339 (Japanese release)
Further info: Stevie's first song for the The Pointer Sisters was this jazzy concoction, showcasing the sisters' vocal talents. Stevie also contributed keyboards to the recording. In addition to its appearance on the Steppin' album, 'Sleeping Alone' was released as the B-side of the single 'Going Down Slowly' (Blue Thumb BTA-268), a Top 20 hit on the US R&B chart.

Song title: What Happens To
Artist: Andy Williams
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: The Other Side Of Me - CBS 69152
Release date: 1975
Currently available on CD: You Lay So Easy on My Mind/The Other Side Of Me - Collectables 7442
Further info: The heartbreak ballad 'What Happens To', recorded by crooner Andy Williams, was one of the first songs Stevie gave to an artist outside the confines of the blues/soul/funk genre. As such, it was a foretaste of what was to come in the Eighties, when Stevie would work with acts all over the popular music spectrum.

Song title: Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down
Artist: James Taylor
Written by: Stevie Wonder/James Taylor
Originally released on: In The Pocket - Warner Bros BS 2912
Release date: April 1976
Currently available on CD: In The Pocket - Warner Bros 2912-2
Further info: The mellow west-coast ballad 'Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down' was co-written by James Taylor and Stevie, around the time of the Songs In The Key Of Life Album. Stevie also contributed harmonica to the recording. Just like the Andy Williams collaboration, the association with James Taylor underlined Stevie's eagerness not to limit his work to any specific genre.

In 1997 Stevie contributed harmonica to the track 'Little More Time For You' on James Taylor's Hour Glass album. That same year the pair also appeared on the telecast Rainforest Foundation Concert, duetting on the soul classic 'Knock On Wood'.

Song titles:
1. Love Notes
2. Spring High
Artist: Ramsey Lewis
Written by: Stevie Wonder
Originally released on: Love Notes - Columbia 34696
Release date: April 28, 1977
Currently available on CD: Love Notes - Sony SRCS 9571 (Japanese release) NOTE: Spring High is also available on the compilation CD The Wonder Of Stevie; see the Compilation Albums section.
Further info: Seven years after their last collaboration, Stevie contributes two new songs to Ramsey Lewis. As a composition, 'Spring High' was published as early as 1975, indicating that it may possibly have been written around that time. Stevie participated in the autumn 1976 recording session for both tracks, playing Fender Rhodes and Arp Odyssey synthesizer.

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Original Having A Party album
(US only)

Song title: I Can't Help It
Artist: Michael Jackson
Written by: Stevie Wonder/Susaye Greene
Originally released on: Off The Wall - Epic 35745
Release date: August 1979
Currently available on CD: Off The Wall - Epic 66070
Further info: 'I Can't Help It' must certainly be one of the most commercially lucrative songs that Stevie Wonder ever gave to another artist. Not only was it the B-side on the global hit single 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' (Epic 50742, August 1979), but it was also a track on the Off The Wall album, which to date is reported to have sold close to 20 million copies worldwide. Further royalties were generated by several cover versions and samplings of the tune by artists such as De La Soul ('Breakadawn'), Portrait ('Here We Go Again') and Mary J. Blige ('Sexy'). Although Stevie himself has never released 'I Can't Help It' on record, he has performed it in concert many times, most recently (at the time of writing) at the UNCF gala in January 2005.

Stevie's lyricist on the song, Susaye Greene, had previously been a member of his backing band, Wonderlove. She can also be heard backing him up on 'Joy Inside My Tears' on the Songs In The Key Of Life album, and on many other of his recordings. In 1976 she joined The Supremes' final line-up, enjoying a US Top 40 hit with 'I'm Gonna Let My Heart Do The Walking'.

In 1987, there were further Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson collaborations, when two different duets were featured on their respective albums released that year. 'Get It' was included on Stevie's Characters album, while 'Just Good Friends' was a track on Michael Jackson's Bad.

In a 1988 Japanese interview, Stevie stated that he had written a song entitled 'A Pretty Face Is' (the actual tune dated back two decades), which he envisioned as a duet with Michael Jackson. However, the song remains unreleased to this day.