Songs in the Key of Life
Studio album by Stevie Wonder
Released	September 28, 1976
Recorded	1975-1976; The Hit Factory, Wonderland Studios
Genre	R&B
Length	104:53
Label	Motown
Producer(s)	Stevie Wonder
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Stevie Wonder chronology
Fulfillingness' First Finale (1974)	Songs in the Key of Life (1976)	Journey through the Secret Life of Plants (1979)

Songs in the Key of Life is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released on September 28, 1976 (see 1976 in music), and is widely known and confirmed as Wonder's magnum opus. It was the last of five consecutive albums widely hailed as his "classic period", along with Music of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, and Fulfillingness' First Finale. A highly ambitious and experimental double LP, Songs in the Key of Life became the best-selling and most critically acclaimed album of his career, even earning a rare 5-star rating from Rolling Stone Magazine. A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris), [1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele, such as John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, U2, Barbra Streisand and Paul Simon. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Rhythm and blues (aka R&B or RnB) is a popular music genre combining jazz, gospel, and blues influences — first performed by African American artists. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Motown Records, Inc. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris), [1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris), [1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ... Fulfillingness First Finale is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 (see 1974 in music). ... Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants was Stevie Wonders most confusing, under-rated and under-appreciated work, out of a nearly 20 year career up to that point. ... Stevie Wonder (born Stevland Hardaway Judkins on May 13, 1950, name later changed to Stevland Hardaway Morris), [1] is an African American singer, songwriter, record producer, musician, and social activist. ... September 28 is the 271st day of the year (272nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... See also: 1975 in music, other events of 1976, 1977 in music, 1970s in music and the list of years in music // January 6 - Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive! January 7 - Kenneth Moss, a former record company executive, is sentenced to 120 days in the Los Angeles County Jail... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Music of My Mind is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released on March 3, 1972 (see 1972 in music). ... Talking Book is an album by Lindsay Hartley. ... Innervisions is an album by Stevie Wonder, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). ... Fulfillingness First Finale is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974 (see 1974 in music). ... Rolling Stone is an American magazine devoted to music, politics and popular culture. ...

Songs in the Key of Life won a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal and Album of the Year. The album also topped Billboard's Pop Albums and Black Albums charts. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll. Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (originally called the Gramophone Awards), presented by the Recording Academy (an association of Americans professionally involved in the recorded music industry) for outstanding achievements in the recording industry, is one of four major music awards shows held annually in the United States (the Billboard Music... The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance has been awarded since 1966. ... The Grammy Award for Album of the Year has been awarded since 1959. ... Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... The Village Voice is a weekly newspaper in New York City featuring investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts reviews and events listings for New York City. ... The Pazz & Jop critics poll is a highly influential poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. ...

In 2003, the album was ranked number 56 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Similarly, in 1998 Q magazine readers voted Songs in the Key of Life the 88th greatest album of all time; in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 7; in 2005 voters on the United Kingdom's Channel 4's poll placed it 74th. Rolling Stone is an American magazine devoted to music, politics and popular culture. ... The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time was the cover story of a special issue of Rolling Stone magazine published in November 2003. ... Q magazine is a music and entertainment magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... VH1 (spelled VH-1 (Video Hits One) until 1994) is an American cable television channel that was created in January 1985 by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment (at the time a division of Warner Communications and owners of MTV, which originally came up with the idea of the channel). ... Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ...

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Love's in Need of Love Today" (Wonder) – 7:05
2. "Have a Talk with God" (Hardaway/Wonder) – 2:42
3. "Village Ghetto Land" (Byrd/Wonder) – 3:25
4. "Contusion" (Wonder) – 3:45
5. "Sir Duke" (Wonder) – 3:54
6. "I Wish" (Wonder) – 4:12
7. "Knocks Me Off My Feet" (Wonder) – 3:36
8. "Pastime Paradise" (Wonder) – 3:27
9. "Summer Soft" (Wonder) – 4:14
10. "Ordinary Pain" (Wonder) – 6:23

Sir Duke is a song composed and performed by Stevie Wonder. ... I Wish (1977) is a #1 hit single song by Stevie Wonder and included on the album Songs in the Key of Life. ...

Disc two

1. "Isn't She Lovely" (Wonder) – 6:34
2. "Joy Inside My Tears" (Wonder) – 6:29
3. "Black Man" (Byrd/Wonder) – 8:29
4. "Ngiculela - Es Una Historia - I Am Singing" (Wonder) – 3:48
5. "If It's Magic" (Wonder) – 3:12
6. "As" (Wonder) – 7:08
7. "Another Star" (Wonder) – 8:28

Isnt She Lovely is a song by Stevie Wonder, from his 1976 album Songs In The Key Of Life. ...

A Something's Extra Bonus

1. "Saturn" (Sembello/Wonder) – 4:53
2. "Ebony Eyes" (Wonder) – 4:08
3. "All Day Sucker" (Wonder) – 5:05
4. "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)" (Wonder) – 3:56

The A Something's Extra Bonus 7" EP was included with the special edition version of the original LP. These tracks are also on most CD versions of the album, either split between both discs, or appended to the end of the second disc.

Personnel

• Stevie Wonder - Harmonica, Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Vocals
• Michael Sembello - Guitar
• Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Pedal Steel
• George Benson - Guitar, Vocals
• Ronnie Foster - Organ
• Herbie Hancock - Keyboards, Handclapping
• Dean Parks - Guitar
• Greg Phillinganes - Keyboards
• W.G. "Snuffy" Walden - Guitar
• Nathan Watts - Bass, Vocals, Handclapping
• Greg Brown - Drums
• Raymond Lee Pounds - Drums
• Hank Redd - Sax (Alto), Sax (Tenor)
• George Bohannon - Trombone
• Ben Bridges - Guitar, Sitar
• Dorothy Ashby - Harp
• Bobbi Humphrey - Flute
• Howard Buzzy Feiten - Guitar
• Steve Madaio - Trumpet
• Trevor Lawrence - Sax (Tenor)
• Glen Ferris - Trombone
• Jim Horn - Saxophone
• Deniece Williams - Vocals
• Minnie Riperton - Vocals
• Gary Byrd - Vocals
• Michael Wycoff - Vocals
• Larry Scott - Sound Effects
• Carol Cole - Percussion
• Bobbye Hall - Percussion
• Jay Boy Adams - Vocals
• Nathan Alford, Jr. - Percussion
• Henry America - Vocals
• Linda America - Vocals
• Baradras - Vocals
• Brenda Barnett - Vocals
• Khalif Bobatoon - Vocals
• Starshemah Bobatoon - Vocals
• Sudana Bobatoon - Vocals
• Charles Brewer - Percussion, Programming, Vocals
• Shirley Brewer - Percussion, Vocals, Speaking Part
• Berry Briges - Vocals
• Cecilia Brown - Vocals
• Eddie "Bongo" Brown - Percussion
• Jean Brown - Vocals
• Rodney Brown - Vocals
• Colleen Carleton - Percussion, Vocals
• Addie Cox - Vocals
• Agnideva Dasa - Vocals
• Duryodhana Guru Dasa - Vocals
• Jayasacinandana Dasa - Vocals
• Jitamrtyi Dasa - Vocals
• Vedavyasa Dasa - Vocals
• Cinmayi Dasi - Vocals
• Yogamaya Dasi - Vocals
• Carolyn Dennis - Vocals
• Bhakta Eddie - Vocals
• Doe Rani Edwards - Vocals
• Jacqueline F. English - Vocals
• Ethel Enoex - Vocals
• Al Jocko Fann - Vocals
• Barbara Fann - Vocals
• Melani Fann - Vocals
• Shelley Fann - Vocals
• Tracy Fann - Vocals
• John Fischbach - Percussion, Programming, Vocals, Engineer
• Susie Fuzzell - Vocals
• Carmelo Garcia - Percussion, Timbales
• Anthony Givens - Vocals
• Audrey Givens - Vocals
• Derrick Givens - Vocals
• Mildred Givens - Vocals
• Michael Lee Gray - Vocals
• Mimi Green - Vocals
• Susaye Greene Brown - Vocals
• Bhakta Gregory - Vocals
• Renee Hardaway - Percussion, Vocals
• John Harris - Sound Effects
• Jeania Harris - Vocals
• John Harris - Programming
• Troy Harris - Vocals
• Nelson Hayes - Percussion, Sound Effects, Vocals
• Terry Hendricks - Vocals
• H. David Henson - Assistant Engineer
• Don Hunter - Programming, Sound Effects
• Adrian Janes - Vocals
• Josie James - Vocals
• Calvin Johnson - Vocals
• Carol Johnson - Vocals
• Patricia Johnson - Vocals
• Madelaine Jones - Vocals
• Bhakta Kevin - Vocals
• Phillip Kimble - Vocals
• James Lambert - Vocals
• Linda Lawrence - Vocals,
• Irma Leslie - Vocals
• Kim Lewis - Vocals
• Carl Lockhart - Vocals
• Gail Lockhart - Vocals
• Raymond Maldonado - Percussion, Trumpet
• Carolyn Massenburg - Vocals
• Artice May - Vocals
• Charity McCrary - Vocals
• Linda McCrary-Campbell - Vocals
• Lonnie Morgan - Vocals
• Kim Nixon - Vocals
• Lisa Nixon - Vocals
• Larri Nuckens - Vocals
• Larry Latimer - Percussion, Vocals
• Amale Mathews - Percussion, Vocals
• Edna Orso - Percussion, Vocals
• Marietta Waters - Percussion, Vocals
• Josette Valentino - Percussion, Vocals, Handclapping
• Gwen Perry - Vocals
• Gregory Rudd - Vocals
• Rukmini - Vocals
• Yolanda Simmons - Vocals, Handclapping
• Keith Slaughter - Vocals
• Rosona Starks - Vocals
• Dennis Swindell - Vocals
• Sundray Tucker - Vocals
• Gary Veney - Vocals
• Sheryl Walker - Vocals
• Mary Lee Whitney - Vocals
• Syreeta Wright - Vocals
• Michael Gray - Vocals
• Susaye Greene - Vocals
• William Moore - Vocals
• Fountain Jones - Programming

Michael Sembello (born April 17, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American musician. ... Sneaky Pete Kleinow Sneaky Pete Kleinow (b. ... This is an article about George Benson, Jazz musician. ... Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an Academy Award and multiple Grammy Award winning jazz pianist and composer from Chicago, Illinois, USA. Hancock is one of jazz musics most important and influential pianists and composers. ... Greg Phillinganes (born Gregory Phillinganes in Detroit, Michigan) is an active session keyboardist in Los Angeles, California. ... William Garrett Walden (often credited as Snuffy Walden or W. G. Snuffy Walden) is an accomplished composer for television shows, having scored Ellen, Roseanne, My So-Called Life, Sports Night, thirtysomething, The Wonder Years and The West Wing. ... Nathan Watts American session Bass Guitar player, best known for his work with Stevie Wonder in the 1970s and 80s. ... Deniece Williams Deniece Williams (born June Deniece Chandler on June 3, 1950 in Gary, Indiana) is an American singer and songwriter who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s. ... Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 - July 12, 1979) was a soul singer from Chicago, Illinois, most noted for her abilities in the whistle register and her 1975 hit single Lovin You. Having possessed a rare five octave vocal range, she displayed the ability to imitate instrumentation and even birds. ... Also known as Carol Dennis. ...

Cover Versions

• "Love's In Need of Love Today" - Later recorded by Dave Hollister in 2002, also by Joan Osborne on the cover album "How Sweet It Is [2002]."
• "Contusion" - Later chopped up and melded with other jazz samples for the Venetian Snares song "Banana Seat Girl" (2002).
• "I Wish" - Later recorded, with different lyrics, by Will Smith as the theme song for the film Wild Wild West.
• "Isn't She Lovely" - a UK Top Ten hit for David Parton in 1977.
• "Pastime Paradise" - Later recorded, with different lyrics, as "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio in 1995, parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Amish Paradise" in 1996. Sampled again as the basis of "Curtain Falls" by the boy-band Blue on 2004. In 1999, the song was covered by the Finnish humppa band Elakelaiset as "Paratiisihumppa".
• "Knocks Me Off My Feet" - Later recorded by Luther Vandross in 1996 and then by Donnell Jones in 1996.
• "Village Ghetto Land" - Covered by George Michael. Later sampled on Warren G's "Ghetto Village", off his 2001 album "Return of the Regulator"; in this version, the melody is slightly accelerated and the song is retrofitted with Warren's signature brand of G-Funk.
• "As" - Later recorded by Michael Bolton in 2001, also a successful duet between George Michael and Mary J. Blige in 1998.
• "Another Star" - Later recorded by Caron Wheeler of Soul II Soul in 2002.

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition (performance or recording) of a previously recorded song. ... Aaron Funk Venetian Snares is the performing name of Aaron Funk, an electronic music producer and performer from Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. ... Willard Christopher Smith, Jr. ... For the 1960s television series, see The Wild Wild West. ... Coolio at US Army base in Bosnia (2002). ... Alfred Matthew Weird Al Yankovic (IPA pronunciation: ) (born October 23, 1959) is an American musician, satirist, parodist, accordionist, and television producer. ... Luther Ronzoni Vandross, Jr. ... George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on 25 June 1963) is an English singer-songwriter who performs soul influenced pop, and who (as a solo artist and half of the duo WHAM!) has enjoyed phenomenal global success since 1982. ... Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) in Long Beach, California, more commonly known as Warren G, is an American West Coast rapper and hip hop producer. ... G-funk, an abbreviation of Gangsta-funk, is a type of hip hop music that emerged from West Coast gangsta rap in the early 1990s. ... Bolton on his Bolton Swings Sinatra album cover Michael Bolton (born Michael Bolotin in New Haven, Connecticut, February 26, 1953) is an American pop, rock and adult contemporary singer-songwriter known for his soft rock ballads and powerful singing voice. ... George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou on 25 June 1963) is an English singer-songwriter who performs soul influenced pop, and who (as a solo artist and half of the duo WHAM!) has enjoyed phenomenal global success since 1982. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

Charting singles

• 1976: Another Star (Club Play Singles) - No. 2
• 1977: Sir Duke (Adult Contemporary) - No. 3
• 1977: I Wish (Adult Contemporary) - No. 23
• 1977: Isn't She Lovely (Adult Contemporary) - No. 23
• 1977: Another Star (Pop Singles) - No. 32
• 1977: I Wish (Pop Singles) - No. 1
• 1977: Sir Duke (Pop Singles) - No. 1
• 1977: Another Star (Black Singles) - No. 18
• 1977: Another Star (Adult Contemporary) - No. 29
• 1977: As (Black Singles) - No. 36
• 1977: I Wish (Black Singles) - No. 1
• 1977: Sir Duke (Black Singles) - No. 1
• 1977: As (Adult Contemporary) - No. 24
• 1978: As (Pop Singles) - No. 36
• 1978: Knocks Me Off My Feet (Pop Singles) - No. 11
• 1978: Knocks Me Off My Feet (Black Singles) - No. 4

Influence

American singer/songwriter Liz Phair based her 2005 release Somebody's Miracle on this album. Liz Phair (born Elizabeth Clark Phair on April 17, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. ... Somebodys Miracle is the fifth album by Liz Phair, released on October 4, 2005 (see 2005 in music) on Capitol Records. ...

External links

• [1] Audio streams: WBEZ program 'Extensions' broadcast a 3 hour special commemorating the album's 30th anniversary