American Top 40 PastBlast: 9/15/73

I’m pretty certain that my father wasn’t much of a fan of Stevie Wonder while I was growing up. Yet, roughly thirty years later, there in the box of Essential Rock CDs That Everyone Should Own, I found Innervisions and Songs in the Keys of Life, two of the four disks from the period I’d consider Peak Wonder. I’ve certainly benefitted from this change of heart!

There was a three-or-so week period in August 76 when “Living for the City” was the final song that WSAI played before AT40 started at 6pm on Sunday evening. I like that one a little more than “Higher Ground” (#13 here, heading to #4), but making that choice is kind of like deciding between two of your favorite flavors of ice cream. I can’t immediately list that many covers of Stevie that have gotten serious airplay: Frampton’s version of “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” in the fall of 77 is okay, and there’s RHCP’s fine take on “Ground” in the late 80s. Just about impossible to top the originals for this artist, though.