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Krinn Vander Sloot

March 9, 2013

Mus 110

Prof. Grace Shwanda

My Heritage and Stevie Wonder

Since the beginning of time music has played a large role in the way people relate. People

have used music for a variety of reasons. During the last two thousand years music has evolved

from Gregorian Chants to Rap. In the recent 60 years there have been many performers in

popular music. Some familiar names are Americans Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Ronnie

Milsap, and Canadian Jeff Healey. The main thing these artists have in common is they are

blind. Each of these performers were/are well known for their ability to overcome their

disability and earn the respect of their peers and audience. Even though they are all blind, they

all have contributed greatly to their music profession and their genre of music. Out of the four

named performers, Stevie Wonder is the person who is most interesting to me. My exposure to

music has been varied during my life with an early emphasis on old Christian hymns. My

mother was the stronger influence in my introduction to music as a child. And, since my mother

is Irish, any secular music I heard was Irish. Regardless of the fact that my heritage differs from

Stevie’s style of music and is not what I normally listen to, I have developed an appreciation for

Stevie’s determination, his talents, his accomplishments, and especially his music.

Stevie Wonder was born as Steveland Morris, May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan. He was

born blind and began performing while still a child. Through Ronnie White, a member of the

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Miracles, he signed a contract to record on the Tamia label of Motown, and changed his name to

Little Stevie Wonder. (Sadie) Although he was blind, he did not let that keep him down. At a

young age, he kept his spirits up by learning how to play instruments and developing his singing

abilities. Stevie played the harmonica, banged on the drums, and sang in the church choir. By

the age of ten, he had mastered piano, organ, harmonica and bongo drums. Gaining Motown’s

attention, he became a child prodigy. 1 (Bondi) Since Wonder began his career at church it was

only natural that his songs were upbeat and positive. His gospel-like songs were modeled after

what he learned early on in life as a member of his church choir which used the call-and-

response style. (Sadie) After releasing his first singles “Thank you (For Loving Me All the

Way” and “Contract of Love” in 1963, “Fingertips, Pt. 2” became the first live performance of a

song to reach the top of the pop charts. That year Wonder also became the first recording artist

to hold number one slots on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B Singles, and album charts

simultaneously. (Smith) “Fingertips, Pt. 2” not only showed off his singing ability it also

featured his harmonica playing. This song also demonstrated the gospel-like call-and-response

style he was known for at the time.

In 1971, Stevie began his mature career, when he negotiated a lucrative contract with Motown

that gave him complete control over the production of his recordings. (Sadie) Once he gained

creative freedom, his career took off. He started to make a huge name for himself by becoming a

multifaceted artist. Not only was he a talented musician and performer, his repertoire expanded

to his already popular songs being used in movies, writing and or performing music for movies,

and directing the music for films. Stevie’s songs were used in over 60 movies starting from 1964

through 2012. Some of the movie titles that would be familiar are Bikini Beach, The Thing, Die

1 Bondi states “Little Stevie Wonder auditioned for Berry Gordy with Motown at the age of ten.”

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Hard, Passenger 57, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, Sabrina, Mr. Holland’s Opus,

You’ve Got Mail, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Center Stage, Snow Dogs, Laws of

Attraction, Hitch, Guess Who, Beauty Shop, Kicking and Screaming, Jarhead, Mission

Impossible III, Happy Feet, The Karate Kid (2010), Bad Teacher, The Change Up, and the most

recent Silver Linings Playbook filmed in 2012 and will be in theatres this year. I have watched

all but one of the movies I listed and recognized the songs. However, while recognizing his

songs in so many movies, until now, I never realized how extensive the use of his music in sound

tracks was. Stevie also wrote and performed music specifically for movies. Some of the movies

are The Outsiders, The Last Dragon, The Pick Up Artist, The Adventure of Pinocchio, Rent,

Disney’s Mulan, Bamboozled and John Q. (StevieWonder.org) Unfortunately, I have only

viewed Disney’s Mulan yet Stevie’s style is easy to spot since it is a positive song using the

familiar guitar, keyboard, harmonica and downbeat that he is known for. The soundtrack song

“True To Your Heart” which sounds like his popular song “Superstition” is featured when Mulan

is being encouraged to be ‘true’ to herself and pursue her dreams. Just as in other movies,

Stevie’s song was used to be uplifting. Along with his established songs being used in movies as

well as writing and performing music for movies, Stevie has also directed the whole soundtrack

for movies and made cameo appearances. The movies that he has produced are The Secret Life

of Plants, The Woman In Red, and Jungle Fever. Two of the three movies were quite successful

and still are being shown on cable television. The movies in which he has made an appearance

are Bikini Beach, Muscle Beach Party, Standing In The Shadows of Motown, Fahrenheit 9/11,

and Transcendent Man. Although his part was not extensive, he still was memorable.

In some cases when performers become famous, they neglect giving back. They become so

self-absorbed and end up getting into trouble. Usually you see that with the younger performers

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who start as kids and never learn how to exist in the real world. In fact many of the old Disney

stars have ended up being addicted to drugs and alcohol and/or making frequent visits to the

police department. This is not what happened to Stevie, throughout his 40 plus year career he

has stayed out of trouble and actually contributed to the wellness of the less fortunate by

participating in the “We Are The World” campaign. Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones worked

together along with various artists, Wonder involved, in 1985 to record the song with the

proceeds going to help the severe famine in Ethiopia. I remember when the song came out

because I was in high school and wrote a term paper about the famine in Ethiopia which included

a reference to the song. Since Stevie had a strong religious bringing up, he has avoided a lot of

bad press by remaining a conscientious citizen. One of the most memorable contributions

Stevie made to society is his dedication to having a bill passed to make Martin Luther King’s

birthday a national holiday. He took three years off from his career to organize events to

convince Congress to pass the bill. The largest event he organized was a march in Washington

which was a success. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed the bill. It was official, all of his

passion and hard work paid off.

Even though Stevie stayed out of trouble, his life was not without adversity. When he was a

small child, he lived in poverty which contributed to the abuse from his father. Despite his initial

meager beginning, he later went on to sing in the church choir which helped him gain a

following to start his career. Another point in his life when he suffered from adversity was when

he was involved in a car accident. According to Biography.com, a log rolled off of a truck that

was in front of his car and crashed through the windshield. Stevie sustained devastating injuries

that almost cost him his life. While he was in a coma people wondered if he survived, would he

be able to continue his music. When he woke up he was given an instrument to play. In an on-

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line video biography, it was said that once he began to play the instrument, it was if he was

revived. A month later he went on to perform with Elton John where he received a 15 minute

standing ovation when his presence was just hinted. (The Biography Channel Website)

Stevie’s career has brought him several awards, 25 Grammy Awards which includes a

Lifetime Achievement Award, one Oscar, and was recognized with the Second Library of

Congress Gershwin Prize. 2 His accomplishments have exceeded all expectations of a poor,

African American, blind boy and he is still going. One of his recent accomplishments included

being the kick-off musician for President Obama’s 2013 inauguration ceremonies. Stevie

performed his popular song “Signed Sealed and Delivered”.

As part of this paper, I am required to include a brief autobiography so bear with me. I was a

poor white girl from Muskegon with five older siblings. My father was a minister at a protestant

church and my mother was a homemaker who took on the church as her life’s work. Being the

youngest of six children, I was what my older siblings called ‘spoiled’. I do not like to think of

my being spoiled as we did not have two nickels to rub together. I would more consider myself

as being ‘well loved’. There is a 20 year difference between my oldest sibling and me which left

a huge gap between kids. The next sister closest to my age is five years older. Along with my

siblings, I grew up not knowing what it was like to be able to listen to secular music and having

to sneak. I often wonder why my mother sheltered me from as much worldly exposure as

possible. It is something that I do not understand as an adult. I believe if you do not learn how

2 Over the course of his long career, Wonder, who has been married twice and has seven

children, has been honored with numerous awards. He has won 25 Grammys, a number that

includes his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1989 he was elected to the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame. More recently Wonder was recognized with the Second Library of Congress

Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2009. Information taken from Biography.com.

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to live in the real world you become stagnant and unable to function as well as be a good

witness. Anyway, my sibling’s ages had a 20 year span which exposed me to a wide variety of

music. I had a sister who loved the Carpenters, BeeGees, and Barry Manilow, a brother who

listened to country and the Doobie Brothers, another sister who liked Marvin Gaye, Al Jereau,

Stevie Wonder, George Benson, and Barry White. The sister closest to my age liked Midnight

Star, Klimaxx, and other groups that recorded ‘roller skating’ songs. My oldest brother, being 20

years older than I, was already married and living in another state so I really never knew him

until I was much older. My personal favorites are The Carpenters, Barry Manilow, Doobie

Brothers, Ronnie Milsap, George Benson, Midnight Star, and more recent performer Michael

Bubble. It is evident that my siblings had an impact on the development of my musical interests.

I, however, have increased my repertoire to include classical, some folk which includes James

Taylor, Contemporary Gospel music as well as the old hymns.

If I were to just focus on the music from my heritage, my exposure would be limited to Irish

Music. My heritage is what my dad would call Heinz 57, however Irish and German are the two

predominant bloodlines in my family. My mother is Irish and proud of it, I remember her

singing “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” and “Oh Danny Boy” while cooking supper. My mother

had a beautiful singing voice and I loved to hear her sing the old time Irish songs. I would block

out when she would sing the hymns because as a preacher’s kid and living religion all of the

time, I craved something different even if it was just old Irish songs. I am so thankful that my

older siblings pioneered into another world of music. By the time I was old enough to rebel and

sneak secular music, my siblings had already paved the way for me by going through my father.

Believe it or not, my father was the less strict parent and he wanted me to have as much of a

normal life as possible. When I turned 15, he bought me a radio with a cassette tape player and

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whispered in my ear, “Do not get caught by your mother listening to music she does not approve

of.” I nodded and smiled with a twinkle in my eye. It was the beginning of my musical

freedom. Once I received my radio, I listened to as much as possible to keep up with the kids at

school. I took as many babysitting jobs as possible so I could buy tapes of my favorite pop

artists. At that time Salt N Pepper, Janet Jackson, Club Nuveau, and others were popular among

my friends. I remember one time, my mother was gathering my laundry from my room and

noticed a tape in my player and she confiscated it. She must have listened to it because she sat

me down and wanted to know what I thought the songs “Nasty Boys”, “Let’s Wait Awhile”, and

“Control” meant to me. What a question. I wanted to ask her, “Are you living in the stone ages

or what?” I didn’t since I knew what her wrath would be if I did. Looking back, she must have

been horrified when she listened to the words. The words didn’t mean much to me; I loved the

beat and the harmony. Even though I could sing all of the words, I really didn’t absorb what the

words meant. I just enjoyed listening and dancing to the music.

Listening to secular music opened my eyes to another world. This world had a lot of fun and

was much less restrictive. I believe in some ways Stevie Wonder and I have similarities. He is

physically blind and music revealed this wonderful world with many opportunities.

Opportunities like living outside of his disability, becoming respected for his talents instead of

being held back because of being blind, and being allowed to explore all that God has planned

for him. Like Stevie, my horizons have been widened and my ‘blind’ eyes have been opened.

I love to listen to most kinds of music and have an appreciation for the talent it takes to

perform professionally. I appreciate Stevie Wonder’s talents and have a higher regard for him. I

have always liked his music because the majority of his songs are upbeat and have a positive

message. I also appreciate him for his ability to play so many instruments. I never learned to

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play an instrument. I have tried many times yet never succeeding. It is amazing how a poor

blind kid would grow up to be one of the best performers, a successful song writer and a great

humanitarian. I believe people in the professional music world should look up to him because he

has had so many accomplishments and has maintained a good reputation. He has not let fame

and fortune ruin his life; instead he has used them for the greater good. He is a great example

and learning more about his life has inspired me.

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Bondi, Victor. "American Decades 1970-1979." Stevie Wonder 1950 - Singer, Composer 1995:

89-90.

Sadie, Stanley. "Stevie Wonder." The New Grove Dictionary of American Music 1992, Volume

4 R-Z ed.: 557-558.

Smith, Carney. "Stevie Wonder Singer, Pianist, Composer." Reference Library of Black America

2000: 1084-1085.

The Biography Channel Website. n.d. A & E Televisions Network LLC. <"Abraham Lincoln

Biography." The Biography Channel website. 2011. 01 March 2011

http://www.biography.com/people/abraham-lincoln-9382540>.

Unknown. StevieWonder.org. n.d.

<http://www.steviewonder.org.uk/discography/at_the_movies/at_the_movies.html>.